As a new study has suggested that the famous Turin Shroud might not be a Medieval forgery, renewed attention has fallen on other relics of Jesus’s clothing – including one that might ‘prove’ the story of the Shroud.
This week, many highlighted the connections between the shroud and the Sudarium of Oviedo – a relic held in a Spanish cathedral, which scientists have shown ‘matches’ the face on the Shroud.
A new review by researchers from France and Italy has revisited a landmark 1988 UK study of the Turin Shroud which found the shroud was a Medieval forgery and not the cloth Jesus was buried in – suggesting the result is not definitive.
Tristan Casabianca, a French independent researcher, who made the find, told DailyMail.com that his findings do not confirm the shroud is older or the burial cloth used to lay Jesus to rest.
But could other relics, including the Sudarium of Oviedo, offer evidence of Jesus’s life and death – or even prove that the Turin Shroud is real?
Could other relics, including the Sudarium of Oviedo, offer evidence of Jesus’s life and death – or even prove that the Turin Shroud is real?
Sudarium of Oviedo
The Sudarium of Oviedo has been described as ‘the Shroud of Turin 2’ and some have claimed that the markings on the cloth – which is said to have been wrapped around Jesus’s head as he died – suggest that it was used alongside the Turin Shroud.
This week, posters on social media have highlighted how it ‘matches perfectly’ with the Shroud – and could even prove its authenticity.
A ‘sudarium’ is a sweat cloth, believed to have been put over Jesus’s face.
The Sudarium is kept in a cathedral in Oviedo (Alamy)
Thee sudarium is kept in a Cathedral in Oviedo: unlike the Turin Shroud, there is no clear face to be seen, but distinctive stains.
In John Chapter 20, verses six and seven, the Bible says, ‘ ‘Simon Peter, following him, also came up, went into the tomb, saw the linen cloth lying on the ground, and also the cloth that had been over his head; this was not with the linen cloth but rolled up in a place by itself.
The history of the cloth was documented by a 12th-century bishop who claimed it was in Palestine until the year 614 AD when it was taken from Jerusalem and given to the bishop of Seville.
The sudarium is in the Arca Santa, an elaborate reliquary
The Sudarium has several details which suggest that it may have covered the same face as the Turin Shroud.
While no face is visible on the Sudarium, stains offer clues to the person whose face it covered – who seems to have died in a position which corresponds to crucifixion.
The blood group is the same (AB) and the length of the nose of the person whose face was covered by the Sudarium is the same as the Turin Shroud.
In 1984, Dr Alan Whanger of Duke University used a polarized overlay technique to compare the two.
Whanger said, We noted about 130 points of congruence between the shroud and the facecloth. We feel this is hard evidence that both were in contact with the same person.’
The Sudarium is known to date to at least the 9th century, but there are earlier references to it also.
Radiocarbon dating suggested an origin around 700AD, but researcher Cesar Barta suggested this could be due to contamination with oils, as there are references to its presence in Jerusalem as early as 570AD.
The Image of Edessa
Other icons showing Jesus’s face were supposedly not made by hand – but imprinted miraculously.
But could one of these actually have been the Turin Shroud – showing where it has been in earlier centuries?
The Mandylion of Edessa from the private chapel of the pope in the Vatican
Author Ian Wilson has suggested that the Image of Edessa, also known as the Mandylion and first mentioned in the fourth century, may actually have been the shroud folded over four times.
The Image of Edessa supposedly dates from an ancient king, King Abgar of Edessa, requesting that Jesus cure him of an illness.
Jesus declined, but a letter supposedly from Jesus was sent – and an image was either painted or ‘God-made’.
Some have argued that the image venerated as the Image of Edessa was in fact the Turin Shroud.
The Holy Coat
In John 19:24, the Bible says that the soldiers at Jesus’s crucifixion ‘said to one another, ‘Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.’
Several churches around Europe claim to have either the Holy Coat (or seamless robe) itself, or pieces of it.
The collarless neck of the seamless robe of Jesus
In Argenteuil in France, the church contains pieces of the robe, which was supposedly gifted to Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne in 800.
The robe was preserved until the French Revolution, when a parish priest cut it into smaller pieces, fearing it might be destroyed.
Veil of Veronica
The Veil of Veronica is shown off in Vatican City during Lent – believers claim it carries the image of Jesus’s face after a woman called Veronica wiped his face with a cloth.
believers claim it carries the image of Jesus’s face after a woman called Veronica wiped his face with a cloth
Safeguarded by the Vatican, it dates back to the 14th Century, and Pope Innocent II composed a prayer in its honor in 1207 – but there was a ‘Veronica chapel’ as far back as the reign of Pope John VII in 705-708.
The image supposedly shows a bearded face, but during Lent, only the frame is visible.
CRUCIFIXION EXPLAINED: HOW PAINFUL WAS IT AND WHEN WAS IT USED AS CAPITAL PUNISHMENT?
Pictured: a 19th century illustration of rebels being crucified by the Carthaginians in 283 BC
What is crucifixion?
Crucifixion was an ancient method of punishment — commonly associated with the Romans but also practiced by the Carthaginians, Macedonians and the Persians.
The name for the procedure literally means ‘fixed to a cross’ and it is the etymological root of the word ‘excruciating’ — literally a pain so bad it is as if it were ‘out of crucifying’.
A victim would eventually die from asphyxiation or exhaustion and it was long, drawn-out, and painful.
The act was used to publicly humiliate slaves and criminals — with the goal of dissuading witnesses from perpetrating similar acts — as well as an execution method employed on individuals of very low status or those whose crime was against the state.
This is the reason given in the Gospels for Jesus’ crucifixion.
As King of the Jews, Jesus challenged Roman imperial supremacy (Matt 27:37; Mark 15:26; Luke 23:38; John 19:19–22).
Crucifixion could be carried out in a number of ways.
In Christian tradition, nailing the limbs to the wood of the cross is assumed, with debate centring on whether nails would pierce hands or the more structurally sound wrists.
But Romans did not always nail crucifixion victims to their crosses, and instead sometimes tied them in place with rope.
Other forms of the practice included victims being tied to a tree — or even impaled on a stake.
In fact, the Roman philosopher Seneca the Younger one wrote of seeing crosses ‘not just of one kind but made in many different ways: some have their victims with head down to the ground; some impale their private parts; others stretch out their arms on the gibbet.’
Until recently the only archaeological evidence for the practice of nailing crucifixion victims is an ankle bone from the tomb of Jehohanan, a man executed in the first century CE.
Why is there so little evidence of it?
The victims were normally criminals and their bodies were often thrown into rubbish dumps meaning archaeologists never see their bones.
Identification is made even more difficult by scratch marks from scavenging animals.
The nails were widely believe to have magical properties.
This meant they were rarely left in the victim’s heel and the holes they left might be mistaken for puncture marks.
Most of the damage was largely on soft-tissue so damage to the bone may have not been that significant.
Finally, wooden crosses often don’t survive as they degrade or end up being re-used.
