Posted on 04/26/2017 2:52:31 AM PDT by NYer
In an interview with RCF Liège, the numismatist Agostino Sferrazza addressed the old question on the coins that cover the eyes of the Man of the Shroud. According to his conclusions, these pieces must have been coined in the days of Pontius Pilate, circa the year 29. This could constitute an additional proof of the authenticity of the Shroud of Turin.
Back in 1976, the hypothesis of the presence of coins covering the eyes of the Man of the Shroud was first introduced, thanks to a 3D projection of the mysterious image. In it, scientists note the presence of small bulges on the ocular orbit bones which wouldn’t match any possible morphological particularities. The hypothesis states these might have been leptons: small coins of low value that were common in Palestine in Roman times.
These initial observations were pushed further. Using advanced technologies, researchers have tried to identify drawings and inscriptions on these alleged coins. On the disc covering the right eye, apparently a “lituus” (a curved augural staff used in Roman religion) can be observed. On the disc over left eye, we find a sacrificial cup. Those who refute the authenticity of the are expected to also refute this theory quite vigorously, suggesting that those who want the Shroud to be dated to the time of Christ are “willing themselves” to see the imprint coins where only simple interwoven textile fibers are to be found.
But these refutations can be contrasted with further evidence. Besides the drawings, researchers have managed to read the letters UKAI in the coins. This is thought to be the visible part of the word “TIBERIOUCAIKAROS,” Greek for Tiberius Caesar; that is, Emperor Tiberius. This would be a strong indication that these coins are comparable with other currencies from the Roman era, and might indeed be pieces that were being used at the time of Jesus’ Passion.
In his interview with RCF Liège, Agostino Sferrazza supports the theory of the authenticity of the pieces and dates them to the time of Pontius Pilate. This theory is based on the images produced by computer scientist Nello Balossino, an associate professor at the Turin Faculty of Sciences, who succeeded in bringing out an image of the sacrificial cup on the right eye of the Man of the Shroud. According to Agostino Sferazza, there is no doubt: these pieces were indeed coined in 29 AD.
This article was originally published in Aleteia’s French Edition.
The reflections of 13 people in the eyes is something that could be easily photographed and shown today, couldn’t it?
To be able to see a reflection that detailed would require many many pixels
Bookmark;
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Was also involved in a fire at one point in its history too as a general comment.
I always wondered why the heck they would pick a portion to test that was clearly from a PATCH
But I thought that I had read somewhere that the patch was an ‘invisible weave’ repair that matched the original almost perfectly.
1 Peter 3:15 (NIV)
But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect
The “hope” we have is forgiveness of our sins so that we can have eternal life in heaven with Jesus. The PROOF of this is the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
We are to defend the faith. The Shroud continues (as technology advances) to be more PROOF of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
What could be more important to Christians that the resurrection? NOTHING! Without the resurrection there is no Christian faith.
So, is the Shroud of Turin important? Of COURSE IT IS. DUH!
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Coins or potsherds were used to keep the eyes closed in death. The use of coins was picked up from the Greek occupation, but the practice of potsherds was quite well established. Skulls from a 1st Century Jewish burials in a Jerusalem Cemetery were found to have a either sherds or coins in some of the eye sockets when excavated. The majority found with one or the other had potsherds, but a fairly large percentage were found with small denomination coins in the sockets.
The carbon dating which did so date what was tested to those dates has been invalidated due to violation of the sampling protocols which allowed the eight called for samples to be devolved down to a single sample taken from the one area the scientists had said should be completely avoided on the shroud because it was chemically and physically different from the main body of the Shroud.
