Original subtitles

WILLIAM SHATNER: A gleaming dagger

with a pharaoh's curse.

A powerful spear that makes its wielder invincible.

And a massive carved stone that contains a prediction

about the end of the world.

Throughout history, there have been clothes,

possessions, even human bones,

that have been considered precious mystical objects.

These sacred relics are revered by cultures all around the world

and are believed to be imbued with incredible powers.

Is it possible that seemingly ordinary items,

like a linen cloth or a soldier's spear,

can actually have the ability to perform miracles?

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

♪ ♪

SHATNER: All over the world, there are tens of thousands of museums

that contain a seemingly infinite number

of ancient artifacts.

The vast majority of these antiquities are preserved

because of their historical significance

as a link to humanity's past.

But there are certain items that,

according to many belief systems, are special,

and may possess mystical energy.

These objects are commonly referred to

as sacred relics.

JONATHAN YOUNG: The thing about a relic is that it is

a manifestation of holiness itself.

If we have an object that contains divine energy,

then you have something of sacred power in human hands.

So there's a great sense of reverence.

DOMINIC STEAVU: Typically, sacred relics

would come from divine individuals

or individuals of incredible spiritual standing.

There's a transfer of that person's power

onto the relic, and the relics

come to acquire a divine dimension

and a divine, uh, potency as well.

SHATNER: Do sacred relics

really contain extraordinary powers?

Perhaps clues can be found by examining an object

that belonged to an ancient Egyptian pharaoh.

A British excavation team led by archaeologist Howard Carter

enters an underground ancient Egyptian burial chamber.

Once inside, they break a protective seal

that guards the tomb of King Tutankhamun.

CHRIS NAUNTON: Carter lifts up a lamp,

and they look through and see that Tutankhamun

is buried with this fantastic array

of more than 5,000 objects.

The room is absolutely full to bursting

with gold and precious stones

and various other precious and valuable items,

more or less exactly in places they'd been left

more than 3,000 years ago.

SHATNER: Of the thousands of wondrous artifacts

found in King Tut's tomb, perhaps the most extraordinary

is an exquisitely forged 13-inch iron dagger.

NAUNTON: The dagger is a really sensational object

with a golden sheath, which is decorated

with a chaste feather pattern.

It was placed on the thigh of the king,

and of all the 5,000 objects in the tomb,

the vast majority of them were nowhere near as close as that

to the very body of the king.

So, this is something very, very important.

RAMY ROMANY: King Tut's reign

was about 1330 BC.

At that time, King Tut's dagger was a very important piece,

as a symbol that the gods handed him this power.

That's why the iron dagger was buried with King Tut.

He needed it on his journey to the afterlife.

STEAVU: In the afterlife,

King Tut was charged, uh, with the very important mission

of assisting the sun god Ra.

Ancient Egyptians believed that when the sun set every day,

Ra would traverse the underworld,

which was a dark, murky, watery place

fraught with dangers and demons and beasts.

So, King Tut would use this dagger

to literally defend and fight off these hordes of enemies.

And so, there's this belief that the blade of the dagger

had miraculous and spiritual powers.

SHATNER: The idea that King Tut was buried with a mighty iron dagger

to vanquish foes in the afterlife

is certainly a great story.

But is it possible that the dagger

actually possesses divine power,

as the ancient Egyptians believed?

Perhaps the answer lies

in the mysterious origins of this sacred relic.

NAUNTON: The Egyptians had, essentially, no ability in smelting iron

at the time of Tutankhamun.

And so, the iron, uh, from this dagger that's, uh,

Tutankhamun was buried with, it comes from elsewhere.

The Egyptians, of course, thought

that the only reasonable explanation

for the presence of a very exquisitely,

perfectly worked iron dagger was that the iron itself

was some kind of gift directly from the gods.

We now know, however,

thanks to very recent scientific analysis,

that the iron doesn't come from iron ore in the ground,

it is meteoric iron,

which comes from a meteorite landing on Earth from space.

