Was Jesus crucified?

Question

Assuming Jesus was a real person, it is a generally accepted fact that he died on a cross. On the other hand, Jehovah's Witnesses are of the belief that the crucifixion of Jesus is a mistranslation and the word stauros shall be translated as "pole", not "cross".

But now there's seems to be some academic support for the pole interpretation. According to a doctoral thesis by Gunnar Samuelsson at the University of Gothenburg, there is actually no mention of a cross in the original or contemporary texts.

From the press release:

The thesis clearly shows that although the studied texts are full of references to suspension of objects and the equipment used to this end, no reference is made to 'crosses' or 'crucifixion'. Samuelsson therefore concludes that the predominant account of the destiny of Jesus is not based on the antique texts, but rather on for example the tradition of the Christian church and artistic illustrations.

From the Telegraph:

He claims the Bible has been misinterpreted as there are no explicit references the use of nails or to crucifixion - only that Jesus bore a "staurus" towards Calvary which is not necessarily a cross but can also mean a "pole".

From the Atlantic Wire (my emphasis):

Samuelsson did some serious research before advancing this provocative argument: "I spent almost three years," he says, "reading all the ancient texts I could find ... from about Homer until the first century of the Common Era." He says "some kind of suspension of a living or a dead person or a part of a person" was indeed common at the time, but crucifixion is not mentioned. In the Bible itself, all it says is that Jesus carried and then was executed on a staurus--"there is no other description beyond that."

Specifically, are there really no original sources that explicitly mention the practice of crucifixion in the sense generally understood today?

Answer 1

The history of crucifixion mentions several forms of crosses being used (the pole, T-shaped cross, and X-shaped cross), and mentions that the pole shape is associated with Jehovah's Witnesses who seem to believe that's what was used to execute Christ. This mimics part of the information at crucifixion which goes more into the social aspects of the punishment.

A biblical history site claims to present archeological evidence a T-shaped cross was used, rather than a stake, to crucify people in Judea around the time of Christ. I've no way to ascertain whether this is correct or not. It does seem to be backed up by this site; however they might reference the same underlying information.

NIH did publish a short article as well in their library which confirms crucifixion was used as a method of execution of non-citizens in the Roman Empire which Christ, being an inhabitant born of Judea, would not have been a Roman citizen.

Finally, this site also lists the various types of crosses used historically, as well as confirming the punishment was used in Roman times for non-citizens.

So we have several sources indicating that stakes and crosses of various shapes were used historically over space and time, with at least one seeming to confirm that a cross as portrayed in Christian imagery was used in Judea during the time of Christ.

Answer 2

If one leave aside the mention of "crucifixion" in Bible, we still have a solid evidence outside Bible that Jesus was in fact crucified on cross. Lucian (c.120–after 180 A.D. referred to Jesus as a crucified sophist (philosopher). Apart from Jesus' crucifixion, it also testifies- an earliest non Biblical record, about the deity of Jesus, indicating that Christian were already worshiping Jesus.

"The Christians, you know, worship a man to this day—the distinguished personage who introduced their novel rites, and was crucified on that account. … You see, these misguided creatures start with the general conviction that they are immortal for all time, which explains their contempt of death and voluntary self-devotion which are so common among them; and then it was impressed on them by their original lawgiver that they are all brothers, from the moment that they are converted, and deny the gods of Greece, and worship the crucified sage, and live after his laws. All this they take quite on faith, with the result that they despise all worldly goods alike, regarding them merely as common property."

Lucian, The Passing of Peregrin

Another non Biblical reference is from Tacitus (c. 56–c.120 A.D.) who wrote,

“Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty … at the hands of our procurator, Pontius Pilate.”