Ancient executions and torture of people. The most terrible tortures in the history of mankind (21 photos)
An eerie selection of the most brutal methods of execution that were considered commonplace and absolutely normal just 100 years ago. Some of these cruel options for the death penalty make you feel uneasy and even now give you goosebumps. Read on, but not for the faint of heart.
15. Burial alive.
Burial alive begins our list of common executions. Dating back to BC, this punishment was used for individuals as well as groups. The victim is usually tied up and then placed in a hole and slowly buried in soil. One of the most widespread uses of this form of execution was the Nanjing Massacre during World War II, when Japanese soldiers executed Chinese civilians en masse alive in what was referred to as the "Ten Thousand Corpse Ditch."
14. Pit with snakes.
One of the oldest forms of torture and execution, snake pits were a very standard form of capital punishment. The criminals were thrown into a deep pit of poisonous snakes, dying after the irritated and hungry snakes attacked them. Several famous leaders were executed this way, including Ragnar Lothbrok, the Viking warlord, and Gunnar, King of Burgundy.
13. Spanish tickler.
This torture device was commonly used in Europe during the Middle Ages. Used to rip through the victim's skin, this weapon could easily rip through anything, including muscle and bone. The victim would be tied down, sometimes publicly, and then the torturers would begin to mutilate her. Usually they started with the limbs, the neck and torso were always saved for completion.
12. Slow cutting.
Ling Shi, which translates to "slow cutting" or "continuous death", is described as death by a thousand cuts. Performed from 900 to 1905, this form of torture was spread over a long period of time. The torturer slowly cuts the victim, prolonging his life and torture as long as possible. According to Confucian principle, a body that is cut into pieces cannot be whole in the spiritual afterlife. Therefore, it was understood that after such an execution the victim would suffer in the afterlife.
11. Burning at the stake.
Death by burning has been used as a form of capital punishment for centuries, often associated with crimes such as treason and witchcraft. Today it is considered cruel and unusual punishment, but back in the 18th century, burning at the stake was a normal practice. The victim was tied up, often in the city center with spectators, and then burned at the stake. It is considered one of the slowest ways to die.
10. African necklace.
Typically carried out in South Africa, the Necklace execution is unfortunately still quite common today. Rubber tires filled with gasoline are placed around the victim's chest and arms and then set on fire. Essentially, the victim's body is reduced to a molten mass, which explains why this makes the top ten on our list.
9. Execution by an elephant.
In South and Southeast Asia, the Elephant has been a method of capital punishment for thousands of years. The animals were trained to perform two actions. Slowly, over a long period of time torturing the victim, or with a crushing blow destroying it almost immediately. Usually used by kings and nobles, these killer elephants only increased the fear of the common people, who thought that the king had supernatural power to control wild animals. This method of execution was eventually adopted by the Roman military. This is how soldiers who deserted were punished.
8. Execution "Five Punishments".
This form of Chinese capital punishment is a relatively simple act. It begins with the victims' nose being cut off, then one arm and one foot are cut off, and finally the victim is castrated. The inventor of this punishment, Li Sai, the Chinese Prime Minister, was eventually tortured and then executed in the same manner.
7. Colombian tie.
This method of execution is one of the bloodiest. The victim's throat was cut and then the tongue was pulled out through the open wound. During La Violencia, a period in Colombian history fraught with torture and war, this was the most common form of execution.
6. Hanging, stretching and quartering.
Execution for treason in England, with hanging, drawing and quartering, was common during medieval times. Although torture was abolished in 1814, this form of execution was responsible for the deaths of hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of people.
5. Cement boots.
Introduced by the American Mafia, this method of execution involves placing the victim's feet in cinder blocks and then filling them with cement, then throwing the victim into water. This form of execution is rare but is still carried out today.
4. Guillotine.
The guillotine is one of the most famous forms of execution. The guillotine blade was sharpened so perfectly that it decapitated the victim almost instantly. The guillotine is a seemingly humane method of execution until you learn that people could potentially still be alive for several moments after the act. People in the crowd said that those executed who were beheaded could blink their eyes or even utter words after their heads were cut off. Experts theorized that the speed of the blade did not cause loss of consciousness.
3. Republican wedding.
Republican Wedding may not be the worst death on this list, but it is certainly one of the most interesting. Originating in France, this form of execution was common among the Revolutionaries. It involved tying up two people, usually of the same age, and drowning them. In some cases, where water was not available, the couple was executed by sword.
