فداء الرسول
04.12.2012, 12:19
Crucifixion Or 'Crucifiction' In Ancient Egypt
Written by muslimway.org
1. Introduction
It has been claimed by some people that the Qur'an is in error when it mentions crucifixion as a form of punishment in Egypt. They say:
We have, however, no record that Egyptians used crucifixion as punishment in the time of Moses (1450 BC, conservative date; 1200 BC at the latest) or even Joseph (1880 BC, conservative date). Crucifixion only becomes a punishment much later in history and then first in another culture before it has been taken over by the Egyptians. Such threats by a Pharaoh at these times are historically inaccurate.
The Qur'an talks about crucifixion as a method of punishment in Egypt during the time of Joseph and Moses. In the story of Joseph, Joseph interprets the dream of his companion in the prison and says:
O my two companions of the prison! As to one of you, he will pour out the wine for his lord to drink: and as for the other, he will be crucified, and the birds will eat from his head. Thus is the case judged concerning which you both did enquire. [12:41]
As for the mention of crucifixion in the time of Moses, when the Pharaoh's magicians believed in the message of Moses, the Pharaoh threatened them by saying:
Be sure I will cut off your hands and your feet on apposite sides, and I will cause you all to die on the cross. [7:124]
(Pharaoh) said: Ye put your faith in him before I give you leave. Lo! he doubtless is your chief who taught you magic! But verily ye shall come to know. Verily I will cut off your hands and your feet alternately, and verily I will crucify you every one. [26:49]
(Pharaoh) said: "Believe ye in Him before I give you permission? Surely this must be your leader, who has taught you magic! be sure I will cut off your hands and feet on opposite sides, and I will have you crucified on trunks of palm-trees: so shall ye know for certain, which of us can give the more severe and the more lasting punishment!" [20:71]
The Qur'an also supplies a very important piece of information concerning the Pharaoh. The Pharaoh is addressed as the Lord of the Stakes.
Before them (were many who) rejected apostles,- the people of Noah, and `Ad, and Pharaoh, the Lord of Stakes... [38:12]
Seest thou not how thy Lord dealt with the `Ad (people),-Of the (city of) Iram, with lofty pillars, The like of which were not produced in (all) the land? And with the Thamud (people), who cut out (huge) rocks in the valley? And with Pharaoh, Lord of Stakes? (All) these transgressed beyond bounds in the lands, And heaped therein mischief (on mischief). [89:6-12]
A key tool of Qur'anic exegesis is the internal relationships between material in different parts of the Qur'an, expressed by Qur'anic scholars as: al-Qur'an yufassiru ba`duhu ba`dan, i.e., different parts of the Qur'an explain each other. In other words, what is given in a general way in one place is explained in detail in another place. What is given briefly in one place is expanded in another.
Using this principle, we can see that the Pharaoh, who is addressed as the Lord of Stakes, perhaps used stakes for crucifying people. Also why is the Pharaoh called the Lord of the Stakes in the Qur'an? Was it because he was the one who had the supreme authority over who meted out the punishment of crucifixion? Did the mutilation of a person precede his crucifixion? This is something that we would like to investigate in this essay.
2. What Is Crucifixion? What Is A Cross?
The terms 'Crucifixion' and 'Cross' are widely used but what do they really mean? In the sections which follow we shall attempt to define these terms as accurately and as concisely as possible. Although crucifixion did not originate with the Romans, many reference works tend to discuss only the Roman method of crucifixion used in the time of Christ. To avoid such a limited understanding, numerous references were consulted in order establish the correct meaning and interpretation of these terms.
WHAT IS CRUCIFIXION?
Crucifixion is the act of nailing, binding or impaling a living victim or sometimes a dead person to a cross, stake or tree whether for executing the body or for exposing the corpse. Crucifixion was commonly practiced from the 6th century BCE until the 4th century CE, when it was finally abolished in 337 CE by Constantine I. It was intended to serve as both a severe punishment and a frightful deterrent to others and was unanimously considered the most horrible form of death.
