Crucifixion

=== Cause of death ===
The length of time required to reach death could range from hours to days depending on method, the victim's health, and the environment.<ref name="patho" /><ref name="StroudSimpson1871">{{cite book|author1=William Stroud|author2=Sir James Young Simpson|title=Treatise on the Physical Cause of the Death of Christ and Its Relation to the Principles and Practice of Christianity|url=https://archive.org/details/b21987877|access-date=12 March 2013|year=1871|publisher=Hamilton, Adams & Company}}</ref>

A theory attributed to [[Pierre Barbet (physician)|Pierre Barbet]] held that, when the whole body weight was supported by the stretched arms, the typical cause of death was [[asphyxiation]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.columbia.edu/cu/augustine/arch/barbet.html|title=Columbia University page of Pierre Barbet on Crucifixion|website=columbia.edu|access-date=2009-12-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091211204031/http://www.columbia.edu/cu/augustine/arch/barbet.html|archive-date=2009-12-11|url-status=dead}}</ref> He wrote that the condemned would have severe difficulty inhaling, due to hyper-expansion of the chest muscles and lungs. The condemned would therefore have to draw himself up by the arms, leading to [[Fatigue (medical)|exhaustion]], or have his feet supported by tying or by a wood block. When no longer able to lift himself, the condemned would die within a few minutes. This theory has been supported by multiple scholars.<ref name=Habermas>{{cite journal|first1=Gary|last1=Habermas|first2=Jonathan|last2=Kopel|first3=Benjamin C.F.|last3=Shaw|title=Medical views on the death by crucifixion of Jesus Christ|journal=Baylor University Medical Center Proceedings|volume=34|issue=6|pages=748–52|date=July 30, 2021|pmc=8545147|doi=10.1080/08998280.2021.1951096|pmid=34733010 }}</ref> Other scholars, including [[Frederick Zugibe]], posit other causes of death. Zugibe suspended test subjects with their arms at 60° to 70° from the vertical. The test subjects had no difficulty breathing during experiments, but did suffer rapidly increasing pain,<ref>{{Cite book|last=Zugibe|first=Frederick T|author-link=Frederick Zugibe|title=The cross and the shroud: a medical inquiry into the crucifixion|publisher=Paragon House|location=New York|year=1988|isbn=978-0-913729-75-5}}{{Page needed|date=September 2010}}</ref><ref name=Zugibe2005>{{Cite book |author=Zugibe, Frederick T. |title=The Crucifixion Of Jesus: A Forensic Inquiry |publisher=M. Evans and Company |location=New York |year=2005 |isbn=978-1-59077-070-2 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/crucifixionofjes0000zugi }}{{Page needed|date=September 2010}}</ref> which is consistent with the Roman use of crucifixion to achieve a prolonged, agonizing death. However, Zugibe's positioning of the test subjects necessarily did not precisely replicate the conditions of historical crucifixion.<ref name="Maslen2006" /> In 2023, an analysis of medical literature concluded that asphyxiation is discredited as the primary cause of death from crucifixion.<ref>{{cite journal|first1=Thomas W.|last1=McGovern|first2=David A.|last2=Kaminskas|first3=Eustace S.|last3=Fernandes|title=Did Jesus Die by Suffocation? An Appraisal of the Evidence|journal=Linacre Quarterly|volume=90|issue=1|pages=64–79|pmid=36923675|date=February 2023|doi=10.1177/00243639221116217|pmc=10009142 }}</ref>

There is scholarly support for several<ref name=Maslen2006>{{cite journal|last=Maslen|first=Matthew|author2=Piers D Mitchell|title=Medical theories on the cause of death in crucifixion|journal=Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine|date=April 2006|volume=99|issue=4|pages=185–188|doi=10.1177/014107680609900416|pmid=16574970|pmc=1420788}}</ref> possible non-asphyxiation causes of death: [[Cardiac arrest|heart failure]] or [[Heart arrhythmia|arrhythmia]],<ref name=Edwards>{{cite journal|last=Edwards|first=WD|author2=Gabel WJ|author3=Hosmer FE|title=On the physical cause of death of Jesus Christ|journal=Journal of the American Medical Association|year=1986|volume=255|issue=11|pages=1455–1463|doi=10.1001/jama.255.11.1455|url=http://www.creativeyouthideas.com/resources/crucifixion_of_christ.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.creativeyouthideas.com/resources/crucifixion_of_christ.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live}}<!--|access-date=13 March 2013--></ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Davis|first=CT|title=The Crucifixion of Jesus. The Passion of Christ From a Medical Point of View|journal=Arizona Medicine|year=1962|volume=22|page=182}}</ref> [[hypovolemic shock]],<ref name="Zugibe2005" /> [[acidosis]],<ref name=Wijffels>{{cite journal|last=Wijffels|first=F|title=Death on the cross: did the Turin Shroud once envelop a crucified body?|journal=Br Soc Turin Shroud Newsl|year=2000|volume=52|issue=3}}</ref> [[dehydration]],<ref name="patho" /> and [[pulmonary embolism]].<ref name=Brenner2005>{{cite journal|last=Brenner|first=B|title=Did Jesus Christ die of pulmonary embolism?|journal=J Thromb Haemost|year=2005|volume=3|issue=9|pages=1–2|doi=10.1111/j.1538-7836.2005.01525.x|pmid=16102134|s2cid=38121158|doi-access=free}}</ref> Death could result from any combination of those factors, or from other causes, including [[sepsis]] following infection due to the wounds caused by the nails or by the [[flagellation|scourging]] that often preceded crucifixion, or from stabbing by the guards.<ref name=patho>{{cite journal|vauthors=Retief FP, Cilliers L |title=The history and pathology of crucifixion |journal=South African Medical Journal|volume=93|issue=12|pages=938–941|date=December 2003|pmid=14750495}}</ref><ref name="Habermas" /><ref name="Edwards" />