Copyright © Stephen E. Jones[1]
Prehistory of the Shroud #16
This is "Prehistory of the Shroud (AD 29-700)," part #16 of my Turin Shroud Encyclopedia. See also 24Jul16. For more information about this series, see part #1 and part #2. Bible verses are from the English Standard Version (ESV) unless otherwise indicated. Emphases are mine unless otherwise indicated.
[Index #1] [Previous: Ashe, Geoffrey #15] [Next: Prehistory (701-1000) #17]
Both Chapter 9, "Prehistory of the Shroud (AD 29 - 1354)" and Chapter 10, "History of the Shroud (1355-present)" are becoming bottlenecks to
[Right (enlarge [SU91]): The planned cover of my book.]
to write an outline of both chapters as articles in this my Turin Shroud Encyclopedia. I will use in-line referencing to save time and it may be incomplete - the primary purpose of this outline is to help me write my book. I will also set it in a framework of each century from the 1st to the 14th, but I may not use that format in my book. If this page grows too long I will split it into "Prehistory of the Shroud #16," "#17," etc.
︎1st century (AD 29-100)
AD 29-30 The Letter of Lentulus, contains a Shroud-like description of Jesus by a claimed eye-witness contemporary! See 23Oct21. The Letter purports to be written to the Roman Senate by "Lentulus, the Governor of the Jerusalemites"[LLW]. It claims that Jesus "still lives," which would mean it was writen during Jesus' public ministry, from AD 29-30[FHB, 418,468]. The Letter itself doesn't claim to have been written by Publius Lentulus. It was a 1680 English translation which listed the author as "Publius Lentulus", a Prefect in Judea at the time of Tiberius Caesar (14-37)[LLW]. "Lentulus" was the surname of an ancient Roman family. The Letter's description of Jesus is Shroud-like: "His hair is ... over his shoulders" and "parted in two on the top of the head" and "His beard is ... divided at the chin." Also surprisingly Shroud-like is the Letter's: "His hair is of the colour of the ripe hazel-nut ... His ... face ... [has] a slightly reddish complexion"[LLW]. Sceptics had pointed out that if the Shroudman's hair was black as "a Palestinian Jew in his thirties" would have been [sic], then his hair would be white on the Shroud negative photograph[NJ07, 140]. But in fact both the negative and positive of the Shroud face (below) show a hair colour intermediate between black and white, which is consistent
[Above (enlarge): Comparison of positive (left)[LDP] and negative (right)[LNN], Shroud face photographs. If the Shroudman's hair had been black, it would appear white on the negative and dark on the positive, as the reversed 3 bloodstain does. But if his hair had been white, it would appear black on the negative and white on the positive. But it appears grey on the negative and brown on the positive, indicating the man's hair was reddish. See below on Jesus' hair and beard being reddish-brown in the 6th century Rossano Gospels]
with the Shroudman's hair having been reddish. Significantly, Israel's King David (c. 1040–970 BC), Jesus' ancestor through His mother Mary (Lk 3:23-31), was "ruddy" (1Sam 16:12; 17:42), the Hebrew word admowniy meaning "reddish (of the hair or the complexion)"[DBH]. The Letter was discovered in 1421 by an obscure Giacomo Colunna, a member of the ancient and powerful Colonna family[SCW]. He found the Letter in an ancient Roman document sent to Rome from Constantinople[LLW]. It was written in golden letters on red paper and richly bound, but has since been lost[LLW]. It is plausible that the Letter could have been found in the archives of an ancient Roman family such as the Colonna family. Historians near in time to the finding of the Letter in 1421 accepted it as authentic. In 1899 the eminent German textual critic, Ernst von Dobschütz (1870–1934) listed over 75 historical manuscripts from Germany, France, and Italy that include the Letter of Lentulus in variant forms"[LLW]. The Letter is dismissed as a forgery because no "Governor of Jerusalem ... is known to have been called Lentulus, and a Roman governor would not have addressed the Senate." But this is a fallacious Argument from Silence. Few sources have survived of Pontius Pilate's AD 26-36 rule in Judea and he is "the best-attested governor of Judaea"[PPW]! There was then a dual system of Roman government, with