Expedition Unknown (2015–…): Season 3, Episode 12 - Tracking Tasmania's Tiger - full transcript
Josh Gates ventures to Australia's island state of Tasmania to investigate sightings of the supposedly extinct Thylacine, also known as the Tasmanian Tiger. Recent eyewitness accounts and photographic evidence leave Josh eager to ...
This is where they say
the Ark rested for 800 years.
They claim the Ark
is not far from here.
This is a literal hole
in the ground?
That's right.
It's not documented.
It's never been filmed.
There's a passage!
Whew, hard to breathe.
Finding the Ark
is very dangerous.
Incredible.
You're not going to believe
what we've got here.
This is awesome.
The Ark of the Covenant...
it is the single most iconic
archaeological relic in history,
an object of astounding
religious significance
and, according to legend,
unimaginable power.
In the Old Testament,
Moses returns from the top
of Mount Sinai
with stone tablets
delivered from God himself.
On them are inscribed
10 commandments,
an eternal covenant
between man and the Almighty.
These are kept in a sacred
gold-covered chest
known as the Ark.
It is said to wield
the terrifying power
to consume its enemies
with a wall of fire
and reduce mountains to dust.
The Israelites carry the Ark
to Jerusalem
where it vanishes
from history.
And mankind has been
looking for it ever since.
Thanks to everyone's favorite
whip-cracking archaeologist
and my cinematic hero,
the Ark is synonymous
with adventure,
but I won't be
fighting Nazis to find it.
New excavations beneath
the Holy City of Jerusalem
are revealing secret passages,
which may lead to the Ark's
last location.
And there are those that swear
that the Ark left
the Middle East entirely
and shocking new evidence
that may rewrite
biblical history.
It's my turn to take
on Indie's quest
as I join a new generation
of raiders
going after the lost Ark.
My name is Josh Gates.
Look at that!
With a degree in archaeology
and a passion for exploration,
I have a tendency to end up
in some very strange situations.
This is horrible.
This is officially horrible.
My travels have taken me
to the ends of the Earth...
It's flooded!
Back it up!
...as I investigate
the greatest legends in history.
We're good to fly.
Let's go.
This is
"Expedition Unknown."
Like most biblical mysteries,
this one starts in Israel.
Welcome to the Old City
of Jerusalem.
This is one of the most
extraordinary places
in the world.
It is also one of
the most confusing,
and that's because it's
splintered into four pieces...
the Jewish Quarter,
the Muslim Quarter,
the Christian Quarter
and the Armenian Quarter.
Within these walls, the world's
great religions rub shoulders,
sometimes uncomfortably,
in a city unlike any other.
The heart of this holy
hodgepodge is the Temple Mount,
a massive platform
that has dominated
the Old City for millennia.
To really understand
how important this place is,
all you have to do
is look around.
The Dome of the Rock
here behind me
is where Abraham attempted
to sacrifice his son
and where the Prophet Muhammad
ascended to heaven,
and this is
the last-known location
of the Ark of the Covenant,
which was housed in the great
Temple of Solomon.
Where it went from there
is where our mystery begins.
Almost 3,000 years ago,
the platform was home to
the immense Temple of Solomon,
dedicated to the God
of the Israelites.
Inside the complex was
a raised inner sanctum
known as the Holy of Holies
where the Ark of the Covenant
was kept,
seen only by the highest
of the high priests.
For hundreds of years,
the Ark is a living present part
of the Jewish faith,
the center of the Temple
and to the people of Israel.
But, in 589 BCE,
the Babylonian king,
Nebuchadnezzar,
lays siege
to the City of Jerusalem.
It lasts 2 years,
and, when it ends,
Solomon's Temple is destroyed
by the Babylonians.
After that, the Ark
simply vanishes from history.
One of the theories
explaining its disappearance
is that the Prophet Jeremiah
foresaw the impending
Babylonian invasion
and secreted the Ark
into a dark corner
beneath the Temple Mount.
But looking for it here
is complicated,
to say the least,
and that's because this place
isn't just historic.
It's holy.
The platform is now
under Arab control
and is highly restricted.
The Western,
or so-called Wailing Wall,
is the lower side
of the Temple Mount platform.
Jews pray here since
it's the closest they can get
to where the Ark once rested.
The Temple Mount is
a political powder keg,
and anyone poking around
has the potential
to cause violent clashes
between the factions here.
There is one
archaeologist though
who has the rare privilege
of working beneath
the area
of the Temple Mount...
...and I have
exclusive permission
to join him at his dig site.
On the way, I get a glimpse
at the vibrant life
of the Old City.
How have I made it to this age
and never played marbles?
One, two, three.
Though it's been
2,700 years
since the Ark's disappearance,
you can put this baby
on your coffee table
at home today.
You know, the last time
I saw somebody
take the lid off this thing,
their face melted.
No, I shouldn't look.
I shouldn't look.
It's not a good idea.
While I learned
my lesson from Indie,
my crew seems to have let
their guard down entirely.
Bad dates.
Come on, "Raiders
of the Lost Ark." Nobody?
Good dates.
Wait!
I emerge in the Jewish Quarter
to meet Avi Solomon
at the Western Wall.
Avi.
Hello, Josh.
It's nice to meet you.
Nice to meet you, too.
He's the chief archaeologist
at an immensely
important dig nearby.
How long have you been
excavating here?
Almost 16 years.
And where
are you excavating?
In the tunnels?
In respect to the sacred
nature of this place,
I don a traditional head
covering, called a yarmulke,
and walk with Avi
beneath the Western Wall
to one of the most exclusive
locations in Jerusalem...
a sealed-off passageway
where the last attempt
to find the Ark beneath
the great Temple began
and ended.
Warren Gate.
And this would've led
into the Temple Mount?
So it was a like a tunnel?
How far in did he get?
Wow. He went almost 100 feet,
but he did not find the Ark?
The rabbi's tunneling
was so controversial
that it sparked a riot.
15 years later,
when a small section
of the Western Wall tunnels
were open to the public,
violence erupted
that resulted
in the deaths of 75 people.
No one has attempted to search
for the Ark here since.
But riots aren't the only risks
for those who seek the Ark.
Avi offers an example
from the Mishnah,
a book of Jewish wisdom
dating back to the 2nd century.
"It once happened
that a priest surmised
that this was the entrance
to the hidden chambers.
He came to tell his friend,
but before he had time
to finish his words,
his soul departed.
They then knew for certain
that the Ark was hidden there."
So he was just
going to mention it.
And he died.
Yes.
Avi is not in search of the Ark,
but his work puts him
in close proximity
to the Temple Mount.
So anything his team finds
has profound historic
and religious ramifications.
He leads me beneath
the streets, and as we descend,
we begin to travel
back in time.
This is the true Old Jerusalem,
frozen in time beneath
the hustle and bustle above.
Oh, look at this.
You excavated all of this?
And what's above us here?
He brings me
into one of the pits
to see how fruitful digging
under the city can be.
And how old do you
figure this is?
Wow, incredible.
We are here, really,
at the edge of the Temple Mount.
Underneath
the Temple Mount proper,
how much of that
has been excavated?
And do you think it will
ever be excavated?
But this is still
giving you a lot of incredibly
- valuable information...
- Yes. Yes. Yes.
...about the history
of the city.
Yes. Yes.
All right.
Hey, thank you very much.
You're welcome.
I appreciate it, Avi.
I leave Avi
to keep working on one
of the most important
archaeological sites
in the world
with a new appreciation
for just how much of Jerusalem
has never been explored.
Okay.
So digging down into the rest
of the Temple Mount
isn't going to happen
any time soon,
but there is an archaeologist
in town named Scott Stripling
who may have a lead
on another way
to explore the underside
of this city.
I meet Scott at
the Tower of David amidst
the ruins of a massive citadel
that once guarded
the Old City.
Scott.
Hey, Josh.
How are you?
I'm good, man,
nice to meet you.
So I know there's
a lot of people
who believe that the Ark
was hidden
under the Temple Mount.
Do you think
that's a possibility?
