![]() It was popular in Athens and Rome, and Alexander the Great, on his way to India, is said to have known about the tale. Historians have variously recorded it as fact, mocked it as extravagant and passed it along the ancient grapevine. The fabulous tale of the giant 'ants' that dug up gold in a far-off El Dorado and enriched the Persian Empire has circulated for some 2,500 years. Himalayas offer clue to legend of gold digging 'ants'īy Marlise Simons, The New York Times, 25 November 1996 Such, according to the Persians, is the manner in which the Indians get the greater part of their gold some is dug out of the earth, but of this the supply is more scanty. During the flight the male camels, which are not so fleet as the females, grow tired, and begin to drag, first one, and then the other but the females recollect the young which they have left behind, and never give way or flag. Now these animals are, they declare, so swift, that there is nothing in the world like them: if it were not, therefore, that the Indians get a start while the ants are mustering, not a single gold-gatherer could escape. When the Indians reach the place where the gold is, they fill their bags with the sand, and ride away at their best speed: the ants, however, scenting them, as the Persians say, rush forth in pursuit. Towards evening the coolness increases, till about sunset it becomes very cold. At noon his heat is much the same in India as in other countries, after which, as the day declines, the warmth is only equal to that of the morning sun elsewhere. During this space he burns much more furiously than at midday in Greece, so that the men there are said at that time to drench themselves with water. The sun in those parts shines fiercest in the morning, not, as elsewhere, at noonday the greatest heat is from the time when he has reached a certain height, until the hour at which the market closes. When the Indians therefore have thus equipped themselves they set off in quest of the gold, calculating the time so that they may be engaged in seizing it during the most sultry part of the day, when the ants hide themselves to escape the heat. The rider sits on the female, and they are particular to choose for the purpose one that has but just dropped her young for their female camels can run as fast as horses, while they bear burthens very much better. The Indians, when they go into the desert to collect this sand, take three camels and harness them together, a female in the middle and a male on either side, in a leading rein. Now the sand which they throw up is full of gold. Those ants make their dwellings under ground, and like the Greek ants, which they very much resemble in shape, throw up sand heaps as they burrow. The Persian king has a number of them, which have been caught by the hunters in the land whereof we are speaking. Here, in this desert, there live amid the sand great ants, in size somewhat less than dogs, but bigger than foxes. For it is in this part of India that the sandy desert lies. They are more warlike than any of the other tribes, and from them the men are sent forth who go to procure the gold. Besides these, there are Indians of another tribe, who border on the city of Caspatyrus, and the country of Pactyica these people dwell northward of all the rest of the Indians, and follow nearly the same mode of life as the Bactrians. ![]() One of the most fantastic stories by Herodotus is his account of the gold-digging ants in India, which has unexpectedly found confirmation. Herodotus' book also contains ethnographic descriptions of the peoples that the Persians have conquered, fairy tales, gossip, and legends. ![]() In The Histories, he describes the expansion of the Achaemenid Empire under its kings Cyrus the Great (r.559-530), Cambyses (r.539-522), and Darius I the Great (r.522-486), culminating in Xerxes' expedition to Greece (480 BCE), which met with disaster in the naval engagement at Salamis and the battles at Plataea and Mycale. education.Herodotus of Halicarnassus (c.480-c.429 BCE): Greek researcher, often called the world's first historian. Here are 2000 more words, explained using only the words you learned above:Ī. is the same as, be, am, are, being, was, were. Words: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z.ġA.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |