This was an ancient method of treating captured enemies. It rendered them permanently incapable of performing the duties of a soldier. According to his own confession (vs. 7) Adoni-bezek had practiced the same cruelties on many of the royal captives whom he had taken in battle. The Assyrian kings were addicted to similar cruelties. One of the ancient monuments bears an inscription which Was put upon it by order of Asshur-izirpal, who began his reign B.C. 883. In this he says, speaking of a captured city, “Their men, young and old, I took prisoners. Of some I cut off the feet and hands; of others I cut off the noses, ears, and lips; of the young men’s ears I made a heap; of the old men’s heads I built a minaret” (Rawlinson's Five Great Monarchies, vol. 2, p. 85, note).