Gangs looting Afghan 'Pompeii'

"Warlords and thieves are stripping bare a recent archaeological discovery described as 'the Pompeii of Central Asia' while the central government and Western scientists are powerless to intervene, authorities say."

"The ancient city stretching 25 miles across was recently discovered at Kharwar, in remote central Logar province. From a trickle of confiscated artifacts, archaeologists estimate that the city dates from the seventh century shortly before the arrival of Islam though some pieces suggest it might be as much as 500 years older."
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Egyptian Tourists Search for Cambyses Lost Army

"Hisham Nessim, manager of Aqua Sun Resort, is giving tourists a chance to participate in solving the ancient mystery of the lost army of Persian king, Cambyses."

"Nessim, a former desert rally driver, leads the Egyptian Exploration Desert Team (EEDT), an exploratory 'archaeological' mission funded entirely by private tourism firms. The plan, approved by the Ministry of Tourism, is to comb the Western Desert in 4WD vehicles packed with paying tourists hot on the trail of Cambyses' army."

"In 523 BC, according to legend, Persian King Cambyses II dispatched an army of 50,000 men to destroy the sacred oracle in Siwa that had been bad-mouthing him since his conquest of Egypt two years earlier. The soldiers marched into the desert never to be seen again."

"According to an account related by the 5th century BC Greek historian Herodotus, the army left Thebes (Luxor) and after seven days reached an inhabited oasis, probably Kharga. The 50,000 soldiers continued with their guides into the Great Sand Sea towards Siwa, but met their demise in a massive sandstorm."
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Dynastic Mayan King found to be native of Yucatan

"At the start of the fifth century AD, Copán was a modest village set in a fertile, mountainous valley on the eastern fringe of the Maya world. Within decades, the village embarked on a remarkable rise to become, at its zenith in the eighth century, among the most accomplished Maya cities in art, architecture, and astronomy.
The transfiguration's instigator was a man named Yax K'uk Mo."

"Despite their calendrical exactitude, the terse carvings are vague about Yax K'uk Mo's origin or where and by whom he was crowned. Like ancient Greece or Renaissance Italy, the Maya world consisted of independent city-states linked by trade and vying for hegemony. Conceivably, any one of the rival cities could have been Yax K'uk Mo's hometown and source of power."

"Copánec artisans certainly depicted Yax K'uk Mo with Teotihuacáno trappings. This image shows the king wearing goggles that form part of a characteristically Teotihuacáno war helmet. And in his tomb, which was discovered in 1995, archaeologists found pottery from Teotihuacán."

"But the tomb also contained pottery from Tikal, a Maya city north of Copán, as well as pottery from Copán itself. As for the goggles, it's understandable that a local magnate would want, if only through symbols, to draw authority and legitimacy from the region's preeminent power."

"By analyzing isotope ratios in Yax K'uk Mo's teeth and bones, a team led by Jane Buikstra of the University of New Mexico has ruled out Teotihuacán as Yax K'uk Mo's place of birth and early childhood. Instead, it appears the king grew up in central Yucatán, the heart of the Maya world."






But the tomb also contained pottery from Tikal, a Maya city north of Copán, as well as pottery from Copán itself.


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