Reality and Myth in Alexander’s Invasion of Iran

American Alexander scholars have calculated that until now, 1223 Alexander letters have been written. These Alexander letters have many similarities with each other, although each writer has written an Alexander letter according to their own preferences.
The most recent Alexander letter was written by Austrian historian Fritz Schachermeyer, a historian of Ancient European history, in 724 pages.
Swiss archaeologist Ernst Berger wrote that: Alexander's neck was tilted compared to the axis of his face, his nose bridge had a steeper slope compared to his left cheek, and the left side of his forehead was sunken. From this study, it comes to light that the beautiful images seen in the Alexander letters do not depict Alexander as having a crooked neck.
I know the route of Alexander's invasion in present-day Iran and have examined every place where it is written that Alexander's army passed.
I do not want to write about all the inaccuracies in the Alexander letters, such as this: "Darius III took his family and elderly mother more than two thousand five hundred kilometers on a royal journey from Susa to Issos (near modern-day Alexandretta), to have them captured by Alexander's soldiers while he himself rode fast horses and fled from the battlefield." To this day, no one remembers a commander or great king who took his family, especially his elderly mother, to the battlefield, so Darius III must be an exception.
I have studied Alexander's invasion of Iran from the point where he set out from Phoenicia to Iran, as explained below:
In the Alexander letters, it is written that Alexander, with his army, left Phoenicia from Tyros and headed toward the Gordouene Mountains (north of Erbil). At that time, the well-established road passed from Heliopolis (modern-day Baalbek), Palmyra, and Dura-Europos, reaching the banks of the Euphrates. By Alexander's command, a bridge was built over the Euphrates River, which Alexander's army crossed.
Afterward, Alexander gave his soldiers several days of rest and then hurried to fight Darius III. In the Alexander letters, it is written that Alexander's army, after four days of marching from the Euphrates to the Tigris River, reached north of Nineveh (near modern Mosul). The distance between northern Mosul and the Euphrates is no less than 300 kilometers. How could Alexander's army have advanced at least seventy-five kilometers per day in enemy territory? It's hard to believe!
In the Alexander letters, it is written that Alexander's army crossed the Tigris with difficulty and then proceeded to the battlefield. Plutarch points to the battlefield at Gaugamela, which is written in Persian as "Gogmel," but it should be written "Goğemele." Where was Goğemele, and what does it mean? The Alexander letter writers assumed it was a Persian word, writing it as "camel house" (Go = house? + Gemel = camel). They even created a legend around it being a "camel house." This is incorrect because, aside from the fact that "camel" is not a Persian word, "Goğemele" is different from "Gogmel."
Goğemele is a Kurdish word, composed of two parts. "Goğe" (gٌ gً) in Persian and Kurdish means calf, and "mele" (mٌ َل) in Kurdish means pass or mountain pass. Therefore, Goğemele means "calf pass," just as "gokesh" means "cow mountain." Many geographical names made with "Goğe" and "mele" exist in Azerbaijan, Kurdistan, and Lorestan, such as: Goghan in Tabriz County, Gok Arkhaj in Miandoab County, Gog Ala in Maragheh County, Gok Tepe in Maragheh County, and Gog Tepe in Miandoab, Mahabad, Sanandaj, Bijar, and Garmi.
Mele Mas (Mele = pass + Mas = large) between Sahneh and Sonqor, Mele in Divan Darreh and Sanandaj, Mele Bid in Kermanshah County, Mele Sorkh in Shahabad Gharb (ancient Helwan) and Kermanshah, Mele Kabood in Shahabad Gharb County, Kuh Re Mele and Kuh Ashtarmel in Lorestan, the Mele Palangan pass between Kermanshah and Javanrud.
In the Alexander letters, Goğemele is mentioned as being 600 stadia (111 kilometers) east of Erbil and 30 kilometers east of Mosul. Therefore, Goğemele must be located around 190 kilometers east of Mosul. How could it also be 30 kilometers southwest of Mosul? Such a location lies precisely on the border between Iran and Iraq, in the mountainous area between Sardasht (in Iran) and Qal'eh Dizah (in Iraq). This is not a plain. The battle between Alexander's army and Darius's forces must have occurred on both sides of the "Goğemele" mountain pass.
In the Alexander letters, it is written that after the battle of Goğemele, Alexander's army went to Erbil to seize Darius's treasury. Since the bodies of the slain were scattered around Erbil and were rotting, Alexander ordered his army to head toward Babylon as quickly as possible to prevent the spread of disease. But Goğemele, where the great battle between Darius III and Alexander took place, is said to be 111 kilometers away from Erbil. So how could the foul smell of the dead bodies have reached Erbil from such a distance and disrupted the comfort of Alexander's soldiers, scaring them? This account is also hard to believe.
The Battle of Goğemele took place in October 331 BC.
(Swiss Dictionary, 1971 edition, page 169, second column NSB Encyclopedia – Lexicon 2000). I have taken the march of Alexander’s army from Gogeh-Malah to Erbil, the plunder of the possessions of Darius III and his army, the fatigue of the soldiers, and the preparation for the army's departure to Babylon, as well as covering at least four hundred and fifty kilometers from Erbil to Babylon and crossing the Zab and Tigris rivers, as taking two months. The Alexander narratives do not mention the difficulties of the journey, the rivers of Zab and Tigris, the provision of food for the troops, the preparation of accommodations for the soldiers in the autumn, and other difficulties.

