Paul KeenanNew investigation reveals previously unknown details
The figure imprinted on the Shroud of Turin suffered an injury consistent with a fall under a heavy weight, researchers have revealed.
Following a new investigation of the shroud by a team of four Italian professors, previously unknown details of the trauma suffered by the figure wrapped in the linen cloth have been released.
According to the team, quoted in the medical journal Injury, the figure endured a dislocation of the shoulder and paralysis of the right arm. The academics conclude that the injuries resulted from the figure falling forwards and suffering a great blow in that fall. Significantly, they write, the neck and shoulder damage was “caused by a heavy object hitting the back between the neck and shoulder and causing displacement of the head from the side opposite to the shoulder depression”, harking back to the falls under the heavy cross Jesus suffered during his journey to Calvary. The academics point out, too, that the paralysis suffered in the fall would have made it subsequently impossible for the figure to bear a heavy weight, pointing to the biblical record which relates the involvement of Simon of Cyrene in assisting the injured Christ.
The full report of the latest investigation is yet to be released, but the investigators insist that their findings “provide further evidence in favour of the hypothesis that [the shroud figure] is Jesus of Nazareth”.