Atlantis: Where Can We Find It ....?

[Qop 0]

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Atlantis. Where can we find it?

In the days that science daily performs miracles, people have explored nearly every single place on earth, and we send robots to Mars, people have a need for mysteries. Sadly, we are quite short on mysteries these days, and Atlantis remains among the very few last ones. Many people, varying from DIY explorer idiots to well-known and renowed scientists have searched, theorised and longed for Atlantis. Many theories, some very well possible and others insane, have sprouted from these brave men. Below, I will give you what seems most likely. Then you can give your own thoughts about them.

[While reading, note the numbers between square brackets ([1]). They point down to the end of the page, where I included a few notes]

First, some info concerning Atlantis

Atlantis, the beautiful country

According to Plato, this is what Atlantis looked like. He gave us a very detailed description of it's appearance in what was to be his work. Sadly, he died before he finished it.

The Atlanteans were direct descendants from Poseidon. In Plato's description he said that Atlantis was a big and beautiful country. It's mountains, plain, gardens and all it contained were of incredible beauty. Magical animals lived there, including elephants.

The capital, with red-, white- and black-stoned buildings, had 5 protective rings of walls around them, and several canals within each ring (somewhat like Amsterdam and her grachten or canals). The picture below gives you a good image of how it looked. Note that you can only see four walls, because it's not clear where the fifth wall was positioned. You can also see the harbour.

It was said that ships and trademen from all over the world came to Atlantis to sell and buy goods. On the center island stood their temple and palace, both covered with silver.

They mined valuable materials: gold, silver and orichalkum[1]

After a while they started to think they were the best. Massive structures, richness beyond imagenation. They felt like they should rule the world. So they set out with their massive fleet, conquering every civilization they met. The only one who resisted was Athens. They too had a excellent fleet. Athens crushed the Atlantean fleet, and the warriors of Athens were set ashore. But before they could reach Atlantis' capital, huge earthquakes and enormous floods destroyed the army, as well as the whole of Atlantis. The gods had punished men for their ignorance...

According to Plato this happened 9000 before his birth.

The Theories

Possibility 1: Thera

Thera was a Mediterranean island situated north of Crete.

As you see, Thera is positioned above Crete

On Thera, an island that is currently called Santorini, archeologists found the remains of a flourishing culture. It seemed to be destroyed by a series of catastrophes, like enormous tidal waves and a vulcanic eruptiun (There is a round piece of sea between the small islands. That is the actual crater, and at this magnitude it's called a 'caldera')

Excited, the archeologists immedeately linked Thera to Atlantis, which instantly became a hit.

The end of Thera seems remarkably alike the end of Atlantis. Here are the reasons why Thera could AND couldn't be Atlantis.

Why it COULD+ The destruction was at the same time as Plato described it was
+ Alike Atlantis, Thera was also destroyed by floods and earthquakes
+ Thera had a rich and flourishing culture, with beautiful objects made out of gold and silver.
+ Plato said the Atlanteans were excellent traders, and Thera, concerning it's size, could only have grown this big by trading
Why it COULDN'T- Plato described Atlantis as big as Small-Asia and the North-Africa together. With all due respect, Thera is about as big as a flea compared to those together
- Plato also situated Atlantis 'beyond the columns of Heracles', which we know as the strait of Gibraltar
The 'how likely is this theory to be correct'-mark
Although the negative list is shorter than the positive one, it still represents two major flaws in this theory. But we have to keep in mind that dramatization of the facts is something greek writers liked to do.

My likelymark would be:
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10
||||||||||||||| - 7.5

Possibility 2: The Sahara desert

Some believe the sea didn't swallow Atlantis, but land did. The Sahara desert, situated in North-Africa, was, at the time Atlantis flourished, covered with seas. Well, not entirely of course, because the Atlantean needed a place to live after all. This is where the Atlas comes in. No, not our friendly heaven-carrying minor god, but the mountains in North-Africa.

