Turkish police seize 1,000-year-old Bible that includes pictures of Jesus

From an article in the International Business Times:

"Turkish police have seized a 1,000-year-old gilded Bible in the northern province of Tokat. The authorities had been tipped off that three criminals were harbouring historic artefacts with the intention to sell them.


"The Bible was tattered and worn down but still in relatively good condition, considering its age. It measures 21cm x 16cm and consists of 51 sheets, or 102 pages. It included religious images, including one that looks like Jesus Christ, written in Syriac and made of gold leafs."

The picture is reminiscent of the Mandylion.

Shroud Of Turin DNA Indicates Global Origins

Genetic material suggests the shroud may have been created in India.

There's a surprising new wrinkle in the story of the celebrated Shroud of Turin.

A group of Italian researchers have found that the 14-foot-long garment -- believed by some to be the burial cloth of Jesus Christ, even though science has proven that's not the case -- contains DNA from plants found all over Earth.

"Here we report the main findings from the analysis of genomic DNA extracted from dust particles vacuumed from parts of the body image and the lateral edge used for radiocarbon dating," Dr. Gianni Barcaccia, a plant genetics and genomics professor at the University of Padova in Italy, wrote in a paper co-authored with his colleagues about the DNA results.

After sequencing the DNA of pollen and dust found on the shroud, the researchers discovered several plant groups native to the Mediterranean, RealClearScience.com reported. Other groups were linked to Asia, the Middle East, or the Americas, but must have been introduced at a time later than the Medieval period, according to the researchers.

Read the entire article: Huffington Post.