Abstract
April has been called the “month of flowers” in the environs
of
Phoenix dactylifera L. (date palm)
Photos courtesy of Avinoam Danin, Flora of Israel Online.
In the desert, mature
palms indicate the presence of water from springs.
“On the next day, when the great crowd that had come to the feast heard
that Jesus was coming to
Anastatica hierochuntica L. (resurrection plant, rose of Jericho)
Photos courtesy of Avinoam Danin.
The genus epithet is derived from the Greek word
“ANASTASIS,” which means resurrection.
Anastatica hierochuntica is an example of a lignified (woody),
winter annual. The dead plant is rooted to the ground for many years. After a rain
shower, the curved lignified stems quickly respond by straightening within half
an hour (the plant appears to be “resurrected” but remains dead) and the fruit
valves are softened, releasing a few viable seeds at a time when raindrops hit
the valves.
The Month of Flowers
The annual “latter
rains” of March and April irrigate wheat and barley crops prior to harvest. Dry
desert winds melt the snow, and the desert becomes abundant with flowers; thus,
April has been called the “month of flowers.”
The flowers of the
“The desert and the parched land
will exult; the steppe will rejoice and bloom.
They will bloom with abundant flowers, and rejoice with joyful song…”
(Isaiah 35: 1–2)
“…Learn from the way the lilies of the field grow. They do not work or
spin. But I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was clothed like one of them.” (Matthew
6:28–29)
Anemone coronaria L. (crown anemone)
Photo courtesy of Avinoam Danin, Flora of Israel Online.
Hebrew name "KALANIT," related to Hebrew word
for a bride "KALA," referring to its beauty.
Capparis aegyptia Lam. (Egyptian caper)
Photo courtesy of Avinoam Danin, Flora of Israel Online.
Cistus creticus L. (rock rose)
Photo courtesy of Avinoam Danin, Flora of Israel Online.
Chrysanthemum coronarium L. (crown daisy)
(= Glebionis coronarium (L.) C. Jeffrey)
Photo courtesy of Avinoam Danin, Flora of Israel Online.
Hippocrepis unisiliquosa L.
H. S. Daoud s.n. (GH)
Ridolfia segetum (L.) Moris (corn
parsley)
F. Meyers 58 (GH)
Rhamnus lycioides L.
Photo courtesy of Avinoam Danin, Flora of Israel Online.
Ziziphus spina-christi (L.) Desf.
Photo courtesy of Avinoam Danin, Flora of Israel Online.
Genus epithet probably derived from the Hebrew name,
“SHEYZAF MATSUY;” and the species epithet refers to Christ’s “crown of thorns.”
The Shroud
of Turin is believed by many to be the linen burial cloth of Jesus of Nazareth
(see John
Prof. Avinoam Danin (Hebrew University of Jerusalem)
confirmed many of the Whangers’ findings (on photographs from 1898, 1931, 1978 and on the Shroud itself in 2000) and he identified
additional plants, which have a common blooming time of March–April. The
distribution of such a gathering of plants (esp. Gundelia tournefortii L., Zygophyllum
dumosum Boiss., Cistus creticus L., and Capparis
aegyptia Lam.) indicates that the only place where people could have put
fresh flowers of this assemblage onto the Shroud is the area between
Alan & Mary Whanger and Avinoam Danin published their Flora of the Shroud of Turin in 1999
(Missouri Botanical Garden Press; “...Here is an interesting botanical
tour-de-force transcending history, photography, palynology, systematics, and
religion.” – Rudolf Schmid, UC, Taxon 49(1) 137.
2000). With Avinoam’s recent 2010 publication of the color-illustrated Botany of the Shroud – The Story of Floral
Images on the Shroud of Turin, this exhibit highlights botanical
connections for Lent and Easter.
Exacting Comparison
Analysis: Polarized Image Overlay Technique
Photo courtesy of
Mary & Alan Whanger, The Shroud of Turin – An Adventure of Discovery
Flowers on Justinian
II coin (692–695 AD)
Photo courtesy of
Mary & Alan Whanger, The Shroud of
Distribution of geographical indicator plants on the Shroud
Figure courtesy of Avinoam Danin, Botany of the Shroud.
Locations and identities of a few plant images on the Shroud
Composite photo courtesy of Avinoam Danin.
Locations of several flower images
Photo courtesy of Avinoam Danin, Botany of the Shroud.
Plant images: Chrysanthemum coronarium to the right
and fruit of Pistacia lentiscus to
the left.
A drawing from the Flora Palaestina besides each aids in identification. Photo by Giuseppe Enrie
(1931); composite photo courtesy of Alan Whanger.