Well, I think it is
because the last place
we know that it was,
was here in Jerusalem.
So it's a legitimate
thing to explore.
But, since the 19th century
because of the
political tensions
and the religious tensions,
there's been such little
exploration that's been done.
In the 19th
and 20th centuries,
archaeologists such as
R.W. Hamilton,
Charles Warren and
German explorer Conrad Schick
were able to explore beneath
the Temple Mount with impunity,
something that's become
unthinkable in this day and age.
So what brings you
to the Old City today then?
Well, I've been invited
by some colleagues
to check out an opening
into the ground.
And it seems like
there's a passage
that is connecting
to the Temple Mount area.
Wow. This is a literal hole
in the ground?
Right.
Has anyone gone down
and surveyed this?
Not in modern times.
It's not documented.
It's not published.
It's never been filmed,
and that's what
we're hoping to do today.
Scott invites me to join him
as he prepares to explore
this mysterious hole
in the ground.
We walk down ancient alleys
and narrow passages
to the site where
Scott introduces me
to his team member, Alon,
who's prepping
to head down
into the newly
discovered opening.
Hey. I'm Josh.
Nice to meet you.
Nice to meet you.
You look like a guy who's ready
to explore something.
Where is this?
Where is this opening?
I'm sorry.
That's the opening?
Yeah.
That's the opening.
Oh, man.
I should've skipped breakfast.
I mean, I'm barely
going to get in that.
Oh, my God.
Just so I understand this,
you're going to pull me
out of this hole
using that...
- Yeah.
- ...consumer power drill?
Yes, I will be surprised.
Okay.
Let's see what happens.
The shaft was concealed
beneath ancient stonework,
and because no one
has been down there
for hundreds of years or more,
we can't be sure
the air is safe
or that there is any air,
for that matter.
We send down a meter to test
how much oxygen there
is for us to breathe.
- A bit thin?
- It's right on the line.
Okay.
Once we get the green light
to proceed,
we tape our cuffs
at the wrists
and ankles to keep spiders
and scorpions from doing
their own excavations.
Finally, it's time to go.
Holy moly.
I begin my descent through
3,000 years of history...
Here we go.
...hoping that at the bottom
lies a pathway
that leads directly
to the Ark of the Covenant.
Biblical archaeologist Scott
Stripling and I are descending
into a tunnel beneath
one of the most ancient
and secret places
in the world...
the Old City of Jerusalem.
- See you on the other side.
- See you down there.
He's hoping this trip could lead
to the impossible-to-access area
beneath the Holy Temple Mount
where some believe
the Ark of the Covenant
has been hidden
for millennia.
Okay.
How's it going
down there?
Oh, it's going great,
very old blocks
all the way down.
Does the stone change
from the top to the bottom?
It looks pretty consistent.
The stone on the top
is definitely 1st century,
so if it's consistent
all the way down,
then we know that this
is a 1st-century shaft.
Copy that.
Looks like it's opening up
a little bit down here.
Look good?
Okay.
I'm definitely
at the bottom, lowering.
There's a passage!
You're kidding me.
How wide is it?
It's very narrow, Scott.
- It's only about 2 feet across.
- Coming down.
An extremely cramped
passageway leads
into the darkness,
unexplored for centuries.
It means Scott
may be right,
and this could connect
to a larger tunnel network
leading
under the Temple Mount.
Pick it up, Scott.
I'm in a coffin down here.
Okay.
I'm on the ground.
I wedge into a small opening
so he can lead the way.
- Right behind you, Scott.
- All right. Here we go.
We start to push forward
into the tunnel.
It's pitch-black down here,
and the air feels thin.
We're joined by one
of Scott's team members,
who's equipped
with supplemental oxygen.
Notice how the roof
is changing.
These pavers that have been laid
in here 2,000 years ago,
I'm positive now
that this is
a drainage system
from the 1st century.
Whoa.
Any idea how far back it goes?
Well, further
than I can see.
We're going in the direction
of the Temple Mount.
Okay.
Let's see where this thing goes.
The size of these stones
above us is incredible now.
Oh, they're massive.
Remember, we're about 40 feet
under the modern city
of Jerusalem right now.
Some of the stones are
holding up better than others.
Looks like the lintel stone
is actually cracked.
- Yeah, it is broken.
- It looks unstable,
so don't touch it.
- Copy that.
- These are coming in.
Stay low.
Lay low, stay down.
There you go.
All right.
You made it.
Things don't get
any more comfortable
as we move in the direction
of the Temple Mount.
The further we go, the tighter
the tunnels seem to narrow.
Yeah. I'm pretty much
hands and knees at this point.
This is incredible, but also
incredibly claustrophobic.
This is as dangerous a place
as I've been in a long time.
The ancient tunnel
is unstable.
The air is barely breathable,
and we're down here
with Jehovah knows what.
Oh, spiders, why did it
have to be spiders?
But at the end of it could be
the Ark of the Covenant,
so there's no thought
of turning back.
- Oh, my goodness.
- What did you find?
You're not going to believe
what we've got here.
What do you got?
I can't believe
what I'm looking at...
the signature
of Conrad Schick, dated 1863.
Oh, look at that!
Conrad Schick was a famous
19th-century archaeologist,
one of the few to explore
under the Temple Mount
before it became
too volatile to dig.
You can see clearly here,
"C. Schick."
Now, the date's
a little rubbed out,
but if we look back here,
- his companion has dated it 1863.
- That is outrageous.
Can you believe that this man
had the presence of mind
- 150 years ago...
- To graffiti the wall?
...to actually tag the wall
so that we could find it
- and show it to the world?
- Oh, man.
I knew I should've brought
my can of spray paint.
You're looking at history
right now.
This is a real confirmation
that this is one of the tunnels
that he discovered and surveyed.
Well, it's positive proof.
I mean,
as an archaeologist,
we dream about having
inscriptions for evidence.
Yeah.
You couldn't get
any more clear than this.
This is awesome.
- This is so awesome.
- All right, man.
- Nice work, buddy.
- All right. Excellent.
Okay. Let's see where
this tunnel goes.
All right.
Could his signature mean
that these tunnels
connect to those in the Temple?
We have to push on,
even as the walls
close in on us,
until there's no further
for us to go.
Josh,
we've come to collapse.
- Blocked off?
- It's blocked off.
Looks like the tunnel
actually does keep going,
but another shaft
is collapsed in.
Any way to stick
a camera through there?
I don't see any way
to get a camera through.
It looks unstable.
In the future, maybe we'll be
able to raise the money
and come back and actually
excavate this tunnel
and see if it goes the rest of
the way toward the Temple Mount.
But, for today, no Ark.
Not today, my friend.
We're going to have
to bring a team and come back
and dig it right.
We turn around
for the long walk back,
but getting home may be even
more dangerous than we imagined.
Okay.
- You okay, Scott?
- Yeah.
- I'm laboring to breathe.
- Yeah, me too.
Okay.
Let's see if we can get a place
where it gets
a little wider here.
I'm in a claustrophobic's
worst nightmare.
Nearly 50 feet beneath
the Old City of Jerusalem
on a hunt
for the Ark of the Covenant
and, suddenly,
our oxygen meters tell us
that we're running out
of air to breathe.
On the long journey
through this tunnel,
we've been using
oxygen far faster
than it's being replaced.
The air, which was
thin to begin with,
has now turned
downright dangerous.
Oh, hard to breathe.
We find a small open space
for Scott's team member
to administer oxygen.
I'm feeling a little
lightheaded, man.
- All right, Josh.
- You can use this.
- Yeah, yeah.
- There you go.
Whoo!
Oh, my God.
I feel like a new man.
That's awesome.
I gotta carry one of these
things around all the time,
like "Blue Velvet"
in here.
- Right?
- Let's keep moving
and keep this thing on standby
in case we need it.
With fresh lungs, we make
our final push to the exit.
Attention...
This will pull you.
Holy...
Was that the power drill?
Come on!
Am I hallucinating,
or do I hear singing?
Jerusalem,
gotta love this town.
