Like the events it symbolises, the story of the nativity scene itself is one steeped in history.

The world's oldest bible is among 200 objects tracing Egypt's religious evolution in an exhibition at London's British Museum that spans the 1,200 years since Cleopatra's death.

On Tuesday night, Jupiter and Venus will culminate a month-long dance with what astronomers say will be a dazzling display, appearing just a fraction of a degree apart from one another in the night sky--a show that some astronomers say could account for the "Star of Bethlehem" mentioned in the Bible reports CNN.