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| -Signs, Portents, and the Weather- |
| Ancient, Lost Army of 50,000 Persians Found After 2,500 Years |
| 2009-11-10 |
| The remains of a mighty Persian army said to have drowned in the sands of the western Egyptian desert 2,500 years ago might have been finally located, solving one of archaeology's biggest outstanding mysteries, according to Italian researchers. Bronze weapons, a silver bracelet, an earring and hundreds of human bones found in the vast desolate wilderness of the Sahara desert have raised hopes of finally finding the lost army of Persian King Cambyses II. The 50,000 warriors were said to be buried by a cataclysmic sandstorm in 525 B.C. "We have found the first archaeological evidence of a story reported by the Greek historian Herodotus," Dario Del Bufalo, a member of the expedition from the University of Lecce, told Discovery News. According to Herodotus (484-425 B.C.), Cambyses, the son of Cyrus the Great, sent 50,000 soldiers from Thebes to attack the Oasis of Siwa and destroy the oracle at the Temple of Amun after the priests there refused to legitimize his claim to Egypt. After walking for seven days in the desert, the army got to an "oasis," which historians believe was El-Kharga. After they left, they were never seen again. "A wind arose from the south, strong and deadly, bringing with it vast columns of whirling sand, which entirely covered up the troops and caused them wholly to disappear," wrote Herodotus. A century after Herodotus wrote his account, Alexander the Great made his own pilgrimage to the oracle of Amun, and in 332 B.C. he won the oracle's confirmation that he was the divine son of Zeus, the Greek god equated with Amun. The tale of Cambyses' lost army, however, faded into antiquity. As no trace of the hapless warriors was ever found, scholars began to dismiss the story as a fanciful tale... |
| Posted by: Anonymoose |
| #11 Alexander died around 323 BC. Cambyses was abt 200 yrs before. |
| Posted by: Broadhead6 2009-11-10 21:21 |
| #10 It's kind of like drawing a bucket through a sand-dune downwind from the pyramids and selling the contents to tourists as bits of mummies from plundered tombs. |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2009-11-10 20:37 |
| #9 Bronze weapons - maybe they're talking about armor or something? I have to admit that it sounds unlikely that they found a specific expedition's remains. Seems rather like someone declaring a cluster of galley wrecks off the south coast of Sicily was the Roman fleet catastrophically lost during the First Punic War. Yeah, it has to be down there somewhere, but that lee shore was killing single ships and squadrons off and on for more than two thousand years of trade and warfare. It's kind of like drawing a bucket through a sand-dune downwind from the pyramids and selling the contents to tourists as bits fallen off of the monuments. |
| Posted by: Mitch H. 2009-11-10 16:08 |
| #8 Organic sun-dried Persians, anyone? |
| Posted by: mojo 2009-11-10 13:54 |
| #7 Bronze weapons and 525 B.C. don't go together. Maybe the evidence is that of an even earlier army lost in the sands. |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2009-11-10 12:45 |
| #6 They're always in the last place you look. |
| Posted by: Mike 2009-11-10 11:16 |
| #5 Bronze weapons and 525 B.C. don't go together. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2009-11-10 09:21 |
| #4 The event actually happened. Its not just a story. I first read about it as a boy, the story is very old. Cambyses is an extremely long time ago. How long ago is Alexander the Great? Cambyses is even older than that by half a millenium. Imagine 50,000 men is a Sahara sand storm like a "shimal" with no cover and no protection at all. Imagine the year is eight centuries before the birth of Christ. Alexander the Great wont be born for another four hundred years...as long ago as we are from the Sir Francis Drake today. The shimal is a blown wall of Sand coming faster than a truck can drive and towering half a mile high for as far as you can see. And you are in the open... on the floor of Hell. And its nearly 3,000 years ago. |
| Posted by: Angleton9 2009-11-10 08:51 |
| #3 Global Wind. Al Gore is on the case and will sell you sand credits. |
| Posted by: ed 2009-11-10 01:13 |
| #2 Bush'es Fault! |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2009-11-10 00:58 |
| #1 Investigation by Amnesty International? |
| Posted by: borgboy 2009-11-10 00:12 |