Original subtitles

WILLIAM SHATNER: A sacred golden chest

that contained the power of God.

A lost chalice that held the blood of Jesus Christ.

And a spear that makes its wielder

unbeatable on the battlefield.

We've all heard stories from the Bible

that include powerful spiritual objects,

such as the Ark of the Covenant or the Holy Grail.

Is it possible that these objects

were not merely fictional creations

but rather actual pieces of history

that have been lost for centuries?

And if so, could some of these artifacts

really possess incredible powers,

as the Bible tells us?

Well, that is what we'll try and find out.

♪ ♪

In eastern Turkey,

some 200 miles southeast of the Black Sea,

there is a dormant volcano that is known as Mount Ararat.

At a height of nearly 17,000 feet,

Mount Ararat is the highest point in Turkey.

For centuries, this peak has been considered sacred,

because according to the Bible,

after God sent the great flood to cleanse the Earth,

Mount Ararat is the location

where Noah's Ark finally came to rest.

ROBERT CARGILL: The story of the great flood and Noah's Ark

is one of the most famous stories in the Bible.

The story goes that God is so disappointed,

uh, at the sinfulness of all of humankind,

that He's going to flood the Earth.

He's basically going to destroy everything.

And He finds one righteous human, Noah,

and what God wants Noah to do

is build this massive, 450-foot-long ark

with three levels on it,

and fill it with all of the animals

of the Earth, and his family,

and those will be the only survivors of the flood.

SHATNER: As the story goes, Noah loaded his family

and two of every kind of animal onto the ark.

And then, God made it rain for 40 days and 40 nights,

flooding the Earth so that even the highest mountains

were covered with water.

After the waters subsided,

Noah, his sons, and their wives

left the ark and proceeded to repopulate the Earth.

AMIR HUSSAIN: The Noah's flood story is this really powerful story

because here's this transcendent God who loves us,

who's created human beings,

but also has a way for us to behave in the world.

And when we don't behave in the right way,

this God will punish us.

That's the power of God.

Sometimes doing extraordinarily horrific kinds of things,

sometimes doing wonderful things.

SHATNER: Historians have long debated whether the story of Noah,

the ark and the great flood is only a myth,

or if it was based on real events.

There are some scholars who believe it's possible

that a massive deluge did, in fact, take place.

And as evidence, they point to the fact that the Bible

isn't the only ancient text

that contains an account of a great flood.

The flood story in the Bible isn't the oldest flood story.

The oldest flood story that we have

in the Western tradition is in the Gilgamesh story,

in which there's this old man, Utnapishtim,

who has survived a flood where it's rained

for 40 days and 40 nights.

And this happens, also, in the story of Noah.

So, for many of us looking at these stories across cultures,

there's the idea that, yeah, clearly this happened

at some point in human history.

This flood that people remember,

and they write about in different ways.

SHATNER: In addition to historical accounts,

might there also be geological evidence

to suggest that the great flood actually happened?

In 1997, geologists William Ryan and Walter Pittman

published a study which concluded

that the biblical story may have been describing

a massive overflowing of the Black Sea

that took place in the sixth century BC.

DAVID MONTGOMERY: The idea that Noah's flood

was triggered when the Black Sea flooded

is rooted in the basic geological observation

that at the end of the Last Ice Age,

when the ice melted off the poles,

it raised sea level.

And what happened when sea level rose?

The Mediterranean overtopped the Bosporus

and spilled into the Black Sea.

That event raised the level of the water

in what's now the Black Sea by about 150 feet

within weeks to months.

It would have been catastrophic to the peoples at that time.

It would have literally flooded the world known to them.

Perhaps it actually seeded the story of Noah's flood.

SHATNER: Was the biblical flood

based on the actual deluge of the Black Sea?

It's an intriguing notion.

But if the flood really took place, then is it possible

that we might be able to find Noah's Ark?

Well, some researchers argue that the ark

may have actually been rediscovered

in a number of aerial photographs

that have been taken at the foot of Mount Ararat.

