Archeologists have found the remains of a great Persian army believed to have disappeared in the Egyptian desert 2,500 years ago.

According to Greek historian Herodotus, King Cambyses II sent 50,000 warriors to attack the Oasis of Siwa but they disappeared after reaching El-Kharga oasis.

"A wind arose from the south, strong and deadly, bringing with it vast columns of whirling sand, which entirely covered up the troops and caused them wholly to disappear," wrote Herodotus.

After more than 2,000 years, Italian archeologists have unearthed Bronze weapons, a silver bracelet, an earring and hundreds of human bones in the Sahara desert which they believe belonged to the Persian army buried by a sandstorm in 525 BCE.

"It all started in 1996, during an expedition aimed at investigating the presence of iron meteorites near Bahrin, one small oasis not far from Siwa," Alfredo Castiglioni, director of the Eastern Desert Research Center (CeRDO) in Varese, told Discovery News.

Excavations yielded a half-buried pot, a bronze dagger, several arrow tips, human remains and what could have been a natural rock shelter.

"Its size and shape made it the perfect refuge in a sandstorm," said Castiglioni, who is known for finding the ancient Egyptian 'city of gold' with his twin brother Angelo 20 years ago.

"We are talking of small items, but they are extremely important as they are the first Achaemenid objects, thus dating to Cambyses' time, which have emerged from the desert sands in a location quite close to Siwa," Castiglioni said.

The earring found in the area was found to have belonged to the Persian Achaemenid era.

"An analysis of the earring, based on photographs, indicate that it certainly dates to the Achaemenid period. Both the earring and the spheres appear to be made of silver. Indeed a very similar earring, dating to the fifth century B.C., has been found in a dig in Turkey," leading ancient jewelry expert Andrea Cagnetti told Discovery News.

The Castiglioni brothers also concluded that the Cambyses army did not take the widely believed caravan route via the Dakhla Oasis and Farafra Oasis.

"Since the 19th century, many archaeologists and explorers have searched for the lost army along that route. They found nothing. We hypothesized a different itinerary, coming from south. Indeed we found that such a route already existed in the 18th Dynasty," Castiglioni said.

Instead they believe from El-Kargha the army took a westerly route to Gilf El-Kebir, passing through the Wadi Abd-el Melik, heading north toward Siwa.

"This route had the advantage of taking the enemy aback. Moreover, the army could march undisturbed. On the contrary, since the oasis on the other route were controlled by the Egyptians, the army would have had to fight at each oasis," Castiglioni said.

The soldiers believed they had reached their destination, but they faced khamsin — the hot, strong, unpredictable southeasterly wind that blows from the Sahara desert over Egypt — instead.

"Some soldiers found refuge under that natural shelter, other dispersed in various directions. Some might have reached the lake of Sitra, thus surviving," Castiglioni said.

Studies also dated the discovered pottery to 2,500 years ago, which accords with Cambyses' time.

TE/HGH