The Oxford Companion to the Bible defines "Crucifixion" as:
The act of nailing or binding a person to a cross or tree, whether for executing or for exposing the corpse.[1]
Similarly, the Anchor Bible Dictionary defines "Crucifixion" as:
The act of nailing or binding a living victim or sometimes a dead person to a cross or stake (stauros or skolops) or a tree (xylon).[2]
This is completely opposite to the Christian missionary Vargo's definition of crucifixion, who claimed that it is a method of "putting a living person on a cross in order to kill him".
The New Catholic Encyclopaedia defines "Crucifixion" as:
Crucifixion developed from a method of execution by which the victim was fastened to an upright stake either by impaling him on it or by tying him to it with thongs... From this form of execution developed crucifixion in the strict sense, whereby the outstretched arms of the victim were tied or nailed to a crossbeam (patibulum), which was then laid in a groove across the top or suspended by means of a notch in the side of an upright stake that was always left in position at the site of execution.[3]
And in discussing the Christian belief in the crucifixion of Christ, Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary defines "Crucifixion" as:
the method of torture and execution used by the Romans to put Christ to death. At a crucifixion the victim usually was nailed or tied to a wooden stake and left to die...
Crucifixion involved attaching the victim with nails through the wrists or with leather thongs to a crossbeam attached to a vertical stake...[4]
WHAT IS A CROSS?
The word cross is the translation of the Greek stauros. The cross (Greek stauros; Latin crux) was originally a single upright stake or post upon which the victim was either tied, nailed or impaled. Regarding the meaning of this word Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary defines the "Cross" as:
an upright wooden stake or post on which Jesus was executed... the Greek word for cross referred primarily to a pointed stake used in rows to form the walls of a defensive stockade.[5]
Vine's Expository Dictionary Of New Testament Words defines the Greek word stauros as:
Stauros denotes, primarily, "an upright pale or stake." On such malefactors were nailed for execution...
The method of execution was borrowed by the Greeks and Romans from the Phoenicians. The stauros denotes (a) "the cross, or stake itself," e.g., Matt. 27:32; (b) "the crucifixion suffered," e.g., 1 Cor. 1:17,18, where "the word of the cross," RV, stands for the Gospel; Gal. 5:11, where crucifixion is metaphorically used of the renunciation of the world, that characterizes the true Christian life; Gal. 6:12,14; Eph. 2:16; Phil. 3:18.[6]
According to A Dictionary of Bible, Dealing With Its Language, Literature And Contents, Including The Biblical Theology, in New Testament usage the word stauros seems only to refer the true "cross":
[Stauros] means properly a stake, and is the tr. [i.e., translation] not merely of the Latin crux (cross), but of palus (stake) as well. As used in NT, however, it refers evidently not to the simple stake used for impaling, of which widespread punishment crucifixion was a refinement, but to the more elaborate cross used by the Romans in the time of Christ.[7]
The opinion is that the New Testament usage of stauros refers only to the true "cross" is not strictly true. The term stauros actually has a much wider application, being used to refer to both a single stake and a crossbeam. In Hastings' Dictionary Of The Bible he states:
The Greek term rendered 'cross' in the English NT is stauros (stauroo = 'crucify'), which has a wider application than we ordinarily give to 'cross' being used of a single stake or upright beam as well as of a cross composed of two beams.[8]
In New Testament usage stauros primarily refers to an upright stake or beam used as an instrument for punishment:
The Greek word for 'cross' (stauros; verb stauroo; Latin crux, crucifigo, 'I fasten to the cross') means primarily an upright stake or beam, and secondarily a stake used as an instrument for punishment and execution. It is used in this latter sense in the New Testament.[9]
The word stauros had at least three different meanings in the New Testament alone. The plank which supports the arms of the victim (patibulum in Latin) was itself called stauros (Luke 23:26); the stake or tree trunk on which the patibulum was nailed was also called stauros (John 19:19); and the whole complex together (patibulum and stake) was also called stauros (John 19:25).[10]