The photos reveal a boat-shaped formation

embedded in the surface of the mountain.

There are those who believe that this rocky structure

was once Noah's Ark, and that the wood hardened

and turned to stone over time,

a process that is known as petrification.

ANDREW JONES: It's a streamlined, boat-shaped object that's sitting there,

And there's nothing else in the region that matches that.

So this is a very distinct object.

According to the Bible, the ark landed

in the mountains of Ararat.

In Genesis chapter 6,

the ark was 300 cubits long.

Now, if you do the conversion, 300 cubits equals 515 feet,

and that is exactly the length of this boat formation.

SHATNER: Does the remarkable similarity

between this rocky structure and what's written in the Bible

suggest that it is the remains of Noah's Ark?

Since 2019, a group of archaeologists

leading the Noah's Ark Scientific Project

have used new technology

to learn more about this mysterious formation.

JONES: We hired an American ground-penetrating radar team

to create 3D images of what is below the ground.

About 20 feet down,

they found what looked to be three different layers.

In the Bible, the ark had three decks.

And according to the scans, you can see the three decks

that the Bible says this giant boat had.

We are hoping will happen next year

is the Turkish government would then proceed on

with a small-scale excavation of the site

to show what we're looking at below the surface.

This would be a very exciting,

worldwide headline discovery

if this is proven to be Noah's Ark.

If you could find evidence for this story,

that would actually prove the biblical account

and maybe get people more interested

in what is written in these holy books.

SHATNER: For the faithful, the search for definitive evidence

of either Noah's Ark or the great flood

is not only about archaeology.

It's also a quest to understand

how the power of God works in our world.

An act of God is precisely something

that we cannot explain in rational, scientific terms.

The Bible tells us that Noah's a righteous man

and tells us God orders Noah to build the ark

but doesn't tell anyone else.

It's this miraculous act of God that, by definition,

goes beyond the flooding of the Earth

where God allows God's chosen people to live.

And so, there are these astonishing kinds of things

where God intervenes in human history.

So it's that balance of the divine favor

with the divine wrath.

SHATNER: In this small town,

located on the outskirts of Houston,

stands the King of Saints Church.

On the surface, it looks like any number of churches

scattered throughout the region.

But inside, there's something

that makes it stand out from the rest.

Within this church

is a remarkably accurate reproduction

of the Ark of the Covenant.

STEPHEN MISSICK: My father and I built this replica

of the Ark of the Covenant because it makes the Scripture

come alive in a new and unique way,

because you're not just reading a description

in a book or seeing a picture.

This is 3D, and built according to the specifications

in the Scripture.

Exodus chapter 25, Moses gives the blueprint,

or the detailed instructions, to how to build the Ark.

And that's the instructions we used to build this

with all the dimensions.

The Bible describes two cherubim,

which are winged sphinxes.

And they're facing each other, as we see here,

according to the Scriptures.

And the cherubim had the body of a lion,

the face of men, the wings of an eagle.

In other depictions of the Ark of the Covenant,

you see humanoid angels with wings or cherubs.

But this reflects the description of cherubim

as we find in the Book of Ezekiel.

And they look upon the mercy seat,

which is the cover of the Ark of the Covenant.

Our congregation sees this ark as a unique way to show

that God is king and lord

through the Ark, which represents the kingship of God,

and also represents a way that God spoke,

spiritually and through His written word.

We have this replica of the Ark of the Covenant

as a symbol of that importance.

SHATNER: Throughout history, the Ark of the Covenant

has been one of the most sacred artifacts

in the Judeo-Christian tradition.

But just what, exactly, is the Ark?

LEFF: The Ark of the Covenant

is fascinating because it's the most important

ritual object, uh, that Judaism has ever had.

The Ark is first introduced scripturally

in the Book of Exodus, where God gives Moses

instructions to build an ark for carrying the Ten Commandments.

It has very detailed instructions.

