This is part #12, "11th-10th centuries: Shroud's 1260-1390 radiocarbon date is against the preponderance of the evidence (4)," in my "Steps in the development of my radiocarbon dating of the Turin Shroud hacker theory," series. For more information about this series see part #1, "Hacking an explanation & Index." References "[A]", etc., will be to that part of my original post. Emphases are mine unless otherwise indicated.
[Index] [Previous: "12th-11th centuries: Shroud's 1260-1390 radiocarbon date is against the preponderance of the evidence (3)" #11] [Next: "My theory that the radiocarbon dating laboratories were duped by a computer hacker #1" #13]
[Above (enlarge): A Russian Orthodox cross, dated second half of the 12th century (i.e. 1150-1200), and therefore ~sixty years before the earliest 1260 radiocarbon date of the Shroud[2]), in the Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia[3]. This shows the Russian Orthodox cross' unique footrest, or suppedaneum, which is inclined with the left side higher than the right. This matches the Shroud, in that the man's left leg, seems to be shorter than his right. See below. [A].]
Continuing with tracing the steps in the development of my radiocarbon dating of the Shroud hacker theory in my early 2014 posts (last three): "Were the radiocarbon dating laboratories duped by a computer hacker?: Revised #1"; "Were the radiocarbon dating laboratories duped by a computer hacker?: Revised #2 (Vignon markings)"; "Were the radiocarbon dating laboratories duped by a computer hacker?: Revised #3." and now "Were the radiocarbon dating laboratories duped by a computer hacker?: Revised #4" combined with "Were the radiocarbon dating laboratories duped by a computer hacker?: Revised #5"
This post continues from my previous "... against the preponderance of the evidence (3)", and before that "... against the preponderance of the evidence (2), and "... against the preponderance of the evidence (1), which presented historical evidence for the Shroud's existence in the 13th-12th centuries. As I had previously explained, my purpose of documenting all this historical evidence of the Shroud's existence from long before the 13th century is to prove, beyond any reasonable doubt, that the 1988 radiocarbon date of the Shroud as "mediaeval ... AD 1260-1390"[4] must be wrong. And then [since the evidence is overwhelming that the Shroud is authentic] the key questions would be (and are): 1. "How could the 1st century Shroud (absent fraud) carbon-date to the 13th-14th century?"; and 2. "How could the midpoint of that date range, 1325 ±65[5], `just happen' (absent fraud) to be a mere ~30 years before the Shroud's first appearance in undisputed history at Lirey, France, in c.1355"?[6] Especially given that the unofficial leader of the Shroud carbon-dating project, Prof. Harry Gove (1922-2009)[7], pointed out that the improbability of the Shroud being first century (which it is), yet its radiocarbon date was "between 1260 and 1390," is "about one in a thousand trillion"[8]).
c. 1001a The Russian Orthodox cross (late 10th-early 11th century)[9] has a footrest, or suppedaneum[10], which uniquely is inclined so that its left side is higher than its right[11] (see above). This matches 
the Shroud, in that the man on the Shroud's left leg appears to be shorter than his right[12]. This is
[Right (enlarge)[13]: The man on the Shroud's left leg (which looks to be his right because of mirror reversal[14]) appears to be shorter than his right.]
due to his left foot having been superimposed over his right[15], and both feet fixed by a single nail[16]. The man's left leg was therefore bent more and remained fixed in that position after death by rigor mortis[17] [see 02Dec13].
This presumably is the source of the 11th century Byzantine legend that Jesus actually had one leg shorter than the other and therefore was lame[18]. As this form of the cross is universal among the Russians[19] it must date from at least the beginning of the national conversion to Christianity, when missionaries in 988 came from Constantinople[20]. One of the oldest churches in Russia, the 10th-century Byzantine style Shoana Church[21], near Karachayevsk, Russia, has a Russian cross with an
[Left (enlarge): Russian cross atop the 10th-century Byzantine style Shoana Church, Russia. (For different views of the church and its cross see here).]