The Catholic Encyclopaedia (under "Archaeology of the Cross and Crucifix") mentions that a primitive form of crucifixion on trees had long been in use, and that such a tree was also known as a cross:
The penalty of the cross goes back probably to the arbor infelix, or unhappy tree, spoken of by Cicero (Pro, Rabir., iii sqq.) and by Livy, apropos of the condemnation of Horatius after the murder of his sister. According to Hüschke (Die Multa, 190) the magistrates known as duoviri perduellionis pronounced this penalty (cf. Liv., I, 266), styled also infelix lignem (Senec., Ep. ci; Plin., XVI, xxvi; XXIV, ix; Macrob., II, xvi). This primitive form of crucifixion on trees was long in use, as Justus Lipsius notes ("De cruce", I, ii, 5; Tert., "Apol.", VIII, xvi; and "Martyrol. Paphnut." 25 Sept.). Such a tree was known as a cross (crux). On an ancient vase we see Prometheus bound to a beam which serves the purpose of a cross. A somewhat different form is seen on an ancient cist at Prneste (Palestrina), upon which Andromeda is represented nude, and bound by the feet to an instrument of punishment like a military yoke – i.e. two parallel, perpendicular stakes, surmounted by a transverse bar. Certain it is, at any rate, that the cross originally consisted of a simple vertical pole, sharpened at its upper end. Mcenas (Seneca, Epist. xvii, 1, 10) calls it acuta crux; it could also be called crux simplex. To this upright pole a transverse bar was afterwards added to which the sufferer was fastened with nails or cords, and thus remained until he died, whence the expression cruci figere or affigere (Tac., "Ann.", XV, xliv; Potron., "Satyr.", iii)...
ORIGINS OF THE ENGLISH WORDS "CRUCIFIXION" & "CROSS"
The Greek word for cross stauros (Latin crux) refers primarily to an upright stake or pole.[11] The noun "crucifixion" does not occur in the New Testament, but the corresponding verb "to crucify" appears frequently.[12] In Classical Greek usage the root verb stauroo actually means "to impale" or "to fence with pales" (Liddell-Scott-Jones Lexicon of Classical Greek). However, there appears to be no common word for the "cross" in the Greek, as the word crux (cross) is Latin. The Concise Dictionary Of The Bible states under "Cross":
Except the Latin crux there was no word definitively and invariably applied to this instrument of punishment [i.e. cross].[13]
Concerning the origin of the Latin crux Merriam-Webster's Word Histories states:
..the Latin noun crux 'cross, gibbet' was taken into Old French as crois and into Spanish as cruz...
The original sense of crux in classical Latin was an instrument of torture, whether gibbet, cross, or stake. By extension it meant 'torture, trouble, misery'. With this in mind, English borrowed crux in the sense of 'a puzzling or difficult problem'. From this sense developed its use for 'an essential point requiring resolution', as in "the crux of a problem," and the sense of 'a main or central feature', as in "the crux of an argument."[14]
Lewis & Short Latin Dictionary also mentions the same meanings:
a tree, frame, or other wooden instruments of execution on which criminals were impaled or hanged.[15]
Furthermore, the word crux is the core of several English words including "crucifixion":
The Latin crux is also the core of the English words crucial, crucifix, crucifixion, cruciform, crucify, and excruciating. The English cross derives from crux through either Old Irish or Old Norse. The English cruise also derives from crux, which became crucen 'to make a cross' in Middle Dutch and kruisen 'to sail crossing to and fro' in Modern Dutch before being borrowed into English in the seventeenth century.[16]
SUMMARY
Crucifixion is the act of nailing, binding or impaling a living victim or sometimes a dead person to a cross, stake or a tree, whether for executing the body or for exposing the corpse. Crucifixion was intended to serve as both a severe punishment and a frightful deterrent to others. It was unanimously considered the most horrible form of death. The procedure of crucifixion was subject to wide variation according to the whim of the executioner, but victims were often executed by being impaled on a stake.