Scott will hopefully be back
with an excavation team
to push even further
down the tunnels
to see how far they extend,
but for now,
if the Ark is beneath
the Temple Mount,
it seems to be entombed,
both physically
and politically.
As for my search,
I'm not giving up yet.
I'm off to meet
with a new researcher
with another compelling theory,
that the Ark made its way
out of the city
before the Babylonian invasion,
not only out of the city,
but to another continent...
Africa.
Welcome to Ethiopia,
a country still marred
by memories of famine
but, in reality,
a place of bounty
and historical riches
beyond compare,
a true melting pot
of cultures and religion.
Ethiopia has been the stage
for some of the most
mysterious kingdoms in history,
one of them at its capital
in the northern city of Axum.
I'm here to ask
local historian Sisay Tsegay
why this dusty city
is ground zero for modern
seekers of the lost Ark.
He says he wants to meet
at a local coffee shop,
and this is it.
This is not like any coffee shop
I have ever seen.
Drinking coffee in Ethiopia
isn't just a morning habit.
It's a spectator sport.
I've heard of a hand
coffee grinder before,
but this is, like, next level.
The locally grown beans
are roasted and ground,
in this case,
with a piece of rebar,
in an elaborate process
that is a far different site
from our grab-it-and-go society.
- Oh, my word.
- Mm.
- Come on.
- Wow.
It's so smooth.
Forget Starbucks.
Forget that hipster pour-over
beaker thing that my cameraman,
Brian, will not stop
talking about.
Hey, that thing works.
Well, that's good because
I need some teaching here.
I want to understand
how the Ark comes
from Jerusalem,
from the Temple of Solomon.
How does it get to Ethiopia?
The lore says that,
when Menelik grew to adulthood,
he returned to his father
in Jerusalem.
There, a high priest
had a vision
that Menelik should bring
the Ark back to the Ethiopia.
He took the Ark
from Solomon's Temple
and brought it here
to the Kingdom of Axum.
The Bible is silent
on this, right?
The Bible doesn't
tell this story.
Kebra Nagast?
I would love to see that, yeah.
Let's finish this coffee.
I'm not going to sleep
for a week, by the way.
Okay.
Sisay takes me to just
outside of the city
to see one of
the oldest churches in Africa...
We're going up there?
Yes.
...the Abba Pantaleon,
which reportedly contains
ancient manuscripts
related to the Ark.
As befits a holy place,
the church is perched
on Axum's highest point.
Sisay, why can't the power
of the Ark reveal itself
closer to sea level?
Whoo, what a view!
Worth the walk.
The documents we seek are kept
in a sacred chamber
of the monastery,
and the priests are kind enough
to bring them into the light.
Wow.
Sisay reads me
the crucial passage
about the Ark.
Does it explicitly say
that the Ark came here?
That's incredible.
Thank you for showing this.
To the people of Ethiopia,
the scriptures of the Kebra
Nagast are taken as gospel,
but it isn't only the locals
who believe that the Ark
is here in Axum.
Sisay and I hike back
to town to meet his friend
and my next contact,
biblical investigator
Bob Cornuke.
How are you, man?
Nice to meet you.
Nice to meet you.
Bob has been
coming to Ethiopia
for nearly 2 decades
investigating the Ark,
and he's formed
tight connections
with the community here.
I first came here
about 19 years ago
to disprove
that the Ark was here.
But I started talking
to the monks.
I started looking at evidence,
and it all fit.
The more I come here,
the more confident
I get that
their story has merit.
They claim that the Ark,
the actual Ark
- and the Ten Commandments...
- Yeah.
- ...are not far from here.
- In town?
In town,
in St. Mary's of Zion Church.
Now, does anybody get to
go in and actually see it?
Only one man gets to go
in and see it...
the guardian of the Ark.
And who is the guardian?
He's appointed
by the church.
He's considered the only one
holy enough to be
in front of the Ark
of the Covenant.
He lives in there,
and he'll live in there
'til the day he dies.
And, if I go up to the guardian
with a checkbook,
"I'll give you
$1 million,"
doesn't do anything?
Not any amount of money
will ever gain you access.
I don't have a $1 million check
to offer. I work in cable.
But, if they leave
the Ark is there,
I have to try and see it.
This is
St. Mary's of Zion Church.
It's the most holy church
in all Ethiopia.
We enter the gates
of St. Mary's,
a tightly knit complex
of chapels and churches,
and somewhere in the middle
of it all is, reportedly,
the Ark of the Covenant.
Is it possible to walk
to the gate here?
I understand, yeah.
How often does the guardian
come out from that building?
He never leaves that compound
in his entire life.
There's such a holy terror
in their heart that,
if they violate that,
they believe that God
will kill them
right on the spot.
Is it possible, you think,
to see if we might be able
to maybe try to get an audience
with the guardian?
Okay. Great.
Just a second.
We're making a request to meet
one of Ethiopia's most reclusive
holy men in one of the world's
most restricted places,
and it looks like
we're about to get an answer.
I'm in the ancient city of Axum,
once the capital of
a mighty Ethiopian kingdom
and now perhaps home
to the Ark of the Covenant.
We've asked to meet
with the reclusive priest
who reportedly guards the Ark.
This is it?
So no access beyond here?
- No access.
- Okay.
Like so many others
before us,
we've been turned away.
To the faithful,
the Ark is sitting
about 50 feet away from me.
It's maddening.
How can we determine
if the legend is true
without getting a look inside?
Well, historian
Bob Cornuke believes
he can prove the Ark is here.
All we need to do
is examine ancient clues
that are hiding
in plain sight.
That is unbelievable.
This is the
stelae field of Axum,
a collection of ancient
columns covered
in enigmatic inscriptions
from nearly two millennia ago.
This is outrageous to me.
Just the design
of these things,
it almost looks like
science fiction.
They believe these
huge monoliths were raised
by the fiery presence
of the Ark.
The mysterious Kingdom of Axum
was a powerful trade center
in the ancient world.
Even though Axum thrived
hundreds of years
after the Ark vanished
from Jerusalem,
I've already seen Ethiopian
texts that claim
the sacred chest
was brought here.
As for the columns,
they range from small
to the largest one on Earth.
But there's one stone monument
in particular
that Bob wants me to see.
There's a stela
that's fallen over.
It's not that grand
in size or elaborate,
but there's something pretty
interesting
that's underneath it.
- Underneath it?
- Yeah, right on the other side.
Ah, it's carved.
It looks like a pedestal
with something on top of it.
This is
a 2,000-year-old photograph
in stone of the container
of the Ark of the Covenant.
That's crazy.
That is really cool.
I'd be careful if
I were you because,
last time a man was
underneath that did this,
a snake jumped down
and bit him, really.
He was in the hospital
for 2 days.
Bob, that falls
under the category of...
that you should've
told me 2 minutes.
- Better late than never, man.
- All right.
Let's get the hell
out of here.
If Bob is correct,
this 2nd-century design
would be one of the oldest
depictions of the Ark
and could be proof that it was
brought here to Ethiopia,
but this field
isn't the only place
that supports Ethiopia's
claim to the Ark.
In fact, Bob believes there's
testable physical evidence
that we can examine.
According to one
controversial theory,
before the Ark reached
its home at St. Mary's,
it passed through Egypt
and then down the Nile
to a sacred island monastery
in Ethiopia known
as Tana Kirkos,
and that's where
Bob wants to explore.
Okay,
so what's the plan, Bob?
There are ancient artifacts
that they say came with
the Ark of the Covenant
that they have in
a treasure house.
They've never been tested?
Never been tested.
Wow.
Bob's goal is to test
these artifacts.
If they line up
with the Ark's timeline,
they could prove that whatever
is hidden inside St. Mary's
is, in fact, the Ark.
But, first, we have to make it
onto the island
where the artifacts are housed.
We pull over at the shore
of Lake Tana,
the largest lake in Ethiopia
and source of the legendary
Blue Nile.
Waiting for us
is Haifa University
Professor of
Archaeology Sariel Shalev.
So, Sariel, how do you fit
into motley crew?
