The Most Terrible Death Penalties in the Past

JAKARTA - History records that the first death penalty occurred since the 16th century BC in Egypt. Various terrible methods were used by the executioners to kill the perpetrators. We summarize the five most terrible methods of capital punishment. What are the most sadistic death sentences?

As the Public Broadcasting Service notes, the first person who was sentenced to death in Egypt was a member of the nobility accused of witchcraft. He was then ordered to take his own life.

However, the death penalty is arguably still a privilege for a member of the nobility because it wasn't carried out in a sadistic way. Meanwhile, for non-nobles, the punishment was even harsher, namely being killed with an ax.

However, the death penalty using the ax seems insignificant. When compared to the most brutal types of death penalty we have summarized from various sources.

Schafism

Scaphism or "the boat" is a method of execution by the ancient Persians by being eaten alive. The guilty person would be placed between two canoes of wood or tree trunk that had been perforated with the legs and head protruding out.

Then, the executors forced the person to drink a mixture of milk and honey. The person would get diarrhea. So, they would be surrounded by feces and vomit. This mixture is also applied to his body to attract insects and gnaw at his body and lay eggs in open holes.

Death will come slowly. Usually, that person will die because of the death of the tissue in the limb that has lost blood.

However, certainly, death will not be caused by hunger because he was provided with a mixture of milk and honey. According to records, death will come in about 17 days during the execution. 

Blood Eagle

Another brutal method used for the death penalty is the blood eagle method. This method of execution was well known among the Vikings.

Law enforcers skinned the defendants alive and cut the backs of the perpetrators until their spines were exposed. Then, the victim's ribs would be bent so that they would stick out like an eagle's wings.

The convict would die with excruciating pain for the second time when his lungs are ripped from the body cavity. After the lungs are extracted, the executioner will sprinkle salt on the cavity until the convict was completely unconscious.

Judas Cradle

The cradle judas method was applied in medieval Europe. This type of death penalty is to force the convict to sit on a pyramid-shaped chair. Then, their legs were tied so tightly that the executioner could grab them and make the person feel a terrible pain in the part of the buttocks that were stuck in the pyramid chair.

The executioner was able to raise and lower the body of the convict with a rope and pulley system, thus making the penetration deeper. Besides, some torturers would also apply oil to the torture device, which increased the pain.

The torture wasn't there yet. It turned out that the tools used to execute it were never cleaned at all, increasing the chance of infection and only then to death.

The purpose of this torture was to obtain multiple confessions. Meanwhile, in some cases, the victim would be shaken or forced to fall repeatedly on the chair to obtain important information.

Boiled Alive

Who would have thought that the type of death penalty alive by being boiled was true? It is known that this brutal punishment was applied in the era of the Roman Emperor Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus. During his reign, he was recorded as having boiled alive thousands of Christians in boiling oil.

This punishment has also been carried out in England in the 12th to 16th centuries. British history records that during the reign of King Henry VIII around 1531, people who took the lives of others had to be punished by being boiled alive.

The convict would be tortured slowly. He would not immediately be immersed in boiling water but gradually. Usually, the first thing that was put into the hot liquid is the legs, then gradually to the head. So, the person didn't faint during the sentence.

Lead Sprinkler

Finally, the most brutal method of capital punishment is the lead sprinkler. This tool, commonly used in the Middle Ages, contained molten lead, tar, boiling oil, and other hot substances.

The executioner uses this tool to drop hot substances into the stomach or other parts of the body. The executions sometimes took place by pouring molten silver into the eyes, causing so much pain that the convict died.