governors appointed by the Emperor for overall military and financial administration and consuls appointed by the Senate for civil and judicial administration[PNR]. Lentulus' odd title, "the Governor of the Jerusalemites" supports that his sphere of authority was only over the people of Jerusalem. So if Lentulus was the civil governor of Jerusalem in Jesus' time, appointed by the Roman Senate, he would have written to the Roman Senate to inform them about Jesus. If there was a Governor of Jerusalem, appointed by and reporting to the Roman Senate, that would explain the Jewish religious leaders' leverage over Pilate: "From then on Pilate sought to release him [Jesus], but the Jews cried out, `If you release this man, you are not Caesar's friend. Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.'"(Jn 19:12). Problems of the Letter being a forgery include: Who was the forger? What would be the point of the forgery? Why stop at one forgery? Why would a forger choose an obscure name like "Lentulus"? Most (if not all) apocryphal writings which purport to be from a person, that person had a first name and was well-known in the early church, e.g. "The Gospel of Philip," "The Gospel of Thomas," etc. What would be the point of forging a letter purporting to be from someone with no first name? If Lentulus was well=known to the Senate he would not need to include his surname, but a forger would have. Why would a forger claim that the Letter was "sent to Rome from Constantinople"? Why not simply claim that ever since Lentulus sent the Letter to the Roman Senate, it had been in Rome? Why would a forger create the Letter "written in golden letters on red paper"? That would make it a self-evident copy of Lentulus' Letter, not the original, because Lentulus would have written his Letter to the Senate on first century writing materials, either papyrus, parchment or vellum. Although the Letter doesn't claim to be written by a "Publius" Lentulus, there was a Publius Lentulus who had been elected as a Roman Consul during the reign of the Emperor Augustus (27 BC-14 AD)[LLW], so it would not be surprising if that Publius Lentulus had been appointed by the Senate to govern Jerusalem itself.
30 Fri 7 Apr. - Jesus is crucified (Mt 27:35; Mk 15:24; Lk 23:33; Jn 19:18). - Died on cross (Mt 27:50; Mk 15:37; Lk 23:46; Jn 19:30). - Face covered with face cloth - Gk soudarion (Jn 11:44; 20:7) while still
[Left (enlarge): How the the Sudarium of Oviedo ("the face cloth, which had been on Jesus' head" - Jn 20:7) was placed over the head in a vertical position (e.g. on a cross) "First Position"; then wrapped aroud the head when the body was horizontal (e.g. taken down from a cross) "Second Position"; and finally removed from the head (e.g. before being wrapped in a shroud) "Third Position" [BJ01, 118]. See 08May18.]
on the cross. - Joseph of Arimathea bought a linen shroud (Mk 15:46). - Joseph took down Jesus' body from cross (Mt 27:58-59; Mk 15:46; Lk 23:53; Jn 19:38-39). - Wrapped Jesus' body in a linen shroud (Mt 27:59; Mk 15:46; Lk 23:53). - Nicodemus had prepared Jesus' burial loculus (Heb. kochim) with 75 pounds (34 kgs) weight of mixed myrrh and aloes (Jn 19:40). - Laid in new tomb (Mk 15:46; Lk 23:53; Jn 19:38-42). - Wrapped Jesus' body with linen strips (othonia) and spices (aroma) (Jn 19:40 NIV). - Rolled a large stone across the entrance of the tomb (Mt 27:60; Mk 15:46; Lk 24:2; Jn 20:1).
Sun 9 Apr. - Before dawn. - Jesus is resurrected (Mt 28:5-6; Mk 16:5-6; Lk 24:4-6; Jn 20:1-3). - Jesus' body changed state (1Cor 15:51-53; Php 3:21). - Emitted intense light radiation (Mt 17:2; Mk 9:2-3; Lk 9:28-31). - Became `mechanically transparent' (Jn 20:19,26) [JJ91, 339]. Dawn. - Women disciples enter tomb and find Jesus' body not there (Mt 28:1,6; Mk 16:1-6: Lk 24:1,3-4; Jn 20:1-2). - Peter and John enter tomb (Jn 20:3-6,8). - They see the linen strips [othonia] (Lk 24:12; Jn 20:6 NIV), which had tied Jesus' hands and feet (Jn 11:44; 19:40 NIV), lying by themselves (Lk 24:12; Jn 20:6 NIV). - And the face cloth [soudarion], which had been on [epi] Jesus' head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself (Jn 20:7). - No Shroud [sindon][BW57, 83-84]. Jesus had taken it with him out of the tomb. - He would later give it to the "servant of the priest" (i.e. the Apostle John - see below).