It should be two and a half cubits long

by one and a half cubits tall and one and a half cubits wide,

and it's plated with gold inside and out.

The Ark was covered by this gold lid,

um, called the mercy seat.

Now, it's also known as the throne of God,

mainly because we have a passage in 1 Samuel 4:4

that mentions how God is enthroned between the cherubim.

So, this indicates to us that this mercy seat

was, in fact, understood as the throne of God.

CARGILL: The Ark of the Covenant, for a time,

was the center of the Israelite religion.

It represented the presence of the Hebrew god, Yahweh,

on Earth.

Meaning, if there was a question that needed to be answered,

the Ark was the place that you would go

and petition God.

If you went into battle,

the Ark would be taken, marched into battle.

As long as the presence of God,

represented by the Ark, was with Israel,

they couldn't be conquered.

The Ark of the Covenant was God

in the midst of the Israelites.

SHATNER: The presence of God himself, held within a golden chest?

It's certainly a profound notion,

which is the perhaps the reason why the Ark has long inspired

worldwide fascination and reverence.

The Ark of the Covenant is, arguably, the most important

and intriguing artifact in human history

because we're talking about something made by human hands

that contains the power of God.

In fact, the word "ark" means "sacred container."

So, this is fascinating.

This idea that humans could build something

that could contain or create

this kind of extraordinary divine connection.

LEFF: It was an extremely powerful thing.

When the Israelites were wandering through the desert

for 40 years, they not only carried the Ark with them,

the Ark kind of led the way.

It was their ancient navigational device,

the Israelites' ancient GPS that showed them where to go.

And the legend says it would zoom up into the sky,

move three days ahead,

and then the people would-would follow along behind it.

CARGILL: Many people are familiar with the famous story

of the parting of the Red Sea during the Exodus narrative

when the Israelites were escaping Egypt.

A lot of people aren't familiar with the story in Joshua 3

of the parting of the Jordan River.

The priests who are carrying the Ark of the Covenant

just touch their toes into the Jordan River,

and the Jordan River itself parts.

And the Israelites are able to march

into the Promised Land.

So, the whole story is designed to tell the reader

this is God at work here.

What's interesting is that there's this great debate,

was the Ark of the Covenant real or was it just made up?

I actually think it was very real,

and the reason I think it's real is that

it's such a central part of the Israelite religion.

SHATNER: Did the Ark of the Covenant actually exist?

Perhaps the answer can be found by examining

an archaeological discovery that was made

in the heart of the Holy Land.

Central Israel, 15 miles west of Jerusalem.

Here, on a small, rocky mound,

lie the ruins of an ancient Hebrew city

known as Beit Shemesh.

According to archaeologists, Beit Shemesh

has a profound connection to the Ark of the Covenant.

Beit Shemesh has a long history of being a religious center.

According to, uh, the story that we have in the Bible,

when the Ark of the Covenant was taken to Beit Shemesh,

the Israelites take the Ark, and they put it on a stone table.

The understanding was that

it was venerated by all Israelites.

We have this one object, the Ark of the Covenant,

that represents God on Earth.

SHATNER: Could the Ark of the Covenant

have actually been kept at Beit Shemesh?

Well, recently,

archaeologists have uncovered evidence which suggests

that the Biblical story is, in fact, true.

In 2019, a team led by archaeologists

from Tel Aviv University made a startling discovery.

They found a room in which it seems to have evidence

of where the Ark of the Covenant was kept

when it was brought here at Beit Shemesh.

There's a big, flat slab of stone

that is exactly the same dimensions,

proportions as the Ark of the Covenant.

This slab of stone is not some column that fell on its side.

It was deliberately placed here, and its dimensions,

its dimensions fit what the Book of Exodus tells us

were the dimensions of the Ark of the Covenant.

It says it was a cubit and a half on two cubits and a half.

A cubit is the size of a human arm.

Watch. A cubit...

and a half,

on two...

cubits and a half.

