Scourge
A scourge is a whip or lash, especially a multi-thong type, used to inflict severe corporal punishment or self-mortification. It is usually made of leather.
Etymology
The word is most commonly considered to be derived from Old French escorgier - "to whip", going further back to the Vulgar Latin excorrigiare: the Latin prefix ex- "out, off" with its additional English meaning of "thoroughly", plus corrigia - "thong", or in this case "whip". Some connect it to, "to flay", built of two Latin parts, ex- and corium, "skin".Description
A scourge consists of a rope with metal balls, bones, and metal spikes.History
Symbol of Osiris
The scourge, or flail, and the crook are the two symbols of power and domination depicted in the hands of Osiris in Egyptian monuments. The shape of the flail or scourge is unchanged throughout history. However, when a scourge is described as a 'flail' as depicted in Egyptian mythology, it may be referring to use as an agricultural instrument. A flail's intended use was to thresh wheat, not to implement corporal punishment. However, it is now speculated to have been neither a whip nor a flail, but instead to be a symbolic representation of a device for collecting labdanum.Use by the priests of Cybele
The priests of Cybele scourged themselves and others. Such stripes were considered sacred.Flagellation of Jesus and other Roman uses
Hard material can be affixed to multiple thongs to give a flesh-tearing "bite". A scourge with these additions is called a scorpion. Scorpio is Latin for a Roman flagrum and is referred to in the Bible: 1 Kings 12:11: "...My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions" said Rehoboam, referring to increased conscription and taxation beyond Solomon's. The name testifies to the pain caused by the arachnid. Testifying to its frequent Roman application is the existence of the Latin words Flagrifer 'carrying a whip' and Flagritriba 'often-lashed slave'.According to the Gospel of John, Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judaea, ordered Jesus to be scourged before his crucifixion. Josephus records the scourging of Jesus ben Ananias, a Jew who repeatedly prophesized Jerusalem's impending destruction; after each lash, he declared "Woe to the Jerusalemites" and was ultimately released by procurator Albinus, who considered him a madman. In 66 AD, during the events leading up to the First Jewish–Roman War, Roman authorities under procurator Florus scourged and crucified many inhabitants of Jerusalem, including women and children. Later, in 71 AD, Simon bar Giora, a leader of the revolt, was scourged shortly before his execution on the Capitoline Hill, following his appearance in the Roman triumph celebrating the conquest of Jerusalem.
Image:Flagellants.png|thumb|right|Fifteenth-century woodcut of flagellants scourging themselves
Use to enforce discipline in Christian monasteries
Scourging was adopted as a sanction in the monastic discipline of the fifth and following centuries. Early in the fifth century it is mentioned by Palladius of Galatia in the Historia Lausiaca, and Socrates Scholasticus tells us that, instead of being excommunicated, offending young monks were scourged. Thenceforth scourging is frequently mentioned in monastic rules and councils as an enforcer of discipline.Its use as a punishment was general in the seventh century in all monasteries of the severe Columban rule.