c. 60 Shroud-like fresco of Jesus in profile in the Orpheus Cubiculum
[Right (enlarge)[MRH86, pl. 1]: Sketch by Thomas Frank Heaphy (1813-73) of a fresco in the ceiling of the earliest section of the Catacomb of Domitilla, dated to the time of Nero (54–68). Jesus is depicted in profile naked with a white cloth over his shoulder. Presumably sitting up at His resurrection with the Shroud still partly covering Him! If so, this is the earliest, mid-first century, depiction of the Shroud! See 05Jun21]
part of the Catacomb of Domitilla, Rome[SS93, 28]. Jesus has shoulder length hair and a beard, a white cloth is over His right shoulder. The Italian archaeologist Giovanni Battista de Rossi (1822–94) who opened this and many Roman catacombs, dated that section to the time of Nero. So there would have been Christians alive then who had seen Jesus, making this Shroud-like depiction of Him an independent confirmation that the Shroudman is Jesus!
c. 70 Water stains on the Shroud exactly match the pattern of water stains produced by folding a linen cloth of the Shroud's dimensions and
[Left (enlarge): Large water stains on the Shroud (left) were discovered by Aldo Guerreschi and Michele Salcito not to have been caused by water to extinguish the 1532 fire (only the small water stains were), but exactly match the pattern of the Shroud having been folded (top right) and hididen in a part-filled first century earthenware jar (bottom right). See 05Apr18.]
putting it in a partly water filled first century earthenware jar, identical to one found at Masada, the Jewish fortress overthrown by the Romans in AD 74[GS02]! This is evidence both that the Shroud is first century and that it had to be hidden in its early centuries from Christianity's Jewish and Roman enemies.
Second century (101-200)
c. 110 Gospel of the Hebrews. The apocryphal[BA34, 50; BM95, 36] Gospel according to the Hebrews (or Gospel of the Hebrews), originated in early Jewish-Christian circles at the end of the first or beginning of the second century[BW57, 87; GM69]. The Gospel was highly regarded by some early Church Fathers because it was believed by them to be the original of St Matthew's Gospel[GM69, HT78, 75]. The Gospel was originally composed in Hebrew or Aramaic, and translated into both Greek and Latin by St. Jerome (c. 342-420)[DR84, 105; JG16, 10]. The original of the Gospel of the Hebrews and Jerome's translations of it have since been lost and today only fragments of it exist in the writings of Church Fathers[HT78, 75, SD89, 74]. One of those fragments is in Jerome's Latin De Viris Illustribus (On Illustrious Men), written by him in Bethlehem in 392[RC99, 52]:
"The Gospel also which is called the Gospel according to the Hebrews, and which I have recently translated into Greek and Latin and which also Origen often makes use of, after the account of the resurrection of the Saviour says, `but the Lord, after he had given his grave clothes [sindon] to the servant of the priest, appeared to James ...'"[GM04, 17-18, JG16, 10]Even in his Latin text, Jerome retained the the Greek word sindon[DR84, 105, GM04, 17-18], to make it clear that it was Jesus' shroud that he gave to "the servant of the priest." See my 23Nov14 that "the servant of the priest" was a pseudonym of the Apostle John: a) John was a Jewish priest and b) John was a servant in the High priest's house.