Just a-a bit bigger, maybe by 10%, 20%.

So, the Ark would be placed on it

in the most possible stable way.

And everything dates to the timeframe

of when the Ark was placed at Beit Shemesh.

Everything falls into place.

Not only did this discovery indicate

that the Ark was kept here, it's much more.

It actually indicates the Ark existed.

This discovery is possibly the most significant find

ever made in the context of the quest

of the Ark of the Covenant.

SHATNER: In central Iraq, 60 miles south of Baghdad,

lie the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon...

...which was once the capital of the Babylonian Empire.

At its height, in 600 BC,

Babylon was estimated to have been

the largest city in the world,

with a population of more than 200,000 inhabitants.

Perhaps the most intriguing ruin that remains

in Babylon is the foundation

of an ancient, crumbled brick tower that was known as

the Etemenanki ziggurat.

And there those who believe that the giant ziggurat

may have actually been the Tower of Babel.

IRVING FINKEL: The real Tower of Babel,

from which the account in the Bible derives,

was built by King Nebuchadnezzar II

at the beginning of the sixth century BC.

If you go to Babylon today,

you can easily see on the ground where the ziggurat was

because it is a rectangular ditch

with a kind of black square

full of mud and oily water,

which delineates the entire profile

of this great tower of which nothing else is left.

The tower was built and made of mud brick.

The building was of seven stories

with a little temple at the top.

And there was a brick staircase without banisters

so that King Nebuchadnezzar II could mount the staircase

and go up and up to the very top.

So it was definitely the national monument

of the greatest amount of pride.

SHATNER: Historians have estimated that the ziggurat stood

nearly 300 feet high,

or roughly as tall as the Statue of Liberty.

But is it possible that this Babylonian structure was,

in fact, the real Tower of Babel?

Perhaps the answer can be found by examining

the story that is recorded in the Bible.

HUSSAIN: In Genesis chapter 11,

you have the story of the Tower of Babel.

Human beings are united, they speak the same language,

they build this tower...

...to go up into the heavens,

but then you have God saying, "Wait a minute,

"what are these people doing? They're gonna build this,

and they're gonna come up to where I am."

And so, God basically confounds these people

by having them speak different languages,

so they're not able to understand each other.

CARGILL: God says, "Let's scramble their languages,

and then they won't be able to communicate with one another."

This is one of the most famous stories of the Bible.

I think that the Tower of Babel is based on a ziggurat.

If you're an ancient Hebrew, an Israelite,

and you walk up to one of these

large ziggurats, you're gonna be overwhelmed, right?

You've never seen anything like this.

MARK ALTAWEEL: It's very possible that the ziggurat of Babylon

may be associated with the Tower of Babel.

There's a lot of parallels.

One is the location. Babel is another name for Babylon.

That's more of a Semitic name.

So, the location's certainly correct,

and it certainly was a very tall tower,

as suggested by biblical sources.

SHATNER: Some archaeologists claim that the most intriguing connection

between this structure and the Tower of Babel

can be found in the remaining bricks

from the foundation of the ziggurat.

FINKEL: Some of the bricks that we have

have, on the upper or lower surface, a thick black deposit.

And this is the remains of bitumen,

which, when the original building was put together,

functioned as cement.

And in the account in Genesis,

it is pointed out that the Tower of Babel

was built of mud brick with bitumen in between.

So, it is a very convincing piece of evidence

that the one building is predicated on the other.

SHATNER: But if this ziggurat was the Tower of Babel,

then how was it destroyed?

According to an ancient Hebrew text

known as the Book of Jubilees,

God was so angry with humans for building the Tower of Babel

that he summoned a mighty wind to knock over the tower.

Is it possible it was brought down

by the power of God?

Some experts believe that the story of the Tower of Babel

and its destruction by God is based on an historical event,

an earthquake in ancient times.

In fact, quite a few ancient towers in the city of Babylon,

in what's now Iraq, were destroyed by earthquakes.