I have taken the military advance of Alexander’s army in enemy territory as a daily 15 kilometers (Nader Shah's military advance towards India was six kilometers per day). Alexander could have reached Babylon in the last days of December or the beginning of January 330 BC. In the Alexander narratives, it is written: “The way to Babylon was covered with various flowers and adorned with flower crowns.”

I ask, in January, when it is winter and freezing, where did they bring all these flowers and herbs to decorate the road for Alexander? This too is unbelievable.

In the Alexander narratives, it is written that Alexander and his army stayed in Babylon for thirty-four days, during which Alexander gave rewards from the plundered wealth to the soldiers. To prevent the stay in Babylon from becoming tiresome for the soldiers, they set up a large fireworks display using oil and tar. It is difficult to believe this because the locations for oil and tar, as we know them today, are more than three hundred kilometers away from Babylon. So, there wasn’t that much oil and tar in Babylon to set up such a large-scale fireworks display for Alexander.

In the Alexander narratives, the number of Alexander’s troops in Babylon is stated as fifty thousand, and after thirty-four days in Babylon (near today’s Hella), and after resting, they set out for Susa. To travel from Babylon to Susa, they would have had to cross the Tigris and Karkheh rivers. Moreover, since the path passes through marshy and swampy lands, does it really need more than a few days? Although Susa was wealthier and more prosperous than Babylon at the time, I have taken the stay of Alexander’s army in Susa to be one month, just like in Babylon. According to this, Alexander’s army could have set out towards Persia in April, not in the cold season as written in the Alexander narratives. Unless Alexander and his army did not go to Babylon and, from Erbil, took the royal road directly to Susa, which is exactly the case.

The route of Alexander’s army from Susa to Persepolis, the natural route from Khuzestan to Fars, whether from Susa to Persepolis or from Ahvaz to Shiraz, follows two rivers. One is the Marun river, which bends to the south at the lower part, near Ramhormoz, and continues to Shadgan, and then drains into the Dowraq and Musi estuaries. The other is the Zohreh river, which flows from the east to the west. At its source, near Dalin and Irdakan, the river splits into the Shoul at its origin, Fahlian in the middle, and Zohreh at the lower reaches, where it bends southward to form the Hindiyan river, which empties into the Persian Gulf near Bandar Hindi Jan.

Another river that Alexander’s army crossed was the Karun. This river splits into two branches in Shadravan, Shushtar: one is the two-danqeh Gargar, and the other is the four-danqeh or Shaht, which converge near the Qir dam and merge with the Dez river, continuing southward as the Karun river. With the folding of the earth’s crust in southwestern Iran, two mountain ranges were formed: one is the Bakhtiari range, which continues into Lorestan and Fars, and in Fars is known as the Dena mountain range. The other, stretching from south of Qom to western Kashan, western Natanaz (Mount Karkas), and west of Yazd (Mount Shir), continues into the Lalezar range in Kerman.

The British Empire assisted a Hungarian man named Aural Stein to become a scholar and gave him the title "Sir," sending him to Iran in his old age to find "the route of Alexander’s invasion of Persia." His assistant and travel companion, Dr. Karimi Bahman Mirza, wrote a book about their journey, titled Ancient Roads and the Ancient Capitals of the West, published in September 1950. I will rewrite parts of it here. Sir Aurel Stein and Dr. Karimi left the town of Ardekan in Fars on the morning of Wednesday, December 5, 1935, heading toward Khuzestan. In the mentioned book, page 10 reads: "Initially, we passed through the difficult and challenging Biji Shaki pass and saw the ruined mill along the road, known as the Mill of the Hero. After crossing three rivers along the way, which are named Rozeh, Ro Kherki-sh, and Roshir, we entered a more difficult pass and made our way to the four-valley Goraspeed pass. This pass was extremely difficult, and just below the pass, we saw a small village. From this village, the forest of clean oak trees began, leading to a steep, rocky, and winding descent. We then crossed another difficult pass called Tangeh Choi. The entire path was surrounded by oak trees, dense forests, twists and turns, cliffs, and it was so dangerous that no one dared look down below. Near the valley, the village of Malasousan appeared, and after passing it, a unique gorge was visible."