Humanity has always tried to punish criminals in such a way that other people would remember it and, under pain of severe death, they would not repeat such actions. It was not enough to quickly deprive a convict, who could easily turn out to be innocent, of life, which is why they came up with various painful executions. This post will introduce you to similar methods of execution.
Garrote - execution by strangulation or fracture of the Adam's apple. The executioner twisted the thread as tightly as he could. Some varieties of garrote were equipped with spikes or a bolt that broke the spinal cord. This type of execution was widespread in Spain and was outlawed in 1978. Officially, garrote was used in last time in 1990 in Andorra, however, according to some sources it is still used in India.
Scaphism is a cruel method of execution invented in Persia. The man was placed between two boats or hollowed-out tree trunks, placed on top of each other, with his head and limbs exposed. He was fed only honey and milk, which caused severe diarrhea. They also coated the body with honey to attract insects. After a while, the poor fellow was allowed into a pond with stagnant water, where there was already a huge number of insects, worms and other creatures. They all slowly ate his flesh and left maggots in the wounds. There is also a version that honey attracted only stinging insects. In any case, the person was doomed to long torment, lasting several days and even weeks.
The Assyrians used flaying for torture and execution. Like a captured animal, the man was skinned. They could rip off some or all of the skin.
Ling chi was used in China from the 7th century until 1905. This method involved death by cutting. The victim was tied to poles and deprived of some parts of the flesh. The number of cuts could be very different. They could make several small cuts, cut off some skin somewhere, or even deprive the victim of limbs. The number of cuts was determined by the court. Sometimes convicts were given opium. All this happened in a public place, and even after death, the bodies of the dead were left in plain sight for some time.
Wheeling was used in ancient Rome, and in the Middle Ages it began to be used in Europe. By modern times, wheeling had become widespread in Denmark, Germany, France, Romania, Russia (legislatively approved under Peter I), the USA and other countries. A person was tied to a wheel with large bones already broken or still intact, after which they were broken with a crowbar or clubs. A person who was still alive was left to die of dehydration or shock, whichever came first.
The copper bull is the favorite execution weapon of Phalarids, the tyrant of Agrigentus, who ruled in the second half of the 6th century BC. e. The person sentenced to death was placed inside a life-size hollow copper statue of a bull. A fire was lit under the bull. It was impossible to get out of the statue, and those watching could watch smoke coming out of the nostrils and hear the screams of the dying man.
Evisceration was used in Japan. The convict had some or all of his internal organs removed. The heart and lungs were cut out last to prolong the victim's suffering. Sometimes evisceration served as a method of ritual suicide.
Boiling began to be used about 3000 years ago. It was used in Europe and Russia, as well as some Asian countries. A person sentenced to death was placed in a cauldron, which could be filled not only with water, but also with fat, resin, oil or molten lead. At the moment of immersion, the liquid could already be boiling, or it would boil later. The executioner could hasten the onset of death or, conversely, prolong a person’s torment. It also happened that boiling liquid was poured onto a person or poured down his throat.
Impalement was first used by the Assyrians, Greeks and Romans. They impaled people in different ways, and the thickness of the stake could also be different. The stake itself could be inserted either into the rectum or into the vagina, if they were women, through the mouth or through a hole made in the genital area. Often the top of the stake was blunt so that the victim did not die immediately. The stake with the condemned person impaled on it was raised up and those sentenced to painful death slowly descended down it under the influence of gravity.
Hanging and quartering was used in medieval England to punish traitors to the motherland and criminals who committed a particularly serious act. A person was hanged, but so that he remained alive, after which he was deprived of his limbs. It could go so far as to cut off the unfortunate man’s genitals, gouge out his eyes and cut out his internal organs. If the person was still alive, then at the end his head was cut off. This execution lasted until 1814.
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Long-term history has shown that the most cruel creatures in the world are people. A clear confirmation of this is the various methods of torture, with the help of which they extracted truthful information from a person or forced him to make the necessary confession. It is difficult to imagine what kind of torment the poor fellow had to endure, to whom the most terrible tortures were applied. Such methods of inquiry were especially popular during the Middle Ages, when inquisitors tortured victims, proving that they were in the service of the devil or were practicing witchcraft. But in subsequent times, various tortures were often used, especially during interrogations of military prisoners or spies.
