DNA taken from a tomb from the time of Christ shows the earliest case of leprosy

The shrouds discovered in the tomb indicate that the Shrouds of Turin are not from the first century in Jerusalem and therefore do not belong to Jesus

DNA samples taken from the shroud of a man buried on the outskirts of Jerusalem's Old City prove that the earliest case of leprosy discovered so far was in the first century AD. An article describing the research was published today in the journal PloS ONE.

The testing of the DNA samples taken from the shrouds was done by Professors Charles Greenblatt and Mark Spiegelman from the Kovin Center for the Study of Infectious and Tropical Diseases at the Hebrew University in collaboration with researchers Prof. Azriel Gorsky from the University of New Haven and researchers from Lakehead University and University College, University of London. The archaeological excavations were done on By Prof. Shimon Gibson, Dr Boaz Zissou and James Tabor on behalf of the Antiquities Authority.

The burial cave where the shrouds were found is located in the lower part of the Ben Hinnom Gorge in Jerusalem and is part of the Hekel-Dama (Aramaic field of blood) cemetery from the first century AD. The tomb of the man in the shroud is found next to the tomb of Hanan who served as high priest from 6 to 15 AD. Hanan was the father-in-law of Joseph the priest (known as Kaifa) who also served as high priest in Jerusalem at that time and was probably a participant in the Sanhedrin that discussed the fate of Jesus. The researchers estimate that the person buried in the shroud was a priest or an aristocrat and according to the explanation the tomb at the time overlooked the "Holy of Holies" room in the Second Temple.

"What is rare about this tomb is that the person buried in it, who probably lived between the years 1 and 50 CE, was not given another burial in Glossama, which was common at the time," says Prof. Spiegelman and adds that the uncovered tomb was sealed with plaster "because the deceased suffered from leprosy and tuberculosis in his life, As the DNA findings indicate."

Historically, diseases that caused the body to deform or disfigure - and especially leprosy - caused the patient to be ostracized from the community. However, a number of indications such as the location and size of the grave, the fabric from which the shroud is made and the cleanliness of the deceased's hair indicate that the deceased was a well-to-do person in Jerusalem society and that leprosy was the property of all classes in society, not just the poor as was commonly thought.

In addition, this is the first time that burial shrouds from the time of Christ have been found in Jerusalem. The found Shrouds are very different from the Shrouds of Turin which is found in the Cathedral of John the Baptist in Italy and which some believe were used to cover the body of Jesus. The Shrouds found in Jerusalem are more intricately woven than those in Turin and therefore, assuming that the burial shrouds found are typical of that period, the researchers conclude that the Shrouds of Turin are not from the time of Christ.

In the grave were also remains of the hair of the person who was buried in shrouds, although it was customary to cut the dead person's hair before burial. Hair in archaeological digs is a rare find since organic remains are not preserved for that long in this area due to the high humidity.

According to Prof. Spiegelman and Prof. Greenblatt, the roots of the development of leprosy are very obscure. Leprosy in the Bible is often attributed to various skin problems such as psoriasis. Leprosy as it is known in modern medicine originated in India and spread to the Near East and Middle Eastern countries during the Hellenistic period. The findings from the current study fill a significant gap in the knowledge accumulated about the history of the disease.