Shroud of Turin: Cloth

photo of the Shroud of Turin

The Shroud of Turin is a linen cloth 8 cubits by 2 cubits (approximately 14ft. 3in. by 3ft. 7in.). This shroud is the burial shroud of Jesus Christ. In the Jewish burial, the body is placed on the cloth and the cloth is folded lengthwise over the body. Then, a separate strip of cloth is tied around the neck and wrapped around the body to be tied again at the feet. For the Shroud of Turin the separate strip was re-sewn onto the shroud after the Resurrection.

The history of the shroud is long and incomplete. Starting in the first century AD, Peter and the Apostles would have held onto such relics of Christ’s Passion and Resurrection. But, as persecutions arose, Peter had to leave Jerusalem and, in 44 AD, took the shroud to Antioch. Later, to escape the Persians, the shroud was taken into central Turkey by the Patriarch of Antioch. An outline of the history of the shroud is given below:

44 AD: Peter took the shroud to Antioch
540 AD: Patriarch of Antioch carried the shroud to central Turkey
574 AD: the shroud is taken to Constantinople by the emperor
before 1192 AD: poker holes recorded in art of shroud
1201 AD: shroud was recorded in the inventory at Constantinople
1204 AD: sack of Constantinople during the 4th crusade – shroud went missing
1204-1355 AD: the missing years
1355 AD: shroud appeared in public display in France
1453 AD: given to House of Savoy
1532 AD: silver casket in which shroud was stored melted (creating the 16 burn holes)
1534 AD: holes from silver casket patched
1578 AD: Duke of Savoy transferred shroud to Turin permanently, where it is still today