The Last Stand of the 50,000

The remains of 50,000 Persian soldiers all thought to have vanished with out a trace may finally be coming to light after 2,500 years. According to the ancient Greek historian Herodotus the soldiers disappeared in 525 BC on their way to destroy the oracle located at Siwa. Persian King Cambyses II, the son of Cyrus the Great, sent 50,000 soldiers from Thebes to attack the Oasis of Siwa and destroy the oracle at the Temple of Amun after the priests there refused to legitimize his claim to Egypt. After marching in the desert for 7 days the army was supposedly swallowed in a sand storm. No trace of the soldiers has ever been found, until now.

The archeologists worked on a hypothesis that the army had actually traveled an indirect route, because it was not likely that the Persians would have had conceived a military campaign for taking all of the desert oases under Egyptian control on the way to the oracle. After several expeditions over a 13-year period looking along the route, and deciding to follow an ancient story that thousands of bones had been on covered by the wind in a large valley, the archeologists found what they were looking for. Under natural shelters, they found thousands of sun-bleached bones and personal effects and other weapons. It was found that the army had dispersed during the sandstorm over a wide area. Many agree that though much has been found a more in-depth exploration of the area is needed.

The Persian King Cambyses II was not the only military leader that sought recognition as a god from the great oracle of Amun at Siwa. A century after Herodotus wrote his account, Alexander the Great made his own pilgrimage to the oracle in 332 B.C. Alexander was confirmed that he was the divine son of Zeus, the Greek god equated with Amun.

Ben S.

Period 3
http://news.discovery.com/archaeology/cambyses-army-remains-sahara.html

Napoleon

Famed French conqueror of Europe, at first glance Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) is not an intimidating person. Standing short at not much more than 1.6 meters (5-and-a-half feet) Napoleon needed a way to portray himself in a more respectable manor. This was done whenever he had a portrait of himself painted. He would have one of his hands tucked into his coat. This was a common trend for men to do at that age whenever posing in order to show their dominance, a pose often seen in classical Roman sculptures as well. People who do did not know this would wonder why such an odd posture. Some speculations included such far fetched as Napoleon's hand being deformed, a secret code among his colleagues, having itchy fingers, or that the painters did not even know how to paint hands.None of these cases are true, however. Thank goodness, Bonaparte doesn't need a second set of nickname beside "Shrimp", "Shortstop", and "Pipsqueak".

http://www.napoleon-series.org/faq/c_hand.html

Chaiz T.

Period 7

Stolen Priceless Artifacts are finally returned

Today (Oct. 9) was a turnig point for the rights of Egyptian Artifacts. Five stolen Egyptian relics were finally returned back to Egypt after more than 10 years. Sometime in the 1980's, 5 relics,chipped out of the wall, were illegally taken from a tomb dating back to the 18th dynasty in Egypt. The priceless artifacts were then sold in various actions in 2003 and 2000. Somehow, through many sales and shippings, these artifacts ended up in the Louvre. After many years, the louvre officials have decided to give the artifacts back to Egypt. Although it took many protests, these relics are going home.

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2009/10/09/stolen-relics-egypt.html

Ryan Root Period 7

King Tut’s Little Girls?

Two mummified female baby fetuses were found in King Tutankhamun’s tomb. At least one of the fetuses is the offspring of the famous Pharaoh. The fetuses have been stored at the Cairo University's Faculty of Medicine under examination. Howard Carter discovered them in King Tut’s tomb in 1922. There was a lot of debating whether these stillborn babies belonged to this king or not and if they were placed in the tomb as a symbolic meaning for the afterlife. The fetuses will soon undergo DNA and CT scans to determine their relation to the famous king. There were examinations taken shortly after the discovery of the babies, it was concluded that no body parts or innards were removed, even their umbilical cords remained. The smaller fetus examined by Howard Carter in 1925 is about 5 months old. The bigger fetus is about 9 months old. Colleagues from Cairo University, suggested that the older stillborn fetus displayed what could have been the earliest evidence of Sprengel's deformity, a relatively rare and congenital skeletal disorder where a scapula sits too high on one side. The smaller fetus is said to have vertebral dislocation, spina bifida and scoliosis. When DNA is examined the fetuses might help identify "the lineage and the family of King Tutankhamun, particularly his parents." Many people believe that the two female fetuses must belong to King Tut because of the relevance of them sharing the tomb. Until December when the test results should be finished no one will know for sure who the biological parents of the stillborn babies are.

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/08/15/king-tut-fetus.html

Lindsay M.