The most terrible tortures
Particularly sophisticated tortures were invented by the servants of the holy department for investigating sinfulness, called the Inquisition. People who survived this kind of inquiry often died or remained disabled for life.
A person who ended up in a witch's chair had to endure unbearable pain. This instrument of torture forced anyone to confess to all the sins attributed to him. There were sharp spikes on the seat of the device, its back and armrests, which, when pierced into the body, caused a person to suffer greatly. The unfortunate man was tied to a chair, and he involuntarily sat on the spikes. He had to endure unbearable torment, which forced him to confess to all the charges against him.
No less terrible was the torture called the rack. It was used in different ways:
- the person was placed on a special device, his limbs were stretched in opposite directions and fixed on a frame;
- the poor fellow was hung up, with heavy weights tied to his arms and legs;
- the person was placed horizontally, stretched, sometimes even with the help of horses.
If the martyr did not confess to his crimes, he was stretched to such an extent that his limbs were practically torn off, causing incredible suffering.
Quite often in the Middle Ages they resorted to torture by fire. To force a person to suffer for a long time and confess to his sins, he was placed on a metal grid and tied. The device was suspended, and a fire was lit under it. After such torment, the poor man confessed to all the charges brought against him.
The worst tortures for women
It is known that during the Inquisition, many women who were suspected of witchcraft were exterminated. They were not only executed using unimaginably terrible methods, but also tortured using various terrible instruments. Chest rippers were used quite often. The tool resembled pincers with sharp teeth, which heated and tore the mammary glands into pieces.
An equally terrible instrument of torture was the pear. This device, closed, was inserted into the mouth or intimate openings and opened with a screw. The sharp teeth on such a device severely injured the internal organs. This type of torture was also used during interrogations of men suspected of being gay. After it, people died quite often. Severe bleeding or illness resulted in death because the instrument was not disinfected.
An ancient African rite applied to girls over the age of three can be considered real torture. Children's external intimate organs were scraped out without any anesthesia. Childbearing functions were preserved after this procedure, but women did not experience sexual desire, which made them faithful wives. This ritual has been carried out for many centuries.
The most brutal tortures for men
Tortures invented for men are no less cruel in their cruelty. Even the ancient Scythians resorted to castration. For this they even had special devices called sickles. Men who were captured were often subjected to such torture. Often the procedure was carried out by women who fought alongside men.
No less terrible was the torture, in which the male genital organ was torn with red-hot tongs. The unfortunate man had no choice but to confess all his sins or tell the truth required of him. Particularly cruel women were also trusted to carry out such torture.
Torture with a reed studded with small thorns brought unbearable pain. It was inserted into the male genital organ and rotated until the tortured person gave out the necessary information. The thorns practically tore the inner flesh of the male organ, causing unbearable suffering. After such torture, it was very difficult for a person to urinate. This type of torture was used by American and African Indians.
Nazi torture
The Nazis were particularly cruel during interrogations during World War II. The Gestapo's favorite method was tearing out nails. The victim's fingers were clamped with a special device, and their nails were torn off one by one until the person laid out the necessary information. Often, with the help of such torture, people were forced to confess to something they did not do.
Very often, in specially equipped rooms in concentration camps, prisoners suspected of espionage were hung by their arms or tied to some object, after which they were brutally beaten with chains. Such blows caused multiple fractures and injuries, often incompatible with life.
The Nazis often used waterboarding. The victim was placed in a very cold room and fixed in a certain position. A container of ice water was placed over the poor man's head. Drops fell on the sufferer's head, which after a while even led to loss of reason.
Modern terrible torture
Despite the fact that modern society is considered humane, torture has not lost its relevance. Experienced investigators use the most brutal methods to extract the necessary information from a suspect. Electrical torture is very common. Wires are connected to the human body and discharges are released, increasing their power.
Water torture, often used in the Middle Ages, is still used in modern times. The person's face is covered with some kind of cloth and liquid is poured into the mouth. If the poor fellow began to choke, the torment would stop for a while. Particularly stubborn suspects were then beaten on their stomachs, which were swollen from the large volume of water, which caused severe pain and led to damage to internal organs.
People often dream of visiting the past. But history buffs should pay attention to the fact that not everything is as romantic as it might seem. The past was a brutal, cruel place where the slightest legal or social infraction could lead to a painful and gruesome death. Over the past few hundred years, most Western nations have abolished the death penalty. But in the past, very often the goal was to cause as much pain as possible to the person who was executed.