In this map, showing Morocco, you can see the Atlas from the middle to the upper right corner

They would have raised out of the sea, thus forming a comfy island for the Atlanteans to build their empire on. Scientists have also discovered that the Sahara region enjoyed a temperate climate that would have made it an ideal site for human civilization. Eleven thousand to 12,000 years ago, when the ancient Greeks say Atlantis flourished, the Sahara was lush, fertile land

Artwork etched in Saharan rocks at that time depicts giraffes roaming freely. Archaeologists have also found pictograms of domesticated cattle, horse-drawn chariots, as well as large caravans -- confirming that trade played an important role in the region.

But the alarmingly rapid transformation of the region from paradise to dry desert would have wiped out all agriculture and killed off livestock, and more significantly, as sand encroached on the empire, it made travel nearly impossible -- which would have put an end to an empire based on trade.

The mighty sphinx in Egypt, placed next to the piramid of Cheops

It is said that the Sphinx, which people thought was built by the Egyptians, is actually 9000 years older- again, the time Atlantis flourished.

Furthermore, nomads of the desert constantly stumble across columns and remains of old and lost empires. These could have been the remains of Atlantis, carried some place else by people who used their structures for building their own buildings.

That is also a big problem for this theory: the shifting sands of the Sahara cover the evidence. If yesterday you saw a column somewhere, it could already be gone next day. Same goes for piramides. Scientists estimate we still have to uncover quite a few of them, buried under the sand.

Still, this looks remarkably like Plato described it:

Why this COULD be Atlantis+ It was an excellent place for a civilization to reach such high standards as Plato describes
+ The sea provided perfect trading routes to everywhere
+ They would have lived on the lower Atlas, and the high Atlas would be the mountains Plato described. There also is a plain.
Why this COULDN'T be Atlantis- Plato said that Atlantis was destroyed by earthquakes and tidal waves. But here, the opposite happens![2]
- It's still not big enough
- Nobody has found Archeological proof (yet). Then again, there hasn't been proper Archeological research there.
Although this one seems quite likely, I think I have to see Archeological proof first. If there are clear signs of a flourishing and rich civilization, then this theory could be true.

The 'how likely is theory to be true'-mark
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10
|||||||||||||||| -- 8

Possibility 3: England

You may be surprised to see this, but there is a theory which is quite likely to be true.

They base their theory on something Plato said:

Atlantis was an Island in the Atlantic Ocean, not far from the main land.

They say it is obvious: the only two islands they can think of not too far from shore are England and Ireland. But because Ireland doesn't have high-standard old civilization on them (or at least they're not found yet), their choice was England.

And they have good reasons.

Stonehenge: a massive structure, believed to be used for celtic rituals

Stonehenge. It is a massive structure, consisting of huge rectangular stones with smaller ones placed on top of them. Although many people believe it was built by Stone Age humans, they think Atlanteans built it, in a tribute to Poseidon. The same goes for Avebury[3].

They also point out that in graves near Stonehenge and Avebury people found gold. This is not something you expect to find in some primitive Stone Age grave, but rather in a grave of a rich and welthy human, who was part of a great civilization.

Plato also claims that in Atlantis there was a race-course which could be made smaller or bigger. And surprise surprise, near Stonehenge Archeologists found two race-courses: a small one and a long one, presumably used for chariot-races.

Furthermore, Plato describes warm-water springs near the capital. I already see the English guys thinking: this could only have been Bath, a city famous for itâs hot water springs. Romans, Brits, even Stone-Age humans have enjoyed the warm water which flows from underground.

This is a picture of the Roman Building around the Bath Spa.
The water you see is about 40 degrees celsius.

The buildings, which were red, black and white, were built out of stones which were gathered at Kleitoâs hill, in the center of the city. They say this is Silbury Hill, a vast human-made hill south of Avebury.

Silbury Hill is a 40 metre high hill presumably made by
the same people who made Stonhenge and Avebury

Time to take this evidence into consideration:

Why this COULD be Atlantis+ There is a huge stack of evidence
+ Plato may have heard tales about Celtic tribes living in England, but by the time they reached his ears, the stories had transformed into a miracle story
+ There was a disaster about 9000 years before Plato
Why this COULDN'T be Atlantis- The sizes donât match (again)
- The evidence is spread over a very large area. The Atlantean capital may have been big, but not this big
- I donât see any elephants living in England[4].
These people may have a point, but personally, I think itâs total bull ⌠ehh⌠droppings. It seems like a theory a couple of drunk pseudo-scientists have thought up during their weekly beer night.

