Hi Derek,

I don´t think an "entire cross" could be carried by most victims, at least not one involving such a long upright as obviously was used when Jesus was killed. His feet must have been fixed to it at least some half meter above ground since "a stalk of the hyssop plant" (John 19:29, NIV) was needed lift up the sponge to his lips. If the upright had been carried to the scene, most likely it must have been driven into the ground, demanding an even bigger log. If the log did not have a cross-beam attached to it, like the Wt. Society holds, it must then have been even more gigantic, since Jesus´hands must then have been suspended above his head on the log, with extra space for a rather big piece for a message in three languages. And this was before the age of glasses and the Romans wanted everyone to be able to read it, so as to be deterred.

It is not likely that Jesus could have carried such a log, regardless of what kind of tree it represented. Many years ago I discussed this with a friend who worked with wood. He felt he was not up to carrying such a log some significant distance even though he was fairly fit. The log needed not be as long if a transverse piece was added, but the entire instrument would probably be heavier rather than lighter.

In his book THE CRUCIFIXION OF JESUS A FORENSIC INQUIRY (2005) , Dr. Frederick T. Zugibe mentioned that the wood connected to the heel of the crucified victim found in 1969-1970 could be olive. Occasionally, he stated, olive trees attain the height of 2-3 meters. He mentioned too that some studies of alleged relics of the "true cross" have concluded that the wood was pine.

The place of Jesus´crucifixion was close to a garden. (John 19:41). This lead Ernest L. Martin to conclude that Jesus as well as the other two victims were crucified on a living tree, having carried the patibulums to the scene. He claimed that they were nailed to the same tree on patibulums fixed to the tree on different levels. He found two circumstances fitting with this: (1) The word xylon meant not only dead wood but also living trees, and in Acts and other places in the NT the instrument is called xylon (2) In John 19:31 it is said, not that the bodies must not be left on "the crosses" (plural) during the sabbath, but on "the cross" (singular as in NASB).

That of course would mean that Jesus still died on a cross rather than on a simple pole.

Crucifixion was a barbaric punishment. Former times were not so good.

Regards
Rud