Stabbing

[2] Stabbings have been common throughout human history and were the means used to assassinate a number of distinguished historical figures, such as Second Caliph Umar and Roman dictator Julius Caesar and emperor Caligula.

In Japan, the historical practice of stabbing oneself deliberately in ritual suicide is known as seppuku (more colloquially hara-kiri, literally "belly-cutting" since it involves cutting open the abdomen).

The ritual is highly codified, and the person committing suicide is assisted by a "second" who is entrusted to decapitate him cleanly (and thus expedite death and prevent an undignified spectacle) once he has made the abdominal wound.

Although previously a victim of abdominal stabbing would be subject to exploratory surgery laparotomy, it is now considered safe not to operate if the patient is stable.

From the external appearance and internal findings, the pathologist will usually be able to offer opinion about the dimensions of the weapon including the width and minimum possible length of the blade.

A detail from The Haywain Triptych by Hieronymus Bosch
After being attacked and stabbed in September 1898, Austro-Hungarian Empress Elisabeth of Bavaria boarded a ship, unaware of the severity of her condition as consequence of an acute stress reaction . Bleeding to death from a puncture wound to the heart, Elisabeth's last words were, "What happened to me?"
Murder weapon, evidence and photos from a murder case in Trondheim , Norway 1928. The broken blade of the knife was stuck in the back of the stabbed victim. Exhibits in the Norwegian National Museum of Criminal Justice.