inclined footrest. This is probably not the original late 10th-early 11th century cross, but it is reasonable to assume that there was originally a Russian cross where the current cross is. And because its inclined footrest would have matched the apparently shorter right (but actually left) leg of the Shroud (see above), this is further evidence that the 1260-1390 radiocarbon date of the Shroud is wrong! [B]
c. 1001b Closely related to the Russian cross is the "Byzantine curve"
[Left (enlarge): "Byzantine Crucifix of Pisa," ca. 1230[22]. Note that Christ's right leg (corresponding to the Shroud's left leg - see above) is shorter than the other leg and His body is curved (the "Byzantine curve"[23]) to compensate.]
in Byzantine Christian iconography[24]. After the year 1000, a striking change occurred in Byzantine depictions of Christ on the Cross[25]. Christ's two feet were nailed separately at the same level but his left leg is bent (based presumably on the Byzantines realising that the Shroud's image is laterally inverted) which meant that Jesus' body needed to curve to His right to compensate[26]. This "Byzantine curve" became the established form of Eastern depictions of Christ at the beginning of the eleventh century and made its way also into the West and became the recognized form in Italy in the early mediaeval period[27]. As with the strange design of the Russian cross, so this strange belief that Jesus had to have a curved body on the Shroud because one foot was shorter than the other and the Romans would have crucified Jesus' feet at the same level[28], has its most likely common origin in the Shroud[29]. But then again that means the Shroud was known in the Byzantine world (the centre of which was Constantinople), in the year 1000, nearly three centuries before 1260, the earliest possible radiocarbon date of the Shroud[30]! [C]
c. 1000 Tenth-century "Christ Enthroned" fresco on the apse of the church of Sant'Angelo in Formis, near Capua, Italy[31] has 14 out
[Above (enlarge): Christ's face part of a larger 10th century fresco in the church of St. Angelo in Formis, Capua, Italy[32].]
of the 15 Vignon markings found on the Shroud (see #10)[33], many of which are just incidental blemishes on the cloth[34]. These include:
"... a transverse line across the forehead, a raised right eyebrow, an upside-down triangle at the bridge of the nose, heavily delineated lower eyelids, a strongly accentuated left cheek, a strongly accentuated right cheek, and a hairless gap between the lower lip and beard ..."[35].
One of these, the upside-down triangle at the bridge of the nose (VM #3)[36] is particularly important because it has no 
[Above (enlarge): Upside-down triangle at the bridge of the nose on the Shroud, just below the base of the `topless square'[37].]
logic as a natural feature of the face, yet it recurs on several other works, for example, the eleventh-century mosaic Pantocrator in the dome of the church at Daphni, near Athens (see #11), where, being a mosaic, pieces of black material have been specially selected and arranged into the shape of a triangle in convey it[38].
Significantly the upside-down triangle is on several early copies of the Image of Edessa/Mandylion, notably on the twelfth-century fresco at [Spas Nereditsa[49], but that was destroyed[40] in World War II[41]. However, other icons from the same place and time still exist, for example the twelfth century Christos Acheiropoietos ("not made with hands") that was in the Assumption Cathedral, Moscow but is now in the Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow (see below). That icon has, by
[Above (enlarge): Christ Acheiropoietos (not made with hands), ~1100 from the Assumption Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin, now in the Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow[42].]
my count, 12 out a possible 14 Vignon markings (since there is no throat for the transverse line across it, VM#13, to be depicted), including, as can be seen above VM#3, the upside-down triangle.
This is one of a few Image of Edessa/Mandylion icons which contain most of the 15 Vignon markings, and are, together with all the other evidence for it, prove that the Image of Edessa/Mandylion was the face panel of the tetradiplon ("four-doubled") Shroud (as we shall see below). This is more evidence that 10th century artists saw the Shroud[43], centuries before the earliest 1260 radiocarbon date of the Shroud[44].] And, as we have seen and will see, this is but one in a family of Byzantine likenesses of Christ, from the thirteenth century to as far back as the sixth century[45]! [D]
c. 990 Byzantine historian Leo Diaconus[46], or Leo the Deacon (c. 950-)[47], was a deacon in the imperial palace at Constantinople[48]. After 992 he began writing a ten-volume history of the Byzantine empire, in Constantinople, but he died
[Right (enlarge): "The History of Leo the Deacon," Amazon.com[49].]
