The Sudarium

The Sudarium
Introduction
The Sudarium is a 33” x 21” handkerchief used to cover the face of criminal immediately after death. This was allowed by the Romans because upon death the criminals debt was considered paid and the family need suffer no more from the shame of having a family member as a criminal that was crucified naked.

The Sudarium was the “other cloth” that was lying folded in the corner of the tomb when Peter and John entered the tomb.

Providence
The history of the Sudarium is clearer than the history of the shroud:

• Years 33-614  The Sudarium remained in Jerusalem until Jerusalem was sacked in 614
• 614-615  It was in Alexandria until it was about to be sacked
• 615  It entered Spain in Cartagena
• 615  It was taken to Seville
• 657–718  It was taken to Toledo
• 718-present  It was taken to Oviedo where it has remained to this day.

Forensics
The Sudarium contains AB+ blood, perspiration, and pleural fluid.

It shows 3 positions for the head:

1. Vertical from the time Jesus died until He was taken down from the cross.
2. 45 degree angle for about an hour as He was laid in his mother’s arms after being removed from the cross and before being taken to the tomb.
3. Horizontal as he was laid in the tomb.

There are 148 matches between the man in the shroud and the man whose head was covered by the sudarium. (It only requires 48 matches to be considered a match in a modern day court of law.)

The Sudarium was wrapped around the head as shown below:

Photo © Jorge Manuel Rodriguez & the Centro Espanol de Sindonologia

The Sudarium also helps to authenticate the Shroud of Turin because of notable similarities between the two cloths. ¹

https://www.ncregister.com/blog/the-sudarium-of-oviedo-the-other-shroud-of-jesus

• Of prime importance, the blood and lymph stains on the two cloths match—both are type AB, which was uncommon among medieval Europeans but is a common blood type in the Middle East.
• The material used in the two cloths is identical, although there are differences in the manner of weaving.
• Pollen residues on the Shroud and the Sudarium both provide evidence that the cloths were in the same region of Palestine.
• Stains on the two cloths would also seem to match. Because of the way the Sudarium would have covered the head, there is no clear face print—but there are remarkable correlations between stains on the two cloths. The Sudarium would have been wrapped over the head of Christ while his relatives waited for permission to remove the body; and so the stains show that the body was held in a vertical position with the head dropping back. At the back of the head, the cloth shows blood from deep puncture wounds, similar to the wounds on the Shroud of Turin, which may have been made by the crown of thorns.
• A second, overlaying stain was produced by fluids excreted from the nostrils when the body was lain horizontally. According to the Investigation Team from the Spanish Centre for Sindology, which has been studying the Sudarium since 1989, this second set of stains is composed of one part AB-type blood and six parts oedemal fluid. This fluid proves, according to scientists, that the victim died from asphyxiation—which is the cause of death for people who are crucified.
• Comparing the cloth to the Shroud of Turin, one researcher has identified 70 points of correlation on the front of the Sudarium and 50 on the back. Dr. Alan Whanger, professor emeritus from Duke University, used a Polarized Image Overlay Technique to demonstrate correlations between the two cloths.

-For more info see also THE SUDARIUM OF OVIEDO AND THE SHROUD OF TURIN