Tuesday, January 22, 2013

atlantis

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Over 11,000 years ago there supposedly was a continent located in the middle of the Atlantic ocean populated with a noble and very powerful race. The people had great wealth along with advanced knowledge before their time. This continent had many beautiful cities and sites. This great place is the Legend of the lost continent of Atlantis, but is Atlantis just a myth or a reality.

A Greek philosopher, Plato, first recorded the story of Atlantis. Plato first heard the tale of Atlantis from stories that were passed down from generation to generation from Solon, a Greek traveler and historian from Egypt. Solon received the story of Atlantis while staying with Egyptian priests. And Solon then brought the story to Greece (Stein 1). Plato then told of two accounts of Atlantis. These accounts were Timeaus and Critias. A summary of the two accounts is that Atlantis was the domain of Poseidon, the god of the sea. When Poseidon fell in love with a mortal woman, Cleito, he created a dwelling at the top of a hill near the middle of the continent and surrounded the dwelling with rings of water and land to protect her. Cleito gave birth to five sets of twin boys who became the first rulers of Atlantis.






The continent was divided among the brothers with the eldest, Atlas, first King of Atlantis, being given control over the central hill and surrounding areas. At the top of the central hill, a temple was built to honor Poseidon that housed a giant gold statue of Poseidon riding a chariot pulled by winged horses. It was here that the rulers of Atlantis would come to discuss laws, pass judgments, and pay tribute to

Poseidon (Braymer -11).

To facilitate travel and trade, a water canal was cut through of the rings of land and water running south for 5.5 miles ( km) to the sea. The city of Atlantis sat just outside the outer ring of water and spread across the plain covering a circle of 11 miles (1.7 km). This was a densely populated area where the majority of the population lived, called the “Royal City.” In the “Royal City” there were beautiful palaces and mountains all over the continent. Surrounding the “Royal City” was ten towns. Each town had a fertile plain, about 0 miles (50 km) long and 110 miles (10 km) wide surrounded by another canal used to collect water from the rivers and streams of the mountains (Wilke 1-1). The climate was such that two harvests were possible each year. One in the winter, fed by the rains and one in the summer, fed by irrigation from the canal. Surrounding the plain to the north were mountains which soared to the skies. Villages, lakes, rivers, and meadows dotted the mountains. Besides the harvests, the continent provided all kinds of herbs, fruits, and nuts. And an abundance of animals roamed the continent (Braymer 5).

For generations the Atlanteans lived simple, virtuous lives. The Atlanteans



were literate and very intelligent. They had written many works and laws, and often covered their materials with copper, bronze or gold (Stein 0). They also had a tradition of fighting bulls without the use of weapons. They worshiped bulls and had great respect for them. But slowly they began to change their ways. Greed and power began to corrupt them. The Atlanteans tried to expand their domain. They went out and tried to conquer Greece, but they could not withstand the Greek’s military and they were defeated and forced to retreat. When Zeus saw the immorality of the Atlanteans he gathered the other gods to determine a suitable punishment. Soon, in one violent surge it was gone (Braymer 55-56). The sea swallowed the continent of Atlantis, its people, and its memory. According to Plato, the time period that Atlantis was destroyed was around 600 BC (Stein ). Now that we know the story of Atlantis according to Plato, where was the lost continent of Atlantis located?

There are many theories on where the lost continent of Atlantis is located. One theory is that Atlantis is located in the Caribbean. The Caribbean is a set of islands of different shape and could possibly be the lost continent of Atlantis. Some evidence has been shown, such as the underwater walls and roads. But these primitive roads are 10,000 miles away from Egypt, and had no connection with Egypt at all. How could a civilization travel that far? Besides these roads, there is no other evidence leaning toward the Caribbean as being an ancient nation. A possible explanation is that these roads are a layer of strata rock that was originally



volcanic, but has erodedlman 4 away. Nevertheless, whether explained or unexplained, these roads are not connected to Atlantis in any way (Wilke 44-45).

Another theory on where Atlantis could be located is in the Atlantic Ocean. Many believe that Atlantis occupied the Atlantic, obviously drawing this

conclusion from its name. Atlantis was possibly on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, an underground mountain range. But this is near impossible, because this ridge is spread apart, and would have created a volcanic island, especially not near the size of Atlantis (Braymer 7-7). England and India have also been proposed to be the lost continent of Atlantis, but there is no hard evidence to support either of the theories.

There is one other theory that has not been mentioned. In the Mediterranean Sea there is an island near Greece called Crete. On this island of Crete there are ruins of a lost civilization that have been uncovered. Which could mean that the lost continent of Atlantis could possibly be the Lost Minoan Empire.

