Archaeologists uncover 'lost desert army'

Archaeologists claim to have discovered the remains of an ancient Persian army that got lost in a desert sandstorm 2500 years ago.

For centuries the story of the 50,000-strong army losing their way in the Sahara Desert was assumed to be an ancient legend until hundreds of bones were uncovered in western Egypt.

The Greek historian Herodotus wrote an account of the lost army, which served the Persian king Cambyses, son of Cyrus the Great.

Herodotus said the army was sent from Thebes in 525 BC to destroy the oracle at the Temple of Amun, at the Oasis of Siwa, after priests there refused to recognise his claim to the Egyptian throne.

But after walking for seven days in the desert the army was caught and buried in a cataclysmic sandstorm.

Their bones, as well as numerous weapons and pieces of jewellery, were discovered in the desert by accident when a researcher stumbled upon a half-buried pot.

Italian archaeologists Angelo and Alfredo Castiglioni, already famous for their discovery of an ancient "city of gold" in Egypt 20 years ago, led the dig and claim to have solved one of ancient history's greatest mysteries.

Many have tried and failed to find the lost army, including Count Laszlo Almasy, the subject of the book and movie The English Patient.