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Legendary Lost Persian Army Found in Sahara
FOXNews ^ | 11/9/09 | Alfredo and Angelo Castiglioni

Posted on 11/09/2009 5:18:05 PM PST by LibWhacker

Herodotus wrote of a 50,000-man strong army that set out on foot into the Egyptian desert in 525 B.C. and was never heard from again ... until today.

A pair of Italian archaeologists have uncovered bronze weapons, a silver bracelet, an earring and hundreds of human bones in the vast desolate wilderness of the Sahara desert. Twin brothers Angelo and Alfredo Castiglioni are hopeful that they've finally found the lost army of Persian King Cambyses II.

According to the Greek historian Herodotus, Cambyses II and his armied were buried by a cataclysmic sandstorm in 525 B.C. He wrote, "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."

(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...


TOPICS: History; Science
KEYWORDS: 525bc; archaeology; army; cambyses; desert; egypt; elkhargeh; godsgravesglyphs; herodotus; history; lost; lostarmy; pereset; persian; persianempire; sahara; sandstorm; science
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To: SunkenCiv
Photobucket
21 posted on 11/09/2009 5:59:36 PM PST by grey_whiskers (The opinions are solely those of the author and are subject to change without notice.)
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To: SolidWood

Great story!


22 posted on 11/09/2009 6:02:18 PM PST by Virginia Ridgerunner (Sarah Palin has crossed the Rubicon!)
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To: LibWhacker; SunkenCiv
Slideshow here.
23 posted on 11/09/2009 6:04:29 PM PST by decimon
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To: LibWhacker
Herodotus 3.26 (Robin Waterfield's translation):

...As for the detachment he [Cambyses] had sent to attack the Ammonians, they set out from Thebes with guides, and they clearly arrived at the town of Oasis. This is a town which is inhabited by Samians who are said to belong to the Aeschronian tribe, and which is seven days' journey from Thebes across the desert; the name of the place, translated into Greek, is the Isles of the Blessed. So by all accounts the army reached this place, but after that the only information available comes directly or indirectly from the Ammonians themselves; no one else can say what happened to them, because they did not reach the Ammonians and they did not come back either. The Ammonians, however, add an explanation for their disappearance. They say that after the army had left Oasis and was making its way across the desert towards them--in other words, somewhere between Oasis and their lands--an extraordinarily strong south wind, carrying along with it heaps of sand, fell upon them while they were taking their midday meal and buried them.

24 posted on 11/09/2009 6:05:11 PM PST by Verginius Rufus
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To: LibWhacker

An early forerunner of Jimmy Carter.


25 posted on 11/09/2009 6:08:27 PM PST by TruthConquers (Delendae sunt publicae scholae)
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To: SunkenCiv
I'll have to post some of the archival stuff from my folder, "Cambyses' Lost Army". Meanwhile, Happy Belated Birthday, Herodotus, oh Father of History!

OH HAPPY HAPPY DAY! I HAVE ALSO BEEN WAITNG FOR THIS.

There will be images soon, I hope.

26 posted on 11/09/2009 6:10:13 PM PST by Fred Nerks (fair dinkum)
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To: LibWhacker

27 posted on 11/09/2009 6:11:36 PM PST by JoeProBono (A closed mouth gathers no feet)
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To: Fred Nerks
There will be images soon, I hope.

Link in post #23.

28 posted on 11/09/2009 6:13:58 PM PST by decimon
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To: edcoil

Yeah, they say they’re Persian because they are Persian. But just because you’re Iranian doesn’t mean you’re Persian. Iran is full of other ethnic groups besides the Persians.


29 posted on 11/09/2009 6:15:10 PM PST by G8 Diplomat (A penny saved is a penny paid in taxes)
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To: SunkenCiv

http://news.discovery.com/archaeology/cambyses-lost-army-images.html

IMAGES SLIDE SHOW!


30 posted on 11/09/2009 6:16:13 PM PST by Fred Nerks (fair dinkum)
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To: decimon

Nice, thanks!


31 posted on 11/09/2009 6:21:12 PM PST by LibWhacker (America awake!)
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To: Verginius Rufus

Thanks for posting one of my favorite fun reads. His inquiries are fascinating and make more sense than some of the rubbish being published today.


32 posted on 11/09/2009 6:24:11 PM PST by eleni121 (For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline)
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To: JoeProBono

I mean, can you imagine a sandstorm so powerful it buries you in place? Wow!


33 posted on 11/09/2009 6:24:49 PM PST by LibWhacker (America awake!)
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To: zot

Ping.


34 posted on 11/09/2009 6:25:00 PM PST by Interesting Times (For the truth about "swift boating" see ToSetTheRecordStraight.com)
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To: grey_whiskers

http://www.ibiblio.org/Dave/Dr-Fun/df200304/df20030404.jpg


35 posted on 11/09/2009 6:25:56 PM PST by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/__Since Jan 3, 2004__Profile updated Monday, January 12, 2009)
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To: decimon; Fred Nerks

Thanks!


36 posted on 11/09/2009 6:26:20 PM PST by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/__Since Jan 3, 2004__Profile updated Monday, January 12, 2009)
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To: SunkenCiv

Looks like they outsmarted themselves. They took a secondary route between oases to the south to avoid fighting Egyptian garrisons on the main route that historians were looking on. The Persians dug and lined with clay pots wells along the way. (The aquifer was not so deep 2500 years ago.) But when they arrived at what they thought was the oasis of the temple of Amon, it turned out to be another oasis 60 miles to the south of the right one. While they were trying to figure it out, the sandstorm hit.


37 posted on 11/09/2009 6:55:19 PM PST by UnbelievingScumOnTheOtherSide (IN A SMALL TENT WE JUST STAND CLOSER! * IT'S ISLAM, STUPID! - Islam Delenda Est! - Rumble thee forth)
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To: G8 Diplomat

Yes, I believe they call them slaves.


38 posted on 11/09/2009 6:57:50 PM PST by edcoil (If I had 1 cent for every dollar the government saved, Bill Gates and I would be friends.)
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To: Interesting Times

Thanks for the ping. Fascinating.
Further investigation of the remains should prove whether they are this Persian army.


39 posted on 11/09/2009 7:34:54 PM PST by zot
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.


40 posted on 11/09/2009 7:41:09 PM PST by JDoutrider
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