The cross (Greek stauros; Latin crux) was originally a single upright stake or post upon which the victim was either tied, nailed or impaled. This simple cross was later modified when horizontal crossbeams of various types were added. Scholars are not certain when a crossbeam was added to the simple stake, but even in the Roman period the cross would at times only consist of a single vertical stake.
From ancient Greek and Roman writers (such as Herodotus and Seneca) we learn of several forms of crucifixion. Some forms being impalement rather than what we would today describe as crucifixion.[17] In many cases, especially during the Roman period, the execution stake became a vertical pole with a horizontal crossbar placed at some point, and although the period of time at which this happened is uncertain, what is known is that this simple impalement became known as crucifixion. Whether the victim was tied, nailed or impaled to the stake, the same Greek words were still used to described the procedure.
Although in New Testament usage the Greek word stauros (cross) is said to refer to a crossbeam, the term actually has a much wider application, being used to refer to both a single stake and a crossbeam. The four most popular representations of the cross are: (i) crux simplex |, a "single piece without transom"; (ii) crux decussata X, or St. Andrew's cross; (iii) crux commissa T, or St. Anthony's cross; and (iv) crux immisaa or Latin cross upon which Jesus was allegedly crucified.[18]
A primitive form of crucifixion on trees had long been in use, and such a tree was also known as a cross (crux). Different ideas also prevailed concerning the material form of the cross, and it seems that the word had been frequently used in a broad sense. The Latin word crux was applied to the simple pole, and indicated directly the nature and purpose of this instrument, being derived from the verb crucio, "to torment", "to torture." The practice of crucifixion was finally abolished in 337 by Constantine I out of respect for Jesus Christ, whom he believed died on the cross.
3. Crucifixion In Egypt
According to some people, their evidence that the Qur'an is in error when it mentions crucifixion in Egypt is based on "archaeology and history". If one reads their material, it is neither based on any archaeological evidence nor any historical investigation! Another example of the missionary's unparalleled arrogance about the historical investigation on this issue can be seen here and here. So much for their "crucifiction" theories!
Rather ironically, those have even managed to misrepresent the evidence used to forward their own "facts". Those, referring to the famous Encyclopaedia Britannica, proclaimed they were providing "one authoritative reference":
Crucifixion, an important method of capital punishment, particularly among the Persians, Seleucids, Jews, Carthaginians, and Romans [was practiced] from about the 6th century BC to the 4th century AD. Constantine the Great, the first Christian emperor, abolished it in the Roman Empire in AD 337, out of veneration for Jesus Christ, the most famous victim of crucifixion. ... [The earliest recording of a crucifixion was] in 519 BC [when] Darius I, king of Persia, crucified 3,000 political opponents in Babylon.
By the use of [] brackets, those hoped to convey that the first recorded incidence of crucifixion was in 519 BCE during the reign of Darius I, King of Persia. All they managed to convey however was their own distortion of source material. Let us see what Encyclopedia Britannica actually says:
an important method of capital punishment, particularly among the Persians, Seleucids, Carthaginians, and Romans from about the 6th century BC to the 4th century AD. Constantine the Great, the first Christian emperor, abolished it in the Roman Empire in AD 337, out of veneration for Jesus Christ, the most famous victim of crucifixion. ... In 519 BC Darius I, king of Persia, crucified 3,000 political opponents in Babylon.[19]
So this "one authoritative reference" championed by those turns out to be a reference to their own misunderstanding and distortion. Now that it is abundantly clear that Encyclopaedia Britannica does not provide information in relation to the first recorded instances of crucifixion in world history, let us now deal with the issue of crucifixion in Egypt using the information obtained from Egyptology.
