The Tomb of the Shroud
A new article in the open-access journal PLoS ONE presents scientific research conducted on “The Tomb of the Shroud” – a tomb found in Jerusalem dating back to the time of Jesus. This rock-hewn burial cave belongs to a cemetery known as Akeldama or “Field of Blood” as described in the Bible (Matthew 27:3-8; Acts 1:19), and located in the lower Hinnom Valley in Jerusalem. In comparison to more than 70 other tombs in the Akeldama area, this particular tomb is unique as it contains remnants of a burial shroud and evidence of leprosy (Hansen’s disease) and tuberculosis in the shrouded male remains therein. This is the oldest known case of leprosy with confirmed dates and molecular evidence. Some of the other individuals in this multi-chambered tomb showed signs of tuberculosis, and ancient human DNA was detected to piece together the family relationships.
No other first century tomb from Jerusalem had ever been examined by molecular methods. The discovery of the presence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium leprae in the individuals buried within the “Tomb of the Shroud” is significant in understanding the geographical and temporal distribution of tuberculosis and leprosy in antiquity. This research has evidenced that molecular pathology clearly adds a new dimension to the archaeological exploration of disease in ancient times. The successful genetic analyses of unique archaeological sites such as “Tomb of the Shroud” pose great promise for future investigations into host-pathogen relationships and evolution, geographic distribution, and epidemiology of disease and social health in antiquity.
Molecular Exploration of the First-Century Tomb of the Shroud in Akeldama, Jerusalem. 2009 PLoS ONE 4(12): e8319. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0008319
The Tomb of the Shroud is a first-century C.E. tomb discovered in Akeldama, Jerusalem, Israel that had been illegally entered and looted. The investigation of this tomb by an interdisciplinary team of researchers began in 2000. More than twenty stone ossuaries for collecting human bones were found, along with textiles from a burial shroud, hair and skeletal remains. The research presented here focuses on genetic analysis of the bioarchaeological remains from the tomb using mitochondrial DNA to examine familial relationships of the individuals within the tomb and molecular screening for the presence of disease. There are three mitochondrial haplotypes shared between a number of the remains analyzed suggesting a possible family tomb. There were two pathogens genetically detected within the collection of osteological samples, these were Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium leprae. The Tomb of the Shroud is one of very few examples of a preserved shrouded human burial and the only example of a plaster sealed loculus with remains genetically confirmed to have belonged to a shrouded male individual that suffered from tuberculosis and leprosy dating to the firstcentury C.E. This is the earliest case of leprosy with a confirmed date in which M. leprae DNA was detected.
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Tags: Bacteria, Biology, disease, History, Microbiology, Science
