Remember the 'groundbreaking discovery' of Cambyses' lost Persian army a few weeks back, in the Western Desert of Egypt? Almost as soon as it had been announced, Zahi Hawass' Supreme Council of Antiquities were all over it, rejecting the Castiglioni brothers' claims they'd found the legendary fleet near Siwa Oasis.
Yet any doubts as to the brothers' credibility have been lost on Iranian officials, who have branded Dr Hawass' rejection of the discovery as politically motivated, and have urged UNESCO to step in to save the army's remains. The request by Iran's Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Toursim Organisation (ICHHTO) was made yesterday. Spokesman Hassan Mohseni tells Fars news agency: "Egypt's chief archeologist Zahi Hawass has recently rejected the discovery of the army in his personal weblog due to political pressure."
It's an odd twist in a growing saga which promises to run for some time yet. Various cyber-sleuths have succeeded only in shrouding the story in even more mystery, digging up conflicting claims from sources as far back as 2004.
I'm guessing that it will be only a matter of time before Iran asks for the repatriation of the entire army :-). Joke!
2 comments:
I don't suppose the 'find' could have been rubbished by ZH because he didn't 'find' it himself....could it?!
Hasn't anybody realized that ZH has to find everything himself before anything can be considered a 'find'!!
The man is becoming an obstacle to objective science rather than a boon.
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