Written by muslimway.org
1. Introduction
It has been claimed by some people that the Qur'an is in error when it mentions crucifixion as a form of punishment in Egypt. They say:
We have, however, no record that Egyptians used crucifixion as punishment in the time of Moses (1450 BC, conservative date; 1200 BC at the latest) or even Joseph (1880 BC, conservative date). Crucifixion only becomes a punishment much later in history and then first in another culture before it has been taken over by the Egyptians. Such threats by a Pharaoh at these times are historically inaccurate.
The Qur'an talks about crucifixion as a method of punishment in Egypt during the time of Joseph and Moses. In the story of Joseph, Joseph interprets the dream of his companion in the prison and says:
O my two companions of the prison! As to one of you, he will pour out the wine for his lord to drink: and as for the other, he will be crucified, and the birds will eat from his head. Thus is the case judged concerning which you both did enquire. [12:41]
As for the mention of crucifixion in the time of Moses, when the Pharaoh's magicians believed in the message of Moses, the Pharaoh threatened them by saying:
Be sure I will cut off your hands and your feet on apposite sides, and I will cause you all to die on the cross. [7:124]
(Pharaoh) said: Ye put your faith in him before I give you leave. Lo! he doubtless is your chief who taught you magic! But verily ye shall come to know. Verily I will cut off your hands and your feet alternately, and verily I will crucify you every one. [26:49]
(Pharaoh) said: "Believe ye in Him before I give you permission? Surely this must be your leader, who has taught you magic! be sure I will cut off your hands and feet on opposite sides, and I will have you crucified on trunks of palm-trees: so shall ye know for certain, which of us can give the more severe and the more lasting punishment!" [20:71]
The Qur'an also supplies a very important piece of information concerning the Pharaoh. The Pharaoh is addressed as the Lord of the Stakes.
Before them (were many who) rejected apostles,- the people of Noah, and `Ad, and Pharaoh, the Lord of Stakes... [38:12]
Seest thou not how thy Lord dealt with the `Ad (people),-Of the (city of) Iram, with lofty pillars, The like of which were not produced in (all) the land? And with the Thamud (people), who cut out (huge) rocks in the valley? And with Pharaoh, Lord of Stakes? (All) these transgressed beyond bounds in the lands, And heaped therein mischief (on mischief). [89:6-12]
A key tool of Qur'anic exegesis is the internal relationships between material in different parts of the Qur'an, expressed by Qur'anic scholars as: al-Qur'an yufassiru ba`duhu ba`dan, i.e., different parts of the Qur'an explain each other. In other words, what is given in a general way in one place is explained in detail in another place. What is given briefly in one place is expanded in another.
Using this principle, we can see that the Pharaoh, who is addressed as the Lord of Stakes, perhaps used stakes for crucifying people. Also why is the Pharaoh called the Lord of the Stakes in the Qur'an? Was it because he was the one who had the supreme authority over who meted out the punishment of crucifixion? Did the mutilation of a person precede his crucifixion? This is something that we would like to investigate in this essay.
2. What Is Crucifixion? What Is A Cross?
The terms 'Crucifixion' and 'Cross' are widely used but what do they really mean? In the sections which follow we shall attempt to define these terms as accurately and as concisely as possible. Although crucifixion did not originate with the Romans, many reference works tend to discuss only the Roman method of crucifixion used in the time of Christ. To avoid such a limited understanding, numerous references were consulted in order establish the correct meaning and interpretation of these terms.
WHAT IS CRUCIFIXION?
Crucifixion is the act of nailing, binding or impaling a living victim or sometimes a dead person to a cross, stake or tree whether for executing the body or for exposing the corpse. Crucifixion was commonly practiced from the 6th century BCE until the 4th century CE, when it was finally abolished in 337 CE by Constantine I. It was intended to serve as both a severe punishment and a frightful deterrent to others and was unanimously considered the most horrible form of death.