before he could finish it[50]. In his history [51], Leo wrote that the image of Jesus in the Abgar V (c. 4 BC-AD 50) story was imprinted on a peplos, a full-length robe[52]. This can only be the Shroud, in Constantinople, in the tenth century (see also below), nearly three centuries before 1260, the earliest radiocarbon date of the Shroud[53]! [E]
958 In 958, a year before he died, Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus (r. 913-959)
[54], sent a letter of encouragement to his troops who were campaigning around Tarsus[55], telling them that he was sending them holy water that had been
[Left (enlarge): "Christ Crowning Constantine VII (945)": A piece of carved ivory dated 945, in the Pushkin Museum, Moscow, depicting Christ having just crowned Emperor Constantine VII[56].]
consecrated by various relics of the Passion, including "the sindon which God wore"[57]. The actual Greek words are, theophoron sindonos, the "God-worn linen sheet"[58]. This is clear evidence that the sindon seen by Robert de Clari (c.1170-1216) in 1203 (see #8) was in the imperial relic collection by the mid-tenth century, a full 300 years before the earliest 1260 radiocarbon date of the Shroud[59]. Also, Constantine VII, who as we shall see, viewed up close the Image of Edessa on its arrival in Constantinople in 944 [see "944b"], did not mention it in his 958 letter, which is inexplicable unless it and the full-length burial shroud were one and the same[60]. [F]
c. 950 Mid-tenth century depiction of the Edessa cloth/Mandylion being held by Edessa's 
King Abgar V (4BC–AD50) after he had been handed it by the disciple
[Right (enlarge): Icon of Abgar V holding the Mandylion bearing an image of Christ, 10th century, Saint Catherine's Monastery, Mount Sinai[61].]
Thaddeus (Addai), in this mid-tenth century encaustic (hot wax painting) icon at St. Catherine's Monastery, Mount Sinai[62]. Abgar's face is that of Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus (r. 913-959), as is evident from other works depicting him (see above)[63].
And the face of Jesus is in landscape aspect[64], confirming Ian Wilson's theory that the Edessa Cloth/Mandylion was the Shroud tetradiplon ("four-doubled") (see below)[65].
[Above (enlarge): Tetradiplon and the Shroud of Turin illustrated: The full-length Shroud of Turin (1), is doubled four times (2 through 5), resulting in Jesus' face within a rectangle, in landscape aspect (5), exactly as depicted in the earliest copies of the Image of Edessa, the 11th century Sakli church, Turkey (6) and the 10th century icon of King Abgar V of Edessa holding the Image of Edessa, St. Catherine's monastery, Sinai (7).[66][G].
c. 950b A tenth century fresco of the Edessa cloth is in the Saklı Kilise (Hidden Church) at Sakli, in the ancient Cappadocia, now Goreme
[Above (enlarge): Image of Edessa from wall-painting in the Sakli or 'Hidden' Church, Goreme[67].]
region of central Turkey[68], about halfway between ancient Edessa and Constantinople[69]. The church and its frescoes have escaped the Islamic destruction and neglect which has befallen almost everything Christian in Turkey[70], by it having only been discovered in 1957 after a landslide had blocked its entrance for about 500 years[71]. This Edessa cloth fresco is painted above an arch in the Sakli `Hidden' church[72] and despite damage to the face, its resemblance to the face of the Shroud is remarkable[73]. It has the same sepia-coloured, disembodied, rigidly frontal face as the Shroud[74], in landscape aspect cloth, strikingly resembling the equivalent area on the Turin Shroud[75]. Its shape may be evidence of the frame which held the Mandylion[76]. This mural dates no later than the mid-eleventh century, at least two centuries earlier than the earliest 1260 radiocarbon date of the Shroud[78].[H]
c. 950c Codex Vossianus Latinus Q 69 is a tenth-century manuscript 
[Above: "Vossianus Latinus Q69 is a tract dating to the 10th century that translates a probable 8th century Syriac text describing the Edessa cloth as containing a whole-body Christ image"[79].]