Archaeologists know that that area was and still is

prone to earthquakes because,

in the year 2017,

there was the largest magnitude earthquake

in the world in that year,

and the epicenter was only 100 miles

from what was the ancient city of Babylon.

SHATNER: If an earthquake did destroy the ziggurat,

that could lend support to the theory

that it was the legendary Tower of Babel.

But many experts believe the true power

of the Tower of Babel story

is that, thousands of years later,

its warning about the consequences

of challenging God still endures.

CARGILL: The story of the Tower of Babel is absolutely fascinating

because you have God basically curse all of humankind

by scrambling all of the language.

And the moral to the story being

you're not supposed to show that kind of arrogance.

You shouldn't try to be like God.

While the Tower of Babel is a monument

to humanity's doomed ambition to rival God,

there are other Biblical artifacts

which many Christians believe offer

a direct connection to the divine,

like a lost chalice

that is perhaps the most sought-after relic in history.

SHATNER: Located on the eastern shore

of the Mediterranean Sea,

this bustling port city contains remarkable ruins

that date back thousands of years.

And there are those who believe that

one of the most sought-after treasures in history

may lie hidden within these ancient ruins.

The Holy Grail.

McMAHON: For archaeologists,

Acre is hugely significant.

It's one of the oldest continuously inhabited places

on Earth,

going back 5,000 years.

There's literally layers of history there

still being discovered.

But also, the significance

is that it's the last place

that the Holy Grail is believed

to have ended up during the Crusades.

SHATNER: The Holy Grail?

The chalice that Jesus drank from at the Last Supper?

For centuries,

many have embarked on quests

in search of this sacred artifact.

Not only because it would be priceless

but also because it is thought to possess divine power.

While many have sought to find the Holy Grail,

it's believed that this precious relic

was once in the hands of a group of medieval warrior monks

known as...

the Knights Templar.

The Knights Templar were a very curious order of monks.

They were sworn, in fact,

to protect pilgrims to the Holy Land in the Crusades.

They were professional soldiers,

the elite fighting force of Europe.

And they became immensely wealthy

and immensely powerful.

But many believe that the Templars had, if you want,

an ulterior secret mission.

And that was to look for the Holy Grail

and other sacred relics all over the Holy Land.

If they did find the Holy Grail, there was nowhere better

for the Knights Templar to bring their treasure securely

than to Acre,

which was a safe city with big, thick walls around it

and 12 towers to defend the citizens from external attack.

SHATNER: If it's true that the Knights Templar

brought the Holy Grail from Jerusalem to Acre,

could it still be hidden in the ruins that lie within the city?

Eliezer Stern is an archaeologist

with the Israel Antiquities Authority.

For nearly three decades,

he has overseen excavations

of a massive underground Templar fortress

that lies beneath the Church of St. Andrew in Acre.

SHATNER: Under the church, Stern has been investigating

a sprawling network of 13th-century tunnels and crypts.

These passages may reveal valuable information

about the Templars' activities in Acre.

PICKNETT: The Knights Templar had this brilliant system.

They actually built tunnels

to what they called a treasure tower.

So, when there was a siege going on,

they would take the treasures that they've come across

throughout their occupation and their fighting

down the tunnels

and into the tower.

SHATNER: In addition to excavating the Templar treasury,

Stern and his team have unearthed more chambers

that are located approximately ten feet beneath the main crypt.

But these monumental discoveries have revealed only a fraction

of this mysterious medieval city.

McMAHON: For Grail hunters,

any new excavations in Acre,

it's obviously tremendously exciting.

And it's a city that's still yielding up its secrets.

And so there is a very good chance

that some of the treasure of the Templars,

including the Holy Grail,

are there, waiting to be discovered.

SHATNER: Is it possible the Knights Templar

chose to hide the Holy Grail

within the ruins of the Templar fortress

beneath the Church of St. Andrew?

Uncovering the Grail here--

or wherever else it may be hidden--

would be a discovery of profound importance.

