impalement

thumb|right|Engraving by Justus Lipsius of a vertical impalement

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Commons category: Impalement

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~33 min read

Article

31 sections

Contents

Methods
Longitudinal impalement
Survival time
Transversal impalement
Variations
Gaunching
Hooks in the city wall
Hanged by the ribs
Bamboo Torture
History
Antiquity
Mesopotamia and the ancient Near East
Pharaonic Egypt
Neo-Assyrian Empire
Achaemenid Persia
Biblical evidence
Rome
Europe
Transversal impalement
Longitudinal impalement
Heinous murderers
Vlad the Impaler
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
Ottoman Empire
Siege of Constantinople
Civil crimes
Klephts and rebels in Greece
Rebels elsewhere in the Ottoman Empire
Armenian and Assyrian Genocide
References
Bibliography

thumb|right|Engraving by Justus Lipsius of a vertical impalement

Impalement, as a method of torture and execution, is the penetration of a human by an object such as a stake, pole, spear, or hook, often by the complete or partial perforation of the torso. It was particularly used in response to "crimes against the state" and is regarded across a number of cultures as a very harsh form of capital punishment and recorded in myth and art. Impalement was also used during times of war to suppress rebellions, punish traitors or collaborators, and punish breaches of military discipline.