The Italian traveler of the XIII century Marco Polo, following from Venice to Beijing, observed a very unusual phenomenon in the deserts, which he later described as follows: “But there is such a miracle: you are driving through that desert at night, and it happens that someone falls behind his comrades to sleep or for another what business, and how will that person catch up with his own, he will hear the talk of spirits and it seems to him that his comrades are calling him by name, and often the spirits lead him where he cannot get out."
Scientists later called this interesting and even mysterious natural phenomenon “the singing sands”. They are characteristic of very many deserts, and this is indeed a very mysterious and extraordinary phenomenon, when the sands slide down the slope and certainly in a dry place (that is, when they are on the sunny side), they emit an enchanting sound.
However, much more often the deserts present a person with surprises of a completely different kind, and the same sands can bring great troubles. For example, in an instant they can turn a blooming garden into a dull, bare area. Sandstorms sometimes start quite imperceptibly, and the picture before they occur can look very idyllic.
… Tinkling rhythmically with the bells tied on the sides of the camels, the caravan, as if reluctantly, passes from one dune to another. It's only morning, but already unbearably hot, the frozen air seems to be quite tangible to the touch. Suddenly, a barely noticeable veil appeared over the horizon, but the experienced caravan operator had already seen it and was looking anxiously at the slightly darkened horizon. After a while, a dull yellow haze already covers half the sky. The drivers shout, knocking the camels into a heap and laying them on the sand. As soon as the tents and awnings were pulled up, a sandstorm covered everyone. Myriads of grains of sand, like rain, fall on the tents. Painfully flogged open areas of the body, clogged in the smallest pores.
In the vast expanses of the Sahara, the greatest desert in the world, sandstorms are not uncommon. They are not only in the desert itself, but also reach small towns, and to an inexperienced person it may seem that the wind only picks up the dust raised by curious children. But after a few minutes it turns out that the earth is "smoking" everywhere. At the surface, dust trembles and twitches from side to side. One gets the impression that some giant has decided to knock out the carpet, and with each blow of it, the dust grows more and more.
The sand craters were already spinning like a top, then they all suddenly jumped up and, as if on command, stretched out parallel to the ground in huge jets. The sand whips painfully across the face and hands, and it is impossible to make out what causes more suffering - the blows themselves or the scalding temperature of the grains of sand. The yellow dregs rise above the houses, and in broad daylight several dozen clay houses (they usually don't exist anymore) plunge into the sandy fog.
So it was in the 6th century BC. e., when the Persian king Cambyses from the Achaemenid dynasty, the son of Cyrus the Great, decided to take revenge on the Egyptians for the insults inflicted on his father by Pharaoh Amasis. The Persian army, created by the Great Cyrus, included swift cavalry, but the infantry was of particular importance in it. She was a militia of free communes, was extremely combat-ready, and for a long time the Persian army did not know defeat.
Her victory over the Medes alarmed the entire ancient world. It was then that the Egyptian pharaoh Amasis proposed to create an alliance between Egypt, Libya and Babylonia against Persia. Cyrus II defeated Libya and Babylonia one by one, and now he had to conquer a large strong state - Egypt. But this was already done by his son Cambyses, a suspicious man, distrustful and prone to cruelty. All these traits were especially evident in his attitude towards the Egyptians and their gods, especially towards Apis. Cambyses undertook a campaign against them and in 527 BC. e. took the city of Memphis. After the victory, he ordered the execution of many noble men, the destruction of temples, the scourging of the priests.
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In 524 BC. e Cambyses sent an army of 50,000 against the Ammonians to conquer them and turn them into slaves. The troops left Thebes and safely reached the Kharga oasis. From there they moved north to Ammonia - but they never reached it: they disappeared into the desert. According to Herodotus, the strongest sandstorm that broke out halfway buried the army of Cambyses alive.
The search for the site of this catastrophe has excited many researchers for many years, especially in this century after the advent of cars. But none of them found a single thread with which they could solve this riddle. Even small planes were brought in to help, but it was all to no avail. True, these seekers are not learned archaeologists or historians. From the point of view of these people, the lost army is a source of real treasures worth millions of dollars. They are confident that in the dry sand, the weapons, equipment of the army and the personal belongings of its soldiers are perfectly preserved. But to this day, despite the progress in the technical equipment of the excavations, the secret of the disappeared army of Cambyses has not been revealed.
HUNDRED GREAT DISASTERS. N. A. Ionina, M. N. Kubeev