Crucifixion and the Heel bone of Jehohanan

Описание: Prior to a discovery in 1968, scholars said crucifixion did not involve nailing an individual to a cross. They used this ‘fact’ to proclaim the story of Jesus was untrue.

However, the ossuary containing the bones of “Jehohanan, son of Hagkol” (sometimes written as ‘Johanan ben Ha-galgula’) disproved this claim. His bones were discovered just north of Jerusalem at a construction site in Giv’at ha-Mivtar.

This heel bone still contained the nail driven into it from Jehohanan’s crucifixion. The Roman’s had made a miscalculation and driven the nail into the calcaneus (bone), and its tip was bent making it impossible to easily remove from the corpse. It was left within the bone and entombed with his remains for the next two millennia.

For nearly 50 years this heel bone was the only set of remains with proven evidence of crucifixion. Then, in 2017, a second set of remains (Skeleton 4926) was located in Cambridgeshire, England. This heel had an identical injury, complete with nail still embedded.

These skeletons reveal that in addition to ropes used to bind a victim to a cross, nails were used to secure the feet to the post. The most probable placement was with the right foot over the left and a single nail driven through both.

Out of the thousands of recorded crucifixions, only two have solid physical evidence of nail use (with two other highly likely cases containing bore holes, but no nail). The physical evidence is thought to be a mistake. For easy retrieval, the nail was intended to enter the soft tissue and not come in direct contact with bone. However, an error probably made in haste during execution, became the means by which we can confirm the validity of the description included in the gospels about the manner of Christ’s death.

#Jerusalem #Heelbone #Crucifixion #Jehohanan #DiggingYourBible #Christ #Jesus