Because for Christians around the world,

the Holy Grail is much more than just an ancient chalice--

it is an object touched by God.

McMAHON: Strictly speaking, we talk

about the Holy Grail in technical terms as a cup.

But, really, the Holy Grail is something much more profound,

much more sacred, holy.

There can be no doubt, if the Holy Grail was found,

this would be hugely significant

for millions of Christians all over the world,

to have a direct connection to Jesus Christ.

SHATNER: Inside the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist,

the leader of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis,

prays before a 14-foot-long ancient linen cloth.

The occasion attracts media attention

because it is the first time

that the cloth has been shown publicly in over five years.

This Christian holy relic is referred to

as the Shroud of Turin.

The Shroud of Turin is this amazing relic.

At bottom, it's a piece of cloth.

It shows a very faint sort of image of a crucified man.

And the crucified man calls us to remember

Jesus' death and resurrection.

BRIAN HYLAND: The Bible talks about the burial cloths.

All four of the Gospels mention

that Jesus was taken down from the cross,

he was wrapped in linen

and then his body was put in the tomb.

FISHER: According to the legends,

the shroud is the cloth that his dead body is wrapped in.

And because of the contact with the body of Jesus,

that transforms and leaves a lasting mark on the cloth.

And so the shroud is believed

to be a holy relic,

because you don't get much more, uh, holy

than the actual blood of Jesus.

HYLAND: After the Resurrection,

the shroud completely disappeared.

The first appearance of the shroud in the written record

is 1389 in France.

It was kept in the capital of the Duchy of Savoy.

A place called Chambéry.

It had been moved around from time to time.

But in 1578,

it was brought from there to Turin.

And so it's a way for people to be in the presence of Jesus.

SHATNER: While people all over the world have been struck

by its stunning imprint of the face of Jesus Christ,

not everyone's convinced that the shroud

is a genuine holy relic.

Ever since the shroud first really appears in history, uh,

there's been controversy about it

and there have been questions about its authenticity.

In 1988, a group of scientists were able to get permission

to get a sample from the shroud...

...and to subject it to radiocarbon dating.

And then they announced with a 95% degree of certainty

that the shroud was medieval.

ROBERT WILCOX: Suddenly, there's this carbon-14 dating,

and they say that it dates to the 13th century.

And, uh, wow, that's a tremendous blow

to everybody who thought that the shroud might be real.

But then, as time went on,

experts began to look at it,

and it was finally determined

that the test was taken from the very end of the shroud,

not where the image is.

And it really turned out to be a patch

that had been woven by ancient weavers.

They weaved it back together on that particular area.

When those guys came out with their carbon-14,

they tested the wrong piece.

Nobody's proved it a fake yet.

SHATNER: Despite the questions about the shroud's credibility,

many Christians have faith in its divine nature.

And as evidence,

they point to numerous accounts

of the shroud's supposed healing powers.

Perhaps the most compelling case

is the story of the recovery of a young British girl

named Josie Woollam in 1955.

HYLAND: Josie Woollam was

a young girl who, at, uh, the age of five,

developed a terrible degenerative, uh, bone disease.

And after five years of suffering this,

she basically was approaching her final days.

Then Josie made a pilgrimage to Turin,

and she actually had a chance to put her hands on the shroud.

There was no immediate reaction,

no miracle cure on the spot.

But her health kept improving and kept improving.

Eventually, she actually got better.

HUSSAIN: The story of Josie Woollam, it's extraordinary.

So, you've got this documented miraculous healing

in the 20th century,

which, of course, raises the question,

does the shroud cause a miracle

or is there something else there?

That's what's really fascinating about this.

♪ ♪

SHATNER: While the Shroud of Turin has been venerated by Christians

for thousands of years,

it's just one of several holy objects

that are believed to be associated

with the death of the Son of God.

One of these artifacts is a spear

that was reportedly wielded by a Roman soldier

during the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

RICHARD SPENCE: The origin of the spear comes from...

