other little legends about the wise men, but this is the document that has really taken the matthew s story of the wise men, just blown it up into this grand narrative. reporter: the revelation of the magi was written in an ancient language few scholars understand. brent land dow is the first to translate it into english. it is, by all accounts, a fictional story written as early as the third century. it s not necessarily what it tells us about the wise men, but christ and the star of bethlehem are the same thing. reporter: and that s significant because scholars have long looked for a natural explanation for the star. in the text it seems that early christians depicted the star as purely supernatural that only the wise men could see until it rests over the birthplace of jesus. the account of the wise men following the star of beth bethm arriving at the birth of christ is told in the book of matthew, and much of what we ve come to
mat to a visit in his hometown of st. petersburg. gregg: they re buddies. jamie: now they re buddies. we re told he sparred even briefly with europe s judo champion. do you think he let him win, gregg? gregg: yeah. jamie: the 58-year-old enjoys his image of this is a quote manly. gregg: manly. he s a manly man. jamie: a manly man. gregg: the three wise men are staples of the christmas story, of course, but for all their incredible popularity, we actually know very little about them. well, now an ancient text has been found giving more information about who these men really may have been and how they got to beth he hem bethlehem. religion correspondent lauren green has more on that story. reporter: now an ancient story of the nativity may shed more light on the wise men. we have a few references to