Textile Evidence
There are several textile-related characteristics of the Shroud that are entirely consistent with it having a first century, middle eastern origin.
- Most Egyptian linen yarn at that time was spun anti-clockwise which produces a ‘S’ twist but the Shroud yarn was spun clockwise, producing a ‘Z’ twist, which was typical of textiles from the Syro-Palestinian region during the first century.
- Some cotton fibres have been found in the linen yarn of the Shroud. The small quantities suggests that they were stray fibres from an earlier work involving cotton in the place where the Shroud was produced. These cotton fibres have been identified as Gossypium Herbaceum, a type of cotton native to the Middle East, but no wool fibres have been found. This is to be expected if the textile workers were observing the Mosaic law of the Jews, which prohibits the mixing of linen and wool.
- According to textile expert Mechthild Flury-Lemberg, the seam stitching used to attach a 3-inch wide side-strip to the main body of the Shroud is highly unusual but it closely resembles the stitching seen Jewish textiles found at Masada, the Jewish fortress which was overthrown by the Romans in 73 AD. (show image of Side Strip)
- Archaeologist William Meacham has recently obtained evidence that the linen used to make the Shroud came from flax plants grown in the Middle East. He performed mass spectrometry tests to measure the hydrogen and oxygen isotope ratios found in threads of material taken from the Shroud in 1973. These ratios vary according the place where the flax was grown and so the results obtained from the Shroud threads were compared with thirty linen samples from different regions, such as ancient Egypt, prehistoric and Roman Israel and 19th-early 20th century Europe. The Shroud samples gave similar results to the samples produced in Israel, which indicates that that was where the linen used to make the Shroud originated.
Those who believe that the Shroud is a medieval forgery often claim that first century weavers could not produce such a high quality fabric with a 3:1 herringbone twill weave pattern and cite as evidence the fact that there are no other surviving examples of any similar fabric from the first century or before. However, a similar argument can be made to refute the claim that the Shroud has a medieval origin as there are also no surviving examples of medieval linen fabric of a similar quality. When Dr. Michael Tite of the British Museum supervised the radiocarbon dating test of the Shroud, he searched in vain for a medieval cloth with the same weave characteristics of the Shroud which could be used as a test control sample. Unfortunately, even the British Museum with all its vast resources and international connections was unable to find any medieval linen fabric of a similar quality to the Shroud.
There is however evidence that first century weavers would have had the means to produce cloth with even more complex weave patterns than that found in the Shroud. One of the exhibits at the Museum of Liverpool is a linen sash with alternating 3:1, 4:1 and 5:1 herringbone weaves. The sash belonged to Egyptian Pharoah Rameses III and dates to 1185 BC, over one thousand years before the Shroud would have been manufactured.
A first century cloth with a diamond patterned weave, which is more intricate than herringbone, has also been found at Masada. These examples clearly indicate that weavers in the first century had the skills and knowledge to produce a high quality cloth such as the Shroud.
The following links provide further information on this topic
Isotope Testing Indicates Turin Shroud Linen was Middle Eastern. Research paper by William Meacham (2024).
Akeldama repudiation of Turin Shroud omits
evidence from the Judean Desert. Paper presented by Diane Fulbright at an International Workshop in May 2010.
The Shroud of Turin and some thoughts on the Linen used. Article by Paul Bishop published in BSTS Newsletter No. 95 (2022).