I'm an
archaeometallurgist,
- analyzing ancient metals...
- Got it.
...trying to understand
how they were made
and in what time.
Okay.
Let's do it.
The ride across Lake Tana
seems absolutely idyllic,
though I decide to take
a pass on an afternoon swim
once I spot the local wildlife.
Turns out there
are crocodiles here too,
and as we get deeper
into the lake,
things start to feel foreboding,
especially when we see
the holy island looming ahead.
This is the mysterious
Tana Kirkos Island.
Even before
you consider that this place
might have once housed
the Ark of the Covenant,
it's intimidating.
- It's a wild-looking place.
- Yeah.
This has got a real
Skull Island vibe about it.
Biblical investigator
Bob Cornuke and I
are on Ethiopia's Lake Tana,
heading to an ancient
island monastery
where legend says
the Ark of the Covenant
was held for 800 years
before being moved
to an off-limits church
on the mainland.
Do outsiders visit
this place or no?
No. No.
This is a holy island.
Bob is hoping to test artifacts
still housed on the island,
which, reportedly,
came here with the Ark.
This is about
as primitive a place
as you're ever going
to find on planet Earth.
As we slowly
approach the cliffs,
I'm a little concerned to see
that there's no dock,
and as for a welcome party,
a lone monk emerges
silently from the tree line.
We're going to dock
right here.
Lucky for us, Bob has met
this senior monk in the past
but has never been
given permission
to examine the artifacts
on his island.
Abbot Gabriel.
- How are you?
- Oh.
It's good to see you again.
Hello.
Hello.
I'm given a blessing,
which I hope
is a sign
of good things to come.
- Thank you.
- We would like to know
if you would
grant us permission
to come onto the holy island
of Tana Kirkos.
The island
is highly restricted,
so each step we take requires
permission from the priests.
Okay. Okay.
Thank you very much.
As we push through
the dense jungle,
we stop at one
of the most sacred
and secret places
in all of Ethiopia.
This is where
the tabernacle was,
right
where we're standing.
This is where they say
the Ark rested for 800 years.
In fact, we even found the holes
where the tent poles went here.
Wow.
If he's right,
we're in the presence of one
of the holiest places on Earth.
The site is tantalizing,
but we're here
for hard evidence.
The monk leads us to a courtyard
where we come face-to-face
with the island's
sacred treasury.
Wow. This is amazing.
What you're looking at here,
this is like a vault
where they keep
all the holy objects.
And how old
is this building?
Oh, this is probably 800,
900 years old, maybe 1,000.
And look at this
giant snakeskin,
a little reminder
of what lives on the island.
They claim that
what is inside there
are holy objects
that came with the Ark
to the island.
- Abbot.
- Yes?
Is it possible to see inside
the great treasury room?
- You can.
- It's possible?
- Yeah.
- Okay.
Thank you.
- Yes.
- Thank you.
Access to this building
by outsiders
is almost unheard of,
and I proceed with
humble gratitude.
Shoes off? Okay.
Wow, beautiful.
He shows us the Ark's
tools one by one.
What is this?
The garment of the
high priest known as the ephod.
So this was worn
by the high priest
- when worshipping Ark?
- Yes.
- So older incense holder.
- Yes.
They would take the blood,
and the blood would be sprinkled
on the tabernacle
and the Ark.
I see.
Thank you very much
for showing us this,
means a great deal.
The artifacts are
visually compelling.
The relics and the texts
in this room
are clearly extremely old,
no question.
But do they fit
into the timeline
of the Ark of the Covenant?
So how does this work?
It looks, to me,
like an alien hairdryer.
This alien hairdryer
will tell me
exactly the relative amount
of each element
in the surface
that I'm measuring.
Okay,
so let's give it a whirl.
He tests the implements
with the XRF machine,
which can tell us what the items
are made out of
without putting so much
as a dent in them.
Okay.
We've got all the data.
Uh-huh.
So let's step outside
and see what we got.
Sounds good.
Let's do it. Come on.
Okay, so what do we got?
Let's start with the bowl.
The bowl is made of copper
with 15.3 percent zinc.
- Okay.
- It's significant because
it cannot be
earlier than year 0.
And why is that?
Because, before that,
nobody knew how to add zinc
in such quantities
into melted copper.
Okay. I got it.
So that object,
which they say
is very old,
from the time of the Ark,
can't be that old.
For sure.
Let's talk about these
incense holders.
They one that they claim
is older was made,
definitely, of iron.
The problem with using
this on iron,
this machine doesn't
see organic material.
Now, we have a system
that we could date the carbon.
We need to take
a real small sample,
a few milligrams.
And they're never
going to allow that.
They will never allow anything
to harm those objects.
Even though the dating
remains really gray here,
these objects
are very unique.
They're very specific.
They do certainly fit
with what the Bible talks about
as objects
used with the Ark.
Right.
We have unique objects
that you don't have
any parallels.
I don't know
anything like that.
So it does,
in a lot of ways,
back up this story
of the Ark being here.
But, in terms of ironclad,
no pun intended,
evidence,
we're still...
have to go on faith
a bit here.
The tests on the tools here are,
like so much of
the Ark's story, incomplete.
We know that one
of the objects inside
is newer than the Ark,
but the iron relics do appear
to be the right period.
You think that they have
that Ark in Axum,
in that church?
Even if it's not the Ark,
it's something so powerful
that it's galvanized
an entire nation of people.
Right.
Was the Ark once
on this lonely island?
And is it locked away
in a church in Axum today?
I'm left with a mountain
of circumstantial evidence.
But one man may have answers,
and I can't leave Ethiopia
without making
another effort to speak
with the guardian of the Ark
at St. Mary's Church.
Bob, Sisay and I
return to Axum,
bypassing the front gate
of the church
to stake out the rear fence.
If the guardian
does step outside,
we're hoping it'll be here.
This is where
he sometimes sits?
Now, this is the only place
that he would go,
but we could be here
for 6 months,
and he might not come out.
Bob has met
the guardian only once,
and he's been coming here
for decades.
But, even with
the odds against us,
I can't walk away yet.
We wait for hours as the city
of Axum moves all around us.
Hey, Josh.
That's him,
in the corner,
right at the corner.
Look through the gate.
Yes, he's coming!
In the Ethiopian city of Axum,
I'm hoping against hope to meet
the guardian
of the Ark of the Covenant
at St. Mary's Church.
The guardian may be
the only man alive
who has seen the actual Ark.
Suddenly,
in flowing yellow robes,
the guardian appears.
That's him!
Look through the gate.
Yes, he's coming!
Abbot.
Abbot, Abbot.
Do you remember me?
Abbot,
this is my friend, Josh.
It's a great honor
to meet you.
I was just going to ask him
what it feels like to be
in the presence
of the Holy of Holies.
He said,
"This is the home of God,
the home of the Lord.
The Lord is live,
every day, here,
so welcome
to the home of God."
- Thank you very much.
- Thank you.
Josh, you must be special
'cause that's the most
he's ever said to anybody.
He's never carried on
or commented about anything.
I think the two of you may have
something to do with that.
- So thank you for...
- You're welcome.
...the introduction.
That was incredible.
- That's awesome.
- That was incredibly, really.
Nothing, man.
To know that right
behind that wall could be
the most substantial
religious artifact
in the history
of the world...
I would bet
everything I owned
that the Ark of the Covenant
is right in that building.
Thank you, both.
I wasn't sure if we were going
to even get to see him,
let alone have him come up
and engage with us,
was incredible.
So, with the guardian's
blessing, I'm left to wonder,
is the Ark of the Covenant
here
in the dusty capital
of a lost empire?
Or is it beneath Jerusalem
in the ruins of the grandest
temple in history,
now hidden behind stone walls
and explosive politics?
My journey has
brought the search
to never-before-explored places
and conducted
never-performed tests.
To be honest, I leave
this expedition feeling
as though
I've actually glimpsed
the power of the Ark,
its ability,
even in its absence,
to start riots and wars,
to inspire scripture
and to cement the faith
of the Ethiopian people.
