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The egyptians had a good army too.The indians too.Do you think that the persians could have conquered all these people if they didnt have a huge army?Do you think that they would have conquered these people with their light armors and their not so high morale and courage?Ponder about that a little ...

Marcus, when you visited Siwah did you by chance visit Bahariya, as well? That oasis is home to the only free standing temple of Alexander in Egyptian territory. Pics I've seen make it look in quite a state of disrepair. Zahi Hawass believes Alexander took the road through Bahariya on his way back t...

Here's an Egyptian statuette that's presumably of Alexander: http://www.virtual-egyptian-museum.org/Collection/FullVisit/Collection.FullVisit-JFR.html?../Content/STO.MM.00366.html&0 Here's a brief history page from a Siwa resort; the first picture is from the west wall of the temple of Amon in L...

"It is said that Alexander the Great found a valley full of both diamonds and poisonous snakes. No one could work out how to retrieve the jewels until Alexander had the idea of throwing down raw meat, to which the diamonds attached. When eagles flew down for the meat, Alexander's men just had ...

It might be alternate history but it makes exceptional sense -- Alexander was no longer thinking on a solely Macedonian-centered level, but what was best for his empire as a whole. I wonder, too, if that might be the reason Barsine was sent back West, back to land where her family would have carried...

I don't think Barsine would have been in any appreciable danger in Bactria, though, since from 329 it was her father's satrapy. I can see Alexander not taking her along into India if she were already pregnant; who better to care for her than her father? But, according to one reckoning Artabazus died...

I believe much of the confusion among modern scholars comes from the alternate identification of Statiera as 'Barsine'. I don't know when it started, but during the course of writing 'Memnon' I came across several references to 'Barsine/Statiera' (Darius' daughter) and 'Barsine' (Memnon's widow). Dr...

This is really off topic but . . .Bob, you mentioned you have some facility with Aramaic. I'm looking for a word in Aramaic (transliterated into English) for 'immortal'. Do you have any idea?Thanks in advance ;)Scott

Though likely not Alexander's equal, Memnon was definately his most formidable opponent. Keep in mind, Memnon had recently defeated Parmenion in the Troad, defeat being something of a rarity for Parmenion's career. He knew how to fight the Macedonians because he had seen their army up close during h...

The ancient Egyptians generally didn't use hieroglyphics on papyrus. It would have been a cursive variant called hieratic (the final stage of written hieroglyphs was called Demotic, but I'm not sure exactly when it came into widespread use . . . I don't have my reference books close at hand). Most c...

Hi All,Hope everyone is doing well this summer! A question: while Alexander was studying with Aristotle at Mieza, would Philip have posted a garrison or some sort of bodyguard unit nearby to watch after the Prince's safety -- not to mention the safety of the sons of some of Macedonia's leading citiz...

The pic shows Amun (far left) watching as Horus (or Re-Horakty) bestows life and prosperity on the King (not, as the caption suggests, giving him the key of life). The cartouche above the king is too damaged to make it out; there's another cartouche to the left of Amun; I can't make out the whole na...

Hi all,A question for those who have access to Heckel's 'Marshals of Alexander': does it say what area of Macedonia Antipater and Parmenion are from? I've checked the bios here at Pothos and Jona's at Livius.org -- all I can find is a reference to Parmenion being from Upper Macedonia. Any help?Also,...

Thanks, Ruth! I don't have a fax number, but if you see anything of interest could you scan and send it via email? Using info from Piraeus and Alexandria, I've been piecing together what might happen as a ship puts in to the harbor -- inspections, taxes levied, that sort of thing. Now, I have to mol...

Thanks Ruth, Chris, and Angelo!Ruth, the second is coming along at a snail's pace, it seems. It's what this research is for, actually :) As you've been to Pella, what can you tell me about where the harbor is in relation to the city proper? I've got a map of Pella from an archaeology guidebook, but ...