The Assyrians — The Appalling Lords of Torture
Impalement, flaying, and amputations were the trademark of the Assyrians
Assyrians created an enormous empire. They mastered the art of war. Unfortunately for their enemies, the Assyrians mastered also torture techniques. And they bragged about it!
The Assyrians depicted the torture in great detail on the walls of the imperial palaces. They created tablets containing every single punishment the Assyrian army carried out. They cut off the limbs, gouged out the eyes, and then left those poor victims to roam around. Those poor people serve as a living reminder of the Assyrians’ cruelty.
The Assyrians intentionally advertised their brutality as part of the psychological warfare.
The cruelty didn’t hurt only the enemies, the Assyrian soldiers suffered too. The soldiers were seeing and hearing the ghosts of the killed enemies. These were the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).