It has now been shown TIMES THREE in peer reviewed published scientific research to be a mixture of probable 16th Century DYED COTTON patching threads interwoven with original UNDYED FLAXEN LINEN threads of the main body of the shroud. This melange of contaminating newer and older original material combined when tested to return testing dates from the three C-14 labs, ranging from a low of 1260AD to 1390AD that DID NOT OVERLAP in their +/- 25 year degree of confidence of ANY of the tested sub-samples, which, although taken from the same master-sample, should have been a big red flag for the testers that what they were testing was not homogenous! Unfortunately, they were blinded by their prejudices and it did not occur to them they were several sigmas outside the range of normality for such a result for a homogenous sample.
Remaining piece of the master sample has been examined and found to be cotton on one side, and flax on the other side, skillfully interwoven by a technique called French Invisible Reweaving, developed in the 15th Century to repair expensive Arrases and Tapestries when they got worn. It literally involved twisting the fibers of the original threads into fibers of replacement new threads to continue and replace an area that had been so badly damaged it had to be "rewoven" and replaced. The corner the sample for C-14 testing had been the corner from which the Shroud had been hung, held onto by priests, and carried around by for centuries, on at least a weekly basis and apparently had become tattered. It was repaired using dyed European Cotton to match the original Flax threads, which is recognizable under a microscope.
The inventor of the C-14 technique used to date the sample of the Shroud, when asked what date the original material would have had to have been when mixed with a contaminating substance in the proportion as the Shroud sample to produce the 1350AD averaged date, did some calculations and said "1st century, give or take 100 years."
Even the leader of the 1988 testing has agreed that the Shroud testing has been compromised by the violation of the sampling protocols right from the beginning.
Uh, no. Leonardo Da Vinci was born 100 years after the Shroud of Turin was first put on display in Lirey, France. There is credible evidence that the Shroud was shown in 944 AD in Constantinople, Turkey, and before that as the Image of Edessa, folded only to show the face from back as far as 525AD.
Finally, the Shroud is NOT an artifact of light optics showing no such light generated shadowing that would be found from such exposure. It is, instead, a 3D contour map of the body it covered rendered represented by image density in 2D. No mere photograph can transfer such distance data so accurately.
No, actually it doesn't. The carbon stays the same as the source was still the original Flax and the soot from the fire is easily washed away. The explanation of the contamination that caused the spurious dating is now known: they tested a patched area.
You answered your own question. The patching technique is French Invisible Reweaving. . . and is meant to match perfectly. The master weaver matches the threads by dying them to match the original and them twists the new threads into the old and then replicates the weave pattern continuing the original. Under a powerful microscope you can see the dye coating and the fixative on the cotton threads that is simply not present on the original FLAX threads of the Shroud. Chemically they find that ALUM was used in the retting of the cotton that was not used in the retting of the flax. Different techniques were used on the bleaching of the two different age threads.
Thanks for the ping. The evidence continues to accumulate.
New info ping
>> The carbon stays the same as the source was still the original Flax and the soot from the fire is easily washed away. <<
Actually, if you put a cloth in a carbon-saturated atmospheric environment, it will even absorb and exchange CO2. So, no, you certainly cannot wash the soot away. Look at the shroud! The fire damage is very evident!
At the same time, you are correct about the patched area. Talk about a botch!
#47
Excellent post(s)!
Thank you for your replies...
Joseph of Aramethia was a wealthy man supposedly, so it wouldn’t be a stretch for him to use small coins.
In 1929, Alfonso Marcué González, the Basilica's official photographer, took black and white photographs of the Image and after careful examination of the photographic negative, found a clear image of a bearded man reflected in the right eye of the Virgin. He immediately informed the authorities of the Basilica who sworn him to complete silence about the discovery, which he complied.More than 20 years later, on May 29, 1951, Jose Carlos Salinas Chavez, while examining a good photograph of the face, rediscovers the same image of a bearded man reflected in the right eye of the Virgin, in the same place which it could be projected in an alive eye. Since then, many people had the opportunity to examine closely the eyes of the Virgin on the Tilma, including more than 20 physicians, ophthalmologists.