preserved at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands[80], mentions an eighth-century Syrian report that Jesus had left an imprint of his whole body on a cloth which was preserved in the big Church of Edessa, Turkey[81]. Adding to Jesus' legendary reply to Abgar V, the codex reads:
"...If you really want to see what my face looks like, I am sending you this linen cloth, on which you will be able to see not only the form of my face but the divinely transformed state of my whole body"[82].This is an unmistakable reference to the Shroud[83] and reflects a changed understanding that the image was of the full body, not just the face[84]. And because of its Carolingian handwriting, the manuscript cannot date much later than the tenth century[85]. This supports Ordericus Vitalis 1130 variation of the Abgar story that, "...the Lord Jesus sent him [Abgar V] ... a beautiful linen cloth ... The image of the Saviour was miraculously imprinted on to it and shines out, displaying the form and size of the Lord's body..." (emphasis original)[86][I].
But these are only some of the "lot of other evidence" which "suggests ... that the Shroud is older than the radiocarbon dates allow," as admitted even by Oxford radiocarbon dating laboratory's Prof. Christopher Ramsey[Left[87].]:
"There is a lot of other evidence that suggests to many that the Shroud is older than the radiocarbon dates allow and so further research is certainly needed. It is important that we continue to test the accuracy of the original radiocarbon tests as we are already doing. It is equally important that experts assess and reinterpret some of the other evidence. Only by doing this will people be able to arrive at a coherent history of the Shroud which takes into account and explains all of the available scientific and historical information"[88].[J]To be continued in the next part #13 of this series.
Notes
1. This post is copyright. I grant permission to quote from any part of it (but not the whole post), provided it includes a reference citing my name, its subject heading, its date, and a hyperlink back to this page. [return]
2. Wilson, I., 1991, "Holy Faces, Secret Places: The Quest for Jesus' True Likeness," Doubleday: London, p.3; Wilson, I., 1996, "Jesus: The Evidence," [1984], Weidenfeld & Nicolson: London, Revised, p.134; Wilson, I., 1998, "The Blood and the Shroud: New Evidence that the World's Most Sacred Relic is Real," Simon & Schuster: New York NY, pp.125, 141; Wilson, I. & Schwortz, B., 2000, "The Turin Shroud: The Illustrated Evidence," Michael O'Mara Books: London, p.113; Wilson, I., 2010, "The Shroud: The 2000-Year-Old Mystery Solved," Bantam Press: London, p.108. [return]
3. The Adoration of the Cross," Second half of the 12th century, "Christian Art: Icons, Murals, Mosaics," The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia, 2 April 2014. [return]
4. Damon, P.E., et al., 1989, "Radiocarbon Dating of the Shroud of Turin," Nature, Vol. 337, 16 February, pp.611-615, 611. [return]
5. McCrone, W.C., 1999, "Judgment Day for the Shroud of Turin," Prometheus Books: Amherst NY, pp.1, 141, 178, 246; Wilson, 1998, p.7; Tribbe, F.C., 2006, "Portrait of Jesus: The Illustrated Story of the Shroud of Turin," Paragon House Publishers: St. Paul MN, Second edition, p.169; de Wesselow, T., 2012, "The Sign: The Shroud of Turin and the Secret of the Resurrection," Viking: London, p.170; Oxley, M., 2010, "The Challenge of the Shroud: History, Science and the Shroud of Turin," AuthorHouse: Milton Keynes UK, p.87. [return]