From the army of Darius III: 12,000 to 45,000 killed
From the army of Alexander: Only 115 killed
In the Battle of Issus (near modern-day Iskenderun):
From the army of Darius III: 110,000 killed
From the army of Alexander: Only 182 to 450 killed
In the Battle of Gaugamela (near Erbil):
From the army of Darius III: 4,000 to 300,000 killed
From the army of Alexander: Only 300 to 1,100 killed

The total number of casualties in the three battles of Granicus, Issus, and Gaugamela is as follows:
From the army of Darius III: 162,000 to 455,000 killed
From the army of Alexander: Only 597 to 1,665 killed

In the above figures, the number of casualties in the army of Darius III is more than two hundred and seventy times higher than that of the army of Alexander. Furthermore, the highest number of casualties in Alexander's army in the three battles of Granicus, Issus, and Gaugamela (1,665) is still less than seven times the number of casualties of Timur's army in one day's battle with the Boir (241). Hassan Pirnia (Meshir al-Dawlah) compiled the original writings of all the Alexander Letters in the history of ancient Iran. I will transcribe some excerpts from them:
"Since the road from Susa to Pars passes through a narrow path, which is very difficult to traverse, and in addition, the road is interrupted by valleys, cliffs, and large and small rivers, traveling this road, especially in the winter, is extremely challenging, let alone moving an army along this path during this season." From the above writing, it appears that Alexander and his troops passed through this route in the winter. "Apart from the difficulties of the road, a strong snowstorm had gathered on the surrounding mountains, and the Macedonians were sinking into the snow, as though falling into a pit."
Freshly fallen snow weighs around 80 kilograms per cubic meter. The wind blows this loose, powdery snow from the heights into the lowlands. The weight of the snow that has settled or been exposed to the sun can reach 200 kilograms per cubic meter. In snow that has been blown or sun-exposed, one’s feet don’t sink as much, or hardly at all. This suggests that Alexander’s troops must have been sinking into fresh, powdery snow. It can be inferred that Alexander’s army was in winter, on the road from Susa to Persepolis. The writers of the Alexander Letters and the Alexander historians, to make the military journey of Alexander's army from Susa to Persepolis in winter and heavy snow seem more difficult, have written about them passing through green forests with branches and leaves interwoven and drooping. On page 1415 of History of Ancient Iran, it is written that one of the captives, who spoke both Persian and Greek, told Alexander:
"This idea of moving the army from the mountains to Pars is futile, because from this side there is no road other than a narrow path that goes through forests, and even this path is not suitable for one person to pass, and the other route, due to the tall trees, whose branches are interwoven with each other, is completely blocked."
Again, in the History of Ancient Iran, it is written that: "In addition to this problem, the branches of the trees were so intertwined that it seemed impossible to pass. At this moment, the Macedonians were overwhelmed with despair, to the point that they were on the verge of tears. The boundless darkness enveloped them, and the trees formed such a barrier above that the light of the stars could not reach the ground. At the same time, strong cold winds shook the trees and produced terrifying sounds around the Macedonians."
Wouldn't it be better if the historians and Alexander scholars clarified whether Alexander’s army traveled the road from Susa to Persepolis in the snowy winter, as "the Macedonians were sinking into the snow as though falling into a pit," or in the summer, when "the tree branches formed a barrier above, preventing even the light of the stars from reaching the ground"?
To ensure that all the writings from the Alexander Letters are reviewed, I will also mention that in the History of Ancient Iran, it is written: "The Iranian commander succeeded in crossing through the Macedonian army to help the capital and occupy it before the Macedonians arrived." However, the exact flatland between Susa and Persepolis, through which one column of Alexander’s army passed and reached Persepolis, does not appear on the modern maps of Iran, which are based on aerial photographs. It would have been helpful if the Alexander historians had shown us this plain. From the writings of the Alexander Letters, it can be concluded that Alexander’s army did not pass through Susa to Dezful and Shushtar, but rather followed the Dez river to the south, and near the modern site of Vis, crossed the Karun River. It is written in the Alexander Letters that after crossing the river (the Tigris), Alexander split his army into two columns: one column was sent by the plain route to Fars, while he, with the other column, which carried light weaponry, took the mountainous route to Pars. There is no plain between Susa and Persepolis, except the route that passed through the Zohreh valley, from there to Ardekan and Persepolis, and no other caravan route existed for a military expedition.
In the History of Ancient Iran (based on the Alexander Letters), it is written that: "Alexander, plundering as he went, advanced until on the third day, he entered Pars, and on the fifth day, reached the gate of Pars. By this point, he had covered 1000 stades (nearly 31 miles or 185 kilometers)." Could an army have advanced 37 kilometers per day? (Nader Shah, when invading India, covered only 6 kilometers per day.) Moreover, what exactly was Alexander's army plundering along the way? The rural populations of Iran at that time had nothing of value to be plundered. There was no great city on the way of Alexander’s army worth looting. Furthermore, with daily marches of 37 kilometers, there would have been no time for plundering.
