Sacred Blood, Sacred Image : The Sudarium of Oviedo, New Evidence for the Authenticity of the Shroud of Turin [Hardcover]

Janice Bennett (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 2001

The story of the Sudarium of Oviedo, an ancient, bloodstained cloth believed to have covered the head of Jesus of Nazareth after his crucifixion. The author traces the known history of the linen, presents the up-to-date conclusions of EDICES, the investigative team that has been studying the cloth since 1989, discusses the cultural significance of crucifixion and blood in the context of first-century Jerusalem, and demonstrates the significance of the famous passage of John 20:5-7, as analyzed by some of the most important Biblical scholars of the world. 20 pages of color photographs. Many are from EDICES, and explain visually the bloodstains and wrinkles found on the cloth, its comparison with the Shroud of Turin, how the cloth was used, and its historical odyssey from Jerusalem to Spain.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Janice Bennett started out as a graphic artist with several companies, which led to the formation of her own studio. She began to study Spanish in 1990, and was awarded a Master of Arts in Spanish Literature from the University of Colorado in Boulder in 1997. She has been teaching Spanish Literature for the past five years, and has written a guide to literary analysis. She has traveled extensively in Spain, including five visits to the Cathedral of Oviedo, and has been translating the work of the Spanish Center of Sindonology for several years. Her most recent translation is the photographic guide to the Exposition of the Sudarium in the year 2000, by Jorge-Manuel Rodríguez Almenar.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Ignatius Press; 1 edition (February 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0970568207
• ISBN-13: 978-0970568205
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,866,630 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Relic of the Burial of Jesus?, August 12, 2005

By 

David V. (Capitol District area, NY) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Sacred Blood, Sacred Image : The Sudarium of Oviedo, New Evidence for the Authenticity of the Shroud of Turin (Hardcover)

Bennett traces the history of the survival and veneration of a presumed relic of the death and burial of Jesus of Nazareth, a relic about which relatively little has been known outside Spain, where it has been kept since the eighth century. The relic is a square of linen about the size of a handtowel, and was presumably used to cover the face of Jesus'corpse before he was removed from the cross, and remained over his face until his corpse was placed into the tomb, where a clean shroud replaced it (the Shroud of Turin?) A separate face cloth which was rolled up and placed to the side of the entombed corpse is explicitly mentioned in the discovery of the empty tomb account in John's gospel. The markings (bloodstains, etc) on the Sudarium match quite strikingly the stains on and about the head of the figure on the Shroud of Turin. Since the Sudarium has been in Spain without question since the eighth century, Bennett feels this underscores the currently admitted inaccuracy of the carbon dating of the Shroud of Turin, which originally estimated the Shroud to have dated only from the Middle Ages. Bennett's writing is impassioned, and she makes an effort to separate legend (pious and otherwise)from historically supportable evidence, while clearly respecting the authenticity of any uninterrupted or unchallenged tradition in the history of the Western Church.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A nice introduction to a relic you've never heard of before, June 5, 2005

By 

Kimberley Wilson (VA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sacred Blood, Sacred Image : The Sudarium of Oviedo, New Evidence for the Authenticity of the Shroud of Turin (Hardcover)

I had never heard of the Sudarium of Oviedo until I came across this book. Janice Bennett does a nice job explaining what a sudarium was, why the Israelites used it in cases where the dead person had been disfigured and why this particular sudarium is so important.

The best part of the book is on ancient Jewish burial customs because it helps explain so much about the burial of Jesus and what came after. Bennett also explains how the Sudariam got to Spain. If you've read about the Shroud of Turin this is a must have companion book.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A detailed, but beautifully explained and thrilling account, February 28, 2011

By 

T. C. Binder (Spain) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sacred Blood, Sacred Image : The Sudarium of Oviedo, New Evidence for the Authenticity of the Shroud of Turin (Hardcover)

Being a Spaniard, I had never known of the Oviedo sudarium until very recently. Looking for books on the matter, I found this piece here in Amazon and decided to purchase it.

I can say that it is a vivid and detailed account of the history of this cloth and how it has survived to our time, with a documented history that goes back until way before the Middle Ages and in custody in Oviedo for over a thousand years, and yet mostly unknown to the Spanish people. Its mere existence, its material, marks, biological and microscopical contents, and the forensic studies explained and depicted in the book call for a careful reconsideration of the authenticity of the shroud in Torino.

I completely recommend this book about the most astonishing relic in Oviedo. Bennett's work is captivating and enjoyable... well, if you are ready to read about a most horrible death.

Bennett summarises the challenge every person has to face in relation to this cloth: everything on and around the relic, as well as its nature and contents, scream that it is authentic. If we, the conspiracy-addicted modern people, try to find alternative explanations of the origin of the cloth, it is just because of our difficulty to believe.

Are you able to believe? Read the book and ask yourself.