To crib a line from "Raiders,"
"Perhaps it's true that the Ark
was something that man
was not meant to disturb.
It is not of this Earth."
And, therefore, it may be
safest right where it is...
in the realm of legend.
the Ark rested for 800 years.
They claim the Ark
is not far from here.
This is a literal hole
in the ground?
That's right.
It's not documented.
It's never been filmed.
There's a passage!
Whew, hard to breathe.
Finding the Ark
is very dangerous.
Incredible.
You're not going to believe
what we've got here.
This is awesome.
The Ark of the Covenant...
it is the single most iconic
archaeological relic in history,
an object of astounding
religious significance
and, according to legend,
unimaginable power.
In the Old Testament,
Moses returns from the top
of Mount Sinai
with stone tablets
delivered from God himself.
On them are inscribed
10 commandments,
an eternal covenant
between man and the Almighty.
These are kept in a sacred
gold-covered chest
known as the Ark.
It is said to wield
the terrifying power
to consume its enemies
with a wall of fire
and reduce mountains to dust.
The Israelites carry the Ark
to Jerusalem
where it vanishes
from history.
And mankind has been
looking for it ever since.
Thanks to everyone's favorite
whip-cracking archaeologist
and my cinematic hero,
the Ark is synonymous
with adventure,
but I won't be
fighting Nazis to find it.
New excavations beneath
the Holy City of Jerusalem
are revealing secret passages,
which may lead to the Ark's
last location.
And there are those that swear
that the Ark left
the Middle East entirely
and shocking new evidence
that may rewrite
biblical history.
It's my turn to take
on Indie's quest
as I join a new generation
of raiders
going after the lost Ark.
My name is Josh Gates.
Look at that!
With a degree in archaeology
and a passion for exploration,
I have a tendency to end up
in some very strange situations.
This is horrible.
This is officially horrible.
My travels have taken me
to the ends of the Earth...
It's flooded!
Back it up!
...as I investigate
the greatest legends in history.
We're good to fly.
Let's go.
This is
"Expedition Unknown."
Like most biblical mysteries,
this one starts in Israel.
Welcome to the Old City
of Jerusalem.
This is one of the most
extraordinary places
in the world.
It is also one of
the most confusing,
and that's because it's
splintered into four pieces...
the Jewish Quarter,
the Muslim Quarter,
the Christian Quarter
and the Armenian Quarter.
Within these walls, the world's
great religions rub shoulders,
sometimes uncomfortably,
in a city unlike any other.
The heart of this holy
hodgepodge is the Temple Mount,
a massive platform
that has dominated
the Old City for millennia.
To really understand
how important this place is,
all you have to do
is look around.
The Dome of the Rock
here behind me
is where Abraham attempted
to sacrifice his son
and where the Prophet Muhammad
ascended to heaven,
and this is
the last-known location
of the Ark of the Covenant,
which was housed in the great
Temple of Solomon.
Where it went from there
is where our mystery begins.
Almost 3,000 years ago,
the platform was home to
the immense Temple of Solomon,
dedicated to the God
of the Israelites.
Inside the complex was
a raised inner sanctum
known as the Holy of Holies
where the Ark of the Covenant
was kept,
seen only by the highest
of the high priests.
For hundreds of years,
the Ark is a living present part
of the Jewish faith,
the center of the Temple
and to the people of Israel.
But, in 589 BCE,
the Babylonian king,
Nebuchadnezzar,
lays siege
to the City of Jerusalem.
It lasts 2 years,
and, when it ends,
Solomon's Temple is destroyed
by the Babylonians.
After that, the Ark
simply vanishes from history.
One of the theories
explaining its disappearance
is that the Prophet Jeremiah
foresaw the impending
Babylonian invasion
and secreted the Ark
into a dark corner
beneath the Temple Mount.
But looking for it here
is complicated,
to say the least,
and that's because this place
isn't just historic.
It's holy.
The platform is now
under Arab control
and is highly restricted.
The Western,
or so-called Wailing Wall,
is the lower side
of the Temple Mount platform.
Jews pray here since
it's the closest they can get
to where the Ark once rested.
The Temple Mount is
a political powder keg,
and anyone poking around
has the potential
to cause violent clashes
between the factions here.
There is one
archaeologist though
who has the rare privilege
of working beneath
the area
of the Temple Mount...
...and I have
exclusive permission
to join him at his dig site.
On the way, I get a glimpse
at the vibrant life
of the Old City.
How have I made it to this age
and never played marbles?
One, two, three.
Though it's been
2,700 years
since the Ark's disappearance,
you can put this baby
on your coffee table
at home today.
You know, the last time
I saw somebody
take the lid off this thing,
their face melted.
No, I shouldn't look.
I shouldn't look.
It's not a good idea.
While I learned
my lesson from Indie,
my crew seems to have let
their guard down entirely.
Bad dates.
Come on, "Raiders
of the Lost Ark." Nobody?
Good dates.
Wait!
I emerge in the Jewish Quarter
to meet Avi Solomon
at the Western Wall.
Avi.
Hello, Josh.
It's nice to meet you.
Nice to meet you, too.
He's the chief archaeologist
at an immensely
important dig nearby.
How long have you been
excavating here?
Almost 16 years.
And where
are you excavating?
In the tunnels?
In respect to the sacred
nature of this place,
I don a traditional head
covering, called a yarmulke,
and walk with Avi
beneath the Western Wall
to one of the most exclusive
locations in Jerusalem...
a sealed-off passageway
where the last attempt
to find the Ark beneath
the great Temple began
and ended.
Warren Gate.
And this would've led
into the Temple Mount?
So it was a like a tunnel?
How far in did he get?
Wow. He went almost 100 feet,
but he did not find the Ark?
The rabbi's tunneling
was so controversial
that it sparked a riot.
15 years later,
when a small section
of the Western Wall tunnels
were open to the public,
violence erupted
that resulted
in the deaths of 75 people.
No one has attempted to search
for the Ark here since.
But riots aren't the only risks
for those who seek the Ark.
Avi offers an example
from the Mishnah,
a book of Jewish wisdom
dating back to the 2nd century.
"It once happened
that a priest surmised
that this was the entrance
to the hidden chambers.
He came to tell his friend,
but before he had time
to finish his words,
his soul departed.
They then knew for certain
that the Ark was hidden there."
So he was just
going to mention it.
And he died.
Yes.
Avi is not in search of the Ark,
but his work puts him
in close proximity
to the Temple Mount.
So anything his team finds
has profound historic
and religious ramifications.
He leads me beneath
the streets, and as we descend,
we begin to travel
back in time.
This is the true Old Jerusalem,
frozen in time beneath
the hustle and bustle above.
Oh, look at this.
You excavated all of this?
And what's above us here?
He brings me
into one of the pits
to see how fruitful digging
under the city can be.
And how old do you
figure this is?
Wow, incredible.
We are here, really,
at the edge of the Temple Mount.
Underneath
the Temple Mount proper,
how much of that
has been excavated?
And do you think it will
ever be excavated?
But this is still
giving you a lot of incredibly
- valuable information...
- Yes. Yes. Yes.
...about the history
of the city.
Yes. Yes.
All right.
Hey, thank you very much.
You're welcome.
I appreciate it, Avi.
I leave Avi
to keep working on one
of the most important
archaeological sites
in the world
with a new appreciation
for just how much of Jerusalem
has never been explored.
Okay.
So digging down into the rest
of the Temple Mount
isn't going to happen
any time soon,
but there is an archaeologist
in town named Scott Stripling
who may have a lead
on another way
to explore the underside
of this city.
I meet Scott at
the Tower of David amidst
the ruins of a massive citadel
that once guarded
the Old City.
Scott.
Hey, Josh.
How are you?
I'm good, man,
nice to meet you.
So I know there's
a lot of people
who believe that the Ark
was hidden
under the Temple Mount.
Do you think
that's a possibility?
Well, I think it is
because the last place
we know that it was,
was here in Jerusalem.
So it's a legitimate
thing to explore.
But, since the 19th century
because of the
political tensions
and the religious tensions,
there's been such little
exploration that's been done.