For Egyptians, the sky is where the gods were.

So, you have to understand, at that time in ancient Egypt,

3,500 years ago,

a meteorite falling on Earth with iron in it,

and piece of it looked like a dagger,

symbolically, that piece of iron was a gift from the gods

for the ancient Egyptians.

SHATNER: Did the ancient Egyptians believe

that King Tut's dagger had otherworldly powers

because it literally came from another world?

Perhaps, but some people think that the sacred nature

of this relic was more than just symbolic.

As evidence, they point to a series

of mysterious deaths that took place

after archaeologists removed the dagger from King Tut's tomb.

NAUNTON: There's the moment where

Howard Carter's archaeological team

peers into an undiscovered tomb,

and sees loads of gold and treasure.

And then, shortly after Carter's sponsor

the Earl of Carnarvon dies relatively suddenly in...

unusual, surprising circumstances.

SHATNER: The Earl of Carnarvon's cause of death was reportedly

a mysterious form of blood poisoning,

and he died only four months after the tomb had been opened.

All told, seven members of the expedition

unexpectedly died in the years after King Tut's dagger

was removed from his sarcophagus.

Many believed that tampering with the dagger

had unlocked a deadly curse,

and that the untimely deaths were proof

of the weapon's otherworldly power.

If the dagger's there for the king's protection,

and the point at which the dagger is removed

by a clumsy, unsuspecting, unbelieving archaeologist.

That's the moment at which some nastiness

befalls the archaeologist.

Then, I think, if you believe in the curse,

perhaps the dagger is centrally important to that.

Does King Tut's dagger

actually possess some kind of extraordinary power?

And if so,

can that power be explained by science,

or is the answer more profound?

Perhaps clues about the nature of sacred relics

can be revealed by examining

a biblical artifact that was thought to be so powerful,

it's believed to have been locked in a vault

deep beneath the Vatican.

SHATNER: Every December, millions

of Jewish people all over the world come together

to celebrate an eight-day festival known as Hanukkah.

According to tradition,

during the holiday, the Jewish faithful

light a candle each night

on a special candelabra, called a menorah.

This sacred practice is referred to as the Festival of Lights,

and it has been performed for more than 2,000 years.

While Hanukkah is a happy, family celebration,

the menorah actually commemorates

an ancient Hebrew relic that,

according to the Old Testament of the Bible,

stood five feet tall, was made out of solid gold,

and was said to be imbued

with the power of God.

The Temple Menorah

is a sacred treasure.

The original menorah

was built in the same time

that was the Ark of the Covenant.

The laws of the candelabra,

the Menorah, were very precise.

Those artifacts built in the days of Moses

had a special power to them,

not symbolically, but actually.

SHATNER: Under God's instruction, the holy Temple Menorah

was used to light a sacred place of worship

for the Israelites, and was constructed

with seven branches to represent the seven days of creation.

Today, the menorah used during Hanukkah

has nine branches to memorialize

one of the ancient relic's great miracles.

We know from history

that in the second century, before the Common Era,

the Greek empire

came into the land of Israel.

When the Greeks came,

they defiled the temple,

all of the sacred oil

used for the lighting of the menorah

were destroyed.

AMIR HUSSAIN: A group of Jews, who are under occupation,

revolt and they're able to overcome the Greeks.

They're able to reconsecrate the menorah.

Except, of course, they don't have enough oil

that you use as the fuel.

They have oil for the lamp to light for one day.

Miraculously, the lamp lights for eight days,

which, when you think about it,

doesn't seem like such a big miracle,

but if you think about it, from a Jewish point of view,

if nature is under the control of God,

this is one of the signs of God's favor.

SHATNER: For even more dramatic evidence of the Menorah's divine power,

some point to the fact that throughout history,

anyone who tampered

with this sacred relic

suffered dire consequences.

ANDREW COLLINS: In AD 70,

the Romans sacked Jerusalem,

and they carried off all of the treasures

of the temple to Rome.

