The Sudarium Confirms the Shroud of Turin

The Sudarium – an introduction

While it is scientifically impossible to prove the Shroud of Turin (The Shroud of Turin: A Brief Introduction) as being the burial cloth of Christ, we can come pretty darn close. We travel now to Oviedo, Spain.

The Sudarium of Oviedo is a 21 x 34-inch piece of cloth which tradition claims was used to cover and clean the face of Jesus after the Crucifixion. There are blood and other bodily fluid stains on the cloth, but no image. The Sudarium (which means face cloth) is held in a cathedral in Oviedo, Spain. Its history is well documented, free of controversy, and is summarized in the below timeline. The evidence that this piece of cloth covered the head of the crucified Jesus and the Sudarium’s relationship to the Shroud will be discussed immediately following the timeline.

Historical timeline

John 20: 6-8 records: “Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; he saw the linen cloths lying, and the napkin, which had been on his head, not lying with the linen cloths but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed;”

In 570, a traveler to Palestine writes that the Sudarium was being cared for in a cave near the monastery of Saint Mark, near Jerusalem.

In 614 the Sudarium is in Jerusalem and is taken to Alexandria, Egypt to avoid destruction by the Persians who had attacked Jerusalem. In 616, the Persians swept eastward into Alexandria and the Sudarium was carried along North Africa to Spain where it remained for many years, first in Seville and then in Toledo.

In 718, the invading Muslims forced the Bishop of Toledo to take the Sudarium further north. It was first kept in a cave about six miles from Oviedo and then transferred to Oviedo.

In 1075, the chest containing the Sudarium and other relics was opened. A list of the relics was made, which included the Sudarium.

In 1113, the chest in Spain was covered with silver plating, on which there is an inscription inviting all Christians to venerate this relic which contains the holy blood. The Sudarium has been kept in the cathedral in Oviedo, Spain ever since.

John 20:6-8

In Jewish tradition, blood is considered the seat of life and when a person dies, all blood should be collected and buried together with the corpse. Thus, it is quite likely a cloth would have been placed over the head of Jesus immediately after his death and while he was still hanging from the cross to stop any bleeding from his mouth and nose. Covering the face was a Jewish practice of respect and compassion for the family of the dead, particularly if the face were disfigured, which would clearly have been the case for Jesus whose bloodied face was beaten and swollen.

The evidence tells us that the Sudarium of Oviedo is that cloth, and that it was the cloth rolled up in the tomb as narrated by John 20:6-8. Formal scientific testing of the Sudarium began in the early 1990s.

Scientific correlation of the Shroud and the Sudarium

Correlation of the wounds. The findings indicate that the Sudarium had been placed against the face of a man who had been beaten on the front and back of the head. It presents a pattern of successive stains from perspiration, blood, and lymph which would coincide perfectly if overlaid upon the Shroud. There are also stains from deep puncture wounds on the portion of the cloth covering the back of the head that are consistent with similar marks found on the Shroud. All of this is consistent with the Sudarium being pressed against the face of the deceased to clean the face, but not in a swiping motion.

Blood type. The blood on both the Shroud and Sudarium is relatively rare Type AB.

Pollen. Pollen samples indicate that both the Sudarium and the Shroud were at one time in Palestine. Two species of pollen unique to Palestine were found on the Sudarium which were also found on the Shroud. Pollen samples are also consistent with the fact that the Shroud and Sudarium took different routes to reach their present destinations. The Sudarium held pollen which was unique to North Africa, while the Shroud does not contain the North African pollen. On the other hand, the Shroud contains pollen native to Turkey and France, which are not found on the Sudarium.

Cloth that was rolled up separately. While the blood types match, the wound marks match, the facial features and measurements coincide, and pollen studies help confirm the cloths’ histories, the Sudarium does not have the “scorched” fibers present on the Shroud. There is no underlying image of a face on the Sudarium. This is consistent with the observation by John’s Gospel that a separate cloth was rolled up separately from the Shroud in the tomb. It would have been placed there after the body was placed in the tomb and before the Resurrection.

Faulty carbon testing

In 2007, it was announced that samples from the Sudarium were subjected to carbon dating. They were dated to A.D. 700. This date cannot possibly be correct if for no other reason than there is clear documentary evidence tracing the Sudarium back to at least 130 years earlier, and possibly back to the beginning of the fifth century. Moreover, the laboratory conducting the tests were also given four different control cloths to date. Three of them were dated as expected. The fourth, a cloth from an Egyptian mummy, was dated to anytime in the 19th or 20th centuries, and the laboratory thereby concluded they were fakes (they weren’t). Go to The Second International Conference on the Sudarium of Oviedo.

Now comes the real zinger. In 2016 a study confirmed that the Shroud of Turin and the Sudarium were wrapped around the head of the same corpse (New Study: The Shroud of Turin and the Sudarium of Oviedo Covered the Same Person”). In particular, “the investigation has found a number of correlations between the two relics that ‘far exceeds the minimum number of proofs or significant points required by most judicial systems around the world to identify a person, which is between eight and 12, while our study has demonstrated more than 20.’” The author of the study concludes, “we have come to a point where it seems absurd to suggest that ‘by happenstance’ all of the wounds, lesions and swelling coincides on both cloths. Logic requires that we conclude that we are speaking of the same person.”

Sudarium and Shroud carbon datings must be incorrect

The carbon dating for the Shroud gives us an approximate 1350 date while the Sudarium is carbon dated at 700. Yet the 2016 investigation shows that they both covered the same person. Clearly, one or both carbon dates are incorrect. “Scientist César Barta spoke about the carbon dating process, emphasising the fact that if carbon dating is always absolutely accurate, then we could just as well finish the congress there and then. However, there were several points to bear in mind –in specialist carbon dating magazines, about half the samples dated come up with the expected date, around 30% with an “acceptable” date, and the other 20% is not what one would expect from archaeology. The laboratory used (via the National Museum in Madrid) said they were surprised by the result and asked if the cloth was contaminated with any oil based product, a soil is not cleaned by the laboratory processes used before carbon dating and if oil is present on a sample, the date produced by carbon dating is in fact the date of contamination.” The Second International Conference on the Sudarium of Oviedo.

Why do we have the Sudarium?

Let’s leave this discussion with the following thought from Juan Ignacio Moreno, a magistrate in Burgos, Spain, and a leading advocate of the Sudarium’s authenticity, concerning the mystery of both the Shroud and the Cloth of Oviedo: “The Sudarium is a relic rediscovered for Christians fighting a new fight. It is a love letter to our time from God: a tantalizing puzzle saved for the minds of men that have made science and knowledge their god.” The Other Shroud of Christ.

Some websites and references

Last modified April 30, 2021