A photo from open sources
There are great treasures that have been sought for decades and centuries. They are looking for the gold of the Third Reich, they are looking for the gold of Kolchak. Looking for treasures exported by Napoleon from Moscow, they are looking for the treasure of captain Kidd. Peter I sent an expedition to find the treasures of Alexander the Great, and Alexander himself was looking for the Persian wealth escaped from him King Darius.
Persian campaign of Alexander the Great
In the spring of 334 BC troops of Alexander the Great crossed Dardanelles and entered the borders of Persia. The campaign seemed clean adventure. Alexander with the 35,000th army opposed a state stretching from India to the Aegean Sea (Greece) and from the origins of the Nile to the Caucasus Mountains. And yet … Three times Darius collected huge army, significantly superior in numbers Macedonian army and three times Alexander won a brilliant victory
A photo from open sources
Persia was conquered. Darius was killed by his own approximate. The Macedonian king captured a giant booty. IN Damascus Alexander took the treasury treasury of Darius – about 78 tons silver, in Arbeli – 120 tons of silver. In the capital Persepolis Alexander got the royal treasury. To take out the captured prey of the Macedonian king needed 3,000 camels and 20,000 mules. Just fabulous treasures.
Gone Treasures
And yet, Alexander believed that most of the values of Darius to him didn’t get it. Even before the tragic (for Darius) battle of Gaugamela, which put an end to the history of the power of the Achaemenids, in the area of the city Ecbatana (the summer residence of the King of kings) marched and marched on gold and silver.
However, when the Macedonians invaded the city, there were no values anywhere. found. The servant was tortured, but no one said anything. Probably, they didn’t know anything. According to the old tradition of burial treasures everyone who knew the whereabouts of the cache was executed and then killed executioners. (What if someone blabbed something before his death? What if someone tried to buy their own life in exchange for a secret?)
Alexander was the first to attempt to find treasures. Darius was the first to leave Ecbatan with nothing.
Crassus, Julius Caesar, Marc Anthony and Nero
Spartak winner Mark Crassus was very rich, but never money not too much. Thousands of slaves brought to Ecbatan covered all the neighborhoods, dug pits and looked into each crevice. Crassus called for help even sorcerers, but gold in his hands were not given.
The next “amateur archaeologist” was Guy Julius Caesar. He too left without gold of the Achaemenids. Mark Anthony received from his friend not only Cleopatra’s mistress, but also the dream of getting rich on treasure hunting. Again in the vicinity of Ecbatan there were thousands slaves with picks and shovels. But soon Anthony and Cleopatra took up completely different things, and they were not up to the search for treasures.
Roman Emperor Nero organized three expeditions! Everytime upon returning to Rome, the emperor imposed on careless prospectors penalties. He executed some, others referred to galleys. Get exile from Rome was revered for unheard of luck. It is very possible that the emperor made the decision to burn Rome just after receiving the news about the failure of the next expedition.
Century XIX and XX
In the 19th century, agents appeared in Persia after a long break. French intelligence. Emperor of France Napoleon Bonaparte is very money was needed for the next military campaign. Not finding gold Napoleon founded the Central French Bank and thereby closed cash problem for myself.
At the beginning of the 20th century, employees appeared in the vicinity of Ecbotan British Intelligence Service, and in the 20s – employees Soviet Cheka. In the 30s, the Germans appeared. They quickly found out that gold doesn’t lie under your feet and you need extensive expensive research. Practical Germans abandoned the search for treasures and set up fake pounds industrial production sterling. Much simpler and much more efficient.
In 1973, the last Iranian Shah Mohammed Pahlavi invited for the treasure hunt of American experts. Shah really hoped on ultra-modern technology. But the Persians who lived before our era turned out to be trickier than modern treasure hunters from all over miraculous electronics.
Tourists still arrive in the vicinity of the Iranian city of Hamadan to stare at the ruins of ancient Ekbotan. Locals on they do not even pay attention – how many have already been here. But maybe one of them really smiles luck finding the most ancient treasure. And then the gold market will face severe shocks.
Posted by Klim Podkova
Money Napoleon Bonaparte