The 'how likely is theory to be true'-mark
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10
|||||||||||||| -- 7

Possibility 4: The sunken island

In the Atlantic Ocean, youâll find the Canary Islands, the Azores and several more of these small Islands. They, according to this theory, were once part of Atlantis. They are the last remains and reveal where the island must have been: on the mid-ocean ridge.

The white line represents the mid-ocean ridge

There, a big island could have formed. The islands we currently know as the bahamaâs and the Canary Islands would have been the mountains. It would have looked like this:

Image
The big island in the middle is Atlantis

Because this place became a vulcanic zone, which would have killed an island near it. Huge vulcanic eruptions would have bombarded the land, creating earthquakes and tidal waves. This would have completely destroyed Atlantis, except for A few islands who were out of range.

At Bimini, a Bahama island, some marine archeologists found the remains of ancient structures. Could these be left-overs from the Atlantean culture?
Furthermore, archeologists have found some amazing similarities between Egyptian and Maya- and Aztec cultures, like piramids, drawings, etc. Archeologists also discovered fossils in Egypt and North-America which look remarkably the same. This strongly suggests a land bridge between Africa and South-America. And what land could that have been apart from Atlantis?

Still, this theory has a major flaw in it: the mid-ocean ridge is a place where land constantly shifts, moves and splits. It's highly unlikely that an island could have formed there, let alone remain there unharmed. The conditions would have been pretty rough with earthquakes and vulcanic lavaflows just beneath the earth crust. These were no farming conditions, and trees could not have grown there.

But the reply is simple: 9000 years before Plato, the mid-ocean ridge exploded for the first time. It had been building up power beneath the surface of the island of Atlantis, and suddenly, with crushing force, it exploded out of it's hiding place.

Point taken, time to judge the evidence:

Why this COULD be Atlantis:+ This island is the only one who matches the sizes described by Plato
+ If the island existed, it would have been perfectly suitable for humans to live on
+ It would explain why the Aztecs as well as the Egyptians built Piramides
+ It lays beyond the 'Great columns of Heracles'
Why this COULDN'T be Atlantis- There still is the problem of the mid-ocean ridge. Scientists still don't know exactly when it opened and started spitting lava. It could have been well before 9000 B.P(lato).
- Although near Bimini people found the remains of some civilization, it would be unlikely Plato had known this city (because of it's distance). Therefore, I think there is a lack of archeological evidence.
The 'how likely is theory to be true'-mark
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10
||||||||||||||| -- 7.5

I think this theory is too far-fetched to be true, simply because of the mid-ocean ridge. Even if it had not come to an explosion at the time Atlantis flourished, they certainly would have felt earthquakes and stuf like that. They would have been smart enough to move on, instead of staying in the danger zone.

The final scores:
possibility 1: Thera--------------------7.5
possibility 2: The Sahara desert----8
possibility 3: England-----------------7
possibility 4: The sunken island-----7.5

Of course, these are just a few of a bunch of theories. I selected them on how likely they were. Here are a few places where others situated Atlantis:

• 
  
• Greenland
  
• Sri-Lanka and India
  
• North of Sweden
  
• In the North Sea, where the Rijn, Schelde and Maas reach the sea
  
• Central-America (lost civilization of the Inca's, Maya', etc.)
  
• At Baalbek in Lebanon, where people found enormous megalithic stones
  
• Troj in the west of Turkey
  
• Antarctica
  

As you see quite a list, which continues to expand over the years.

NOTES:
[1]: Orichalkos was a red metal, which, according to Plato had 'the gloss of fire'.

[2]: Some believe that the ancient Greek philosopher misinterpreted an Egyptian word meaning "movement of water."

[3]: Avebury consists of the same rocks like the large ones of Stonehenge, but they are placed in a wide circle and without any rocks on top of them.

