what was the shape of the "cross" on which Jesus was nailed?

Question

was it like a letter t or like a letter x?

Answer 1

As Emet Ha'Agur Apostate says, there was a shortage of trees for the "crosses." That's because the streets were lined with Jews rotting on crosses -- it was the Roman means of execution! They left them hanging to rot because it was (and still is) the custom to bury the dead as soon as possible. It was just one more method of pouring "salt into the wound."
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Answer 2

Either a capital T or a lower-case t (without the curve at the bottom)... an "X" shape just isn't the right shape to achieve what a crucifixion does to a body...



When a human body is nailed to a cross in crucifixion, the body's weight is hung on the nails that are in the hands and the wrists. This constricts the chest, making it pretty dang hard to breathe. It also causes fluid build-up around the heart, increasing that difficulty.

Many criminals who were crucified lifted the weight of their bodies with their legs, so they could breathe a little. If the criminal was taking too long to die, the Roman soldiers would break his legs, then death by suffocation would happen quicker.

Answer 3

Tradition from very early in Christianity (as mentioned above, such as the Letter of Barnabas) indicates a t shape of some sort. We have no way of knowing if that tradition is accurate. It doesn't appear to have been disputed at that early date, but since there were different methods of 'staurooing' (translated crucifying or impaling) in use at the time, it's impossible to know exactly what the shape of Jesus' stauros was.

In the first century, the writer Seneca described three different kinds of stauroses. But the Bible doesn't give any description, so we really don't know if it was one like Seneca described, or possibly another sort, such as an X.

The Bible uses the word xylon (xylo= wood.), which some define narrowly as a tree, but it only means wood which of course comes from a tree and would be true of any kind of stauros. We also know that the Greek word stauros basically means stake which some narrowly interpret to mean that it means a stake ONLY and nothing could be attached to it. (Look at the stakes or poles along the road ---- they're called poles even if they look like crosses.) Certainly people were staurooed on trees and simple stakes. But we also know that some stauroses were cross shaped because of ancient writers such as Seneca and Justin.

So to answer your question: I don't know and neither does anyone else.

Answer 4

The earliest writings that speak specifically of the shape of the cross on which Jesus died describe it as shaped like the letter T (the Greek letter tau), or composed of an upright and a transverse beam, together with a small peg in the upright:

"For the scripture saith; And Abraham circumcised of his household eighteen males and three hundred. What then was the knowledge given unto him? Understand ye that He saith the eighteen first, and then after an interval three hundred In the eighteen 'I' stands for ten, 'H' for eight. Here thou hast JESUS (IHSOYS). And because the cross in the 'T' was to have grace, He saith also three hundred. So He revealeth Jesus in the two letters, and in the remaining one the cross."

Answer 5

The Greek translation of the word 'cross' is 'stavos' meaning stake or pale. The cross was not a 'cross' at all but an upright stake with no cross-bar. There are wood carvings from this period that attest to this fact. Also, the cross as a religious symbol was borrowed by Christians from the Egyptians. One only has to do a bit of research to find this out.

Answer 6

The Romans were economical about their military.
Roman Centuries all carried their material for Palisades around their camps.
These pales were posts precut and prenotched to fit together quickly and efficiently. The Roman name for them was "Sudis."They served the same purpose as barbed wire does for military forces today.

This is all from Roman history supported by archaeological digs.

They crucified captured enemies on their palisades as a lesson to the freinds of their enemies. This is where the word "Impalement" comes from.
Assembled pales looked like the letter X.
A palisade would have looked like an ovelapping line of Xs
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
These pales were fast to set up, and were totally reusable.
In spite of religious claims the Romans never used iron spikes to crucify, that would have been a waste of a precious metal.
nice history links
http://www.roman-empire.net/army/army.html
http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~rauhn/roman_army.htm
http://www.legionxxiv.org/equipment/

The Romans broke legs so that the victims could not get free and run away. They also normally excecuted the ones who had not died of exposure or injuries before night fell, usually by spearing them because it was the easiest way.

This is all supported by archaeological digs and Roman historical writings.

Answer 7

According to the Bible it was a T and he was nailed, however, your feet and hands wouldn't be able to support your weight without the nails ripping through and the person falling to the floor so you would have to be strapped as well.
Secondly there's no evidence apart from the Bible to support the T cross, all evidence points to an x cross, as several remains have been found and documentary evidence support this.

The above could be explained through poor translation.


AJ.

Answer 8

Actually it was an F. Most people don't know this but the roman letter for t was F so they used that.

Answer 9

The koine greek word for cross was literally "stavros" which means "stake." Sometimes it was literally a stake, like a huge tent peg. Most often it was an "X". If there was a historical Christ, it most likely would have been an "X" because that is what Romans used most often.

Answer 10

T shaped