Does Text Prove Shroud of Turin is Real?

(AP)  A Vatican researcher claims a nearly invisible text on the Shroud of Turin proves the authenticity of the artifact revered as Jesus' burial cloth.

The claim made in a new book by historian Barbara Frale drew immediate skepticism from some scientists, who maintain the shroud is a medieval forgery.

Frale, a researcher at the Vatican archives, said Friday that she used computers to enhance images of faintly written words in Greek, Latin and Aramaic scattered across the shroud.

She asserts the words include the name "Jesus Nazarene" in Greek, proving the text could not be of medieval origin because no Christian at the time, even a forger, would have labeled Jesus a Nazarene without referring to his divinity.

The shroud bears the figure of a crucified man, complete with blood seeping out of nailed hands and feet, and believers say Christ's image was recorded on the linen fibers at the time of his resurrection.

The fragile artifact, owned by the Vatican, is kept locked in a special protective chamber in Turin's cathedral and is rarely shown.

Skeptics point out that radiocarbon dating conducted in 1988 determined it was made in the 13th or 14th century.

While faint letters scattered around the face on the shroud were seen decades ago, serious researchers dismissed them due to the test's results, Frale told The Associated Press.

But when she cut out the words from photos of the shroud and showed them to experts they concurred the writing style was typical of the Middle East in the first century - Jesus' time.

She believes the text was written on a document by a clerk and glued to the shroud over the face so the body could be identified by relatives and buried properly. Metals in the ink used at the time may have allowed the writing to transfer to the linen, Frale claimed.

Frale claimed the text also partially confirms the Gospels' account of Jesus' final moments. A fragment in Greek that can be read as "removed at the ninth hour" may refer to Christ's time of death reported in the holy texts, she said.

On an enhanced image studied by Frale, at least seven words can be seen, fragmented and scattered on and around Jesus' face, crisscrossing the cloth vertically and horizontally. One short sequence of Aramaic letters has not been translated. Another Latin fragment - "iber" - may refer to Emperor Tiberius, who reigned at the time of Jesus' crucifixion, Frale said.

"I tried to be objective and leave religious issue aside," Frale told The AP. "What I studied was an ancient document that certifies the execution of a man, in a specific time and place."

Frale is noted in Italy for her research on the medieval order of the Knights Templar and her discovery of unpublished documents on the group in the Vatican's archives.

Earlier this year she published a study claiming the Templars at one time had the shroud in their possession. That raised eyebrows because the order was abolished in the early 14th century and the shroud is first recorded in history around 1360 in the hands of a French knight.

But her latest book, titled "The Shroud of Jesus Nazarene" in Italian, raised even doubts among some experts.

"People work on grainy photos and think they see things," said Antonio Lombatti, a church historian who has written books about the shroud. "It's all the result of imagination and computer software."

Lombatti said that artifacts bearing Greek and Aramaic texts were found in Jewish burials from the first century, but the use of Latin is unheard of.

He also rejected the idea that authorities would officially return the body of a crucified man to relatives after filling out some paperwork. Victims of the most cruel punishment used by the Romans would usually be left on the cross or were disposed of in a dump to add to the execution's deterring effect.

Lombatti said "the message was that you won't even have a tomb to cry over."

Unusual sightings in the shroud are common and are often proved false, said Luigi Garlaschelli, a professor of chemistry at the University of Pavia.

Garlaschelli recently led a team of experts that reproduced the shroud using materials and methods that were available in the 14th century, proof, they said, that it could have been made by a human hand in the Middle Ages.

Decades ago entire studies were published on coins that were purportedly seen on Jesus' closed eyes, but when high-definition images were taken during a 2002 restoration the artifacts were nowhere to be seen and the theory was dropped, Garlaschelli said.

He said any theory about ink and metals would have to checked by analysis of the shroud itself.

[egresor]

i think it highly unlikely

in the bible the devil wanted the body of moses to be given to the jews, but the archangel michael withstood him. the jews would have done to the body of moses what the catholics do with the shroud.

worship it. of course they say they aren't worshipping the shroud, but the lord who's body ws wrapped with it, but again....god did not allow the jews to have moses, because he wanted no physical objects connected with himself. nothing of this world to focus your religious feelings towards, but directly to god himself.

that is the very message of the bible. to allow all men (the rent curtain) to come before god without any other man or fetish device.

it is contrary with god's actions and intents demonstrated by god to teach man in the past.

people of today are different?

based on that----it's very unlikely man will find anything of the physical jesus.

god just doesn't trust man.....and rightfully so!