Image - Image
These are the Avebury rocks. As you can see, they are placed in a circle

[4]: The people of this theory claim that these were either mammoths who surivived the last Ice Age (called the âSaalienâ) or the âelephantsâ were actually wild haired cows, which werenât seen in greece.

Although these theories all seem likely, they could all be wrong. Atlantis remains a mystery, even in these days. Perhaps it's a completely different place then the above. Perhaps it doesn't exist at all, which als o is a theory: according to them, Plato just describes the perfect city. Anyway, we'll probably never know the truth. And maybe it's good that Atlantis, the great and beautiful country, remains a mystery forever...

QOP


LINKS:
Thera:
A good an short explanation of what happened to Thera
A site that tells the tale of Thera (theory included)
Comparing the info of Plato to Thera

Sahara:
BIG page about Atlantis in the Sahara
Info over Plato's mistake and why Atlantis lies under the Sahara

England
Site made by 'England is Atlantis'-fan
A broader explanation of why people think it was England

The sunken Island
A site with several points why and where Atlantis could have been
A site made by the same people who did a site about Thera. Reccomended
A with a good explanation of what Plato said, and many links to other Atlantis-related websites

Plato's text
The dialog with Critias, Timaeus, Socrates and Hemocrates
The dialog with Socrates, Critias an Timaeus

General
10 possible locations for Atlantis, and brief explanations
A strange map, showing cross-section of Atlantis underseas
A site about the finds on Thera
Nice site about Stonehenge
The official website of the Roman Baths in Bath

[ASR1405241491 0]

I dont think anybody asked for information on where to find atlantis huh? looks like to me plagiarized it from some website just to get enough credits for hosting... thats not cool... but all and all, pretty cool article, except Ive seen so many stuff about Atlantis and all of them suck because they dont really tell you where it is, they are all theories....Welp... see ya...

[Qop 0]

AS a matter of fact, I did write this article myself. It took me 3 days to actually complete it, but I really wrote and researched it myself. Check all my previous posts too if you want, they're all genuine mister policeman.

 

Thanks

 

Bye

 

Reaction still welcome Not from ASR though

[Officer Cartman 0]

Good job man. Very very good article which looked really quite professional. It's hard to know what to think of Atlantis. I mean one factor you haven't really discussed is Plato himself. He was a philosopher so one has to wonder whether he was not just describing a utopia as you mentioned. Also, a lot of facts like that could have been distorted into legends by the time they got to him. I have trouble believing there was a society as large as the one described as him, possibly one smaller but a larger one I think would have to leave some kind of substantial evidence. Anyways, good job and ASR, I would like to see you write as good an article as this. Don't make comments on people's work if you haven't done any better.

[GameUltra 0]

I can't remember all of the facts, but there was some speculation it was Cuba and that a large piece of what it once was (several times greater than Cuba today) was Atlantis and that it somehow broke off and sunk... I think one piece of evidence was an ancient road found underwater near Cuba, but I'm not sure, let me find it and I'll edit my post.

 

Here we go, here is a picture of a low-quality photograph about 2,200 feet beneath the ocean floor near Cuba.

 

And here is a little page on it...

http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/

[Shooting Star Haven 0]

Wow, that was a well-thought of and educational article. Good job on completing it. Sorry you got accused of plagiarism. Some people here are like that. I do think it is easier to just post for the credits (you would probably have gotten it faster that way). Anyway, to me the whole theory of Atlantis is unrealistic. So is the Lochness monster. People are, by nature, mystical. I mean, when I was little, I was scared of the Boogeyman (not the wrestler) but that was when I was little. A grown philosopher named Pluto actually took the time to conjure up the theory. That, too me, is pathetic. There's nothing but fish and stuff down the sea. No city could withstand the pressure in the deep anyway to survive. All I see Atlantis of is a great fairytale story, no way it could be real.

[MrCheap 0]

Another thing is that, if you believe in the idea of Pangea, there should be a huge land mass in between Africa and South America, because all the other continents (almost) fit together like a giant puzzle, so it's likely that Atlantis is there.

[jorbanks 0]

I simply don't think it exists. If it did some bright spark would have worked it out and proved it by now. Surely if we can send someone to the moon we can find a city that we lost.