In the 19th
and 20th centuries,
archaeologists such as
R.W. Hamilton,
Charles Warren and
German explorer Conrad Schick
were able to explore beneath
the Temple Mount with impunity,
something that's become
unthinkable in this day and age.
So what brings you
to the Old City today then?
Well, I've been invited
by some colleagues
to check out an opening
into the ground.
And it seems like
there's a passage
that is connecting
to the Temple Mount area.
Wow. This is a literal hole
in the ground?
Right.
Has anyone gone down
and surveyed this?
Not in modern times.
It's not documented.
It's not published.
It's never been filmed,
and that's what
we're hoping to do today.
Scott invites me to join him
as he prepares to explore
this mysterious hole
in the ground.
We walk down ancient alleys
and narrow passages
to the site where
Scott introduces me
to his team member, Alon,
who's prepping
to head down
into the newly
discovered opening.
Hey. I'm Josh.
Nice to meet you.
Nice to meet you.
You look like a guy who's ready
to explore something.
Where is this?
Where is this opening?
I'm sorry.
That's the opening?
Yeah.
That's the opening.
Oh, man.
I should've skipped breakfast.
I mean, I'm barely
going to get in that.
Oh, my God.
Just so I understand this,
you're going to pull me
out of this hole
using that...
- Yeah.
- ...consumer power drill?
Yes, I will be surprised.
Okay.
Let's see what happens.
The shaft was concealed
beneath ancient stonework,
and because no one
has been down there
for hundreds of years or more,
we can't be sure
the air is safe
or that there is any air,
for that matter.
We send down a meter to test
how much oxygen there
is for us to breathe.
- A bit thin?
- It's right on the line.
Okay.
Once we get the green light
to proceed,
we tape our cuffs
at the wrists
and ankles to keep spiders
and scorpions from doing
their own excavations.
Finally, it's time to go.
Holy moly.
I begin my descent through
3,000 years of history...
Here we go.
...hoping that at the bottom
lies a pathway
that leads directly
to the Ark of the Covenant.
Biblical archaeologist Scott
Stripling and I are descending
into a tunnel beneath
one of the most ancient
and secret places
in the world...
the Old City of Jerusalem.
- See you on the other side.
- See you down there.
He's hoping this trip could lead
to the impossible-to-access area
beneath the Holy Temple Mount
where some believe
the Ark of the Covenant
has been hidden
for millennia.
Okay.
How's it going
down there?
Oh, it's going great,
very old blocks
all the way down.
Does the stone change
from the top to the bottom?
It looks pretty consistent.
The stone on the top
is definitely 1st century,
so if it's consistent
all the way down,
then we know that this
is a 1st-century shaft.
Copy that.
Looks like it's opening up
a little bit down here.
Look good?
Okay.
I'm definitely
at the bottom, lowering.
There's a passage!
You're kidding me.
How wide is it?
It's very narrow, Scott.
- It's only about 2 feet across.
- Coming down.
An extremely cramped
passageway leads
into the darkness,
unexplored for centuries.
It means Scott
may be right,
and this could connect
to a larger tunnel network
leading
under the Temple Mount.
Pick it up, Scott.
I'm in a coffin down here.
Okay.
I'm on the ground.
I wedge into a small opening
so he can lead the way.
- Right behind you, Scott.
- All right. Here we go.
We start to push forward
into the tunnel.
It's pitch-black down here,
and the air feels thin.
We're joined by one
of Scott's team members,
who's equipped
with supplemental oxygen.
Notice how the roof
is changing.
These pavers that have been laid
in here 2,000 years ago,
I'm positive now
that this is
a drainage system
from the 1st century.
Whoa.
Any idea how far back it goes?
Well, further
than I can see.
We're going in the direction
of the Temple Mount.
Okay.
Let's see where this thing goes.
The size of these stones
above us is incredible now.
Oh, they're massive.
Remember, we're about 40 feet
under the modern city
of Jerusalem right now.
Some of the stones are
holding up better than others.
Looks like the lintel stone
is actually cracked.
- Yeah, it is broken.
- It looks unstable,
so don't touch it.
- Copy that.
- These are coming in.
Stay low.
Lay low, stay down.
There you go.
All right.
You made it.
Things don't get
any more comfortable
as we move in the direction
of the Temple Mount.
The further we go, the tighter
the tunnels seem to narrow.
Yeah. I'm pretty much
hands and knees at this point.
This is incredible, but also
incredibly claustrophobic.
This is as dangerous a place
as I've been in a long time.
The ancient tunnel
is unstable.
The air is barely breathable,
and we're down here
with Jehovah knows what.
Oh, spiders, why did it
have to be spiders?
But at the end of it could be
the Ark of the Covenant,
so there's no thought
of turning back.
- Oh, my goodness.
- What did you find?
You're not going to believe
what we've got here.
What do you got?
I can't believe
what I'm looking at...
the signature
of Conrad Schick, dated 1863.
Oh, look at that!
Conrad Schick was a famous
19th-century archaeologist,
one of the few to explore
under the Temple Mount
before it became
too volatile to dig.
You can see clearly here,
"C. Schick."
Now, the date's
a little rubbed out,
but if we look back here,
- his companion has dated it 1863.
- That is outrageous.
Can you believe that this man
had the presence of mind
- 150 years ago...
- To graffiti the wall?
...to actually tag the wall
so that we could find it
- and show it to the world?
- Oh, man.
I knew I should've brought
my can of spray paint.
You're looking at history
right now.
This is a real confirmation
that this is one of the tunnels
that he discovered and surveyed.
Well, it's positive proof.
I mean,
as an archaeologist,
we dream about having
inscriptions for evidence.
Yeah.
You couldn't get
any more clear than this.
This is awesome.
- This is so awesome.
- All right, man.
- Nice work, buddy.
- All right. Excellent.
Okay. Let's see where
this tunnel goes.
All right.
Could his signature mean
that these tunnels
connect to those in the Temple?
We have to push on,
even as the walls
close in on us,
until there's no further
for us to go.
Josh,
we've come to collapse.
- Blocked off?
- It's blocked off.
Looks like the tunnel
actually does keep going,
but another shaft
is collapsed in.
Any way to stick
a camera through there?
I don't see any way
to get a camera through.
It looks unstable.
In the future, maybe we'll be
able to raise the money
and come back and actually
excavate this tunnel
and see if it goes the rest of
the way toward the Temple Mount.
But, for today, no Ark.
Not today, my friend.
We're going to have
to bring a team and come back
and dig it right.
We turn around
for the long walk back,
but getting home may be even
more dangerous than we imagined.
Okay.
- You okay, Scott?
- Yeah.
- I'm laboring to breathe.
- Yeah, me too.
Okay.
Let's see if we can get a place
where it gets
a little wider here.
I'm in a claustrophobic's
worst nightmare.
Nearly 50 feet beneath
the Old City of Jerusalem
on a hunt
for the Ark of the Covenant
and, suddenly,
our oxygen meters tell us
that we're running out
of air to breathe.
On the long journey
through this tunnel,
we've been using
oxygen far faster
than it's being replaced.
The air, which was
thin to begin with,
has now turned
downright dangerous.
Oh, hard to breathe.
We find a small open space
for Scott's team member
to administer oxygen.
I'm feeling a little
lightheaded, man.
- All right, Josh.
- You can use this.
- Yeah, yeah.
- There you go.
Whoo!
Oh, my God.
I feel like a new man.
That's awesome.
I gotta carry one of these
things around all the time,
like "Blue Velvet"
in here.
- Right?
- Let's keep moving
and keep this thing on standby
in case we need it.
With fresh lungs, we make
our final push to the exit.
Attention...
This will pull you.
Holy...
Was that the power drill?
Come on!
Am I hallucinating,
or do I hear singing?
Jerusalem,
gotta love this town.
Scott will hopefully be back
with an excavation team
to push even further
down the tunnels
to see how far they extend,
but for now,
if the Ark is beneath
the Temple Mount,
it seems to be entombed,
both physically
and politically.
