The Sudarium of Oviedo, also known as the Shroud of Oviedo is one of the most important relics of Christianity. It is believed to be a cloth which was wrapped around Jesus’ head after his death. The shroud is currently the greatest treasure in a cathedral of Oviedo, Spain.
The Shroud of Oviedo is located in the chapel of St. Michael, also known as the Holy chamber of Oviedo, which nowadays belongs to the city's cathedral. In the early medieval period it was a separate pre-Romanesque church located next to the Tower of San Miguel. The chamber, which was built in the times of the fall of the Visigothic kingdom, became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in December 1998. The chamber was built during the 9th century as a palace chapel for King Alfonso II of Asturias. It was destroyed in the 14th century and then replaced with the present day Gothic Cathedral of Oviedo.
The Cloth of Jesus Christ
The Sudarium of Oviedo is a piece of cloth measuring 84 x 53 cm (33 x 21 inches). According to the Bible (John 20:6-7), it's a piece which was wrapped around the head of Jesus.
Simon Peter, following him, also came up, went into the tomb, saw the linen cloth lying on the ground, and also the cloth that had been over his head; this was not with the linen cloth but rolled up in a place by itself.
The shroud is displayed to the public only three times a year. It is severely soiled and crumpled, with dark flecks which don’t form any image. Thousands of pilgrims arrive in Oviedo on Good Friday, the Feast of the Triumph of the Cross on September 14, and on its octave on September 21.
- Reconstructing Jesus: Using Science to Flesh out the Face of Religion
- The Roman god Bacchus as a Christian icon
The Sudarium of Oviedo. (Mark Guscin)
The shroud of Oveido was mentioned for the first time in 570 AD by Antoninus of Piacenza, who wrote that it was located in the monastery of St Mark, in Jerusalem. The history of the shroud’s travels starts in Palestine in 614, when it was taken to Alexandria after the invasion by the Sassanid Persian King Khosrau II. When his army arrived to northern Egypt, the presbyter who took care of the shroud carried it from Alexandria to Spain. It then traveled through Cartagena, Seville, and in 657, arrived in Toledo. It finally reached Oviedo circa 840 AD. In March 14, 1075, King Alfonso VI, his sister, and Rodrigo Diaz Vivar (known as El Cid), opened the chest with the shroud and named it by an official act as "The Sacred Sudarium of Our Lord Jesus Christ."
Science Doesn't Provide the Answer People Expect
Carbon 14 testing is the most popular method for dating ancient artifacts. The tests of the Sudarium were performed on three samples snipped from it in April 1988. The results suggest that the shroud dates between 1260 and 1390 AD. According to these results it is impossible that the shroud is an original that belonged to the times of Jesus - but there is much controversy over the dates provided.
Christ Pantocrator mosaic in Byzantine style, from the Cefalù Cathedral, Sicily, c. 1131. (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Even in scientific communities, the results of the tests are not believed to be reasonable. It seems that the shroud may have gotten dirty in a fire in 1532 – making the carbon testing completely useless. The cathedral was also bombed by terrorists in 1934, which could have influenced the date of the shroud as well. Carbon testing is convincing only if the samples don't contain dirt not connected with the times when it was made. It is a typical problem for dating ancient textiles. If the sample was not influenced by substances from other centuries, the result of the test is valid. Many researchers do not accept the results of the carbon 14 tests because the sample wasn't clean.
Searching for the Origins of the Shroud
The story of the shroud of Oviedo has as many enthusiasts as critics. Many people believe that this is a piece of textile which really covered the face of Jesus, but science is still looking for proof to confirm this. A Swiss pollen expert, Max Frei, tried to find botanical evidence. When he studied the shroud he found two species of pollen which were typical for the area of Palestine. He also found a pollen sample from the north of Africa, which is consistent with the legends about the travels of the cloth.
In 1994, during the First International Congress on the Shroud of Oviedo, researchers decided to test the blood and lymph samples which are still on the cloth. The results showed that the person who was covered with the cloth had an AB blood type. They also found that the pattern on the textile suggests that the cloth covered the face of a bearded man. Unfortunately, it was impossible to read something more from the artifact because there is no way to compare it with human remains or other artifacts which belonged to the man.
- Could ancient earthquake explain face of Jesus in Shroud of Turin?
- The Shroud of Turin: Controversial Cloth Defies Explanation as Study Shows it Has DNA From Around the World
The Shrouds which cover a Mystery
The Shroud of Oviedo is one of the most famous textiles apart from the Shroud of Turin, another legendary cloth connected with Jesus. It is unknown if the two textiles belonged to the same man, if they’re original, and if they are really connected with Jesus.