Historian Dan Scavone pointed out that, "second century writers knew about the Shroud in their day. They disagree about who saved it from the tomb, but they agree that it had been saved":
"In the second century (about 100-200 A.D.), several accounts were written about the life of Christ ... they are valuable source materials for that time. Most importantly, these texts say that Jesus' shroud was removed from the tomb and saved. Writers of the second century, therefore, knew of the existence of this sheet in their own day. The first of these apocryphal books is called the Gospel of the Hebrews ... We have only fragments from it, for most of it has been lost over the centuries. One key surviving passage says, `After the Lord gave his shroud to the servant of the priest ... he appeared to James.' The Acts of Pilate is another apocryphal book of the second century. It states that Pilate and his wife preserved the shroud of Jesus. It suggests that they were sorry for their part in his death and were now Christians. These two books along with the Gospel of Peter, The Acts of Nicodemus, and The Gospel of Gamaliel, show us that second century writers knew about the Shroud in their day. They disagree about who saved it from the tomb, but they agree that it had been saved"[SD89, 74]
Third century (201-300)
c. 245 . Earliest known Christian house-church at Dura-Europos,
[Left (enlarge)[FDW]: Remains of the former earliest known house church.]
Syria, is now thought to have been destroyed in the Syrian civil war of 2011[DCW]. This, and the earliest known purpose-built Christian church (below), as well as the water stains on 
[Right (enlarge[RPW]). Ruins of the earliest known purpose-built Christian church at Aqaba, Jordan, dated c. 295[PBW].]
the Shroud matching exactly it having been kept in a first-century earthenware jar (see above), as well as the DNA evidence 18Oct15), show that in these early centuries the Shroud would have circulated among small, scattered Christian congregations in the strictest secrecy, `under the radar' of history.
Fourth century (301-400)
338 St. Nino (c. 296-338) was a Greek Christian woman, born in Cappadocia, in today's eastern Turkey, around 296[RC99, 53]. Nino moved with her parents to Jerusalem when she was twelve[RC99, 53]. Soon after, Nino's father, a Roman army officer named Zabulon, became a monk and abandoned his wife Sosana and child Nino, to join a monastic community in Jordan[BP28, 163; SNQ]. Then Nino's mother Sosana was ordained a deaconess and left Nino in the care of an old woman, Sara Niaphor[SNQ]. Sara raised Nino in the Christian Faith and related to her the stories of Christ's life and His suffering on earth[SNQ]. Hearing from Sara that Christ's seamless Robe was in Georgia in southeastern Europe, Nino travelled to Georgia[SNQ]. Through her preaching and miracles of healing, Nino converted to Christianity Queen Nana, the wife of King Mirian III of Iberia (r. 284–361) and then the King himself[BP28, 166-7; SNQ]. Through Nino's preaching the pagan Kingdom of Iberia (Georgia) converted to Christianity[RC99, 53]. Shortly before she died in 338, Nino dictated her life story to her friend Salome of Ujarma[BP28, 169; RC99, 53]. In the earliest version of her life story, which dates from the fifth century, Nino mentions the Shroud[RC99, 53] Reminiscing about her early life in Jerusalem, Nino recounted:
"And they found the linen [othonia] early in Christ's tomb, whither Pilate and his wife came. When they found it. Pilate's wife asked for the linen, and went away quickly to her home in Pontus; and she became a believer in Christ. Some time afterwards the linen came into the hands of Luke the Evangelist, who put it in a place known only to himself. Now, they did not find the Sudarium [sudari], but it is said to have been found by Peter, who took it and kept it. but we know not if it has ever been discovered. The crosses are buried in the city of Jerusalem though no man knows in what place; when it shall please God, they also shall appear"[GM04, 20; RC99, 53]The story about Pilate's wife becoming a Christian is based on Mt 27:19[GM04, 20]:
"Besides, while he [Pilate] was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent word to him, `Have nothing to do with that righteous man, for I have suffered much because of him today in a dream'"But there is no evidence that Pilate , his wife or Luke had anything to do with the Shroud[GM04, 20]. Indeed, that Nino never saw the Shroud or the Sudarium, or even knew where they were[RC99, 53], suggests that she was told those false stories because she was not entitled to know where the Shroud and Sudarium were. But it is significant that Nino distinguished between the graveclothes [othonia] and the napkin [sudari], or cloth, that covered or went around Jesus' head[RC99, 53]. St. Nino's account is proof that in fourth-century Jerusalem people knew of the Shroud's existence[SD89, 75].