There were various reasons for this; some are political, religious and some were used as intimidation. Regardless of the reasons, the executions were horrific. See below what the most terrible executions in human history were.
Skafism
Skathism (also known as "boats") was an ancient Persian method of execution that involved tying the condemned person inside a small boat or hollowed-out tree trunk. The only thing left outside were the victim's arms, legs and head.
The victim was force-fed milk and fed honey to induce severe diarrhea. Moreover, honey was smeared all over the body, with special emphasis on the eyes, ears and mouth.
The honey attracted insects that would breed in the victim's excrement or dead skin. Death occurred within days or weeks from dehydration, starvation, and septic shock.
Bestiaries
In ancient Rome, huge crowds gathered in amphitheaters to witness brutal, inhumane executions.
Bestiaries were one of the favorite activities at these meetings. The prisoners were sent to the center of the arena. Angry wild tigers and lions were also released there. The animals remained in the arena until they maimed or mauled the last victim to death.
It is important to note that some entered the arena voluntarily, for money or fame, but these fighters were given weapons and armor and fought purely for the entertainment of the crowd, while criminals or political prisoners were completely defenseless and had no chance to defend themselves.
Execution by an elephant
Death by elephant was a common method of execution in South and Southeast Asia, although Western powers like Rome and Carthage also used it.
Death occurred either quickly or slowly, depending on the severity of the crime. A trained elephant either stepped on the head, causing instant death, or stepped on the limbs, destroying one after another.
Vertical shaker
The vertical shaker was invented in the United States in the 19th century. It is very similar to hanging, but in this case, the prisoner was strongly lifted up by the neck to sever the spinal cord and cause instant death. This method was intended to replace traditional hanging, but was not widely used.
Sawing
Sawing execution has been used throughout the world. Often, the condemned man was hanged upside down, which allowed the executioners to begin sawing at the genitals. The inverted position allowed enough blood to flow into the brain to keep the victim alive to continue the horrific torture.
Skinning alive
Live flaying was also used by different cultures. The victim was held while his skin was cut from his body. Death occurred from shock, blood loss, hypothermia or infection, and this could take time.
In some cultures, a person's skin was hung in a public place to warn others of the consequences of disobeying the law.
Wheeling
Wheeling is one of the most brutal executions on our list. Reserved for particularly nasty criminals. The condemned man was tied to a large wheel with spokes. He was then beaten with batons or other blunt instruments.
Bloody Eagle
Blood eagle is a ritual method of execution described in Scandinavian poetry. The ribs of the convicted person were broken out so that they resembled wings, and the lungs were taken out and hung on the ribs.
There is some debate as to whether the ritual was a fictional literary device or an actual historical practice, but many agree that the details are too macabre and could very well have been used in practice.
Burning at the stake
We've all seen this inquisitorial execution shown in the movies, but few realize how widespread it was in medieval times and antiquity.
In Europe, a convicted person was often given the chance to confess for a lighter sentence - they were strangled to death before the fire was lit. Otherwise, they either burned or died from carbon monoxide poisoning.
Bamboo torture
An unusual and very painful method of execution. It is believed to have been used in parts of Asia and also by Japanese soldiers during World War II.
The victim was laid on pointed bamboo shoots. Over the course of several weeks, the highly resilient plant began to grow straight through the victim's body, eventually impaling it.
The prisoner was fed, preventing him from dying prematurely, thus making his death even more painful.
Lynchy
Lingchi, also known as "Slow Cut" or "Death by a Thousand Wounds", is a particularly gruesome method of execution that was used in China from ancient times until 1905.
The executioner gradually and methodically cut the victim into pieces, leaving him alive as long as possible.
Buried alive
Unfortunately, many cultures have used this method of execution for centuries. Death occurred in the form of suffocation, dehydration, or worst of all, starvation. In some cases, fresh air was introduced into the coffin from below, causing the condemned person to remain alive in complete darkness for several days or weeks until he finally died.
Spanish tickler
The Spanish Tickler is an execution method that is also known as the "Cat's Paw". The Cat's Paw was a torture and execution device. The device was attached to the executioner's hand, allowing him to easily remove the flesh from the victim. Everything was done live, and the convict died much later due to infection.
The death penalty - there is so much horror in this word. The associations are not pleasant. The torment of man and the cruelty of the executioners gives me goosebumps. There are many methods of carrying out the death penalty, and each of them is even more severe and inventive than the other. The past of all mankind was so cruel and brutal that life was worthless, and hundreds of people died in painful torture. The most terrible executions of the ancient world are long gone, but some of them can be read about in historical literature.
