Department of Neurosciences, Inova Fairfax Hospital Falls Church, Virgina, 22042.
Brain Behav. 2013 May;3(3):243-8. doi: 10.1002/brb3.132. Epub 2013 Mar 18.
Crucifixion as a means of torture and execution was first developed in the 6th century B.C. and remained popular for over 1000 years. Details of the practice, which claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, have intrigued scholars as historical records and archaeological findings from the era are limited. As a result, various aspects of crucifixion, including the type of crosses used, methods of securing victims to crosses, the length of time victims survived on the cross, and the exact mechanisms of death, remain topics of debate. One aspect of crucifixion not previously explored in detail is the characteristic hand posture often depicted in artistic renditions of crucifixion. In this posture, the hand is clenched in a peculiar and characteristic fashion: there is complete failure of flexion of the thumb and index finger with partial failure of flexion of the middle finger. Such a "crucified clench" is depicted across different cultures and from different eras. A review of crucifixion history and techniques, median nerve anatomy and function, and the historical artistic depiction of crucifixion was performed to support the hypothesis that the "crucified clench" results from proximal median neuropathy due to positioning on the cross, rather than from direct trauma of impalement of the hand or wrist.
作为一种酷刑和处决手段，十字架刑最早出现在公元前 6 世纪，并流行了 1000 多年。由于该时期的历史记载和考古发现有限，因此有关该刑罚的细节引起了学者们的兴趣，其中包括十字架的类型、将受害者固定在十字架上的方法、受害者在十字架上存活的时间以及确切的死亡机制等方面。在过去，人们并没有详细探讨过十字架刑的一个方面，即艺术作品中经常描绘的受害者的手部姿势。在这种姿势中，手以一种奇特而独特的方式紧握：拇指和食指完全无法弯曲，中指部分无法弯曲。这种“被钉十字架的紧握”在不同文化和不同时代的艺术作品中都有描绘。为了支持这样一种假说，即“被钉十字架的紧握”是由于在手放在十字架上时，正中神经受到压迫而导致的近端正中神经病变，而非由于手或手腕被刺穿所造成的直接创伤，我们回顾了十字架刑的历史和技术、正中神经的解剖结构和功能，以及历史上对十字架刑的艺术描绘。