c. 400 A Christ Pantocrator ("Ruler of All") (below), which is part of a 
[Left (enlarge)[MPW]: Extract of the c.400 Pantocrator in the Catacomb of Saints Marcellinus and Peter, Rome. Although Jesus' Shroud-like face does not have the Vignon markings of later Byzantine icons, it is such a radical departure from the "beardless Apollo" depictions of Jesus then current, the simplest explanation is that the artist had seen the Shroud in the 4th century! See 04Oct16.]
larger fresco in the Catacomb of Saints Marcellinus and Peter (not the Apostle), in Rome[CMP], "shows a very striking similarity to" the "image on the Cloth of Turin" and yet is dated "about 400"[BW57, 41]!
Fifth century (401-500)
c. 450 The Acts of Pilate or Gospel of Nicodemus, in its current form, is thought to date from around the 4th or 5th century[GNW]. It contains the best-known early non-Biblical references to Joseph of Arimathea. According to that Gospel, on the first Easter Saturday, Joseph is seized by Jewish leaders and locked up, because he had asked Pilate for the body of Jesus, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and placed it in a tomb (Mt 27:57-60; Mk 15:43-46; Lk 23:50-53; Jn 19:38-42)[SD02]. But on the next day, he had mysteriously disappeared from his cell. Joseph later related how angels had lifted up the prison at its four corners and how Jesus had released him and had proved his identity by showing him the linen shroud and face napkin still in the tomb[SD02]:
"Full of fear I fell to the ground. And someone took me by the hand and raised me up from the place where I had fallen ... And he ... said to me: Do not fear, Joseph. Open your eyes and see who it is who speaks with you ... And I said to him: Who are you, Lord? He replied: I am Jesus, whose body you asked for from Pilate, whom you clothed in clean linen, on whose face you placed a cloth, and whom you placed in your new cave, and you rolled a great stone to the door of the cave. And I asked him who spoke to me: Show me the place where I laid you. And he took me and showed me the place where I laid him. And the linen cloth lay there, and the cloth that was upon his face. Then I recognized that it was Jesus" (my emphasis)[HE12, 466]This is evidently based on Jn 20:6-7 where Peter and John enter the empty tomb and see the "linen cloths" [othonia] and the "face cloth" [soudarion]. But in this fourth or fifth century writing, the Shroud and face cloth (Sudarium of Oviedo) are known to still exist. Otherwise what would be the point of writing about them if they had ceased to exist four centuries earlier?
Sixth century (501-600)
544 The Syrian-born historian, Evagrius Scholasticus (c. 536-594), recorded that in this year the Edessa Cloth (the Shroud "four-doubled' - tetradiplon) (see below) having been used as a protective palladium to ward off a determined attack on Edessa by the Persian king Chosroes [Khosrow I (r. 531-79)][WI79, 137]. In this Siege of Edessa, Khosrow I ordered a huge mound of timber built, which was gradually pushed forward in order to enable his men to scale Edessa's high walls[WI79, 137]. As a counterattack the Edessans decided to tunnel under their walls in an attempt to set fire to the mound from below before it could be maneuvered into position[WI79, 137]. At this point the Edessa cloth was deployed[WI79, 137]. In Evagrius' words:
"The mine was completed; but they [the Edessans] failed in attempting to fire the wood, because the fire, having no exit whence it could obtain a supply of air, was unable to take hold of it. In this state of utter perplexity they brought out the divinely made image not made by the hands of man [Gk. acheiropoietos], which Christ our God sent to King Abgar [sic see "50"] when he desired to see him. Accordingly, having introduced this sacred likeness into the mine and washed it over with water, they sprinkled some upon the timber ... the timber immediately caught the flame, and being in an instant reduced to cinders, communicated with that above, and the fire spread in all directions" (emphasis added)[AM00, 136-137; EEH]This account is the entry of the Image of Edessa/Mandylion into history[SEW, WI79, 137] See "544".
c. 550 Christ Pantocrator, St Catherine's monastery, Sinai. This encaustic (hot coloured wax) on wood[SD91, 186-187] icon of Christ
[Above (enlarge): The Vignon markings on the face of the Shroud[WI78, 82E] compared with that of the icon of Christ Pantocrator, Saint Catherine's Monastery, Mount Sinai. By my count there are at least eleven of the fifteen Vignon markings on this mid-sixth century icon which are also on the face of the Shroud[16Feb12]. See "550".]