As for my search,
I'm not giving up yet.
I'm off to meet
with a new researcher
with another compelling theory,
that the Ark made its way
out of the city
before the Babylonian invasion,
not only out of the city,
but to another continent...
Africa.
Welcome to Ethiopia,
a country still marred
by memories of famine
but, in reality,
a place of bounty
and historical riches
beyond compare,
a true melting pot
of cultures and religion.
Ethiopia has been the stage
for some of the most
mysterious kingdoms in history,
one of them at its capital
in the northern city of Axum.
I'm here to ask
local historian Sisay Tsegay
why this dusty city
is ground zero for modern
seekers of the lost Ark.
He says he wants to meet
at a local coffee shop,
and this is it.
This is not like any coffee shop
I have ever seen.
Drinking coffee in Ethiopia
isn't just a morning habit.
It's a spectator sport.
I've heard of a hand
coffee grinder before,
but this is, like, next level.
The locally grown beans
are roasted and ground,
in this case,
with a piece of rebar,
in an elaborate process
that is a far different site
from our grab-it-and-go society.
- Oh, my word.
- Mm.
- Come on.
- Wow.
It's so smooth.
Forget Starbucks.
Forget that hipster pour-over
beaker thing that my cameraman,
Brian, will not stop
talking about.
Hey, that thing works.
Well, that's good because
I need some teaching here.
I want to understand
how the Ark comes
from Jerusalem,
from the Temple of Solomon.
How does it get to Ethiopia?
The lore says that,
when Menelik grew to adulthood,
he returned to his father
in Jerusalem.
There, a high priest
had a vision
that Menelik should bring
the Ark back to the Ethiopia.
He took the Ark
from Solomon's Temple
and brought it here
to the Kingdom of Axum.
The Bible is silent
on this, right?
The Bible doesn't
tell this story.
Kebra Nagast?
I would love to see that, yeah.
Let's finish this coffee.
I'm not going to sleep
for a week, by the way.
Okay.
Sisay takes me to just
outside of the city
to see one of
the oldest churches in Africa...
We're going up there?
Yes.
...the Abba Pantaleon,
which reportedly contains
ancient manuscripts
related to the Ark.
As befits a holy place,
the church is perched
on Axum's highest point.
Sisay, why can't the power
of the Ark reveal itself
closer to sea level?
Whoo, what a view!
Worth the walk.
The documents we seek are kept
in a sacred chamber
of the monastery,
and the priests are kind enough
to bring them into the light.
Wow.
Sisay reads me
the crucial passage
about the Ark.
Does it explicitly say
that the Ark came here?
That's incredible.
Thank you for showing this.
To the people of Ethiopia,
the scriptures of the Kebra
Nagast are taken as gospel,
but it isn't only the locals
who believe that the Ark
is here in Axum.
Sisay and I hike back
to town to meet his friend
and my next contact,
biblical investigator
Bob Cornuke.
How are you, man?
Nice to meet you.
Nice to meet you.
Bob has been
coming to Ethiopia
for nearly 2 decades
investigating the Ark,
and he's formed
tight connections
with the community here.
I first came here
about 19 years ago
to disprove
that the Ark was here.
But I started talking
to the monks.
I started looking at evidence,
and it all fit.
The more I come here,
the more confident
I get that
their story has merit.
They claim that the Ark,
the actual Ark
- and the Ten Commandments...
- Yeah.
- ...are not far from here.
- In town?
In town,
in St. Mary's of Zion Church.
Now, does anybody get to
go in and actually see it?
Only one man gets to go
in and see it...
the guardian of the Ark.
And who is the guardian?
He's appointed
by the church.
He's considered the only one
holy enough to be
in front of the Ark
of the Covenant.
He lives in there,
and he'll live in there
'til the day he dies.
And, if I go up to the guardian
with a checkbook,
"I'll give you
$1 million,"
doesn't do anything?
Not any amount of money
will ever gain you access.
I don't have a $1 million check
to offer. I work in cable.
But, if they leave
the Ark is there,
I have to try and see it.
This is
St. Mary's of Zion Church.
It's the most holy church
in all Ethiopia.
We enter the gates
of St. Mary's,
a tightly knit complex
of chapels and churches,
and somewhere in the middle
of it all is, reportedly,
the Ark of the Covenant.
Is it possible to walk
to the gate here?
I understand, yeah.
How often does the guardian
come out from that building?
He never leaves that compound
in his entire life.
There's such a holy terror
in their heart that,
if they violate that,
they believe that God
will kill them
right on the spot.
Is it possible, you think,
to see if we might be able
to maybe try to get an audience
with the guardian?
Okay. Great.
Just a second.
We're making a request to meet
one of Ethiopia's most reclusive
holy men in one of the world's
most restricted places,
and it looks like
we're about to get an answer.
I'm in the ancient city of Axum,
once the capital of
a mighty Ethiopian kingdom
and now perhaps home
to the Ark of the Covenant.
We've asked to meet
with the reclusive priest
who reportedly guards the Ark.
This is it?
So no access beyond here?
- No access.
- Okay.
Like so many others
before us,
we've been turned away.
To the faithful,
the Ark is sitting
about 50 feet away from me.
It's maddening.
How can we determine
if the legend is true
without getting a look inside?
Well, historian
Bob Cornuke believes
he can prove the Ark is here.
All we need to do
is examine ancient clues
that are hiding
in plain sight.
That is unbelievable.
This is the
stelae field of Axum,
a collection of ancient
columns covered
in enigmatic inscriptions
from nearly two millennia ago.
This is outrageous to me.
Just the design
of these things,
it almost looks like
science fiction.
They believe these
huge monoliths were raised
by the fiery presence
of the Ark.
The mysterious Kingdom of Axum
was a powerful trade center
in the ancient world.
Even though Axum thrived
hundreds of years
after the Ark vanished
from Jerusalem,
I've already seen Ethiopian
texts that claim
the sacred chest
was brought here.
As for the columns,
they range from small
to the largest one on Earth.
But there's one stone monument
in particular
that Bob wants me to see.
There's a stela
that's fallen over.
It's not that grand
in size or elaborate,
but there's something pretty
interesting
that's underneath it.
- Underneath it?
- Yeah, right on the other side.
Ah, it's carved.
It looks like a pedestal
with something on top of it.
This is
a 2,000-year-old photograph
in stone of the container
of the Ark of the Covenant.
That's crazy.
That is really cool.
I'd be careful if
I were you because,
last time a man was
underneath that did this,
a snake jumped down
and bit him, really.
He was in the hospital
for 2 days.
Bob, that falls
under the category of...
that you should've
told me 2 minutes.
- Better late than never, man.
- All right.
Let's get the hell
out of here.
If Bob is correct,
this 2nd-century design
would be one of the oldest
depictions of the Ark
and could be proof that it was
brought here to Ethiopia,
but this field
isn't the only place
that supports Ethiopia's
claim to the Ark.
In fact, Bob believes there's
testable physical evidence
that we can examine.
According to one
controversial theory,
before the Ark reached
its home at St. Mary's,
it passed through Egypt
and then down the Nile
to a sacred island monastery
in Ethiopia known
as Tana Kirkos,
and that's where
Bob wants to explore.
Okay,
so what's the plan, Bob?
There are ancient artifacts
that they say came with
the Ark of the Covenant
that they have in
a treasure house.
They've never been tested?
Never been tested.
Wow.
Bob's goal is to test
these artifacts.
If they line up
with the Ark's timeline,
they could prove that whatever
is hidden inside St. Mary's
is, in fact, the Ark.
But, first, we have to make it
onto the island
where the artifacts are housed.
We pull over at the shore
of Lake Tana,
the largest lake in Ethiopia
and source of the legendary
Blue Nile.
Waiting for us
is Haifa University
Professor of
Archaeology Sariel Shalev.
So, Sariel, how do you fit
into motley crew?
I'm an
archaeometallurgist,
- analyzing ancient metals...
- Got it.
...trying to understand
how they were made
and in what time.
Okay.
Let's do it.