[fleabag75]

I find it extremely interesting that so many people get so indignant about what some religious people accept and believe. If you don't believe it then don't worry about it. If someone writes an article about Hadrian, what the heck do I care one way or another? I have no interest. I don't care one way or another about Hadrian. The incessant whining from some people are the only thing that keeps arguments alive. If you don't believe in the shroud, fine. If you do, fine. Why is it so important for anyone to get others to believe their theory? Believe or don't believe, your call. But please shut up.

[lennypw]

You are absolutely right! The problem lies with believers forcing their beliefs on others. See creationism, Stupak amendment, etc.

[gosstom]

It's time we give up the right to be stupid.

[rwsmith29456]

One thing that makes me wonder is why a medieval forger would create a monochrome, negative image? And why only a vague shadow? There are many sxamples of more ancient art that have more much more color value remaining especially in media used to make a sepia-colored monochrome which is probably an earth color and very permanent compared to ink/paint using colors from vegetable dye or other material prone to fading.

[egresor]

what is being attempted again is desperately trying to prove that a physical object touched the dead body of Christ

i think God showed man what He thought of things such as this.

don't you all recall the dispute over the body of Moses?

why did the Devil want the body of Moses?

oh....he wanted it returned to the Jewish peoples....right?

yes he did and God saw thru his machinations.

they wanted to do exactly what the catholic church wants to do and does with other physical objects.

adoration and worship. a nice physical object that they can see
(and possibly touch if it were allowed, but isn't)

in other words bypassing faith and having a physical object to focus their worship towards.

god saw the devi's machinations and refused to allowed and if you think He will allowed an actual object that Christ touched to be found by man----youy're crazy.

God showed His stance on such things with the body of Moses....did He not?

but like praying to Mary....the catholic church ignores God's Commandments. that there is 1 (one) intercessor between Gid and man. the Man Christ Jesus.

i don't think i recall any time in the Scriptures that God allowed a focus on anything other than Himself directly.

remember the couple in the Old Testament that an Angel helped and they inquired his name and what did he say even to that?
"why seeth after my name?"

God saw thru man's machinations there also. they wanted something other than direct worship of God. you don't do it by seeing religious relics. real or not.

"return to the source Neo"

[rwsmith29456]

Of course. That explains EVERYTHING! Thank you for such a lucid commentary on the Shroud of Turin. (wink, wink, wink)

[Sloughfoot]

Millions of people have been sacrificed in pursuit religious artifacts, the Ark, Holy Grail, the Shroud to make a devine statement.

Yet proponets of these endeavors would themselves critisize the Hindu for sacrificing a few thousand excess pets.

Human sacrifice through religious war to reduce people polution, Post-natal Birth Control don't you know and acceptable to most religious zealots. Damn, the religious geeks - they're good been fooling the world into killing themselves, for how long now?

[steve8313]

Not this again!
This obviously a fake. Jesus, who did not exist by the way (read the real Egypian "Book of the Dead". The story of "Jesus" was written a thousand years before his "birth"), was a black man.

[barcar55]

One day you will be proven wrong because Jesus is real. Read the entire Bible; don't take someone's word for it. Experience what they experienced in the Acts of the Apostles (the book in the Bible after the four gospels)and then tell me Jesus is not real. Until you have repented of your sins, been baptized in Jesus name, and filled with the Holy Ghost (Acts 2:38) you have no idea. He is real and alive forevermore.

As far as the shroud is concerned, I do not care. I do not need proof. I have experienced proof.

[mnbrant]

way more to the bible than jesus. Even in the new testament.

[andacar]

As a believer, I feel that the scientists vigorously testing the shroud in order to prove it's a fake, and, by implication, that we're all idiots, miss the point. The idea of somehow disproving the existence of God through science is an old one, and it's a valueless exercise, mostly the pet of a certain kind of aggressive modern athiest. Even if this turns out to be something other than what we thought, and the jury is still out, I have no plans to quit my faith. If i'm wrong, then what difference does it make to me or you? But if I'm right...

[ToolMangler1]

Well said and true! I agree 100%
Science proves GOD to me and GOD proves science, 'after all, he made it'.

[rwsmith29456]

I believe that God gave us brains to use and that science is a great way of putting those brains to use.

[debinok1]

People either believe in Jesus or they do not. This shroud will not convince those who don't believe and it will not change the faith of those who do. It is simply a very old artifact, and should be valued for what it is, not what it might or might not be.

[rwsmith29456]

I'm not a Bible literalist nor any kind of blind believer. There is evidence on both sides of the fence that it is either real or fake. Until this evidence becomes proof I choose to believe that the shroud is authentic. I don't feel that it's that important to me religion wise so I'm pepared to change my mind, like any scientific individual, when and if enough proof is mounted.