The Oxford Companion to the Bible defines "Crucifixion" as:
The act of nailing or binding a person to a cross or tree, whether for executing or for exposing the corpse.[1]
Similarly, the Anchor Bible Dictionary defines "Crucifixion" as:
The act of nailing or binding a living victim or sometimes a dead person to a cross or stake (stauros or skolops) or a tree (xylon).[2]
This is completely opposite to the Christian missionary Vargo's definition of crucifixion, who claimed that it is a method of "putting a living person on a cross in order to kill him".
The New Catholic Encyclopaedia defines "Crucifixion" as:
Crucifixion developed from a method of execution by which the victim was fastened to an upright stake either by impaling him on it or by tying him to it with thongs... From this form of execution developed crucifixion in the strict sense, whereby the outstretched arms of the victim were tied or nailed to a crossbeam (patibulum), which was then laid in a groove across the top or suspended by means of a notch in the side of an upright stake that was always left in position at the site of execution.[3]
And in discussing the Christian belief in the crucifixion of Christ, Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary defines "Crucifixion" as:
the method of torture and execution used by the Romans to put Christ to death. At a crucifixion the victim usually was nailed or tied to a wooden stake and left to die...
Crucifixion involved attaching the victim with nails through the wrists or with leather thongs to a crossbeam attached to a vertical stake...[4]
WHAT IS A CROSS?
The word cross is the translation of the Greek stauros. The cross (Greek stauros; Latin crux) was originally a single upright stake or post upon which the victim was either tied, nailed or impaled. Regarding the meaning of this word Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary defines the "Cross" as:
an upright wooden stake or post on which Jesus was executed... the Greek word for cross referred primarily to a pointed stake used in rows to form the walls of a defensive stockade.[5]
Vine's Expository Dictionary Of New Testament Words defines the Greek word stauros as:
Stauros denotes, primarily, "an upright pale or stake." On such malefactors were nailed for execution...
The method of execution was borrowed by the Greeks and Romans from the Phoenicians. The stauros denotes (a) "the cross, or stake itself," e.g., Matt. 27:32; (b) "the crucifixion suffered," e.g., 1 Cor. 1:17,18, where "the word of the cross," RV, stands for the Gospel; Gal. 5:11, where crucifixion is metaphorically used of the renunciation of the world, that characterizes the true Christian life; Gal. 6:12,14; Eph. 2:16; Phil. 3:18.[6]
According to A Dictionary of Bible, Dealing With Its Language, Literature And Contents, Including The Biblical Theology, in New Testament usage the word stauros seems only to refer the true "cross":
[Stauros] means properly a stake, and is the tr. [i.e., translation] not merely of the Latin crux (cross), but of palus (stake) as well. As used in NT, however, it refers evidently not to the simple stake used for impaling, of which widespread punishment crucifixion was a refinement, but to the more elaborate cross used by the Romans in the time of Christ.[7]
The opinion is that the New Testament usage of stauros refers only to the true "cross" is not strictly true. The term stauros actually has a much wider application, being used to refer to both a single stake and a crossbeam. In Hastings' Dictionary Of The Bible he states:
The Greek term rendered 'cross' in the English NT is stauros (stauroo = 'crucify'), which has a wider application than we ordinarily give to 'cross' being used of a single stake or upright beam as well as of a cross composed of two beams.[8]
In New Testament usage stauros primarily refers to an upright stake or beam used as an instrument for punishment:
The Greek word for 'cross' (stauros; verb stauroo; Latin crux, crucifigo, 'I fasten to the cross') means primarily an upright stake or beam, and secondarily a stake used as an instrument for punishment and execution. It is used in this latter sense in the New Testament.[9]
The word stauros had at least three different meanings in the New Testament alone. The plank which supports the arms of the victim (patibulum in Latin) was itself called stauros (Luke 23:26); the stake or tree trunk on which the patibulum was nailed was also called stauros (John 19:19); and the whole complex together (patibulum and stake) was also called stauros (John 19:25).[10]