Pantocrator ("ruler of all")[RC99, 150] at the isolated Saint Catherine's Monastery, Mount Sinai, escaped the iconoclasm[SD91, 186] of of the eighth through ninth centuries [see "723" and "842"]. Dated c. 550[WW91, 306; TF06, 17], this icon was a gift from the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I (c.482–565), who built the monastery between 548 and 565[WW91, 306]. This is the earliest surviving painted icon of Christ[SD91, 186]. It is nearly perfectly congruent to the Shroud-face, for example the high right eyebrow, the hollow right cheek, and the garment neckline[SD91, 186]. So marked are these oddities, that the late Princeton University art historian, Professor Kurt Weitzmann (1904-93), while making no connection with the Shroud, remarked of this icon that:
"... the pupils of the eyes are not at the same level; the eyebrow over Christ's left eye is arched higher than over his right ... one side of the mustache droops at a slightly different angle from the other, while the beard is combed in the opposite direction ... Many of these subtleties remain attached to this particular type of Christ image and can be seen in later copies ..."[WK76, 15; in RC99, 110-111 & WI86, 110-111]
c. 560 Codex Purpureus Rossanensis. "The Rossano Gospels ... at the cathedral of Rossano in Italy, is a 6th-century illuminated manuscript 
[Right (original): Extract from "Miniature of the Last Supper" from the Rossano Gospels"[FRW]. Jesus' face is very Shroud-like in this c.560 miniature. Significantly, His hair and beard are reddish-brown (which agrees with Lentulus' description above) while the younger Apostles' hair is black.]
Gospel Book written following the reconquest of the Italian peninsula by the Byzantine Empire [in 540]. Also known as Codex purpureus Rossanensis due to the reddish (purpureus in Latin) appearance of its pages, the codex is one of the oldest surviving illuminated manuscripts of the New Testament"[RGW] ... very similar to the Shroud, is the `Apostelcommunion', the `Communion of the Apostles' of the 6th century, originating in Constantinople ... The twelve apostles are completely different to Christ. But the Christ represented possesses all the noted [Vignon markings] features"[VC90, 12-13].
c. 575 Homs vase. This sixth century Byzantine style[WI79, 102; WI98, 141] silver vase from Homs (ancient Emesa), Syria[IJ98, 153] has a medallion face of Jesus[MRW86, 77; WI98,141] which bears a strong resemblance to the face on the Shroud[WI86, 105; RC99, 110-111] in
[Left: Face of the Shroudman on the sixth century Homs vase[VFE]
many of the Vignon markings and other respects[SD91, 184-189]. These similarities include, "the narrowness of the face; the distortions carved into the right side of the face, where the Shroud face has two sizable bruises, the swollen cheek and the half-moon bruise below; and the `light-bulb' shape of the head on its outer edge"[SD91, 189-190].
c. 600 Mosaic depiction of the Image of Edessa[WI10, 1-2] (below),
[Above (enlarge[WI10, plate 19a]): Shroud-like mosaic depiction of the Image of Edessa, dated sixth-seventh century, from a house near Sanliurfa (ancient Edessa). See 13Mar16 that this 6th-7th century Image of Edessa mosaic has at least 9 Vignon markings, and 1 non-Vignon marking, found on the Shroud face! See also 07Dec16].
i.e. the Shroud "four-doubled' (tetradiplon) (see below), hacked out of a wall of a house in Bireçik, a town on the banks of the Euphrates River about 73 km (45 miles) west of Sanliurfa (ancient Edessa)[DP16, 140; WI10, 2]. Shroud scholars Ian Wilson and Mark Guscin were in Sanliurfa museum in 2008 when they were shown the above 6 by 8 inch (~15 x ~20 cms) mosaic depiction of the Image of Edessa[WI10, 2]. They dated the mosaic between the sixth and seventh centuries[WI10 2, 138], which meant it was not only the earliest-known depiction of the Image of Edessa, it came from near the ancient city after which the Image of Edessa was named[WI10, 2]!
