Atlantis is a legendary nation that is said to have been utterly destroyed by some unknown catastrophe and sunk into the sea, leaving almost no trace they ever existed. The most prominent document about Atlantis is from the ancient Greek philosopher Plato around 360 BC. According to Plato, Atlantis was a naval superpower that had conquered many different countries and who’s influence extended throughout the known world. It was even told that they attempted an unsuccessful invasion of Greece only to be repealed by Athenians.
Many people believe there was no Atlantis, believing that Plato’s writings were influenced by myths or that Plato was misinformed. However Plato himself defended his accounts saying he received the information while visiting the renowned Athenian lawyer Solon. Solon had traveled to Egypt where he met with the Pharaoh Amasis II and discussed philosophy Egyptian priests. There he was told the tale of Atlantis and was even given descriptions of Atlantis. The center of the Atlantean empire was the island or continent Atlantis, which lie west of the Pillars Of Hercules in the ocean of the Atlantic.
Atlantis received it’s name from the mythological Titan Atlas, who was a son of the god of the sea, Poseidon. Atlantis, in ancient Greek means ‘island of Atlas’. In Plato’s story, Atlantis was punished by the Greek god Zeus for being arrogant and especially, in Plato’s eyes, for attempting to invade Greece. In a single day, earthquakes and floods destroyed Atlantis and the entire island sank beneath the Atlantic ocean. What make the existence of Atlantis difficult to dispute is that we still call the Atlantic Ocean by it’s ancient Greek name, and directly or indirectly the Atlantic ocean is related to the story of Atlantis.
The fact is, the legend of Atlantis will not go away, and each generation seems to rediscover it. Historians, archaeologists and scholars continue to unearth glues that point to a theory that humans had more advanced cultures, earlier, than the current historical text books allow. Atlantis continues to capture the imagination. As hard as skeptics try to turn Atlantis into a myth, the more believers, generation after generation, rediscover Atlantis. Let’s keep in mind that the story of Helen Of Troy, Homer’s Odyssey and The Trojan War were all considered myths and that the City of Troy never existed … until the real City of Troy was discovered by an amateur archeologist.
The ‘real’ archaeologists were not looking for Troy because it was a myth.
In 1627, Sir Francis Bacon’s ‘New Atlantis’ would be published describing the utopia that Atlantis had come to represent. And, in literature, from that time forward, the lost city of Atlantis never went away. From Captain Nemo of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea visiting Atlantis beneath the sea, to Tarzan discovering a lost colony of Atlanteans in Africa, it seems as if humanity will not be satisfied until we do find where the real Atlantis rests. If you were to measure the value of a supposedly mythological city in terms of influence, Atlantis in popular culture wins hands down.
The story and search for Atlantis would take a strange turn in the 1930’s and 40’s when the renowned psychic Edgar Cayce would make some startling predictions about Atlantis. Cayce would predict that some evidence about Atlantis would come to light in 1968 near the island of Bimini. Sure enough, in 1968, a pilot flying near Bimini discovers the ‘Bimini Road‘ which has become a controversial topic since some say it is natural formations that look like a road where others say it is obviously the work of a long lost people.
Additionally, Edgar Cayce, while providing clients with readings, would tell some of them that they had past lives as citizens of Atlantis. Cayce would provide some details on the day-to-day life of those who lived in Atlantis. However, it was the prediction by Cayce that in the 1990’s we would discover that there was, beneath the foot of the Sphinx in Egypt, a chamber where some of the records of the lost city of Atlantis are stored that would fascinate people world wide for decades. In the 1970’s some image mapping using sonar seems to show a cavern or chamber beneath near the feet of the Sphinx but additional research was not followed-up.
The current theory about the Sphinx is that it is far too young to have been built or influenced by a civilization that was as ancient as that of Atlantis. On cue, in the 1990’s some scientist would put forth that the Sphinx was not build in 2500 BC but rather 10500 BC. These scientist theorize that he weathering of the Sphinx is unique to water damage, not wind damage, and that the water damage could only have occurred around 10000 BC. More seismic readings were done and those reading seem to indicate that there is a chamber near one of the Sphinx’s paws.
Because the predictions of a chamber of knowledge beneath the Sphinx came from a ‘psychic’, mainstream scientists and Egyptologist have dug in their heels and refuse to even investigate the possibility. Permission to excavate or even do additional sonar mapping by independent researchers has been routinely denied. Some speculate that prominent Egyptian experts do not want any discoveries that would indicate anyone other than Egyptians built any of the monuments within Egypt. Oddly, in 2010, a mysterious video surfaced showing that someone was doing excavation near the Sphinx (best viewed with the sound off). Since the video surfaced conspiracy theories have abound that someone doesn’t want us, the public, to know what is really located beneath the Sphinx. Whether the video is a hoax or not is really unimportant. For those who are deeply curious about Atlantis, the refusal to even investigate what the chamber is beneath the Sphinx’s paws is very frustrating and suspicion is warranted.
The leading theory at this time about the location of Atlantis is that it lies within the Mediterranean Sea. This is the leading hypothesis because it is so close to places like Crete, Sardinia, Sicily, and Troy. There was an eruption of a volcano in this region around the 17th or 16th century which resulted in a record-breaking tsunami. This could have been large enough to wipe out an entire city-island, and made it look as if the island disappeared because the water table rose in the area. One also has to remember that the story of the lost city of Atlantis was translated at least twice before it was written down in Greek, which has since been translated again.
The research into Atlantis will likely continue. In 2011 with the National Geographic Channel Atlantis Search special looked for the lost city on the Atlantic coast near Spain. This theory was also using a tsunami to destroy the island; however this placed the island off the coast of Spain. This search yielded few results, however there are other scientists that also believe that the Atlantic ocean and the area around Europe hold the key to finding the lost city of Atlantis. Another interesting theory regarding Atlantis is that Atlantis was in South America. New research has uncovered huge areas around the Amazon reveal large scale agriculture was taking place thousands of years ago.
The legend of Atlantis lives on just as mysterious as the day that Plato first told it. The day it is found will no doubt be a turning point in how humanity veiws itself and humanities past.
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