Photo: Panairjdde
Hold your breath. You are about to witness some very severe historical penalties. Though our ancient cultures were said to be verycivilized, there is evidence of their having used a wide variety ofhideous torture methods throughout history to end the lives of criminalsand traitors.
10. Death by Boiling 
Photo: unknown
Can you imagine boiling someone alive in large pot? Though not common, this was an unusually cruel method of execution. There is plentyof evidence that it was practiced throughout human history.Archeologists have found human bones in cooking pots and hearths in China which were found to be around 500,000 years old.
In England in the 1500s this was the legal method of punishment. The victim was immersed in boiling water, oil or tar until dead. Imagine thefear the prisoner felt when they were taken to this deadly big pot tosuffer their horrible fate.
9. Crucifixion
Photo: Baptiste Marcel
Crucifixion was among the most gruesome and painful of ancient execution methods and was practiced from about the 6th century BC untilthe 4th century AD, mainly among the Seleucids, Carthaginians, Persiansand Romans. The condemned person was tied (or nailed) to a large woodencross and left to hang till dead. Their dead body was then left ondisplay as a warning. Sometimes, the victim was ordered to carry theirown crossbeam – which weighed about 75-125 pounds (35-60 kg) – on theirshoulders to the place of execution. Not only this, but to humiliatethem, they were ordered to be hung up naked.
There is evidence of a practice much like crucifixion having taken place during World War I and II. A punishment known as ‘Field PunishmentNumber One' was very similar – although it involved the victim beingflogged rather than executed. In the British Army, especially duringWorld War I, soldiers were punished for crimes such as refusal of ordersand disobedience.
Nowadays, versions of crucifixion are practiced as a devotional ceremony in some part of New Mexico and the Philippines. Though thechurch greatly discourages this practice, followers of Jesus stillimitate the suffering of Christ by being 'crucified' for a limited timeon Good Friday. It has been seen in the town of Iztapalapa, just outsideMexico City, and also in San Pedro Cutud, during the ‘Passion WeekCelebration’ of 2007.
8. Flaying
Photo: Michelangelo Buonarroti
In this author's opinion, this was the most uncivilized method of torture and punishment practiced during the Middle Ages. Brutal to thebone, it involved removing the skin from the body of a still livingprisoner.
Flaying was an ancient practice, inflicted on criminals, captured soldiers and 'witches' around a thousand years ago in places such as theMiddle East and Africa. The victim was flayed alive as part of a publicexecution, after which the skin was nailed to the wall as a warning, sothat others would heed the lesson and never ever dare to defy the law...........
7. Disembowelment
Photo: Kunikazu Utagawa
Disembowelment was among the most severe forms of punishments ever heard of or seen. This method was used to punish thieves and thoseaccused of adultery. Some or all the vital organs were removed one byone from the body, mainly from the abdomen. Sources say it was practicedin England, the Netherlands, Belgium and in Japan.
In Japan, it was a ritualized suicide method for Samurai, referred as “seppuku”, in which two cuts across the abdomen were made. In anotherversion, a fine cut was made in the victim’s gut, leaving him to ca
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