Seventh century (601-700)
c.620 The Acts of Thaddaeus, a 7th century[GM09, 145] Greek update of the Abgar V legend [see "50"], described Jesus' image as having been imprinted on a tetradiplon ("four-doubled") which was a sindon ("linen sheet"):
"And Ananias [Abgar V's courier], having gone and given the letter, was carefully looking at Christ, but was unable to fix Him in his mind. And He knew as knowing the heart, and asked to wash Himself; and a towel4 was given Him; and when He had washed Himself, He wiped His face with it. And His image having been imprinted upon the linen ... 4Lit., doubled in four."[RD51, 558]In the Greek, "towel" is tetradiplon, i.e. tetra "four" + diplon "doubled," and "linen" is sindon, a large linen sheet[BW57, 82-83]. See below and my 2012, "Tetradiplon and the Shroud of Turin" as well as
[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). See WI77, 44; WI79, 120-121, 307; DR84, 36-37; WI86, 112-113, 145; SD89, 82; WI91, 141-142; PM96, 174; IJ98, 104-105, 115; WI98, 152; RC99, 54-55; AM00, 132-133, WS00, 110-111; GV01, 2-3; OM10, 23-24, 2-3; DT12, 186-187].]
my 2017 "The date of Ian Wilson's tetradiplon = `doubled in four' Shroud experiment," for how doubling the Shroud four times, with the face always uppermost, results in the face centred in landscape aspect, exactly as it is in copies of the Mandylion/Image of Edessa! This is proof beyond reasonable doubt that the Shroud was already in existence as the Mandylion/Image of Edessa `four-doubled' in the 7th century, at least six centuries before its earliest 13th century radiocarbon date! See "c. 620."
633 The Mozarabic Rite of Roman Catholics living under Muslim rule in Iberian Spain[MZW], likely originated in the sixth century under St Leandro, Bishop of Seville (c.534–601), who had lived in Constantinople from 579-582[GM69; GM98, 17]. So Leandro would have been aware of the Image of Edessa/Shroud's discovery in 544 (see above)[GM98, 17]. The rite was given its final form in 633 at the Fourth Council of Toledo, Spain[MZW]. Its Illatio or preface states: "Peter ran to the tomb with John and saw the recent imprints [vestigia] of the dead and risen one on the linens [linteaminibus]"[GM69; WI79, 93; GM98, 17; RC99, 56; GV01, 42]. This is the first mention that Jesus' surviving grave wrapping showed an image[SD89, 76]! See "633."
c. 680 Bishop Arculf of Perigueux, France[GM69, WI79, 94; BJ01, 25; WI10, 109], returning from a pilgrimage to the Holy Land[SD89, 76; WI10, 109; ARW], was shipwrecked on the island of Iona in the Scottish Hebrides[WI79, 94; WI10, 108]. Arculf recounted his pilgrimage to the Abbot of Iona Abbey, Irish scholar and saint Adamnan (c. 624–704)[GM69; WI79, 94; ADW], who recorded it in his De Locis Sanctis ("On Holy Places"), which was in 698 presented to King Aldfrith of Northumbria (r. 685–705)[ADL; BJ01, 25]. In particular, Adamnan recorded in Latin that in Jerusalem Arculf had seen, "the sudarium of our Lord which was placed over his head in the tomb"[BA34, 50; WI10, 108-109]. However, Arculf described this cloth as eight feet (244 cm) long[WI86, 103; CN88, 62; SD89, 77], which is much shorter than the Shroud's over fourteen feet length (441 cm)[BP28, 144; WI79, 94; CN88, 62; SD89, 77; WI10, 109]. It cannot have been the Shroud folded in two[SD89, 76] because that would have been 7 feet long, and besides Arculf stated that he had kissed this "sudarium"[WI79, 94; SD89, 77] and that close up he would have noticed that it was folded. It also cannot have been the "face cloth" or "napkin" [Greek soudarion] of John 20:7 (i.e. the Sudarium of Oviedo, which is c. 84 x 53 cm (33 x 21 inches), because that would have been a much smaller cloth[BP28, 144; WI10, 109]. Finally, Arculf did not mention that this "sudarium" had an image of Jesus imprinted on it, which he surely would have, had there been one[WI79, 94; SD89, 76; Wilson, 2010, p.109]. Since Latin had no word of its own for the Greek sindon used of the Shroud in the gospels (Mt 27:59; Mk 15:46; Lk 23:53), it was a common confusion in Latin writers that the word "sudarium" was used to mean the much larger Shroud[GM98, 11-12; BJ01, 146]. Some have speculated that what Arculf saw was a single sided copy of the Shroud, such as the Besançon[CN88, 62; IJ98, 210; OM10, 113] or the Compiegne[WI79, 94; WI86, 103] shroud, but they both had painted images. So it seems that what Arculf saw was a piece of cloth that had acquired the false reputation of being either the Shroud or the Sudarium. Either way, it is a further testimony to the common knowledge among early Christians that Jesus' burial cloths had been recovered from His tomb and existed in their day! See "680".
