Lost Persian Army Likely Located in Sahara

[MikeC]

Please see this interesting article regarding the identification of an ancient Persian expedition in the Sahara.

http://news.discovery.com/archaeology/cambyses-army-remains-sahara.html

[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi Mike, there is a bit of info about the find here and some dispute too:

http://drhawass.com/blog/press-release-alleged-finds-western-desert

Cheers, Ade.

[Swordfish]

It's really cool to think about this case. For a long time we thought ole' Herodotus may be just reporting a legend...turns out it might be spot on. I suspect when the dust settles, these Italian fellows are going to be proven right.

T

[MRomanych]

It looks like archaeology is moving full circle. It started in the 1800s with a bunch of treasure hunters seeking fabulous gold artifacts in Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Turkey. These men eventual found legitimacy when they presented there discoveries to National museum in Europe and a new scientific discipline was born. Now we have to Dr Zahi Hawass who is a very charismatic and self-promoting Egyptian archaeologist making accusation against two Italian "archaeologists" who may have made a great find while searching for meteorites in the Sahara Desert. A turn of the wheel.

[MikeC]

There is certainly an anti-colonial sentiment in this drama and it should be fun to watch.

On a broader scale, this is a small part of the larger argument in which former colonies are demanding the return of artifacts that reside in esteemed public and private collections. And only recently have they begun to be successful.