6. Wilson, I., 1979, "The Shroud of Turin: The Burial Cloth of Jesus?," [1978], Image Books: New York NY, Revised edition, p.91; Scavone, D.C., 1989, "The Shroud of Turin: Opposing Viewpoints," Greenhaven Press: San Diego CA, pp.14, 30; Wilson, 1991, p.19; Wilson, 1998, pp.126-127, 278; Ruffin, C.B., 1999, "The Shroud of Turin: The Most Up-To-Date Analysis of All the Facts Regarding the Church's Controversial Relic," Our Sunday Visitor: Huntington IN, p.64; Fanti, G. & Malfi, P., 2015, "The Shroud of Turin: First Century after Christ!," Pan Stanford: Singapore, p.59; Oxley, 2010, pp.4, 49, 52, 73; Wilson, 2010, pp.221-222, 302; de Wesselow, 2012, pp.14, 51. [return]
7. Sox, H.D., 1988, "The Shroud Unmasked: Uncovering the Greatest Forgery of All Time," The Lamp Press: Basingstoke UK, p.95; Antonacci, M., 2000, "Resurrection of the Shroud: New Scientific, Medical, and Archeological Evidence," M. Evans & Co: New York NY, pp.192-193. [return]
8. Gove, H.E., 1996, "Relic, Icon or Hoax?: Carbon Dating the Turin Shroud," Institute of Physics Publishing: Bristol UK, p.303. [return]
9. Barnes, A.S., 1934, "The Holy Shroud of Turin," Burns Oates & Washbourne: London, p.65. [return]
10. Bulst, W., 1957, "The Shroud of Turin," McKenna, S. & Galvin, J.J., transl., Bruce Publishing Co: Milwaukee WI, p.47. [return]
11. Barnes, 1934, p.65. [return]
12. Petrosillo, O. & Marinelli, E., 1996, "The Enigma of the Shroud: A Challenge to Science," Scerri, L.J., transl., Publishers Enterprises Group: Malta, p.196; Tribbe, 2006, p.234. [return]
13. Latendresse, M., 2010, "Shroud Scope: Durante 2002 Vertical". [return]
14. Barnes, 1934, p.64. [return]
15. Petrosillo & Marinelli, 1996, p.196; Tribbe, 2006, p.234. [return]
16. Barnes, 1934, p.64. [return]
17. Petrosillo & Marinelli, 1996, p.196. [return]
18. Petrosillo & Marinelli, 1996, pp.195-196; Ruffin, 1999, p.111. [return]
19. Barnes, 1934, p.65. [return]
20. Barnes, 1934, pp.65-66. [return]
21. "Shoana Church," Wikipedia, 13 June 2017. [return]
22. "Byzantine Master of the Crucifix of Pisa," Wikipedia, 14 April 2017. [return]
23. Barnes, 1934, pp.67, 68; Petrosillo, O. & Marinelli, E., 1993, "Shrouded in Mystery," Shroud News, No 76, April, pp.14-21, 16; Petrosillo & Marinelli, 1996, pp.195-196. [return]
24. Barnes, 1934, p.66. [return]
25. Barnes, 1934, pp.66-67. [return]
26. Barnes, 1934, p.67. [return]
27. Barnes, 1934, pp.67-68. [return]
28. Barnes, 1934, p.68. [return]
29. Petrosillo & Marinelli, 1996, p.195. [return]
30. See reference 2. [return]
31. Wilson, 1991, p.47. [return]
32. Wilson, I., 1986, "The Evidence of the Shroud," Guild Publishing: London, p.110A. [return]
33. Wilson, 1979, p.102. [return]
34. Wilson, 1991, p.47. [return]
35. Wilson, 1991, p.165. [return]
46. Wilson, I., 1978, "The Turin Shroud," Book Club Associates: London, p.82e. [return]
37. Latendresse, M., 2010, "Shroud Scope: Durante 2002 Face Only Vertical". [return]
38. Wilson, 1991, p.165. [return]
39. Ibid. [return]
40. Wilson, 1979, p.192f. [return]
41. "Saviour Church on Nereditsa," Wikipedia, 16 February 2018. [return]
42. "File:Christos Acheiropoietos.jpg," Wikipedia, 2 July 2008. [return]
43. Wilson, 1986, p.110A. [return]
44. See reference 2. [return]