And this is celebrated

in the so-called Arch of Titus in Rome.

And you can actually see on this relief,

the actual menorah being carried away.

And it's said that thereafter,

Rome was sacked by the Vandals

in 455 AD.

HUSSAIN: The Vandals take the menorah back to Carthage.

And then, that's sacked by the Byzantines.

And so, everyone that gets this,

at some point, their empire gets destroyed.

And is there a sense of, oh, is this because

God's providence isn't with these people?

TONY McMAHON: The menorah ended up in Constantinople,

the capital of the Byzantine empire.

But apparently, the Jewish residents of Constantinople

warned the emperor that the Jewish God

does not like his treasure

being held by other people,

and the emperor gets rid of the menorah.

COLLINS: It was felt that having the menorah,

this item of incredible divine power there,

was gonna bring destruction.

And thereafter, it vanishes.

SHATNER: Could the Temple Menorah actually have divine powers?

For now, we have only

the historical accounts to consider,

as the menorah has been lost

for more than a thousand years.

However, according to one incredible theory,

the menorah might still exist today,

and it may actually be hidden

deep beneath Vatican City in Rome.

COLLINS: People have believed since medieval times

that the menorah, and also the Ark of the Covenant,

were kept in a cave,

beneath the actual site

of the Vatican itself, suggesting

that they were hiding the menorah,

and that this may well have remained here

through to modern times.

Of course, the Vatican denies actually possessing

this holy relic, so we can only but speculate

on whether it is or isn't still there today.

But if the Vatican does still possess the menorah,

why would they want to keep it?

Is it something to do with the divine power

that it's thought to hold?

SHATNER: Is it possible that the menorah,

and also the Ark of the Covenant,

are locked behind closed doors at the Vatican?

And if so, have these holy artifacts

been hidden because their powers

should not be tampered with, as some believe?

If the blessing of God was upon this sacred artifact,

then the blessing of God remains upon this sacred artifact.

And indeed, those who would seek

to violate that sacredity,

or dishonor it,

would indeed become subject to the wrath of God,

which is not something anyone would want to incur.

If it's true that the Temple Menorah

is locked away in the Vatican for our protection,

then it probably should stay there.

And incidentally, there are those who believe

that another sacred relic should also be kept off limits.

It's an ancient spear,

that is said to give its possessor the power

to conquer the world.

SHATNER: While the Old Testament of the Bible

describes numerous holy relics,

including the menorah

and the Ark of the Covenant,

there are also sacred objects

that are mentioned in the New Testament.

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.

ROY FISHER: For believers,

the Spear of Destiny

actually pierced Jesus' side

and came in contact with his blood.

For them, this would mean that it does,

in fact, have some kind of divine power,

because you can't touch the holy

without being changed or transformed.

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 eighth 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.

LYNN 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 going to 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.

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.

SHATNER: Today, the Spear of Destiny

is on display at the Hofburg Museum in Vienna,

where tourists can view this historic object,

and wonder whether it really did

sway the fate of nations for centuries

because of its connection to Jesus Christ.

FISHER: Humans down through time

and across many cultures have

believed in the power of

the Spear of Destiny.

So, the persistence of human belief

in its power should make us pause

and reflect on what role that might play

in these legends about

victories, defeats and miracles.

Is the Spear of Destiny just a historical artifact

or could it really be a divine weapon

that bestows unlimited power

to whomever takes possession of it?

If so... (chuckles)

we can only hope that it never

falls into the wrong hands.

But incredibly, that is not the only

sacred relic connected to Jesus Christ.

There's another one that many believe

has a different kind of power:

The gift of healing.

It's a linen cloth

known as the Shroud of Turin.

SHATNER: Inside the Cathedral of Saint 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's death and resurrection.

BRIAN HYLAND: The Bible talks about the burial cloths.

All four of the Gospels mentioned 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 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: The Shroud of Turin has been venerated

by billions of Christians for centuries.

For many people,

the best indication of the shroud's

spiritual connection to Jesus

was revealed when it was photographed

for the first time in 1898.

