DNA tests are helping to settle the dispute over a body thought to be that of
Christ鈥檚 disciple Luke.
Historical sources suggest Luke was born in Syria and died in Greece around
AD 150. His body was moved to Constantinople in Turkey, then to Padua in Italy.
So some people believe a skeleton found in a Padua sarcophagus in 1998 is
Luke鈥檚, even though the body could have been switched in Greece or Turkey.
Cristiano Vernesi of Ferrara University in Italy and his colleagues have
analysed DNA from teeth belonging to the body and compared it with DNA from
various European populations. The results suggest the body is three times as
likely to be Syrian as Greek, supporting the idea that it鈥檚 Luke himself. But
the scientists can鈥檛 rule out the possibility that the body might be Turkish,
they will report in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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