The "Gate of Pars": Where is this gate that the Alexander Letter writers describe in such detail? In the winter of 1314, Sir Aurel Stein, in search of the gate of Pars and the military route of Alexander, traveled from Ardekan to Susa on horseback, passing through numerous narrow passes, but failed to find any such gate. One of the Khans of Bakhtiari, who was familiar with the region, told the writer of History of Ancient Iran that the name of this narrow pass was now "Tang Takab." However, this is not correct, as Tang Takab is the first of the three narrow passes in Khuzestan, on the road from Behbahan to Lordegan in Isfahan, and not in the route from Khuzestan to Fars. This route has been used since the Safavid era. Nasir Khusraw, on his return journey from Mecca, passed through the ruins of Mehruban (called Shah Abdullah, located 10 kilometers west of Deylam) to Ergan (modern Arghavan, near Behbahan), through the three passes of Khuzestan, reaching Lordegan, Lanjan, and Isfahan, and then through the desert back to his hometown. The Alexander Letters state that after crossing the Karun River, Alexander’s army, having covered 185 kilometers, reached the gate of Pars. If one were to travel 185 kilometers east from the Karun River through the Maroun Valley, they would pass through Behbahan. The modern route from Vis to Ramhormoz and from Ramhormoz to Behbahan is about 165 kilometers long, and there is no difficult pass along this route that could be considered the "Gate of Pars."
The writers of the Alexander Letters have fabricated the Gate of Pars in their imagination, likely to take revenge for the defeat at the Battle of Thermopylae.
What can be believed from the historical writings of the Alexander Letter writers here is the battle between Alexander’s troops in the Kohgiluyeh region. It is similar to the battle fought by Timur’s army with the Boyirs in the same mountain range.
The History of Ancient Iran states: "When the Macedonians advanced and reached a location favorable to their commander’s plan, the Persians rolled large stones down from the mountains, and these stones fell with tremendous force, scattering with astonishing power among the Macedonians, sometimes smashing into rocks or breaking apart upon hitting the ground, creating a rain of deadly projectiles that knocked down group after group of soldiers.
In addition, defenders of the pass rained arrows and stones upon the Macedonians from every direction.
The Macedonians’ anger knew no bounds, as they found themselves trapped, suffering heavy losses, unable to take revenge on their enemies. Therefore, they sought to advance to Pars as quickly as possible to engage in hand-to-hand combat. With this goal in mind, they pressed their shields together, helped each other, and tried to climb upwards. But each time, a stone, under pressure, broke loose and fell on those trying to climb, crushing them. At this moment, the Macedonians found themselves in a situation where they could neither stop nor advance. They could not even create a makeshift fortification from their shields, as no such defense could withstand the enormous stones falling from above. Alexander, upon witnessing these dire conditions, was filled with grief and shame… Finally, when Alexander saw that retreat was the only option, he ordered the retreat, and the Macedonian troops, with their shields pressed tightly together, withdrew."
After retreating, Alexander called for his most important soothsayer and asked what the outcome of the situation would be.
I ask, is it appropriate for a great general in history to rely on soothsayers? Or was Alexander, as he is written to be, not as great as the stories suggest?
Timur Lenk, seventeen centuries after Alexander, upon reaching the first pass in the Boyir lands, realized that crossing it would not be easy, because the Boyirs were lying in ambush above the pass. To test the Boyirs' reaction, Timur Lenk commanded that Qara Khan, the commander of one of his columns, along with twenty selected cavalrymen, pass through the pass. As soon as the fifth row of cavalry reached the pass, large stones rolled down from the mountains, crushing four of the cavalrymen in that row. In his book I am Timur the World Conqueror, Timur describes how, to open the pass, his soldiers climbed the mountain with ropes and engaged in battle with the Boyirs. The sounds of the battle reached Timur, and occasionally, he heard the terrifying screams of those falling from the mountain. They were crushed upon falling, their bones breaking. In that battle, 241 of Timur’s soldiers were killed. The battle of Timur has a striking resemblance to Alexander’s battle.
The truth is that after retreating, Alexander returned to Greece and took the road home. He split his army into two columns—one which he led, returning by the route he had come, and the second, following the Zohreh River to the south of Aghajari (then called the Indian River), was sent to the shores of the Persian Gulf, which, until the third century of the Islamic era, was called India, before heading toward Bactria.
What has been written about Alexander's victories, wars, and conquests after this retreat is merely the fantasy of an Alexander scribe, whose work was copied by other Alexander historians.