The agonizing crucifixion of Jesus from the Bible details how he endured severe beatings, punctures and nails driven into his hands and feet.
Christians believe those wounds were miraculously imprinted on burial shroud after Jesus was resurrected from the dead, scorched into the fibers by a burst of energy when he came back to life.
Now, a new analysis of the Shroud of Turin claims to have uncovered evidence the horrific crucifixion may be historically accurate.
An engineer from the University of Padua in Italy used modern technology to reanalyzed samples taken from the cloth in the 1970s, finding tiny blood particles showing signs of organ failure, trauma, disease and radiation.
Materials that were typical in ancient Jerusalem were also discovered, suggesting that the shroud may have originated in the region and not in Europe where many skeptics think it was created as a medieval forgery.
The new study analyzed blood samples taken from the shroud in 1978, which were collected using adhesive tape. This blood, according to the study, showed signs of disease, trauma and radiation
But independent experts dismissed the findings, saying blood could have contaminated the cloth at any point over it’s nearly 1,000 years of known history.
The Shroud of Turin, or the Holy Shroud, is a 14-foot-long cloth featuring a faint, brownish image of bearded man with sunken eyes, wounds on various parts of his body that match the injuries suffered during Jesus’ crucifixion.
The burial cloth has captivated the imagination of historians, church chiefs, skeptics and Catholics since it was first presented to the public in the 1350s.
There are two groups of people – those who hold it as the burial shroud of Jesus and those who say it is a medieval fake.
It was not until 1978 when the first physical samples were removed from the cloth, done using adhesive tape to carefully lift the particles from the front fibers and a vacuum to collect dust from the back.
But the results were inconclusive about whether or not blood was present in the samples.
Now, Giulio Fanti has placed those samples under modern-day microscopes capable of highlighting details down to the size of individual particles.
The study was published in Archives of Hematology Case Reports and Reviews, which peer-reviewed Fanti’s research.
The particles showed the presence of hemoglobin, which is a key component of blood, and also two different types of blood that Fanti labeled Type A and Type B.
At the very least, Fanti says it suggests the cloth was used on someone with bloody injuries, rather than forged using ink, dye, paint or other techniques.
Traces of creatine were also identified in the shroud sample, which is released into the blood stream when a person undergoes muscle breakdown or some type of trauma.
Your body produces creatine from amino acids in your liver, kidneys, and pancreas, and also from the food.
However, the body releases the chemical into the bloodstream when cells in the brain, heart or skeletal muscles are damaged.
It was not until 1978 when the first physical samples allowed to be taken from the cloth, which was done using adhesive tape to carefully remove particles off the front fibers. Dr. Max Frei, a Swiss criminologist, can be seen taking samples from the shroud
The Shroud of Turin features hundreds of reddish spots, varying in shapes and sizes, across the imprinted body image
The expert found another type of blood that was shed while Jesus was still alive. It also contained signs of radiation, which Christians believe was released when Jesus rose from the dead
‘The high percentage of creatinine found in [the sticky tape samples], may be explained, especially during Jesus’ last hour before dying on the cross, by a reduced blood flow to the kidneys also caused by hypovolemia and by severe dehydration, the study reads.
Fanti explained that those findings align with John 19:28 that states ‘Jesus said, I thirst.’
The samples also featured signs the person had suffered from uremic syndrome which occurs when the kidneys are unable to eliminate waste products.
While the condition typically happens from kidney disease, it can also be brought on by blunt trauma to the organ, which the researcher said may have occurred when Jesus was whipped.
John 12:1 reads, ‘Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged.’
‘I would refer to Type A blood as that which came out of the corpse and therefore postmortem blood; it consists of microcytes which indicate the respiratory suffering of Jesus on the cross,’ Fanti, a Christian who has been studying the shroud for 25 years, told DailyMail.com.
While the testing cannot prove whose blood litters the cloth, a new study found evidence that the shroud dates back 2,000 years that puts the two on the same time line.
The study analyzed samples taken from the 1970s. Researchers collected particles using adhesive tape. Pictured are the samples zoomed in 1,500 times
The 1970s research also collected samples from the back of the shroud using a vacuum. Pictured are dust particles attached with traces of blood
Meanwhile Fanti found the Type B blood from the was mostly found to have a darker color than Type A and had sharper edges.
The differences suggested that Type B came from before Jesus had died, due to clotting characteristics.
‘Type B consists of coagulated blood crusts probably formed when Jesus was on the cross or ascended Calvary,’ said Fanti.
Fanti suggested Type B was the blood shed by Jesus before death.