HYLAND: A man by the name of Secondo Pia

took the first photographs of the shroud.

And as he was developing his glass plate negatives,

you see a very clear image of the face,

and that's very, very unusual,

especially the detail that's there.

The negative brought out so much more detail

than is visible to the eye

when you look at the shroud.

When the photos first became public,

there was a huge effect.

Some people

felt they were looking

at the actual face of Jesus.

COLLINS: From negative image, Jesus comes alive,

and all the details

of the face can be seen properly

for the first time.

For you have the beard,

you have the hair,

you have the very long face.

It's like looking upon the icon

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, 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 the age of five

developed a terrible degenerative 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.

It's incredible to think

that almost 2,000 years after the death of Jesus,

we're still debating the authenticity

of the Shroud of Turin.

Which is also the case

with the supposed bodily remains

of another important spiritual figure.

It is a human tooth

kept in a temple in Sri Lanka

that some believe is a relic

of the Buddha himself.

SHATNER: Nestled on the serene shores of a large lake

rests a sprawling Buddhist temple called

the Temple of the Sacred Tooth.

It is known by this unusual name

because, inside the temple,

there is an elaborate shrine which,

for more than 1,500 years,

has held one of the most important

Buddhist relics in the world.

However, the relic cannot be seen by the public

because it is encased within seven gleaming caskets

made out of solid gold.

At the center of those protective layers

is a human tooth that, according to the faithful,

belonged to the Buddha himself.

The Buddha's tooth is a sacred relic,

and it is venerated three times a day

by Buddhists

on the island of Sri Lanka.

It is offered prayers

and worship morning, noon and evening.

Praying to this tooth,

it's like being in the presence directly

of the founder of your religion,

the historical Buddha.

Buddhism was founded by Shakyamuni Buddha

who lived over 3,000 years ago.

He was a fully enlightened being,

so he attained perfect level of wisdom.

And his mission was to teach others

how to end their suffering

and to continue his teachings after he was gone.

STEAVU: Upon passing, the relics that remained of the Buddha

were distributed amongst his followers.

One of them made its way to Sri Lanka

in the fourth century, and this was

the Buddha's tooth.

Once a year, there is a massive celebration,

the procession of the tooth.

And this is a humongous festival.

There's music,

fire dances.

The Buddha's tooth

is carried on the back of a very old noble elephant.

The pageantry is just overwhelmingly beautiful

at this very large festival

that takes place once a year

in honor of the sacred tooth.

SHATNER: Although most practicing Buddhists

are not allowed to see the sacred tooth,

they genuinely believe that it retains the life essence

of the Buddha himself.

In fact, some people claim

that being in the presence of this tiny relic

is an extraordinary experience.

STEAVU: The sacred tooth, it has the power,

allegedly, to heal anyone

who comes in contact with it.

There's the weekly ritual in which it's bathed,

and the water is then distributed

to people in order to cure them of various illnesses.

JIE: Many people have experienced

powerful energy, a positive energy

from the Buddha's tooth.

It's a phenomenon that inspires people's faith.

As Buddhists, we believe that the Buddha

is still in the world.

SHATNER: The sacred tooth that is kept in Sri Lanka is incredible,

but it is hardly the only relic of its kind.

In fact, there are reportedly more than

80,000 small fragments

of the Buddha's remains

that are kept in shrines all over the world.

(chanting)

SHATNER: One of the biggest collections of Buddha relics can be found

at the Wei Mountain Temple,

located in Rosemead, California

which houses some

10,000 relics of the Buddha.

JIE: At Wei Mountain Temple,

we have a finger bone of the Buddha,

as well as a wrist bone

and a knee bone from the Buddha.

We make these relics available for people

to benefit from being in their presence.

SHATNER: Wei Mountain Temple's collection

also includes a tooth of the Buddha

that can be seen by the public on special occasions,

and appears to possess

an extraordinary quality.

