Was Jesus really nailed to the cross?

None of the Gospels in the New Testament mention whether Jesus was nailed or tied to the cross. However, the Gospel of John reports wounds in the risen Jesus's hands. 

WHAT WAS CRUCIFIXION? 

Crucifixion was a Roman method of punishment. 

Suspended from a large cross, a victim would eventually die from asphyxiation or exhaustion and it was long, drawn-out, and painful. 

The act was used to publicly humiliate slaves and criminals, as well as an execution method usually reserved for individuals of very low status or those whose crime was against the state.

This is the reason given in the Gospels for Jesus' crucifixion 

As King of the Jews, Jesus challenged Roman imperial supremacy (Matt 27:37; Mark 15:26; Luke 23:38; John 19:19–22).

Crucifixion could be carried out in a number of ways. 

In Christian tradition, nailing the limbs to the wood of the cross is assumed, with debate centring on whether nails would pierce hands or the more structurally sound wrists. 

But Romans did not always nail crucifixion victims to their crosses, and instead sometimes tied them in place with rope. 

In fact, the only archaeological evidence for the practice of nailing crucifixion victims is an ankle bone from the tomb of Jehohanan, a man executed in the first century CE.

It is this passage, perhaps, that has led to the overwhelming tradition that Jesus' hands and feet were nailed to the cross, rather than tied to it. 

The Gospel of Peter, a non-canonical gospel from the first or second century CE, specifically describes in verse 21 how after Jesus had died, the nails were removed from his hands. 

The Gospel of Peter also famously includes the cross itself as an active character in the Passion narrative. 

In verses 41-42 the cross speaks, responding with its own voice to God: 'And they were hearing a voice from the heavens saying, 'Have you made proclamation to the fallen-asleep?' And an obeisance was heard from the cross, 'Yes.' 

Tradition is clearly of paramount importance to this text.

Over the past few years, several people have claimed to have found the actual nails with which Jesus was crucified. 

Each time, biblical scholars and archaeologists have rightly pointed out the assumptions and misinterpretations of evidence behind these claims. 

Curiously, this fixation on the nails persists, despite the fact that the earliest gospels make no mention of Jesus being nailed to the cross. 

It isn't surprising that Christians took a while to embrace the image of Christ on the cross, given that crucifixion was a humiliating way to die. 

What is surprising is what the earliest image of the crucifixion turns out to be. 

Rather than the devotional icons with which we are familiar - pictures that glorify Jesus' death - this earliest image appears to be some late second-century graffiti mocking Christians. 

Called the Alexamenos Graffito, the image shows a figure with the head of a donkey on a cross with the words: 'Alexamenos worships his God.' 

The Gospel of Peter, a non-canonical gospel from the first or second century CE, specifically describes in verse 21 how after Jesus had died, the nails were removed from his hands. The Gospel of Peter also famously includes the cross itself as an active character in the Passion narrative

The earliest image of the crucifixion is 2nd Century graffiti called the Alexamenos Graffito (illustrated). It shows a figure with the head of a donkey on a cross with the words: 'Alexamenos worships his God.' Rather than the devotional icons, pictures that glorify Jesus' death, this image appears to mock Christians

This was apparently a common accusation in antiquity, as Minucius Felix (Octavius 9.3; 28.7) and Tertullian (Apology 16.12) both attest. 

Since the graffito was clearly not made by a Christian, this image suggests that non-Christians were familiar with some core elements of Christian belief as early as the second century.

Gemstones, some used for magical purposes, also provide some of our earliest depictions of the crucified Jesus. 

This second or third century piece of carved jasper depicts a man on a cross surrounded by magic words. 

Another very early image of the crucifixion is found carved into the face of a carnelian gemstone made into a ring.