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Topics: Religion, Science, History, World News
Liv Bridge
Topics: Religion, Science, History, World News
Fresh analysis of the biblical 'Shroud of Turin' proves it could have been more closely linked to Jesus than originally thought.
The origins of the piece of cloth dates back hundreds of years with formal accounts of it starting around 1353.
The material has long been considered a biblical artefact, showing what appears to be a crucified man with wounds that match to scriptures in the Bible.
Christians have since considered the 'Shroud of Turin' might well have been the original burial shroud of Jesus himself as the holy book states his body was wrapped in spices and a 14-foot linen cloth.
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Yet, while a 1998 study determined Jesus' body had been washed before being buried, contradicting the scripture, experts say there is new scientific evidence that supports the theory.
Doctor Kelly Kearse, an immunologist trained at Johns Hopkins University, has now taken a closer look to the 'washing hypothesis' and tested human blood samples to see how blood transfers to cloth under post-mortem conditions, reports The Daily Mail.
His discovery suggests the blood stains on the shroud likely came from an unwashed body, aligning with Jewish burial customs in the Bible that prohibited bathing the dead if they had a violent end.
This is due to the belief that any blood lost in a traumatic event is part of the body and therefore should be buried with it.
Dr Kearse also found serum halos and clear rings on the Shroud, which he says indicates that the blood had begun to clot before touching the cloth, therefore proving the blood came directly from fresh, unwashed wounds.
The discovery comes as a forensic pathologist Dr Frederick Zugibe had previously argued the cloth would look very different had it come into contact with an unwashed, crucified body like Jesus, stating it would have imprinted large smudges of blood on the shroud.
However, experts say his research had limitations, as he used accident victims to support his hypothesis.
Doctor Kearse also challenges the pathologists' findings, saying the Shroud has well-defined stains as well as the halos which disprove the washing theory.
Still, Dr Zugibe is not the only one to challenge the shroud's origins as Brazilian 3D digital designer, Cicero Moraes, found the image on the cloth is more likely to have come from a sculpture, rather than a real human body.
Moraes told Live Science: "The image on the Shroud of Turin is more consistent with a low-relief matrix. Such a matrix could have been made of wood, stone or metal and pigmented (or even heated) only in the areas of contact, producing the observed pattern."
"Although there is a remote possibility that it is an imprint of a three-dimensional human body, it is plausible to consider that artists or sculptors with sufficient knowledge could have created such a piece, either through painting or low relief," he added.
Carbon dating analysis further found the shroud was created sometime between A.D. 1260 to 1390, further suggesting that it is unlikely to be a legitimate relic.
So, it appears the Shroud's authenticity remains up for further investigation.