Italian researchers have attempted to date the material of the Holy Shroud of Jesus using a new X-ray technique.
New scientific data date the Holy Shroud in Turin to the time of Jesus, supporting the hypothesis that it is likely genuine.
Specifically, Italian researchers used a new technique that involved X-rays to date the Shroud’s material and confirmed that it was made around the time of Jesus approximately 2,000 years ago.
What we know so far about the Holy Shroud
The Shroud of Turin, or Holy Shroud, is a piece of linen fabric bearing the image of a bearded man, and its placement on the fabric is believed to correspond to a body that has been crucified and wounded.
It has been a source of controversy between the religious and scientific communities for many years, as it is claimed to be the burial cloth in which the body of Jesus Christ was laid after his removal from the Cross, while some scientific studies argue it is merely a human creation.
The Shroud is a yellowish linen fabric measuring 4.3 meters long and 1.1 meters wide, which has been kept since 1578 in the Cathedral of Turin. Its weave is herringbone from flax fibers, materials that were used during the time of Jesus Christ. Until recently, scientists dated it to the Middle Ages.
New data place the Shroud temporally in the time when Christ lived
In 1988, an international team of researchers analyzed a small section of the Shroud using carbon dating, which suggested that the cloth was likely produced sometime between 1260 and 1390 AD. They conducted an analytical dating using carbon-14 in three different laboratories and concluded that the linen was woven in the Middle Ages.
Following a recent study by Italian scientists, it is seriously considered that the preservation conditions of the fabric may have distorted the reliability of the results of carbon dating tests.
Specifically, Italian researchers, using a new X-ray technique, attempted to date the material, concluding that it was indeed made during the time of Jesus, about 2,000 years ago.
For the new study, scientists from the Italian Institute of Crystallography of the National Research Council used wide-angle X-ray scattering (WAXS) technique. This technique calculates the physical effect of time on the cellulose of flax, estimating the production date of the fabric.
The team examined with X-rays six small samples from the Turin Shroud fabric, aiming to discover small details of the linen’s structure and the cellulose patterns. Cellulose consists of long chains of glucose molecules, which break down over time, indicating the age of a garment.
For dating the Shroud, the team utilized certain aging parameters, including temperature and humidity, which cause significant breakdown of cellulose.
Additionally, the team compared the shroud with samples from other linens woven between 1260 and 1390 AD, finding no match.
The lead author of the study, Liberato De Caro, explained in a statement that the 1988 study should logically be considered incorrect because “as a rule, samples from fabrics are subject to all forms of contamination, which cannot be entirely removed from the dating sample.” “If a thorough cleaning of the sample has not been carried out beforehand, carbon-14 radiocarbon dating is not reliable,” he notes.
Read the news today and stay informed about the latest developments.
Follow Skai.gr on Google News and be the first to know all the news.