692. In this year Byzantine Emperor Justinian II (668–711) minted 
Right (enlarge) Gold solidus coin[MM], minted 692-95 by Byzantine Emperor Justinian II[WI92; WW98, p.16]. The face of Jesus on the coin has many "Vignon markings" features found on the face of the man on Shroud, including wrinkles in the Shroud cloth, proving beyond reasonable doubt that the 7th century designer of this coin had the Shroud as his model! See 24Jan17a.]
tremissis and solidus coins bearing an image of Jesus' face[AM00, 128]. The coins were the first to bear Jesus' image[WW91, 308]. As can be seen below, Jesus' face on the Justinian II c. 692 gold solidus
[Above (enlarge): Comparison of positive (left) of the Shroud face (enhanced)[SSF] and a Justinian II 692 gold solidus coin (above cropped). It is obvious that the engraver of this late 7th century coin based his design on the face of the man on the Shroud: ~568 years before the earliest 1260 radiocarbon date of the Shroud! And ~663 years before the Shroud first appeared in 1355, in undisputed history, at Lirey, France!]
coin above, bears a striking resemblance to the face of the man on the Shroud[PM96, p.195; SD89, 84-85]. Prof. Giulio Fanti identified 12 "remarkable similarities" between the Justinian II c. 692 gold solidus coin above and the face of the man on the Shroud:
"(1) Wavy hair and asymmetry between the right side (shorter) and the left side (longer). (2) High-arched left eyebrow due to a hematoma. (3) Reversed "3"-shaped forehead wound interpreted as a lock of hair at the center of the forehead. (4) Very close, large, round eyes. (5) Contusion next to the right eye. (6) Protruding cheekbones because of swelling. (7) Flattened and slightly curved nose. (8) Long mustache. (9) Sparse beard on the right side due to tear. (10) Bipartite and asymmetrical beard. (11) A gap in the beard below the lower lip. (12) Same shape of the wrinkle on the neck (double-lined) interpreted as the edge of the dress"[FM15, 112-114].Fanti calculated that, the "engraver would have had only seven chances in one billion of billions [7.26 x 10-18 = 0.00000000000000000726] of different possibilities of hitting these features all together without having seen the Shroud"[FM15, 114, 374]!
To be continued in part 17 of this series.
Notes:
1. This post is copyright. I grant permission to extract or quote from any part of it (but not the whole post), provided the extract or quote includes a reference citing my name, its title, its date, and a hyperlink back to this page. [return]
Bibliography
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ADL. Adamnan, "De Locis Sanctis," Wikipedia, 29 June 2021.
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SD91. Scavone, D.C., 1991, "The History of the Turin Shroud to the 14th C.," in Berard, 1991, pp.171-204.
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SS93. Morgan, R.H., 1993, "New Evidence for the Earliest Portrait of Jesus," Shroud Spectrum International, No. 42, December, 28.
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Posted 13 July 2022. Updated 19 February 2023.
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