An Ancient Persian Military Base Discovered in Northern Israel

Mosaic Magazine ^ | December 28, 2018 | unattributed

[SunkenCiv]

SJackson

It was on the Acre plain that Cambyses assembled his army that would sweep down to Egypt, in the 520s BCE. Why were the Persians so adamant about conquering Egypt, aside from the usual human weakness for building empires? One reason is because the various empires in the Levant and Middle East considered Egypt to be a major threat. That is just one more reason for their desire to control the land of Israel—a fertile land with a long coast, and a convenient [place from which to launch] attacks on Egypt. Or, at least, to contain Egypt’s influence over the Levant. . . .

The forces Cambyses massed on the coast would have needed a huge apparatus and an incredible amount of resources. Tel Keisan would have been only one of a series of supply points along the Acre plain, Indeed the archaeologists found remnants of storage jars and cooking pots in large quantities that may have been used by Cambyses’ armies. A key bit of evidence was a large pit with organic debris and substantial quantities of pottery, some of which was Phoenician pottery and some imports from Greece, mainly from Athens.

[SunkenCiv]

cambyses keyword

[SunkenCiv]

[JohnnyP]

The Palestinians are going to say they were there first.

[fieldmarshaldj]

For a moment, I thought that read ‘Northern Ireland.’ Boy, those Persians got around.

[Tax-chick]

I thought that read "Northern Ireland."

So did I!

[BenLurkin]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambyses_II

[super7man]

The mind is a funny thing. I did too. ;o)

[Tax-chick]

I’ve cleaned my glasses; maybe that will help with further reading.

[SunkenCiv]

Whoops, it's supposed to be Northern Ireland, I'd better alert the mods! ;^)

[hal ogen]

I thought it was Northern Iowa. Maybe I've been watching too much of Ancient Aliens???

[SunkenCiv]

Hey, you can *never* watch too much, there's *no such thing* as "too much of Ancient Aliens". :^D

[SJackson]

Middle East and terrorism, occasional political and Jewish issues Ping List. High Volume If you’d like to be on or off, please FR mail me.

..................

[colorado tanker]

It could be a GEICO commercial.

Persians.

Conquer Egypt? It's what you do.

[SunkenCiv]

;^) Thanks colorado tanker. And off they marched, carrying huge rations of water, drinking it as they went, and marching the whole length of Israel and width of the Sinai... [singing] we're off the drain the lizard! that wonderful lizard of ours... [/singing]

[SunkenCiv]

thanks for that ping, and apologies, I managed to forget (or just missed it) "SJackson" at the beginning of the topic post.

[Red Badger]

Those sneaky Iranians!............................

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Red Badger. :^) Subtlety wasn't their strong suit then, either.

[Red Badger]

IIRC, Alexander’s men were aghast that he would adopt the frou-frou fashions of the Persians...................

[SunkenCiv]

It was easier to change clothes when he puked on himself. :^) He was ruler of the Persian Empire, so natch, he wanted to look the part./blockquote>