And then there are the celestial images that appear on Mary's cloak. On December 22, 1981, at the Observatory Laplace Mexico City, Father Mario Rojas and Dr. Juan Hernández Illescas, a medical doctor and amateur astronomer, performed an astronomical study of the Image and analyzed the stellar arrangement that appear in the Mantle of Our Lady. They surprisingly discovered that the stars stunningly and accurately map out the various constellations of the Mexican sky. Even more remarkable is the "star map" on the mantle is in the reverse (the cardinal axis rotated 90 degrees counterclockwise): providing a view of the constellations from beyond them, as would be seen looking through them towards the earth. The constellations are consistent with what astronomers believe was in the sky above Mexico City on the day the apparition occurred - in the winter-morning solstice of December 12, 1531, Saturday, at 10:26AM.
And there is more .... Carlos Fernandez del Castillo, a gynecologist, examined the image and has determined that the gynecological measurements of Our Lady's physical dimensions indicated a woman who is pregnant entirely consistent with the stage of pregnancy on December 9th for Jesus birth to occur on Christmas day. A stethoscope was placed below the black band at the waist of Our Lady (a sign that she is pregnant) and heard rhythmic repeating heartbeats at 115 beats per minute, the same as that of a baby in the maternal womb.
What you claim is false, dangus. It would happen only if it is growing product, and then only in the new growth. The Molecularly bound carbon does not get unbound from the cellular structure of the flax and somehow exchange by CO2. That is simply not possible.
Even if you were to soak the cloth in a hydrocarbon liquid such as Carbon tetrachloromethane or even Carbon tetrachloroethylene, which were used in Dry Cleaning, it does not happen. The bound carbons are BOUND in molecules that would have to dissociate and then recombine with new carbon atoms in new C-12/C-14 rations. That just does not happen and still remain the same material in the same form, i.e.woven Flax Linen.
There is very little fire damage on the Shroud in comparison to the overall body of the Shroud. To skew the date from first Century to 13th century, the amount of REPLACED carbon would have to be almost 75% added to the extant base cloth if it were added soot. Less than 3% of the shroud is charred and of that charring it is original Shroud material. You do not get atomic changes merely by burning, a chemical process. Otherwise, the burning of the sample to a Carbon Gas in the C-14 testing could not work.
The C-14 Sample that was tested was not in anyway charred, nor was there any soot on it. Examination under microscopes all the way down to the electron microscopic level showed NO CONTAMINATION from extraneous carbon from microscopic organisms or their waste products.
So, no, you certainly cannot wash the soot away.
And yes, you can wash soot away. It is a particulate matter that is easily washed out of cloth. C-14 testers do it all the time as part of the sample preparation. They also frequently test charcoal from fire pits where sacrifices were burned. . . to see when the sacrifices died.
Besides the burning of the Shroud occurred because MELTED SILVER dropped through one multiple folded corner from the sealed SOLID SILVER reliquary it was stored in. The SOOT that would have contaminated the Shroud would have come from carbon FROM THAT CORNER OF THE SHROUD, made up of carbon from the burning FLAX. The reliquary was quickly carried out and the fire on the Shroud quenched in water. Ergo, the carbon C-12/C-14 ratio would remain the same as when the Flax was grown. . . and would date the same as the unburnt flax of the rest of the Shroud.
Do you even science, bro?
The only problem I have with that is that Christmas Day was 'selected' for the celebration of Jesus' birth only because the date coincided with start of the Roman celebration of Saturnalia, the extra six days left over in the Roman Calendar. There is zero evidence that Jesus was born onDecember 25th. It was convenient, it could be hidden among the pagan holidays of Saturnalia, and it was available. It was not an important date in the early church, while Easter was by far more important. The dead of Winter was not a time in which the flocks would be in the fields, but would have been kept in at night. It does not a good time to have people traveling to "enroll" for a census. It is much more likely to have been in the Spring after sowing seed, or alternately in the fall, just before harvest.
In any case, it's pretty well established that December 25th as Christmas was a 4th Century creation of the Roman Empire to popularize Christianity.
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