The team from the Institute of Crystallography at the National Research Council of Italy has made a stunning discovery. Researchers analyzed the legendary Shroud of Turin, which is believed to have wrapped the body of Christ, and found that the fabric’s creation date is close to the time of his death. The Shroud of Turin has long been a source of debate among scholars. However, thanks to a recent technological breakthrough, its precise dating has finally become possible, as reported by the Daily Mail.
The Authenticity of the Shroud Has Been Questioned
The linen shroud, said to have covered Jesus, has puzzled historians, Christians, and skeptics for centuries. The Bible states that Joseph of Arimathea wrapped Jesus’ body in a linen shroud and placed it in a tomb.
The cloth bears a faint image of a bearded man. Many believers consider this to be the imprint of Jesus’ body.
In the 14th century, the shroud mysteriously appeared in the French town of Lirey, belonging to Count Geoffroi de Charny. He entrusted it to the local church’s rector, where the relic was first displayed to the public in 1353. At that time, the fabric was presented as the genuine burial cloth that wrapped Christ’s mutilated body after his crucifixion.
Since 1578, the sacred fabric has been housed in the royal chapel of the Cathedral of San Giovanni Battista in Turin, Italy.
By the late 20th century, scientists had debunked the idea of the shroud’s authenticity. In 1988, an international team of researchers studied a small fragment of the fabric using radiocarbon dating and determined that it was likely made between 1260 and 1390.
Technological Advances Help Uncover the Truth
But now, Italian scientists, armed with cutting-edge wide-angle X-ray scattering (WAXS) technology, have made a sensational discovery: the shroud was produced around 2000 years ago.
The WAXS method allows researchers to measure the natural aging of linen cellulose and determine the time elapsed since its creation. The team examined eight small samples of the Shroud of Turin. They placed them under X-ray radiation to reveal the finest details of the linen’s structure and cellulose patterns.
Cellulose consists of long chains of sugar molecules linked together. Over time, these chains break down, indicating how long the fabric has lasted. To determine the age of the shroud, the team used specific aging parameters, including temperature and humidity, which significantly affect cellulose degradation.
By assessing the degree of degradation, the scientists concluded that the Shroud of Turin was likely stored at a temperature of about 22.5 °C and a relative humidity of 55 percent for approximately 13 centuries before it arrived in Europe.
Next, the researchers compared the cellulose breakdown in the shroud with other fabrics found in Israel and dated to the 1st century.
“The data profiles completely match similar measurements from a linen sample, historically recorded to date between 55 and 74 AD, found in Masada, Israel,” the team stated in an article published by the journal Heritage.
The scientists also compared the shroud with samples of linen fabrics made between 1260 and 1390 AD and found no matches. The lead author of the study, Dr. Liberato De Caro, stated that the results of the 1988 analysis should be considered incorrect.