Execution By Molten Gold Is Even Worse Than Game of Thrones
“Death is probably mediated by the development of steam and consequent thermal injury to the airways,”
In Game of Thrones, a universally unliked and hated character is killed by molten gold. The man begged for a crown, and he is quite literally given one in a symbolic death.
But execution by molten gold has a long history. The Journal of Clinical Pathology notes the Jivaro tribe of present-day Ecuador once poured gold down the throat of a hated Spanish governor in 1599, who taxed the tribe unfairly and heavily for the gold trade. The man’s internal organs burst in a symbolic killing of justice.
But this was not the first instance of pouring gold down someone’s throat. All were just as symbolic as the character in Game of Thrones or the Spanish governor in Ecuador.
Here are several other detailed instances of execution by molten metal:
Inalchuq
The Dothraki in the show are thought to be based on the Mongols, and Genghis Khan famously killed a man in a similar manner. According to blogger Meghan Masterson, Khan felt insulted by a man who looted and attacked his trade caravan and killed his ambassadors. After first extending an olive branch, he…