...the Gospel of John.

Jesus is on the cross.

The Romans are trying to figure out whether he's dead,

because there's a lot of pressure to get him down

and bury him.

There was a Roman soldier who someone told him,

"Stab this guy. Finish him off.

Make sure he's dead."

The Christian tradition says the name of this Roman soldier

who pierces Jesus is Longinus.

And there's a story that develops

that he's blind or he's nearsighted.

And so when he pierces the side of Jesus...

...the blood and the water comes out.

That lands on his eyes,

and it makes him able to see.

It's this miracle,

because, of course, the blood of Christ

is this miraculous sort of thing.

SHATNER: According to Christian belief,

when this ordinary spear touched Jesus,

it became a sacred relic

and was referred to as either the Holy Lance

or the Spear of Destiny.

Because this was the only weapon

that is said to have pierced the body of Christ...

...the legend got going

that if you had the Spear of Destiny,

the-the Holy Lance...

...you could not be stopped.

You were invincible.

And a whole series of leaders wanted to get their hands on it,

perhaps believing God would then be on their side

and they would prevail.

SHATNER: After Jesus' crucifixion,

one of the rulers who reportedly came into possession

of the Spear of Destiny

was the 8th-century French king, Charlemagne.

SPENCE: Charlemagne, Charles the Great,

carried the lance in 47 victorious campaigns

and spread his control over much of France and Germany,

all the way into what would now be Slovakia and Hungary.

And so Charlemagne, in 800, on Christmas Day,

is crowned by the Pope as emperor of the West.

And there were a lot of people who believed

that the Spear of Destiny explained his success.

SHATNER: Is it possible that the Spear of Destiny

actually gave Charlemagne the power to vanquish his enemies?

Perhaps.

But if so,

then such power apparently came at a heavy price.

PICKNETT: Legend says that if you drop the Spear of Destiny

or lose it or even really step back from it,

all of your great victories are gonna be as nothing.

You will just fall.

And that's what happened, apparently,

when Charlemagne carried it into battle and dropped it.

He lost that battle, even though,

with it, he'd won 47 battles.

SHATNER: Was the Spear of Destiny responsible

for both the rise and fall of Charlemagne?

Perhaps the answer can be found by examining the fate of two men

who possessed the spear during the 20th century.

(cheering)

German troops march into Vienna, Austria,

and take control of the capital city.

Hitler orders his soldiers

to storm the royal Hofburg Palace

and seize the Spear of Destiny.

SPENCE: The spear sort of appears in the modern stage

in March of 1938,

when the Republic of Austria is annexed to the German Reich.

The Republic of Austria had acquired the spear

some centuries before.

And that spear is taken from there

and it is taken back to Nuremberg in Germany proper.

And there it remained until 1945.

SHATNER: On April 30, 1945,

Allied forces

under the command of U.S. General George S. Patton

captured the German city of Nuremberg.

In the aftermath of the fighting,

American soldiers discovered the Spear of Destiny.

SPENCE: Patton himself

took possession of the spear.

He liked to imagine himself being the reincarnation

of all kinds of previous military leaders,

some of which might have had

the Spear of Destiny with them.

SHATNER: After Patton acquired the spear,

events transpired

which suggested that the legends about this sacred relic

might be true.

PICKNETT: It is said that, basically

the day before, um, Hitler shot himself,

the Americans found the Spear of Destiny

and General Patton took it.

And that's what set Hitler off.

And then Patton himself,

he put it back into the Hofburg Museum.

And shortly after that, he died in a car crash.

So, all of these things look like,

yeah, there's something to this legend.

Did the Spear of Destiny

really sway the fate of nations for centuries,

as some believe?

And what about lost relics

like the Ark of the Covenant or the Holy Grail?

Will they ever be found?

Ultimately, it's hard to say.

However, one thing is certain.

People will keep trying to uncover the truth

about these mysterious objects

that, for the moment, remain...

...unexplained.

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