Persian toughness
The most terrible and painful executions have begun since the times of the ancient Persians. One such method involved tying the victim to a tree, leaving only his limbs. Next they fed him honey and milk to induce diarrhea. The victim's body was coated with sweet and sticky honey to attract as many insects as possible. They in turn multiplied in the feces and his skin. The victim died in agony several weeks later from septic shock and dehydration.
Execution by an elephant
In Carthage, Rome and Asian countries, the death sentence was carried out with the help of an animal, namely an elephant. Asian elephants were trained for many years and could either kill the victim immediately or take turns, slowly breaking bones one after another.
Many European travelers describe this method of execution in their observations. Using a similar method of killing a person, Asian rulers demonstrated that they were the rightful rulers of not only people, but also animals. This method of execution was mainly used for prisoners of war.
European cruelty
But the executions of Rome and Carthage did not end there. A crowd of onlookers gathered in the amphitheaters to watch how huge, wild tigers and lions tore to death the criminals released into the arena. Such an execution was a holiday for everyone and whole families came to watch it.
In that era there was another terrible execution - crucifixion. This is how the Son of God Jesus Christ was executed. The man was stripped, beaten with sticks, thrown with stones, and then forced to carry his cross to the place of execution. On the hill, the cross was buried in the ground and a person was nailed to it with huge nails. The convict died long and painfully from thirst and painful shock. This method of execution was mainly used for criminals who had committed more than one atrocity.
The most terrible executions in the world took place in Rus'. The victims of such massacres were primarily those who committed crimes against the government, as well as those related to sex, culture and religion. From those very times the expression came about: impalement. This was the execution itself, when a person was impaled, slowly piercing his body through. People died from hellish pain within a few days.
Ancient Egypt was also famous for its method of execution. This method was called “punishment by the wall.” The name speaks for itself. People were simply immured alive in the wall and they died of suffocation. Composer Verdi in his opera Aida describes this moment when the main character and her lover are sentenced to such punishment.
Executions of the Celestial Empire
The most cruel people in the history of mankind were the Chinese. How the execution would take place was decided by the executioners and judges themselves. Their fantasies cannot be compared with others in their ingenuity. One method was to stretch a person over young bamboo shoots. Since the plant itself grows quickly, within a few days the bamboo entered the person like a spear and continued to grow in his body. The slow death of a person in agony came.
It was in China that they came up with the idea of burying a living person in the ground, and he died there from suffocation. Another method of torture and long suffering of a person was death by a thousand cuts. If a criminal was sentenced to a year of torment, then the executioner extended this execution for a year. Every day he came to the criminal’s cell and cut off a small part of his body. Then he immediately cauterized the wound with fire to stop the bleeding and prevent the person from dying.
And the procedure was repeated day after day for a year until the person died. Moreover, if the executioner failed to cope with the task and the convict died before the appointed time, an equally painful death awaited him.
The worst executions in human history were carried out on Chinese women. They were simply sawed in half. It is worth noting that they were nagged for any reason and because of any offense. The women were undressed, hung by their hands on rings, and sharp saws were fastened between their legs. Naturally, they could not hang for long and sawed themselves right down to their breasts.
We have looked at some of the most terrible executions in the entire history of mankind, but this is just a small part of the sophisticated imagination of our ancestors. Different cultures also used a method of execution such as skinning alive. The person was simply tied to a table or pole and the skin was cut off into small pieces. All this happened in front of other people, and for many it was entertainment. Death occurred from loss of blood and pain shock.
The “Wheel” execution is one of the same mass events. The victim was tied to a rotating wheel, and the executioner delivered chaotic blows to different parts of the body. After such torture, the person was left to die in front of the entire crowd.
Execution of the criminal world
One of the last types of execution of our time comes from Africa. This method of execution has been used repeatedly by criminal groups. The essence of the execution was that rubber tires were put on a person, doused with gasoline and set on fire. The man was simply burning alive, screaming in pain.
The death penalty in modern civilized society is prohibited in many countries of the world, but countries such as China still use this capital punishment for very serious crimes. Of course, such cruelty as in ancient times no longer occurs. In modern society, the death penalty is used in the form of: shooting, lethal injection or the electric chair. Today the criminal dies instantly.