probably to the age of the wood, but fortunately, pieces of material have been taken, and that exposes the actual wood, so that s a good place for us to take the sample from. the procedure should leave little perceptible trace of damage in theory, but it s a nerve-racking business. i m just gonna take a small bit from here. yes, tom, as small as possible, a very, very small piece. we only need about 10 milligrams. that s equivalent to a few grains of salt, but this relic has been venerated here for almost 1,000 years. every speck counts. it s very, very hard, this wood. could that mean anything to
do with its age? possibly. i mean, it looks it actually looks old, this wood. but it s just, you know, it looks aged. so far, so good. tom is satisfied with his sample. now they can head back to the lab to test for the first time this piece of the true cross. eight centuries before the waterford cross arrived in ireland, helena will continue her tour of the holy land, and with the backing of her son, the emperor constantine, she will transform the landscape. she builds churches on the site of christ s birth in bethlehem and one to commemorate his last moment on earth. constantine made it legal to practice christianity. helena gave christians places to practice christianity. before her arrival, there were no christian buildings in this land. christians met here on the mount of olives to commemorate jesus
power with them because the true cross is a source of religious power. people are going to respect you for having a piece of this. the legend of helena s discovery would change the course of christian history, but could what she found have been the actual cross jesus died on? now the modern-day investigation into the true cross is gathering pace. the city of waterford is the oldest city in ireland. it boasts a long history of christianity and a museum that holds an important relic of the true cross. what s fascinating is that it is said to have been given directly by the pope to the king of ireland, and rome, as we know, had access to relics from jerusalem. archaeologist georges kazan is joined by scientist tom higham. he is also from oxford university in england, and he will put the relic to the test.
a relic said to have been discovered by the empress helena 300 years after christ s death. eight hundred years after that, the pope would give this piece of it to the king of ireland. when the pope gives you a relic of the true cross, he s almost saying, you know, you re a real king. you ve got that legitimacy. you ve got that power. for the first time in history, a prized relic of the true cross will be carbon-dated. professor tom higham has over 20 years experience. there s quite a lot of what looks like lacquer that s across the top of the wood, and lacquer will have a different radiocarbon concentration,