Where Did Jesus Die? — Page 220
? 220 and inert until consciousness slowly returned. Many such cases were discovered: the coma lasting half an hour, several hours, a day or two, or in one extreme case, two weeks. Some cases were fatal. Information having been collected of more than 100 cases in the dental field, and others not related to anaesthesia, they appeared as a series of events remarkably like the Crucifixion and Resurrection. Walking The Crucifixion (according to the Gospels and Renan’s ‘Life of Jesus’) took place around noon, and Jesus’ apparent death occurred suddenly about 3 p. m. He was taken down and laid in the tomb, but at dawn on Sunday, forty hours later, was no longer there. Five times that day He was seen walking and talking to peo- ple: first with Mary Magdalene, just after dawn, who initially did not recognise Him. He also had a long discourse with disciples before being recognised. The period that the upright position could be held in a faint and allow recovery of consciousness after relatively few hours’ coma would depend on how low blood-pressure fell: this deter- mining the degree of the brain’s oxygen-lack. The level in his case cannot be guessed, but it seems the fainting-interval on the cross was short. Some advantage would be gained by the fact that on fainting the head would fall forward, thus lessening the distance from heart to brain, and improving blood flow. St. John says the Jews did not want the bodies to remain on the cross for the