ANSWERS: 22
  • it only hurts if the blade is very dull.
  • Not for long. ^_^
  • Yes. Oftentimes they had to do it over and over again until the head was finally removed.
  • Yes, and lonely too, because you don't have any body;)
  • 1) Not much. But having yourself beheaded, sure. 2) "If the headsman's axe or sword was sharp and his aim was true, decapitation was a quick and thought to be a relatively painless form of death. If the instrument was blunt or the executioner clumsy, however, multiple strokes might be required to sever the head. The person to be executed was therefore advised to give a gold coin to the headsman so that he did his job with care. Not getting their proper money's worth, Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex and Mary I of Scotland required three strikes at their respective executions." " The aim [of the Guillotine] was to create a painless and quick form of execution that did not require great skill to carry out. " Source and further information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beheading#Painless 3) it depends if you are dying in the process, and if you are concious: Further information: Head transplant: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Head_transplant Whole-body transplant or Brain transplant: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whole-body_transplant
  • I am sure it does, but, if it is done cleanly, the sudden blood loss means immediate loss of consciousness. ALthough there are stories of decapitated heads speaking, it seems that they are apocryphal, though it is unknown if the eyes can continue to take in visual images. Here is something I found on a site concerning legal beheadings: Historical background. Beheading with a sword or axe goes back a very long way in history, because like hanging, it was a cheap and practical method of execution in early times when a sword or an axe was always readily available. The Greeks and the Romans considered beheading a less dishonourable (and less painful) form of execution than other methods in use at the time. The Roman Empire used beheading for its own citizens whilst crucifying others. Beheading was widely used in Europe and Asia until the 20th century, but now is confined to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Yemen and Iran. One man was reportedly beheaded in Iran in 2003 – the first for many years. It remains a lawful method in the other two countries, although no executions by this method have been reported. Beheading was used in Britain up to 1747 (see below) and was the standard method in Norway (abolished 1905), Sweden (up to 1903), Denmark and Holland (abolished 1870), and was used for some classes of prisoners in France (up until the introduction of the guillotine in 1792) and in Germany up to 1938. China also used it widely, until the communists came to power and replaced it with shooting in the 20th century. Japan too used beheading up to the end of the 19th century prior to turning to hanging. Saudi Arabia - beheading in the 21st century. Saudi Arabia uses public beheading as the punishment for murder, rape, drug trafficking, sodomy, armed robbery, apostasy and certain other offences. Forty five men and 2 women were beheaded in 2002, a further 52 men and 1 woman in 2003 and 35 men and a woman in 2004. Executions rose in 2005 with 88 men and 2 women being beheaded and then reduced to 35 men and four women in 2006. The condemned of both sexes are given tranquillisers and then taken by police van to a public square or a car park after midday prayers. Their eyes are covered and they are blindfolded. The police clear the square of traffic and a sheet of blue plastic sheet about 16 feet square is laid out on the ground. Dressed in their own clothes, barefoot, with shackled feet and hands cuffed behind their back, the prisoner is led by a police officer to the centre of the sheet where they are made to kneel facing Mecca. An Interior Ministry official reads out the prisoner's name and crime to the crowd. Saudi Arabia uses a traditional Arab scimitar which is 1000-1100 mm long. The executioner is handed the sword by a policeman and raises the gleaming scimitar, often swinging it two or three times in the air to warm up his arm muscles, before approaching the prisoner from behind and jabbing him in the back with the tip of the blade, causing the person to raise their head. (see photo) Then with a single swing of the sword the prisoner is decapitated. Normally it takes just one swing of the sword to sever the head, often sending it flying some two or three feet. Paramedics bring the head to a doctor, who uses a gloved hand to stop the fountain of blood spurting from the neck. The doctor sews the head back on, and the body is wrapped in the blue plastic sheet and taken away in an ambulance. Burial takes place in an unmarked grave in the prison cemetery. Beheadings of women did not start until the early 1990’s, previously they were shot. Forty women have been publicly beheaded up to the end of 2006. Most executions take place in the three major cities of Riyadh, Jeddah and Dahran. Saudi executioners take great pride in their work and the post tends to be handed down from one generation to the next. The cause of death. Beheading is effective and is probably as humane as any other modern method if