However, both types of blood had earth materials that Fanti said are typically found in Jerusalem, such as clay and limestone, suggesting that the shroud may have originated in the region.
Mark 15:46 explains how Joseph, one of Jesus’ disciples, removed Christ from the cross and ‘bought a linen shroud, and taking him down, wrapped him in the linen shroud and laid him in a tomb that had been cut out of the rock.’
Some believe that Jesus’ body was not washed during that time, but quickly placed in the tomb, which means he was not cleaned of earthy materials before being wrapped.
‘When I went to Jerusalem to analyze the earthy material taken from the Holy Shroud, geologist Amir Sandler of the Geological Survey Of Jerusalem recognized among other things, like smectite and illite, which are typical of the Jerusalem soil as well as other material coming from the Sahara winds,’ Fanti explained.
However, Dr Lawrence Kobilinsky, a forensic scientist who is a professor emeritus at John Jay College, told DailyMail.com that the blood was likely a ‘secondary thought.’
‘Earlier work… have found a pigment [coloring agent] constituted the image,’ said Dr Kobilinsky.
Dr McCrone analyzed the the tape strips in 1978, finding the image consisted of red ochre and a gelatin solution.
‘The simplest explanation is that this shroud was placed over a statue covered with pigment in certain areas, which transferred to the cloth, and gave it this three-dimensional configuration when you do the right kind of photography,’ Dr Kobilinsky said.
The shroud features a faint image of a man with long hair and a beard, which many believe is the face of Jesus
The burial cloth has captivated the imagination of historians, church chiefs, skeptics and Catholics since it was first presented to the public in the 1350s. It is housed in Turin, Italy inside this chapel
Both types of blood had earth materials that Fanti said are typically found in Jerusalem, such as clay and limestone, suggesting that the shroud may have originated in the region. The image shows elements captured from the surface of the fibers
However, Fanti holds to his findings, saying ‘obviously which artist would have thought of placing three different types of blood on that cloth without a reason? And three types of blood that without a microscope, invented in 1590, it was not possible to distinguish them?’
The blood detected by the engineered was also said to have evidence of possible radiation in different forms.
Type A contained Beta particles that are electrons of great kinetic energy emitted by some radioactive nuclei, such as Potassium-40 used in explosives and fireworks.
Photon radiation particles were identified in Type B samples, also known as Gamma rays, which are typically formed by a nuclear reaction.
Dr David Johnson, a professor of philosophy at King’s College, said: ‘If the shroud were wrapped (three dimensionally) around a body, it would leave a distorted image, not a nice neat two-dimensional ‘picture’ as if the shroud straightened and hovered over Jesus and ‘took a picture.”
‘But, by the apologist’s own admission, how the resurrection happened and how it left an image on a shroud is a complete mystery, involving unknown forces invoking unexplainable processes.’
A study in 2018 analyzed the blood flows on the Shroud of Turin, also determining it was a fake after a new forensic investigation showed that bloodstains were left by someone who had been standing – rather than crucified.
Researchers concluded in the Journal of Forensic Sciences that the bloodstain patterns were also not consistent with a face down corpse.
Dr Matteo Borrini, a forensic scientist at Liverpool John Moores University, worked with chemist Luigi Garlaschelli, of the University of Pavia in Italy, using real and artificial blood samples on cloth.
Looking at the orientation of the stains, they sought to answer questions in regards to whether the crucifixion shown on the Shroud of Turin was T-shaped, Y-shaped, or revealed another type of ancient Roman execution.
What they found, however, was that the bloodstains were not consistent with any one pose in particular.
This suggested that someone who had been standing was used to imprint the famous patterns at different angles for the hands, chest and back.
Christians have claimed was created from the energy released from Christ’s body at the moment of resurrection.
DailyMail.com spoke to filmmaker David Rolfe, who was an atheist but became a Christian after documenting the shroud for decades, explained: ‘It could only be done by a process that we can’t possibly understand because it was the thing that created Christianity.
‘It was the resurrection. It was a dead man who came to life, and it was a miracle.’
However, a 1988 study found the Shroud of Turin was a Medieval fake after researchers dated a piece of the cloth between 1260 and 1390 AD.
The team used carbon dating on a small sample of the corner, measuring the decay of a radioactive isotope of carbon (14C) to measure the time and date of carbon-bearing material.
Some experts have said that the linen’s authenticity should no longer be disputed, claiming it was made from flax grown in the Middle East and features a helmet-style crown of thorns on the man’s face.
However, others have held on to the notion that it is fake due to the 1988 radiocarbon dating analysis conducted at three different laboratories, which all determined it was only seven centuries old.