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Assyrians liked to pile heads ... very effective psychologically I felled 3,000 of their fighting men with the sword. I carried off prisoners, possessions,
by waynecochran 6y ago
Assyrians liked to pile heads ... very effective psychologically
I felled 3,000 of their fighting men with the sword. I carried off prisoners, possessions, oxen, [and] cattle from them. I burnt many captives from them. I captured many troops alive: from some I cut off their arms [and] hands; from others I cut off their noses, ears, [and] extremities. I gouged out the eyes of many troops. I made one pile of the living (and) one of heads. I hung their heads on trees around the city, I burnt their adolescent boys [and] girls. I razed, destroyed, burnt, [and] consumed the city.
— Ashurnasirpal II
- 082349872349872 6y agoAn (apocryphal!) recent Linear-A decrypt says: "Optimists learn egyptian. Pessimists learn assyrian. Realists learn horsemanship."
- hindsightbias 6y agoUpon the capture of Jerusalem in the first crusade, they did not discriminate between Muslim and Jew: “But now that our men had possession of the walls and towers, wonderful sights were to be seen. Some of our men (and this was more merciful) cut off the heads of their enemies; others shot them with arrows, so that they fell from the towers; others tortured them longer by casting them into the flames. Piles of heads, hands, and feet were to be seen in the streets of the city. It was necessary to pick one's way over the bodies of men and horses. But these were small matters compared to what happened at the Temple of Solomon, a place where religious services are ordinarily chanted. What happened there? If I tell the truth, it will exceed your powers of belief. So let it suffice to say this much, at least, that in the Temple and porch of Solomon, men rode in blood up to their knees and bridle reins.”