carried out correctly. When a single blow is sufficient to decapitate the prisoner, they lose consciousness within a few seconds. They die from shock and anoxia due to haemorrhage and loss of blood pressure within less than 60 seconds. However, because the muscles and vertebrae of the neck are tough, decapitation may require more than one blow. Death occurs due to separation of the brain and spinal cord, after the transection (cutting through) of the surrounding tissues. Consciousness is probably lost within 2-3 seconds, due to a rapid fall of the “intracranial perfusion of blood" (blood supply to the brain). It has often been reported that the eyes and mouths of people beheaded have shown signs of movement. It has been calculated that the human brain has enough oxygen stored for metabolism to persist about 7 seconds after the head is cut off. http://www.richard.clark32.btinternet.co.uk/behead.html While in legal beheadings, at least some effort is made to prevent undue pain, in illegal beheadings, none of the niceties occur. I will never forget being one of the first people in the world to receive the autopsy photographs from Indonesia of three Christian school girls beheaded by Islamic militants on their way to school in 2005. One little teenager survived, but with horrific injuries. They weren't quite effective enough at cutting her head off, but she will never be the same. I think it must have hurt these girls. see http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/schoolgirls-beheaded-in-grisly-indonesian-attack/2005/10/29/1130400398091.html
  • If you have it done right i would say no
  • no it is so fast and clean it cant
  • I'd hafta guess there'd be a moment of pain, however short, aside from the intense emotional anguish leading up to it.
  • I don't know if it hurts but I can tell you that for a few seconds after the head rolls onto the floor, it can still see its body.
  • Firstly they would be total mental anguish from the victim. This may or may not help to nulify the emotional experience. I.E acceptance or terror. In the latter case Adrenaline would be pumping hard so nerves and muscles would be taught and preped for the 'fight or flight'. Shackles are often used to disable the victim. Muscles taught would be hard and are tough, try cutting through a joint of beef with a knife, it needs to be really sharp. Also take into acount the tendons, blood vessels and bone-the neck may not seem very thick bit a lot of tissue, tendons, bone is concentrated in a small dense area. Cutting through this would require skill and a very, very sharp blade from a strong well made sword or guillotine. Poor pitted metal swords, rusty etc would not give a clean severence. You don't see medical staff using pitted, rusty scalpals do you? This leads up to the question: DOES IT HURT? The answer has to be yes, to a certain degree. A clean cut from a super maintained, sharp blade will sever the soft tissues, bone in one quick movement if the skill of the executioner is proficient. A good blade with a 'cack-handed' bloke on the end of it will give poor results. Shock, blood loss and a lack of oxygen will all kill the head quickly but there can be a fraction of a second when the person will feel something, pain or another sensation we can never be sure about...unless you wish to have a go yourself. There can never be a humane method in this or any form of exection when the intended victim is aware that he/she is about to die...the mental anguish must be awful. This is why it is not a punishment, but torture. Lock away and throw away the key by all means and let them rot in jail for murder/rape etc but not kill for the sake of revenge, which is what it is. If people kill then they should spend their lives locked up until they come out in a box...simple. They have forgone the right to live amongst civilised people...however civilised people don't strap down another human being and kill him, then go home for dinner. No matter what the law says.
  • what a dumb-ass question. I'm sure there are freaks out there who would love it if they could find someone to administer the blow.
  • i dont think u feel anything when u are beheaded a lot of people have said that
  • Only for a second
  • I doubt that anyone who has been beheaded has said it didn't hurt.
  • would you like to volunteer to tell us????????
  • Probably not if you give a good flogging beforehand. Then wallop it off in one clean wack. You should be fine. Just make sure you concentrate wilst the beheading is being exsecuted. Pun intended. Don't lose your head over it, that's the beheaded saps job
  • I have to guess here, but I would say yes until the brain was actually dead. There are 6 sets of cranial nerves covering the head. If they are severed, pain receptors in the brain are going to continue firing with or without a body.
  • i never know
  • Considering it ain't instant death (one account spoke of the head still reacting to a couple slap minutes later), I'd expect so.
  • I don't know. I've never been beheaded.😗
  • I bet those gruesome beheadings done by ISIS with a combat knife hurt like HELL for quite awhile before death occurred. I imagine the guillotine was so fast that it probably didn't hurt much.

Copyright 2023, Wired Ivy, LLC

Answerbag | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy