The Forensic Pathology of the Images on the Man on the Shroud of Turin
We see in the
a pictorial testament to the passion story from the
Gospels. We see indications of scourging and beating. We see the unmistakable
wounds of crucifixion. Pathologists who have studied the image say that
this is a man in rigor mortis: He is dead.
The man of the shroud was savagely flogged. Whatever
was used, it is consistent with a Roman flagrum, a whip of short leather
thongs tipped with bits of lead, bronze or bone which tore into flesh
and muscle. There are dozens upon dozens of dumbbell shaped welts and
contusions, the type of wound that the flagellum would have caused.
There is blood from the flagellation within the imaged wounds. From the
angles of attack � the way the marks fall on the man�s back, buttocks,
and legs � it seems that man was whipped by two men, one taller than the
other, who stood on either side of him.
At some time the man may have been forced to wear a
crown of thorns. That seems to be a logical explanation for the numerous
small puncture wounds about the top of his head. But from the wounds and
many drops of blood, the crown seems to have been a rough bunch of thorns and not the wreath shaped crown of thorns so common
in artistic depictions.
Many details on the shroud that suggest both a
beating and falling: a severely bruised left kneecap, a dislocated nasal
cartilage, a large swelling near the right eye socket and cheekbone.
It is particularly interesting is that the man of the
Shroud was crucified with large spikes driven through his wrists rather
that
through the palms of his hands. This contradicts all
iconography of medieval and pre-medieval periods. This is evidenced by
both the image and the bloodstains.
Nailing a crucifixion victim through his wrists is more historically and
medically plausible. Eearly in the 20th century, medical experts first realized that nails driven through a man�s palms
would not support a his weight even if his feet were nailed or
supported. The nails would tear out. The Romans did crucify victims
by driving nails through the wrist area of the forearm has been confirmed by
the 1968 archeological discovery of a crucifixion victim, named Johanan
ben Ha-galgol, found near Jerusalem at Givat ha-Mivtar.
The bloodstains that accompany the images of wounds are from real human blood.
The stains are from real
human bleeding, from real wounds on a real human body, that came into
direct contact with the cloth.
