Christ-era discovery suggests Turin Shroud is a hoax

London, December 16 (ANI): A team of archeologists has discovered the first known pieces of a burial shroud from the time of Jesus Christ in Jerusalem, casting doubt on the authenticity of the Turin Shroud.

According to a report in the Telegraph, researchers believe that the fabric of the fragments, the first of their kind to be discovered in Jerusalem, are of a different weave to those of the Turin Shroud, hailed by many as Christ's burial cloth, but dismissed by others as a fake.

Radiocarbon tests on artefacts found in the cave, in Jerusalem's Old City, prove almost beyond doubt that it was from the same time of Christ's death.

It was made with a two-way weave - not the twill weave used on the Turin Shroud, which textile experts say was introduced more than 1,000 years after Christ lived.

Professor Shimon Gibson, the archaeologist who discovered the tomb, said that ancient writings and contemporary shrouds from other areas had suggested this design, and the Jerusalem shroud finally provided the physical evidence.

Last month, Barbara Frail, a Vatican researcher said she had found the words 'Jesus Nazarene' on the shroud, proving it was the linen cloth that was wrapped around Christ's body.

She said that computer analysis of photographs of the shroud revealed extremely faint words written in Greek, Aramaic and Latin which attested to its authenticity.

The new shroud was found around the remains of a man in a sealed chamber of a burial cave in the Hinnom Valley overlooking the Old City of Jerusalem by archaeologists from the Hebrew University and the Albright Research Institute, both in Jerusalem. (ANI)