Perfect fit of Sudarium of Oviedo (right) to the face on the Shroud of Turin (left) The Shroud of Turin
Nonetheless, both of the shrouds continue to be strongly connected to Christianity. Over the centuries, the Sudarium of Oveido became a popular motif in Spanish and Portuguese literature and medieval songs and poems. Although, it is unknown if it original or not, it remains a popular reason for pilgrimages to Oviedo. Thus, the legend surrounding the Sudarium is what makes it one of the most important relics of the world.
Featured image: The ark that contains the Sudarium of Oviedo. Source: Public Domain
References:
Mark Guscin, The Oviedo Cloth, 1998.
Andrè Marion, Gerard Lucotte, Tunika z Argenteuil i Całun Turyński, 2008.
https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=3953
Comments
cloth connected to jesus
Permalink
In reply to There is nothing, 100% of by Jason Llewellyn (not verified)
I agree with you on every point. my wife said the same
Religion is a money maker. many people only not go by
it. just pay to listen. if there is any miracles that can be
then some cases it is by luck. I respect all religions.Through
spirituality has been in me not religion.
FromEnoch, Great-grandfather of Noah:
Permalink
In reply to There is nothing, 100% of by Jason Llewellyn (not verified)
[Chapter 6]
1 And it came to pass when the children of men had multiplied that in those days were born unto 2 them beautiful and comely daughters. And the angels, the children of the heaven, saw and lusted after them, and said to one another: 'Come, let us choose us wives from among the children of men 3 and beget us children.' And Semjaza, who was their leader, said unto them: 'I fear ye will not 4 indeed agree to do this deed, and I alone shall have to pay the penalty of a great sin.' And they all answered him and said: 'Let us all swear an oath, and all bind ourselves by mutual imprecations 5 not to abandon this plan but to do this thing.' Then sware they all together and bound themselves 6 by mutual imprecations upon it. And they were in all two hundred; who descended in the days of Jared on the summit of Mount Hermon, and they called it Mount Hermon, because they had sworn 7 and bound themselves by mutual imprecations upon it. And these are the names of their leaders: Samlazaz, their leader, Araklba, Rameel, Kokablel, Tamlel, Ramlel, Danel, Ezeqeel, Baraqijal, 8 Asael, Armaros, Batarel, Ananel, Zaq1el, Samsapeel, Satarel, Turel, Jomjael, Sariel. These are their chiefs of tens.
[Chapter 7]
1 And all the others together with them took unto themselves wives, and each chose for himself one, and they began to go in unto them and to defile themselves with them, and they taught them charms 2 and enchantments, and the cutting of roots, and made them acquainted with plants. And they 3 became pregnant, and they bare great giants, whose height was three thousand ells: Who consumed 4 all the acquisitions of men. And when men could no longer sustain them, the giants turned against 5 them and devoured mankind. And they began to sin against birds, and beasts, and reptiles, and 6 fish, and to devour one another's flesh, and drink the blood. Then the earth laid accusation against the lawless ones.
Extraordinary Claims....
Permalink
In reply to There is nothing, 100% of by Jason Llewellyn (not verified)
You’re making a helluva lot of extraordinary claims Jason. And extraordinary claims require extraordinary proofs, just like the existence of Jesus or other historical narratives in the Bible require. Just remember, you don’t need to be a devout Christian or God-fearing man to accept that much of the historical narrative of the world’s religious works, including the Bhagavad Gita, Qur’an and the Bible, might in fact be true. As an example, there is much evidence and profoundly new enquiry and revelation supporting evidence of events such as a global deluge/flood, the sojourn, enslavement and exodus of Asiatics in Egypt (and later conquests by) to name but a few. Now whether those events were brought upon by a vengeful Yahweh or not is debateable but that doesn’t mean they didn’t happen. On the subject of the Christian’s Christ, do a little digging around on the figure named Yeshua Ha-Nozri. In addition, a good review of the Nag Hammadi Library and others offer some tantalising insights into the possible existence of some kind of illumined prophet that fits that of Jesus Christ. It’s not religion that kills, it’s man that kills. Many of the scientific minds who have shaped the world we live in actively sought a relationship with The One which we cannot comprehend. Many of those minds were prophets in themselves.
They
Permalink
In reply to Answers by hilly7 (not verified)
okay since you know all about them just who ARE they?
Hilly7!! Excellent. I just
Permalink
In reply to Answers by hilly7 (not verified)
Hilly7!! Excellent. I just left a comment for these folks to read Genesis 6 but I know they won't. I still see comments about the talking snake? Haha. It's punishment was to crawl in the dust. Ancient texts like " Enoch " .. which was left out when "they" put our Bible together... gave too much information.