The ride across Lake Tana
seems absolutely idyllic,
though I decide to take
a pass on an afternoon swim
once I spot the local wildlife.
Turns out there
are crocodiles here too,
and as we get deeper
into the lake,
things start to feel foreboding,
especially when we see
the holy island looming ahead.
This is the mysterious
Tana Kirkos Island.
Even before
you consider that this place
might have once housed
the Ark of the Covenant,
it's intimidating.
- It's a wild-looking place.
- Yeah.
This has got a real
Skull Island vibe about it.
Biblical investigator
Bob Cornuke and I
are on Ethiopia's Lake Tana,
heading to an ancient
island monastery
where legend says
the Ark of the Covenant
was held for 800 years
before being moved
to an off-limits church
on the mainland.
Do outsiders visit
this place or no?
No. No.
This is a holy island.
Bob is hoping to test artifacts
still housed on the island,
which, reportedly,
came here with the Ark.
This is about
as primitive a place
as you're ever going
to find on planet Earth.
As we slowly
approach the cliffs,
I'm a little concerned to see
that there's no dock,
and as for a welcome party,
a lone monk emerges
silently from the tree line.
We're going to dock
right here.
Lucky for us, Bob has met
this senior monk in the past
but has never been
given permission
to examine the artifacts
on his island.
Abbot Gabriel.
- How are you?
- Oh.
It's good to see you again.
Hello.
Hello.
I'm given a blessing,
which I hope
is a sign
of good things to come.
- Thank you.
- We would like to know
if you would
grant us permission
to come onto the holy island
of Tana Kirkos.
The island
is highly restricted,
so each step we take requires
permission from the priests.
Okay. Okay.
Thank you very much.
As we push through
the dense jungle,
we stop at one
of the most sacred
and secret places
in all of Ethiopia.
This is where
the tabernacle was,
right
where we're standing.
This is where they say
the Ark rested for 800 years.
In fact, we even found the holes
where the tent poles went here.
Wow.
If he's right,
we're in the presence of one
of the holiest places on Earth.
The site is tantalizing,
but we're here
for hard evidence.
The monk leads us to a courtyard
where we come face-to-face
with the island's
sacred treasury.
Wow. This is amazing.
What you're looking at here,
this is like a vault
where they keep
all the holy objects.
And how old
is this building?
Oh, this is probably 800,
900 years old, maybe 1,000.
And look at this
giant snakeskin,
a little reminder
of what lives on the island.
They claim that
what is inside there
are holy objects
that came with the Ark
to the island.
- Abbot.
- Yes?
Is it possible to see inside
the great treasury room?
- You can.
- It's possible?
- Yeah.
- Okay.
Thank you.
- Yes.
- Thank you.
Access to this building
by outsiders
is almost unheard of,
and I proceed with
humble gratitude.
Shoes off? Okay.
Wow, beautiful.
He shows us the Ark's
tools one by one.
What is this?
The garment of the
high priest known as the ephod.
So this was worn
by the high priest
- when worshipping Ark?
- Yes.
- So older incense holder.
- Yes.
They would take the blood,
and the blood would be sprinkled
on the tabernacle
and the Ark.
I see.
Thank you very much
for showing us this,
means a great deal.
The artifacts are
visually compelling.
The relics and the texts
in this room
are clearly extremely old,
no question.
But do they fit
into the timeline
of the Ark of the Covenant?
So how does this work?
It looks, to me,
like an alien hairdryer.
This alien hairdryer
will tell me
exactly the relative amount
of each element
in the surface
that I'm measuring.
Okay,
so let's give it a whirl.
He tests the implements
with the XRF machine,
which can tell us what the items
are made out of
without putting so much
as a dent in them.
Okay.
We've got all the data.
Uh-huh.
So let's step outside
and see what we got.
Sounds good.
Let's do it. Come on.
Okay, so what do we got?
Let's start with the bowl.
The bowl is made of copper
with 15.3 percent zinc.
- Okay.
- It's significant because
it cannot be
earlier than year 0.
And why is that?
Because, before that,
nobody knew how to add zinc
in such quantities
into melted copper.
Okay. I got it.
So that object,
which they say
is very old,
from the time of the Ark,
can't be that old.
For sure.
Let's talk about these
incense holders.
They one that they claim
is older was made,
definitely, of iron.
The problem with using
this on iron,
this machine doesn't
see organic material.
Now, we have a system
that we could date the carbon.
We need to take
a real small sample,
a few milligrams.
And they're never
going to allow that.
They will never allow anything
to harm those objects.
Even though the dating
remains really gray here,
these objects
are very unique.
They're very specific.
They do certainly fit
with what the Bible talks about
as objects
used with the Ark.
Right.
We have unique objects
that you don't have
any parallels.
I don't know
anything like that.
So it does,
in a lot of ways,
back up this story
of the Ark being here.
But, in terms of ironclad,
no pun intended,
evidence,
we're still...
have to go on faith
a bit here.
The tests on the tools here are,
like so much of
the Ark's story, incomplete.
We know that one
of the objects inside
is newer than the Ark,
but the iron relics do appear
to be the right period.
You think that they have
that Ark in Axum,
in that church?
Even if it's not the Ark,
it's something so powerful
that it's galvanized
an entire nation of people.
Right.
Was the Ark once
on this lonely island?
And is it locked away
in a church in Axum today?
I'm left with a mountain
of circumstantial evidence.
But one man may have answers,
and I can't leave Ethiopia
without making
another effort to speak
with the guardian of the Ark
at St. Mary's Church.
Bob, Sisay and I
return to Axum,
bypassing the front gate
of the church
to stake out the rear fence.
If the guardian
does step outside,
we're hoping it'll be here.
This is where
he sometimes sits?
Now, this is the only place
that he would go,
but we could be here
for 6 months,
and he might not come out.
Bob has met
the guardian only once,
and he's been coming here
for decades.
But, even with
the odds against us,
I can't walk away yet.
We wait for hours as the city
of Axum moves all around us.
Hey, Josh.
That's him,
in the corner,
right at the corner.
Look through the gate.
Yes, he's coming!
In the Ethiopian city of Axum,
I'm hoping against hope to meet
the guardian
of the Ark of the Covenant
at St. Mary's Church.
The guardian may be
the only man alive
who has seen the actual Ark.
Suddenly,
in flowing yellow robes,
the guardian appears.
That's him!
Look through the gate.
Yes, he's coming!
Abbot.
Abbot, Abbot.
Do you remember me?
Abbot,
this is my friend, Josh.
It's a great honor
to meet you.
I was just going to ask him
what it feels like to be
in the presence
of the Holy of Holies.
He said,
"This is the home of God,
the home of the Lord.
The Lord is live,
every day, here,
so welcome
to the home of God."
- Thank you very much.
- Thank you.
Josh, you must be special
'cause that's the most
he's ever said to anybody.
He's never carried on
or commented about anything.
I think the two of you may have
something to do with that.
- So thank you for...
- You're welcome.
...the introduction.
That was incredible.
- That's awesome.
- That was incredibly, really.
Nothing, man.
To know that right
behind that wall could be
the most substantial
religious artifact
in the history
of the world...
I would bet
everything I owned
that the Ark of the Covenant
is right in that building.
Thank you, both.
I wasn't sure if we were going
to even get to see him,
let alone have him come up
and engage with us,
was incredible.
So, with the guardian's
blessing, I'm left to wonder,
is the Ark of the Covenant
here
in the dusty capital
of a lost empire?
Or is it beneath Jerusalem
in the ruins of the grandest
temple in history,
now hidden behind stone walls
and explosive politics?
My journey has
brought the search
to never-before-explored places
and conducted
never-performed tests.
To be honest, I leave
this expedition feeling
as though
I've actually glimpsed
the power of the Ark,
its ability,
even in its absence,
to start riots and wars,
to inspire scripture
and to cement the faith
of the Ethiopian people.
To crib a line from "Raiders,"
"Perhaps it's true that the Ark
was something that man
was not meant to disturb.
It is not of this Earth."
And, therefore, it may be
safest right where it is...
in the realm of legend.