TinWiki: Atlantis

"Empire of Atlantis", Donelly's influential map

Atlantis is a fabled island-continent from the distant past, destroyed by a cataclysm and sunken beneath the ocean waves.

General information

Plato is largely responsible for the idea of "Atlantis". He discussed its organization, history, downfall and implications in a series of works, thought to be a trilogy, but only the first was completed, the second unfinished. They are the Critias and Timaeus. Plato sets the story up as a dialogue between friends, who talk about Atlantis, as it was told to them by Solon, who himself was taught about it by the Egyptians. In Plato's works, Atlantis is a continent 'beyond the pillars of hercules' that is greater than 'Libya and Asia combined'. It is ruled by 10 kings, composed of concentric rings of land and sea. It is a great naval and trading power, having established an empire over across the sea up to but excluding Egpyt and Athens. In a single day, the island nation of Atlantis is destroyed and becomes submerged.

Prior to Plato, Hellanicus had written a work titled Atlantis, a fragment of which survives. However, this small fragment does not discuss the mythic-legendary island nation.

Much later, in 1882, Ignatius Donnelly published Atlantis: The Antediluvian World. This treatsie covered the evidence for Atlantis having existed, and provided a wealth of current scientific and historical information and evidence supporting its existence. This book re-awoke the western world to the idea of Atlantis.

It was not long afterwards that the idea of Atlantis grew from merely a lost, but primitive, civilization, into one that had technology far more advanced than even modern man.

Helena Blatvasky, prominent seer of the theosophic movement, channeled ancient sages who informed her of the wonderous civilization of Atlantis. Edgar Cayce, the Sleeping Prophet, related tales about its technology, submergence, and soon-to-come reappearance.

Location

The classical idea about Atlantis is that it was a large continent (Libya and Asia being parts of North Africa and the modern Levant to Plato) in the Atlantic Ocean.

Others have postulated that it was really Antarctica, before being covered with ice sheets.

Some have theorized that it was actually the Americas, or perhaps even specifically Alti Plano in South America.

Most recently, it has been suggested that the island of Cyprus is partially submerged and that it is Atlantis.

A very popular theory is that Atlantis is a civilization that existed in the Aegean, around and on the island of Santorini, destroyed cataclysmically by the explosive eruption of the volcano Thera.

Lastest theories, points that Atlantis was near Iberia or Hibernia (Spanish Penninsula). Tartessos, that society, at bronce age, was very advanced to other societies at same age, historians has no explanation about it, because it very advanced civilization and technology at that age. South West of the Iberian Penninsula, too suffered a massive water affluence from Atlantic Ocean and got underwater in a day under the water as Plato said and few coastline is today in underwater. It was part of an actual valley near Gibraltar stretch (beside Hercules columns). Actuallly it is underwater around the coast. Jaen, actual city of Spain, has a circular structure as was usual at Atlantis, its is a living legacy from Atlantis. Greeks too say that there was a war against Atlantis in the old ages, when he relates the disaster of Atlantis, 'the sea peoples'. Greeks were winning the battle for the Atlantean empire, that was in that age (around 9000 AC) since actual Italy and since Siria from Iberian Penninsula, including Egypt to confirm legend about Pharaons and Atlantis relationship. The Concentric Circular City of Jaén, Andalusia - Images from 'an' Atlantean City









External sites

Critias
Timaeus
Donelly's Atlantis: The Antediluvian World
The Eruption of Thera
Case of the Grooved Spheres - The Klerksdorp Spheres
Case of the Antikythera Mechanism

Relevant discussion threads

Case for Atlantis being South America
Atlantis Found!... maybe
The Atlantis That Was- And Is
Scientist believes Atlantis found
Atlantis finally found, and evidence of a different human race
Could've the Mayan or any other ancient South American civilization have had contact with Atlantis
Possible Evidence that Mayans and Atlantians interacted
Mysterious Islands in the Atlantic
Bible supports Atlantis/Flooded world theory.