The Catholic Encyclopaedia (under "Archaeology of the Cross and Crucifix") mentions that a primitive form of crucifixion on trees had long been in use, and that such a tree was also known as a cross:
The penalty of the cross goes back probably to the arbor infelix, or unhappy tree, spoken of by Cicero (Pro, Rabir., iii sqq.) and by Livy, apropos of the condemnation of Horatius after the murder of his sister. According to Hüschke (Die Multa, 190) the magistrates known as duoviri perduellionis pronounced this penalty (cf. Liv., I, 266), styled also infelix lignem (Senec., Ep. ci; Plin., XVI, xxvi; XXIV, ix; Macrob., II, xvi). This primitive form of crucifixion on trees was long in use, as Justus Lipsius notes ("De cruce", I, ii, 5; Tert., "Apol.", VIII, xvi; and "Martyrol. Paphnut." 25 Sept.). Such a tree was known as a cross (crux). On an ancient vase we see Prometheus bound to a beam which serves the purpose of a cross. A somewhat different form is seen on an ancient cist at Prneste (Palestrina), upon which Andromeda is represented nude, and bound by the feet to an instrument of punishment like a military yoke – i.e. two parallel, perpendicular stakes, surmounted by a transverse bar. Certain it is, at any rate, that the cross originally consisted of a simple vertical pole, sharpened at its upper end. Mcenas (Seneca, Epist. xvii, 1, 10) calls it acuta crux; it could also be called crux simplex. To this upright pole a transverse bar was afterwards added to which the sufferer was fastened with nails or cords, and thus remained until he died, whence the expression cruci figere or affigere (Tac., "Ann.", XV, xliv; Potron., "Satyr.", iii)...
ORIGINS OF THE ENGLISH WORDS "CRUCIFIXION" & "CROSS"
The Greek word for cross stauros (Latin crux) refers primarily to an upright stake or pole.[11] The noun "crucifixion" does not occur in the New Testament, but the corresponding verb "to crucify" appears frequently.[12] In Classical Greek usage the root verb stauroo actually means "to impale" or "to fence with pales" (Liddell-Scott-Jones Lexicon of Classical Greek). However, there appears to be no common word for the "cross" in the Greek, as the word crux (cross) is Latin. The Concise Dictionary Of The Bible states under "Cross":
Except the Latin crux there was no word definitively and invariably applied to this instrument of punishment [i.e. cross].[13]
Concerning the origin of the Latin crux Merriam-Webster's Word Histories states:
..the Latin noun crux 'cross, gibbet' was taken into Old French as crois and into Spanish as cruz...
The original sense of crux in classical Latin was an instrument of torture, whether gibbet, cross, or stake. By extension it meant 'torture, trouble, misery'. With this in mind, English borrowed crux in the sense of 'a puzzling or difficult problem'. From this sense developed its use for 'an essential point requiring resolution', as in "the crux of a problem," and the sense of 'a main or central feature', as in "the crux of an argument."[14]
Lewis & Short Latin Dictionary also mentions the same meanings:
a tree, frame, or other wooden instruments of execution on which criminals were impaled or hanged.[15]
Furthermore, the word crux is the core of several English words including "crucifixion":
The Latin crux is also the core of the English words crucial, crucifix, crucifixion, cruciform, crucify, and excruciating. The English cross derives from crux through either Old Irish or Old Norse. The English cruise also derives from crux, which became crucen 'to make a cross' in Middle Dutch and kruisen 'to sail crossing to and fro' in Modern Dutch before being borrowed into English in the seventeenth century.[16]
SUMMARY
Crucifixion is the act of nailing, binding or impaling a living victim or sometimes a dead person to a cross, stake or a tree, whether for executing the body or for exposing the corpse. Crucifixion was intended to serve as both a severe punishment and a frightful deterrent to others. It was unanimously considered the most horrible form of death. The procedure of crucifixion was subject to wide variation according to the whim of the executioner, but victims were often executed by being impaled on a stake.