45. Wilson, 1979, p.102. [return]
46. "Leo Diaconus," New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia, 21 December 2017. [return]
47. "Leo the Deacon," 2013, Wikipedia, 20 December 2017. [return]
48. "Leo Diaconus," New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia,. [return]
49. Sullivan, D.F. & Talbot, A-M., eds, 2005, "The History of Leo the Deacon," Amazon.com. [return]
50. "Leo Diaconus," New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia, 2017. [return]
51. Guscin, M., 2009, "The Image of Edessa," Brill: Leiden, Netherlands & Boston MA, p.161. [return]
52. Drews, R., 1984, "In Search of the Shroud of Turin: New Light on Its History and Origins," Rowman & Littlefield: Lanham MD, p.39; Wilson, 1998, p.152; Antonacci, 2000, p.132; Sullivan & Talbot, 2005, p.121; Oxley, 2010, p.36; de Wesselow, 2012, p.383. [return]
53. See reference 2. [return]
54. "Constantine VII," Wikipedia, 6 February 2018. [return]
55. Wilson, 1991, p.153; Whiting, B., 2006, "The Shroud Story," Harbour Publishing: Strathfield NSW, Australia, p.257; Wilson, 2010, pp.168-169. [return]
56. Constantine VII, Wikipedia. [return]
57. Wilson, 1991, p.153; Whiting, 2006, p.257; Wilson, 2010, p.169. [return]
58. de Wesselow, 2012, pp.177-178. [return]
59. de Wesselow, 2012, p.178. See also reference 2. [return]
60. Wilson, 1991, pp.153-154; Whiting, 2006, p.257; Wilson, 2010, p.169. [return]
61. "Abgar V," Wikipedia, 16 March 2018. [return]
62. Wilson, 1986, p.110E. [return]
63. Wilson, 1979, p.155; Whanger, A.D. in Meacham, W., 1983, "The Authentication of the Turin Shroud: An Issue in Archaeological Epistemology," Current Anthropology, Vol. 24, No. 3, June, pp.283-311, 304. [return]
64. Wilson, 1979, pp.119-120; Wilson, 1986, pp.111-113; Wilson, 1991, pp.141-143; Borkan, M., 1995, "Ecce Homo?: Science and the Authenticity of the Turin Shroud," Vertices, Duke University, Vol. X, No. 2, Winter, pp.18-51, 35; Iannone, J.C., 1998, "The Mystery of the Shroud of Turin: New Scientific Evidence," St Pauls: Staten Island NY, pp.104-105; Wilson, 1998, pp.151-153; Antonacci, 2000, p.132; Wilson & Schwortz, 2000, pp.110-111; de Wesselow, 2012, pp.186-187; Wilson, 2010, p.140-141. [return]
65. Wilson, 1998, p.152. [return]
66. Jones, S.E., 2012, "Tetradiplon and the Shroud of Turin," Blog post, September 15. [return]
67. Wilson, 2010, p.210F. [return]
68. Scavone, 1989, p.75. [return]
69. Wilson, 1998, p.151. [return]
70. Wilson, 1998, p.112. [return]
71. Wilson, 2010, p.172. [return]
72. Wilson, 1998, p.151. [return]
73. Ibid. [return]
74. Ibid. [return]
75. Wilson & Schwortz, 2000, p.109. [return]
76. Scavone, 1989, p.75. [return]
78. Wilson, 2010, p.112. See also reference 2. [return]
79. Long, J., 2013, "The Shroud of Turin's Earlier History: Part Two: To the Great City," Associates for Biblical Research, March 20. [return]
80. Wilson, 2010, p.177. [return]
81. Petrosillo & Marinelli, 1996, pp.250-251. [return]
82. Guscin, 2009, p.207. [return]
83. Petrosillo & Marinelli, 1996, p.251. [return]
84. Wilson, 2010, p.177. [return]
85. Ibid. [return]
86. Ibid. [return]
87. Prof. Christopher Ramsey, Merton College, Oxford, n.d.. [return]
88. Ramsey, C.B., 2009, "Shroud of Turin," Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit, 17 July. [return]
Posted: 18 March 2018. Updated: 21 February 2021.
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