Flogging was a torture method utilized in the past as a disciplinary tool and still seen frequently in fiction, being the favored tool of oppressive slave-owners or prison guards (such as the Pharaoh's guards in the Biblical story of Moses). Flogging consisted of a victim being whipped on the back repeatedly, often a set number of lashings was given according to the crime and the victim was left badly scarred but rarely dead (those giving the punishment often had rules to follow regarding how the torture was inflicted).