The cross (Greek stauros; Latin crux) was originally a single upright stake or post upon which the victim was either tied, nailed or impaled. This simple cross was later modified when horizontal crossbeams of various types were added. Scholars are not certain when a crossbeam was added to the simple stake, but even in the Roman period the cross would at times only consist of a single vertical stake.
From ancient Greek and Roman writers (such as Herodotus and Seneca) we learn of several forms of crucifixion. Some forms being impalement rather than what we would today describe as crucifixion.[17] In many cases, especially during the Roman period, the execution stake became a vertical pole with a horizontal crossbar placed at some point, and although the period of time at which this happened is uncertain, what is known is that this simple impalement became known as crucifixion. Whether the victim was tied, nailed or impaled to the stake, the same Greek words were still used to described the procedure.
Although in New Testament usage the Greek word stauros (cross) is said to refer to a crossbeam, the term actually has a much wider application, being used to refer to both a single stake and a crossbeam. The four most popular representations of the cross are: (i) crux simplex |, a "single piece without transom"; (ii) crux decussata X, or St. Andrew's cross; (iii) crux commissa T, or St. Anthony's cross; and (iv) crux immisaa or Latin cross upon which Jesus was allegedly crucified.[18]
A primitive form of crucifixion on trees had long been in use, and such a tree was also known as a cross (crux). Different ideas also prevailed concerning the material form of the cross, and it seems that the word had been frequently used in a broad sense. The Latin word crux was applied to the simple pole, and indicated directly the nature and purpose of this instrument, being derived from the verb crucio, "to torment", "to torture." The practice of crucifixion was finally abolished in 337 by Constantine I out of respect for Jesus Christ, whom he believed died on the cross.
3. Crucifixion In Egypt
According to some people, their evidence that the Qur'an is in error when it mentions crucifixion in Egypt is based on "archaeology and history". If one reads their material, it is neither based on any archaeological evidence nor any historical investigation! Another example of the missionary's unparalleled arrogance about the historical investigation on this issue can be seen here and here. So much for their "crucifiction" theories!
Rather ironically, those have even managed to misrepresent the evidence used to forward their own "facts". Those, referring to the famous Encyclopaedia Britannica, proclaimed they were providing "one authoritative reference":
Crucifixion, an important method of capital punishment, particularly among the Persians, Seleucids, Jews, Carthaginians, and Romans [was practiced] from about the 6th century BC to the 4th century AD. Constantine the Great, the first Christian emperor, abolished it in the Roman Empire in AD 337, out of veneration for Jesus Christ, the most famous victim of crucifixion. ... [The earliest recording of a crucifixion was] in 519 BC [when] Darius I, king of Persia, crucified 3,000 political opponents in Babylon.
By the use of [] brackets, those hoped to convey that the first recorded incidence of crucifixion was in 519 BCE during the reign of Darius I, King of Persia. All they managed to convey however was their own distortion of source material. Let us see what Encyclopedia Britannica actually says:
an important method of capital punishment, particularly among the Persians, Seleucids, Carthaginians, and Romans from about the 6th century BC to the 4th century AD. Constantine the Great, the first Christian emperor, abolished it in the Roman Empire in AD 337, out of veneration for Jesus Christ, the most famous victim of crucifixion. ... In 519 BC Darius I, king of Persia, crucified 3,000 political opponents in Babylon.[19]
So this "one authoritative reference" championed by those turns out to be a reference to their own misunderstanding and distortion. Now that it is abundantly clear that Encyclopaedia Britannica does not provide information in relation to the first recorded instances of crucifixion in world history, let us now deal with the issue of crucifixion in Egypt using the information obtained from Egyptology.