Vanished Persian Army found in desert

[MoBeach]

After 2,500 years! I think they're late for supper

http://news.discovery.com/archaeolog...hp-drl-dn-news

[bobba66]

Pretty wild. 50,000 troops had to be a very large force in that time.

[MoBeach]

It wasn't uncommon at that time to have a single force numbering in the hundreds of thousands. Strength is in numbers but the better tactics usually won.

[iamlowsound]

Originally Posted by bobba66

Pretty wild. 50,000 troops had to be a very large force in that time.

Not really, that could have even been considered small. Alexander the Great had an army number into the millions, Xerxes of Persia had an army of several million. If you believe the bible, the Israelite had an army of 2 million or so when they entered the promised land. Big armies were very common and how large empires were established. It is only in the last 1000 or so years that the size has shrunk with the advent of better weapons and fighting strategies.

lowsound

[kesslari]

That is a very cool find.

[Joe Gress]

Talk about getting lost in the desert with no hope. And people cry today when there cell phones die.

[Valerus]

Whoa, real cool. I like discoveries like this.

[Jerose]

Look at tha booooones!

[EricF]

Fascinating!

[Fassa Albrecht]

Cool!

Originally Posted by iamlowsound

Not really, that could have even been considered small. Alexander the Great had an army number into the millions, Xerxes of Persia had an army of several million. If you believe the bible, the Israelite had an army of 2 million or so when they entered the promised land. Big armies were very common and how large empires were established. It is only in the last 1000 or so years that the size has shrunk with the advent of better weapons and fighting strategies.

lowsound

Now from what I've read, Alexander's army probably topped about 3-4 million troops in reality,and the Biblical David's army was probably more like 200,000.

[iamlowsound]

Originally Posted by Fassa Albrecht

Cool!



Now from what I've read, Alexander's army probably topped about 3-4 million troops in reality,and the Biblical David's army was probably more like 200,000.

Where did I mention David? I said when they entered the promised land, there were around 2.5-3 million people, with all capable bodies serving as solders. For instance, the siege on Jericho had every able body person marching around the walls.

lowsound

[MoBeach]

Originally Posted by Jerose

Look at tha booooones!

Awesome eye brows, fly traps for sure.

[Jim Campbell]

Originally Posted by iamlowsound

Not really, that could have even been considered small. Alexander the Great had an army number into the millions, Xerxes of Persia had an army of several million. If you believe the bible, the Israelite had an army of 2 million or so when they entered the promised land. Big armies were very common and how large empires were established. It is only in the last 1000 or so years that the size has shrunk with the advent of better weapons and fighting strategies.

lowsound

given the logistics of feeding and transporting an army i would think that 50 thousand would be a big army for the times........how would one even count them.....i think the bible might not be the best source of historical record

world war 1 and 2 often saw battles involving hundreds of thouands of men and the battle of kursk involved four thousand tanks....stalingrad was encircled by a russian force numbering a million and a half men

better roads/railroads and ships increased the ability to move large armies,and supply them ....the modern style of warfare was made possible with the advent of nukes that preclude major powers going to war directly with each other and improved mobility as in helicopters etc. made large battle lines untenable....

[Jazz Ad]

You have to put things in perspective. The whole population of the world back then was roughly 100 million people. 50,000 people was gigantic.

[Darkstrike]

Very interesting.

[iamlowsound]

Originally Posted by Jim Campbell

given the logistics of feeding and transporting an army i would think that 50 thousand would be a big army for the times........how would one even count them.....i think the bible might not be the best source of historical record

That is why I said "If you believe the bible"

world war 1 and 2 often saw battles involving hundreds of thouands of men and the battle of kursk involved four thousand tanks....stalingrad was encircled by a russian force numbering a million and a half men

better roads/railroads and ships increased the ability to move large armies,and supply them ....the modern style of warfare was made possible with the advent of nukes that preclude major powers going to war directly with each other and improved mobility as in helicopters etc. made large battle lines untenable....

It is historically accurate that Alexander the Great had an army of over 1 million people. In that time, if you had a victory over another army, the solders joined your ranks. He went from Greece to India, the entire known world at the time. It isn't hard to fathom that he would have an army of that size by the time he got there.

lowsound

[Jim Campbell]

Originally Posted by iamlowsound

That is why I said "If you believe the bible"

It is historically accurate that Alexander the Great had an army of over 1 million people. In that time, if you had a victory over another army, the solders joined your ranks. He went from Greece to India, the entire known world at the time. It isn't hard to fathom that he would have an army of that size by the time he got there.

lowsound

i would have to disagree.....moving hundreds of thousands of men and animals over arid ground,where even the local inhabitants were lucky enough to feed themselves would make for some incredible logistical nightmares....even the accounting would be questionable....how would anyone back then been able to account for those kinds of numbers.....

[makanudo]

Why have 2 million soldiers when you can have 1 nuclear bomb?

[MoBeach]

Originally Posted by iamlowsound

That is why I said "If you believe the bible"

He went from Greece to India, the entire known world at the time.

lowsound

I wonder how many men he lost along the way, and I don't even think you got paid back then... no 401k's, no dental insurance...