Image
with 3D enhancement showing many Pistacia
fruit.
A pseudo-3D photo of the
Shroud (the negative photo is almost superimposed on the positive photo),
displaying many dots that are interpreted as Pistacia fruit.
Locations of Pistacia fruit as marked by Prof. Danin
Photos courtesy of Alan & Mary Whanger.
A Pistacia (butum) tray among the spices
in the Old Jerusalem market.
Photo courtesy of Avinoam Danin, Botany of the Shroud.
The shop owner told
Avinoam that he harvests the fruit every year near
Pistacia lentiscus L.
(mastic fruit)
Photos courtesy of Avinoam Danin, Botany of the Shroud.
“They took the body of Jesus and bound it with burial cloths along with
the spices, according to the Jewish burial custom.” (John 19:40)
Thorns and Spines:
Fleury’s (1870) drawing of Rhamnus
lycioides and Ziziphus spina-christi
thorn relics in European churches; and a model of crown “helmet” of thorns.
Figures courtesy of Avinoam Danin, Botany of the Shroud.
“And the soldiers wove a crown out of thorns and placed it on his head…”
(John 19:2)
Gundelia tournefortii L. (GALGAL)
Figures courtesy of Avinoam Danin, Botany of the Shroud.
Rhamnus lycioides L. (Palestine buckthorn)
Photo courtesy of Avinoam Danin, Botany of the Shroud.
Coronal electrostatic discharge
Photos courtesy of Avinoam Danin, Botany of the Shroud.
Alan Whanger has hypothesized that the image formation of
the flowers and thorns could have resulted from coronal electrostatic or
electron emission discharge (as tested by O. Scheuermann (1983) using a van der
Graaf generator) in which electricity is discharged from rough surfaces,
margins, and high points (such as thorns) in the form of streamers or corona.
Photocopies of herbarium specimens provide a similar reference since xerography
uses a coronal charge to form an electrostatic copy.
Chrysanthemum coronarium L.
electrostatic
copy of F. P. Shepard s.n. (Jun.
1888, GH)
using Xerox 5000 series copier (1997)
Echinops viscosus DC.
electrostatic
copy of F. P. Shepard s.n. (Aug.
1888, GH)
using Xerox 5000 series copier (1997)
Gundelia tournefortii L.
electrostatic
copy of Huet Du Pavillon 384 (
using Xerox 5000
series copier (1997)
The Holographic 3D image and More Flowers
Photo courtesy of Avinoam Danin, Botany of the Shroud.
Dr. Petrus Soons
produced a holographic 3D image from photographs of the Shroud and found
seemingly blocked, “empty” spaces, in which, Avinoam Danin hypothesized that
dozens of tiny inflorescences of Anthemis
bornmuelleri Stoj. & Acht. (in
photo) or Matricaria recutita L. were
placed.
Related findings by
other researchers
Shroud of
·
No pigments, paints, dyes or stains have been
found on the fibrils.
·
Computer image enhancement and analysis by a
VP-8 image analyzer show that the image has unique, 3-D information encoded in
it.
·
Microchemical evaluation has indicated no
evidence of any spices, oils, or any biochemicals known to be produced by the
body.
·
The image was produced by something which
resulted in oxidation, dehydration and conjugation of the polysaccharide
structure of the microfibrils of the linen itself.
Geology: Embedded
dust particles taken from the Shroud’s surface were identified as travertine
aragonite limestone corresponding to that of ancient
Biochemistry: A
determination of the kinetics of vanillin loss (vanillin is a breakdown product
of linen) indicates that the Shroud is between 1,300 and 3,000 years old
(Rogers 2002).
Chemistry: The sample taken for radiocarbon testing did not have the same chemical composition as the rest of the cloth (Arnoldi & Rogers 2003);
Textiles: The
radiocarbon sample was determined to be from a 16th century rewoven,
patched area (Benford & Marino 2002).
Textiles: The 3/1
twill herringbone weave of linen corresponds to fabrics from Masada, dating to
the 1st century, and also the Sudarium of Oviedo, which has been in Spain since
the mid-8th century (Flury-Lemberg 2008).
Acknowledgment
Photos and figures courtesy of Prof. Avinoam Danin and Dr. & Mrs. Alan & Mary Whanger.
For more information:
Danin, A. 2003–. Flora of Israel Online [http://flora.huji.ac.il]. The
Schwortz, B. 1996–. Shroud of
Soons, P.
2010. Shroud of
Whanger, A. D. & M. Whanger. Council
for Study of the Shroud of Turin,
New Book: Botany of the Shroud: The Story of Floral Images on the Shroud of
Available
from:
Council for Study of the Shroud of
Photos
from Exhibit,
