Alexander and the desert

[dean]

Hello,
one film that I had nevergot round to watching was the English Patient- at the end of the film the main character has to walk several days through the desert, which got me thinking about the desert and Alexander- namely Siwa and the Makran

The man in the film has to walk 3 days in the desertand doesn't look too good after his journey. From what I can gather- we can say that Alexander's experiences in the desert were in the Lybian desert and then later in the Makran desert(interesting etymology- from Persian- Maki- fish- khoran- eaters- ie. fisheaters.

As far as traversing the Lybian desert to get to Siwa, perhaps we can assume that Alexander had read Herodotus and knew about the sandstorm that had caused the death of 50000 men under the rule of Cambises. Hardly an inspiring tale to make you want to go off into an unchartered desert. Of course, fantastic tales abound regarding Alexander's visit to the desert, the crows showing the way, the sudden heavy rain in the desert-- borrwing facts from Michael Wood's book- read it was 250 kilometres to Siwa along a track road that shouldn't have caused too much trouble. After four days they lost their way- and quickly ran out of water.

Similarly perhaps due to Alexander's desire to regain notoriety after the mutiny he chose to go through the makran desert- a huge human disaster ensued- and an incursion of some two months.

Not sure about exactly how many kilometres we are talking about with the Makran journey but it must have easily surpassed the trip to Siwah- supposedly an 4 day trip.
All in all, you get the impression that the desert was one area Alexander didn't particularly have too much good luck.

Best regards,
Dean

[jan]

I believe that the short story The Little Prince was written due to a similar experience of having to spend time in the desert. Like the English Patient, a downed airplane in the desert...have you read that one?

Don't both desert stories about Alexander make you wonder? Following birds in the sky or snakes in the desert, a sudden rainstorm...then on the march through the Makran, another downpour and flood wash him out...what kind of luck is that?

[Fiona]

He didn't even have much luck in avoiding deserts, there was yet another one, wasn't there? I think it is OK to quote Michael Wood on the subject of terrain - he says:

It was July and very hot indeed. Alexander heard that Darius had left Ecbatana and had cut across eastwards towards Afghanistan. Alexander set off in pursuit. His journey took us across the corner of the Great Salt Desert, one of the most inhospitable places in the world....Alexander's journey took eleven days to Ray (old Tehran), a march which had the army on its knees with heat, thirst and fatigue.

It must have been hard, when they saw terrain, to know for how long it would continue like that before changing, at least without accurate local information.
Impressive journey.
Fiona

I believe that the short story The Little Prince was written due to a similar experience of having to spend time in the desert. Like the English Patient, a downed airplane in the desert...have you read that one?

Don't both desert stories about Alexander make you wonder? Following birds in the sky or snakes in the desert, a sudden rainstorm...then on the march through the Makran, another downpour and flood wash him out...what kind of luck is that?

[Nicator]

The desert marches have alway fascinated me. This guy was indomitable. He just refused to give up and refused to let his army perish (of course, Mahkran is a different story). I love the bit where Alexander is marching towards Bactria and is so tortured by thirst that his eyes are bulging and his tongue is involuntarily protruding from his mouth as if straining to take the few molecules of humidity out of the thin air. A woman comes up to him with a small bit of water and offers it. Alexander replies "who is that for"...she responds "my children"...Alexander responds "see to it that they get it". How could you not love this guy.