I've read a physician's analysis of crucifixion, how it killed, and the pain that was involved. One account I read described the pain of a nail in the wrist as akin to having the funny-bone nerve crushed with pliers and twisted. I've also read that crucifixion could take days, as the condemned pushed up against the nail in his feet, struggling to breath, fell down, pushed up again, over and over, until exhaustion finally overcame the body's instinct for self-preservation. Here are a couple of articles I found online.
http://pjmiller.wordpress.com/2007/04/07/a-physicians-view-of-the-crucifixion-of-jesus-christ/http://www.apu.edu/infocus/2002/03/crucifixion/This kind of info surely gives the lie to the "swoon theory." Just think what crucifixion would do to your feet, for starters. Could a crucifixion survivor even walk, much less move a gigantic stone?
Not sure what you mean. They used a wooden cross, but the condemned carried only the top crosspiece to the execution site, where the post was already in the ground. He was affixed to the cross piece, then lifted up atop the post.
That's what I've read/heard as well. Some have said that the X-shaped and T (flat-topped) crosses were more common than the t-shaped cross that we usually think of, and that the traditional t cross would have been unlikely in that time and place. But they hung a sign "above his head," which would be hard to do on those other crosses.
