(OPINION) Scientists have made a shocking new discovery which suggests a burial cloth claimed to show an imprint of Jesus could be real. The famed Shroud of Turin – a piece of linen imprinted with the image of a bearded man – has been a mystery for centuries.
Believers claim Jesus was wrapped in the shroud before he was buried and that the image is him, while others have disagreed and branded it a hoax.
But new evidence suggests the cloth was made around 2,000 years ago – the same period when he was said to have lived and died.
Most estimates say Jesus was crucified in AD 33, based on the Julian calendar, Bible passages and gospels from the time – 1,991 years ago.
Italian researchers used specialist x-ray technology to examine the linen sheet and determine its age.
The Institute of Crystallography of the National Research Council studied eight small samples of fabric to uncover tiny details of the linen’s structure and cellulose patterns.
They used specific ageing metrics like temperature and humidity to determine the results.
Researchers in 1988 claimed to have debunked the relic and proved it was from the Middle Ages – hundreds of years after Jesus.
But Dr Liberato De Caro, lead author of the latest study, said the old research – which used carbon dating to estimate the shroud was made between the years 1260 and 1390 – was unreliable.
He explained: “Fabric samples are usually subject to all kinds of contamination, which cannot be completely removed from the dated specimen.”
The Bible states Joseph of Arimathea was the man who wrapped Jesus’ body in linen before placing it in the tomb.
A passage from Matthew 27:59-60 reads: “Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a new linen cloth.
“He put Jesus’ body in a new tomb that he had dug in a wall of rock.”
The image on the shroud appears to show a man with sunken eyes who is between 5ft 7in to 6ft tall.
Some claim markings on the body resemble horror crucifixion wounds.
Signs of wounds from a thorny crown on the head, injuries to the arms and shoulders and lacerations to the back have all been reported by researchers.
The Bible says Jesus was whipped by the Romans, made to wear the agonising headpiece and forced to carry his cross before he was left to die.
The Turin Shroud was first displayed publicly in 1350 and since 1578 has been preserved in the royal chapel of the cathedral of San Giovanni Battista in Turin, Italy – hence its name.
