The
Iron
Maiden


The Iron Maiden appears to be a 19th Century invention as no documented evidence has been found to suggest an earlier use of this device.



It is a sarcophagus shaped as a heavily cloaked body with the head of a young woman crowning the top as decoration. The inside of the maiden's body was fitted with nails or spikes that usually penetrated different parts of the body but avoided piercing any vital organs. The occupant was therefore kept alive, upright and suffering a slow agonising death, their screams unable to penetrate the thick walls of the cabinet.

Often these devices opened both front and back. Opening one side would leave the victim impaled in position, and when the door was once again closed the spikes would re-enter the body at the same points.

The most recent iron maiden find was in 2003 when such a device was found in the yard of the building occupied by Uday Hussein, the psychotic elder son of Iraq's deposed dictator, Sadam Hussein. It was clearly worn from use, its nails having lost some of their sharpness.

Uday was well known for his sadistic reign as Iraq's sports czar. In his capacity as head of Iraq's Olympic committee and also of its soccer federation, he is known to have ordered the torture of athletes who performed below his expectations.

A bad day on the field for a player on the national soccer squad could result in savage retribution: Players had their feet scalded and toenails ripped off for failing to win tournaments. Allegations of torture had even resulted in investigations by international sports governing bodies, most notably soccer's FIFA, but these had failed to produce conclusive evidence - hardly surprising, since no player would dare admit to suffering such abuse, for fear of even worse.



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