Period 5

Seven Year Old Killing Machines

Many Spartan babies that were thought to be not strong enough were left to perish. Because of their unique training, Spartans became dominant figures in war tactics. This training transformed regular boys into killing machines. At age seven, every Spartan boy is taken from his mother to begin his training. Starting at the age of seven, they were taught not to cry but to council pain. A game was played in which Spartan boys would stand in a circle, be flogged, and the one who lasted the longest was the winner. The Spartan society was designed to strip people of their individual identity. As they got older there was and increasing level of violence. Training became more and more intense. Spartans were reminded of their heritage as they were worked to death. By early teens Spartan boys are given wooden staffs and tipless spears. Even though these were games, many boys died from them. This is just a small example of how the Spartans prepared their troops for battle.
http://www.history.com/video.do?name=militaryhistory&bcpid=1681694250&bclid=1683701822&bctid=1646107670


Lucas H.
Period 3

Playing With Fire

New finds suggest that after a huge ice age about 75,000 years ago, sites in South Africa made tools using a heated silcrete stone. This was 50,000 years earlier than when scientists initially believed fire was used to make weapons. Further studying of this has scientists even concluding that in order to pass this technique from generation to generation, language was created in these societies in order for this skill to be passed on. Professionals believe that this heat rock treatment may have made the tools more likely to shatter instead of making them stronger. This maybe allowed more efficient hunting. When the arrows pierced the skin of the animals the tool would shatter on impact making hunting easier. In addition with the use of heat rock treatment, they were much more likely to be able to better adapt to their environments which allowed them to expand. Along with this, humans designed jewelry in the caves nearby. This jewelry may even be some of the oldest jewelry ever designed on earth.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/08/090813-first-fire-tools_2.html

Matt G.

Period 5

Ancient Mesoamericans had…Grillz?

A recent archaeological study shows that Mesoamerican dentists possessed both profound and sophisticated dentistry. Gems had been found in the teeth of the ancient people going back as far as 2,500 years ago. Ancient inhabitants of southern North America went to the dentist to drill semi-precious gems into their front teeth. This practice of dentistry did not classify the rich and the poor, but was merely for decoration. Most royal leaders of the time were found to not have the special treatment, while it was common for the lower class to posses the ancient “grillz.” It was said that even “royals of the day- such as the Red Queen… [didn’t] have teeth decorations.” The early dentists used a drill-like device that was made of obsidian and strong enough to puncture bone. Complex herbal anesthetic was said to be applied to the mouth before the actual studding to reduce any pain. The stones itself were attached to the teeth with natural adhesives such as plant sap mixed with different chemicals and bones. Impressive enough, the dentists had a very high understanding of the anatomy of the mouth and never corrupted the inside of the tooth. The Mesoamericans made many groundbreaking accomplishments in their time of reign, and now from recent discovery teeth studding can be added to the list of their impressive ancient attributes.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/05/090518-jeweled-teeth-picture.html

Kayce T.

Period 5

Are You on the List?

What started out as a joke, turned out to be a great historical discovery about Genghis Khan. When Genghis Khan conquered territories he would tell his men to find the most beautiful woman and she would become one of his wives. This forced Genghis’ Y chromosome to be passed on for many years after and now 1 and every 200 men is a relative of Genghis. A huge group of central Asian population showed no differences between them and Genghis. Other advantages of Genghis Khan allow his Y chromosome to be passed on over and over again, mainly because he had multiple wives. Tyler-Smith said. “'There are only two ways a single Y chromosome can make such a mark on a population, The chromosome could in some way confer its owners with some biological advantage…[or] its original possessor had some incredible social advantage over other Y chromosome possessors, allowing its owner to pass it on….” So, check your DNA and see if your distant relative is the powerful Genghis Khan.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2003/mar/02/science.research


Philippe A.
Period 3

“Barefoot Burglar:” Feral Child

Thriving in the woods of the islands north of Seattle and eluding the police for over a year and a half in the trees, an eighteen year-old fugitive named Colton Harris-Moore (otherwise known as the “Barefoot Burglar”) is and has been on the loose, supposedly the culprit for robbing people’s homes, stealing boats, and even going as far as stealing small airplanes and crashing them. This teen is just one of the children who either have lived by themselves from a young age or shared company with animals in the vast outdoors. When Colton is referred to as a ‘Feral Child,’ feral is referring to the term ‘wild.’ There are over 4,000 situations of feral humans, even though only eight of these cases have proper documentation; but these situations are closely related to some myths and stories, such as Rudyard Kipling’s Mowgli from The Jungle Book, or Remus and Romulus, founders of Rome, and suckled by a she-wolf. These humans cannot speak human languages as well or at all, based on the fact they have not had someone to teach them how. Some of the most famous feral children are Peter, Victor, Kaspar, Kamala and Amala. They were all found, but all had unfortunate ends; Peter was forgotten, Victor was found, but learnt little before death, Kaspar was murdered after being found in a pit, and the two girls Kamala and Amala both died, Amala a year after being found and Kamala eight years after that. The only question remaining is, how will Colton’s story play out?
http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2009/10/09/feral-children.html

Logan M.
Period 3

Dogs First Tamed in China to be Food?

New genetic analysis suggests that canines were domesticated in China 16,300 years ago to be livestock, not as pets as it was originally believed (in other words; Dog. It’s what’s for dinner). As they do today, the Chinese have been eating dog as far back as historical records go. May believe that the greatest level of canine genetic diversity should be in the area they were first domesticated. However, during a DNA analysis of African village dogs, it was found that the African dogs had a similar amount of genetic diversity as those in China. Further research showed that dogs from across Europe, the Middle East, and Asia share at least 80% of their DNA, giving proof to the theory that canines were domesticated as livestock between 5,400 and 16,300 years ago, when Asian hunter-gathers adopted a settled lifestyle.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/09/090904-dogs-tamed-china-food.html


And it tastes like Ostrich….

…which tastes like beef.

http://epiphany.chattablogs.com/archives/010381.html

Taylor A.
Period 3