Because, even though the Buddha died thousands of years ago,

this tooth is actually growing.

COLLINS: This tooth is of immense size.

Today, it is over three inches in length,

and allegedly, across the past 3,000 years,

it's been growing, and it's continuing to grow to this day.

Now, this in itself is surely a miracle.

JIE: The tooth relic has been growing since the time of the Buddha.

It's well known among Buddhists that the relics

can multiply and grow.

These are not dead objects. They are actually still living.

They are still part of the Buddha's body.

SHATNER: According to current measurements,

this Buddha's tooth is

more than twice the size

of a normal human tooth.

But what could be causing

this unusual growth?

Well, in 2012, a group of scientists

conducted an experiment to try and find out

whether mysterious relics of the Buddha

have any unusual characteristics.

STEAVU: This study attempted to measure

the power of Buddha relics on reality.

And so they placed a vessel of water

next to some Buddha relics.

And, lo and behold,

the pH of the water actually changed.

And it went up by 2.5 units,

which is significant.

Now, are these relics actually imbued with sacred power?

This is a hard question to answer.

But whether that's a result of their faith,

or a result of the actual sacred relic,

the effects are still there.

How can a tooth still be growing

centuries after the person it belonged to has passed away?

Could it be because the tooth

retains the life essence

of the Buddha, as some believe?

Or is it just that we're endlessly fascinated

by mysterious objects from the past?

Like a 27-ton Aztec sculpture

covered in hieroglyphics,

believed to contain a prediction

about the end of the world.

SHATNER: At the center of this capital city

stands the National Museum of Anthropology.

Housed inside are more than half a million artifacts,

some of which date back 10,000 years.

The largest relic on display

is a massive, stone sculpture

that weighs 54,000 pounds,

or roughly as much as a fire truck.

It is known as the Aztec Sun Stone.

COLLINS: The Aztec Sun Stone is arguably the most famous

of all of the relics

from the Aztec nation.

And the Sun Stone is this massive

piece of olivine basalt stone,

which is three feet thick

and 12 feet in diameter.

Clearly, this incredible-sized stone

was significant to these people in some way.

SHATNER: The Aztec nation was a vast empire

that ruled over what is now Central Mexico

from the 15th to the early 16th century.

Archaeologists estimate that the Aztecs

carved the Sun Stone in the early 1500s,

and that the statue played a central role

in their sacred worship practices.

According to one incredible theory,

the ancient carvings on the Aztec Sun Stone

may contain a dire warning

about the end of the world.

As you gaze upon the Sun Stone,

you realize that it's broken into

various different facets.

And moving into the center,

you have a series of wheels within wheels.

And this is because the Aztecs believed

that four previous ages had already taken place,

and that we, today,

exist within the fifth age,

and that this will eventually come to an end...

when an eclipse takes place.

ED BARNHART: The very center of the Aztec calendar stone

reminds the Aztecs

of the predicted end

of this current era.

But they never actually specified

how long this fifth one will go.

So it is a dire warning.

The trouble is, we don't know when that's going to happen.

SHATNER: Is this giant stone,

that was carved more than 500 years ago,

really a warning

that we should be mindful of today?

It appears that only time will tell.

But this ancient artifact

continues to inspire fascination and wonder

just like many other

sacred relics that are revered

all over the world.

FISHER: Most discussions

focus on the historical authenticity

of holy relics.

"Is this actually the shroud?"

"Is this actually the spear?"

"Is this the real tooth?"

What I think these conversations leave out

is maybe a more fundamental question.

Is there power

behind deep, sustained

human belief?

This is a mystery that's worth

exploring as well.

Does the Aztec Sun Stone

predict the date the world will end?

Can the Temple Menorah unleash destruction

upon those not worthy enough to possess it?

And what about the Spear of Destiny?

Does it really contain the power to conquer the world?

Well, it seems that the truth

behind these sacred relics

may ultimately be a matter of faith.

And so, the mystery of their supposed powers

will, in all likelihood,

remain unexplained.

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