the 10th century b.c. is the last time anybody actually really sees it according to the biblical tradition. now, there are other stories. and these all are related to the babylonian destruction of the city in 536 b.c., that maybe somebody spirited the ark out of the city just ahead of the destruction. reporter: many believe these underground tunnels were used to secretly transport the ark out of jerusalem when the city was under siege. and when the babylonian invaders took detailed inventory of the treasures they plundered, something was missing. the babylonians took all the treasures from jerusalem, it was not in the list anymore. the ark? yes. the ark was not in the list. there are all kinds of possibilities as to where it ended up. reporter: so we went in search of it.
such a strategic vantage point. it s it controls the most important highway of antiquity in the ancient near east between egypt and mesopotamia. this stunning hilltop in northern israel was once a city larger than ancient jerusalem and hotly contested. these young, eager students laboring in the summer heat unearth history every day. this is a burial site from nearly 4,000 years ago. so is that one skeleton? there are actually multiple skeletons here. and these massive jugs. that s so remarkably intact, isn t it? yeah. this is the last meal, or the meal for eternity for the dead person. megiddo was fought over by all of the great empires of the region. the assyrians, the babylonians and the egyptians. yes. and also the amazing accumulation of layers. and each victor would build on top of their vanquished foe, providing finkelstein and his
the 10th century b.c. is the last time anybody actually really sees it according to the biblical tradition. now, there are other stories. and these all are related to the babylonian destruction of the city in 536 b.c., that maybe somebody spirited the ark out of the city just ahead of the destruction. reporter: many believe these underground tunnels were used to secretly transport the ark out of jerusalem when the city was under siege. and when the babylonian invaders took detailed inventory of the treasures they plundered, something was missing. the babylonians took all the treasures from jerusalem, it was not in the list anymore. the ark? yes. the ark was not in the list. there are all kinds of possibilities as to where it ended up. reporter: so we went in search of it. one famous story suggests the
underground tunnels were used to secretly transport the ark out of jerusalem when the city was under siege. and when the babylonian invaders took detailed inventory of the treasures they blundered, something was missing. it was not in the list anymore. the ark. yes. the ark was not on the list. there are all kinds of possibilities as to where it ended up. so we went in search of it. one famous story suggests the ark was taken from jerusalem to egypt hundreds of years before the babylonian siege began. that s where indiana jones goes and looks for it. we re told that an egyptian pharaoh, he may of attacked
laboring in the summer heat, unearth history every day. this is a burial site from nearly 4,000 years ago. so is that one skeleton? there are actually multiple skeletons here. and these massive jugs. that s so remarkably intact, isn t it? yeah. this is the last meal, or the meal for eternity for the dead person. reporter: megido was fought over by all of the great empires of the region. the assyrians, the babylonians and the egyptians. yes. and also the amazing accumulation of layers. reporter: and each victor would build on top of their vanquished foe, providing finkelstein and his crew with an abundance of evidence from 1200 to 700 b.c. so we re talking about what, 500 years 500 years. reporter: the turbulent period of king david and king solomon as well as their heirs. in these 500 years there were four major destruction layers at megido because of big wars. reporter: the wars brought tur moim. rioting broke out.