7 scientific attempts to solve the mystery of the Turin shroud

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

One of the most mysterious religious relics - Shroud of Turin - since its inception, it haunts scientists. This is a unique phenomenon not only in the context of Christian teaching, but also from a scientific point of view - after all, this is one of the few material evidence of the existence of Jesus Christ. In that case, of course, if the shroud was in fact his burial shroud, and not a fake of a later era. Therefore, at the moment there are a huge number of attempts to prove or scientifically disprove its authenticity.

For a believer to doubt the authenticity of the shroud is sacrilege, for a learned doubt it is the only way to get to the bottom of the truth. Therefore, attempts to rationally comprehend irrational facts continue to this day. For the first time they started talking about the shroud in the Middle Ages - then swindlers, taking advantage of the gullibility of believers, tried to cash in on it. Pieces of Noah's ark, hairs from his beard, more than 40 shrouds were provided as sacred relics - and as a result, all these items turned out to be fakes.

The Shroud of Turin is an elongated piece of linen that is kept in a silver ark above the altar of the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist in Turin, in northern Italy. In the center of the canvas, brownish spots clearly appear, which merge into the image of a lying man. In photographs, the image appears more clearly, especially on negatives - the fact is that it itself is a negative: darkened areas, for example, the eye sockets, look light on it, and vice versa. How did this unusual "photo" get on the fabric and, most importantly, when?

For more than 400 years, the shroud has been kept in Turin, before that it was in France. Until the XIV century. the history of this relic remains a mystery. To establish its exact age, scientists have resorted to spore-pollen analysis. It turned out that the pollen from the shroud belongs to plants growing in Italy, France, Turkey and Palestine. And the most amazing thing is that 7 specimens of pollen of salt-loving plants were found, which are found in the Dead Sea region - where Christ was crucified.

In addition to the printed image of a person, traces of blood were found on the shroud. Their study under X-rays and ultraviolet rays confirmed that it was indeed blood. Spectral analysis showed the presence of iron, potassium, chlorine and traces of hemoglobin.

On photomicrographs and under a microscope, traces of blood appear real - that is, as if brown or red clots had recently been left behind. Chemical analysis has established that the blood belongs to a man.

Studies have shown that the shroud is not a drawing, since there are almost no coloring pigments found on it. And if the image were applied with oil, it would saturate the fabric through and through. The fabric of the shroud belongs to the era of antiquity by the nature of the weaving of threads, which was proved by the radiocarbon method.

In 1976, for the first time, a computerized three-dimensional image of a person was obtained following the footprints on the shroud. In 1988 g.it was allowed to cut off three pieces of shroud for research at the universities of Zurich, Arizona and Oxford. All three laboratories were unanimous: radiochronological analysis dates the age of the tissue to the 13th-14th centuries. But infrared spectroscopy refuted the results of these studies.

In addition to the methods of the exact sciences, the methodology of the humanities was also used. Interpretation of the texts of the canonical gospels and apocrypha makes it possible to establish that almost all texts mention the shroud, which was wrapped around the body of Christ. That is, the shroud actually existed. Art critics also pay attention to the striking similarity of the appearance on the shroud with the traditional image of the face of Christ, which from the 6th century. it became unified on the icons: an elongated face, a straight nose, a beard, deep eye sockets, a wide forehead. Until the VI century. Jesus was portrayed in different ways. There is a version according to which the Turin Shroud was first discovered in this century. In addition, medieval sources mention just such a face of Christ on the shroud.

The fact that the traces of bleeding wounds are not on the palms, as is customary in the iconographic tradition, but on the wrists, which corresponds to ancient Roman customs, casts doubt on the falsity of the shroud. If the image on the shroud was copied from the icons, and not vice versa, then the wounds would probably be in the area of the palms. Probably humanity will never get tired of staying in search of the grail: the greatest biblical relics and their locations