Myth Hunters

The armies of Nazi Germany crossed the border with Austria, but when Hitler arrived in Vienna just 2 days later, the very first thing he did was to go to the Hofburg museum to lay claim to what appeared to be a simple Roman spear head. This spear head was something that Hitler had apparently coveted ever since he had first nurtured ambitions to become the ruler of a new German Reich.

The Holy Grail, the most prized relic of Christianity has been shrouded in mystery for centuries. Said to be the cup used by Christ at the last supper it is believed by many to hold miraculous powers. For centuries Kings, knights and treasure hunters have sought it, but it has always remained elusive and out of reach of human hands.

Heinrich Himmler sent his SS soldiers to locate a treasure so valuable to Nazi ideology that it must be recovered at all costs. The item they are searching for is an ancient manuscript, a perfect copy of a book written nearly two thousand years before in Rome which the Nazis call the birth certificate for the German race. The book is known as the Germania; for the Nazis it is the "Book of Power".

According to the great stories of the bible, King Solomon, son of David, ruled Israel 3,000 years ago. And he was renowned for his wisdom, his women and his great wealth.

Fifteen years ago Michael Hesemann, a German historian, set out to establish the authenticity of one of the most important Christian relics ever found. It's called the Titulus Crucis, or Title of the Cross, a small piece of wood that, it's claimed, hung on the cross of Christ announcing his name and crime. It's displayed in a church in Rome. But is it real or a medieval fake?

Ron Wyatt claimed he had finally found the Ark of the Covenant but he had no witnesses and could produce no evidence. Many people believe him but professional archaeologists are sceptical. New archaeological evidence in Israel suggests that there may not just have been one grand golden ark, but many simple everyday portable shrines called in Hebrew ‘Ark of God'.

This 50-minute documentary tells the story of three of these Christians and their expeditions which were full of danger and despair as they looked for Noah's Ark.

In 1941, the Germans looted one of the Soviet Union's most important art works, called the Amber Room. An extraordinary series of C18 amber screens worth millions of pounds and considered, by many, the 8th wonder of the world. It was taken to the Baltic city of Konigsberg. Four years later at the end of the war, it had vanished. So began one of the greatest treasure hunts of the twentieth century.

Edwardian explorer Percy Fawcett launched several expeditions into the uncharted Amazon, looking for the fabled city of El Dorado.

It's one of the most influential books ever written. It's said to have inspired early Freemasons, to provide the wisdom behind the Tarot and to have underpinned a string of 20th century esoteric cults. Yet after years of looking for it nobody has ever found the original text.

The Honjo Masamune is perhaps the greatest Japanese sword ever made. Forged in the 13th century by the great sword smith Masamune it became the ceremonial sword of the ruling Tokugawa shoguns for 250 years. After their fall from power in 1868 the great sword continued to be passed down the generations into the 20th century, but in the aftermath of the Second World War it disappeared.

FA Mitchell-Hedges and his daughter Anna claimed to have found a crystal skull in the 1940s. Did it really have predictive powers?

Richard Knight was an unlikely treasure hunter. He travelled the world working as an actor, cruise ship entertainer and casual labourer to make ends meet. But when he became obsessed by the story of Captain Kidd's treasure his life changed forever.