Crete was the center of the great Minoan Empire that flourished for thousands of years. Its influence covered the entire Mediterranean area. Minoan merchants traveled and traded widely from Syria, to Sicily, and to Western Europe. K.T. Frost, a classical scholar at Queen’s University in Belfast, Ireland, wrote that Crete controlled the sea trade between Europe, Asia, and Africa (Stein 8- ).

Little was known about the Minoans until early in the twentieth century when excavations revealed their buildings, pottery and other artifacts on the islands of



Crete and nearby Thera. The Minoans appear to have been very wealthy and very sophisticated. They were leaders in fashion, jewelry, artwork, and metalworking.

They loved sports, music, and dancing. They had a tradition of bullfighting without weapons. Excavations also revealed remains of statues of bulls and of other gods like Posiedon (laketech 1). The Minoans also had indoor bathrooms with running water.

If one would look at the Minoan’s carefully they would realize that the Minoan’s where part of the Bronze Age, where bronze was common and it would be used to cover their possessions. They also had a laid back and rich culture. They were at the height of their power between 1500 BC. and 100 BC., but were suddenly and immediately stopped dead, when one of the islands of Crete blew up, causing the strongest earthquake in human history (Stein -40). On Crete their “Royal City” was at the marveled Knossos, where they built great palaces. This city was surrounded by a great fertile plain and surrounded by mountains. With rich trading ports. They had nine other towns on the islands that were also very rich trading ports. Their main island, being twelve miles in diameter, had a system of canals and harbors in the interior, with what appears to have been a hollowed place in the center (Braymer 8-84). They were originally a peaceful nation, but then they began to feud with the Greek City of Mycenne. The Mycenae invaded the Crete and soon after there was a volcanic eruption on the island Thera, an island part of the Minoan Empire. The explosions from the volcanic eruption were so strong that it



caused massive earthquakes and massive waves that would reach 45 to 100 feet high. The massive water attacks, called tsunami hit the island of Crete along with the violent earthquakes. Which sent fires raging through the villages destroying everything. Then the volcano covered the island of Crete with layers of ashes (Stein 40). Thus, destroying the Minoan Empire. The stories of Atlantis and the Minoan Empire are very similar, but both nations were supposedly destroyed during two different time periods.

Seismologist Angelos Galanopoulos suggested that the islands of Thera and Crete were part of Plato’s Atlantis. He also thought that Plato’s numbers were ten times too large. Plato said that the fertile plain was about ,000 stadia wide by ,000 stadia long. That was two large of an area for it to fit in the Aegean Sea, where the Crete and Thera islands are located. Galanopoulos figured out that if one would divide the numbers by ten, then the island would be 00 stadia wide by 00 stadia long, a reasonable size for an Aegean island (41-4).

This mathematical error would also explain the problem with Plato’s dates. Plato dated Atlantis at ,000 years before Solon’s visit to Egypt, in 600 BC. If one would divide ,000 by ten then they would get 00. Add 00 years to Solons 600 BC. visit and one would get 1500 BC, the time of Thera’s eruption. Galanopoulos explained the mathematical error by saying that either Solon had made the error, or the Egyptian priests had made the mistake. The Egyptian symbol for 100 and 1000 is very similar. And the symbol for 100 could have been easily confused with the



symbol for 1000 (4-4).

The cultures between Plato’s Atlantis and the Minoan Empire are very similar. They both had the same pottery styles, the same kind of enemies, the same kind of interest with bull riding. They had the same kinds of gods and statues. Both nations worshiped and respected bulls. They both worshiped Posiedon, and both gave some power to women. Which leads many to believe that the lost continent of Atlantis is in fact the Lost Minoan Empire. And that Atlantis was located in the Aegean Sea either on the island of Crete or Thera. However, there is still not enough evidence to specifically link Thera and Crete and the Minoans with the lost continent of Atlantis.

The Legend of the lost continent of Atlantis is a myth, but it is also a reality. Even though there may never be enough evidence to prove if the lost continent of Atlantis was real. But the Legend of Atlantis will always live on. And according to Plato Atlantis will rise again.







Works Cited

Bowman, John The Quest for Atlantis.

New York Doubleday and Co., 171.

Braymer, Majorie. Atlantis The Biography of a Legend.

New York Atheneum, 18.

Laketech. TheLost Continent of Atlantis [Online] Available

http//www.l;aketech.com/AD_LCHTML 16.

Stein, Wendy. Atlantis Opposing Viewpoints.

Sand Diego Greenhaven Press, 18.

Wilke, Katharine E., and Elizabeth R. Moseley. Atlantis.

New York Julian Messner, 17.



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