History - The Lost City of Atlantis
Plato
Around 350 BC,
Plato wrote about a beautiful island in the Atlantic Ocean that went under the ocean waves in one day and one night. It took two books to describe the history and details of this almost
magical island. For years people have been looking for this mysterious
lost city, Atlantis.
Living In Atlantis
Plato describes the Atlantians as great
engineers and architects. There were palaces, harbors, temples and docks. The capital city was built on a hill and surrounded by rings of water, which were joined by tunnels large enough for
a ship to sail through. A huge canal connected the outer rings of water to the ocean. On the outskirts of the
capital city
there were huge fields where farmers grew the city's food. Past the
field there were mountains where wealthy villagers lived. Plato goes
great detail about the
amazing buildings - complete with hot and cold fountains, shared dining halls and
stone walls covered with
precious metals.
Atlantis - Just A Story?
For over two thousand years the story of Atlantis was
just a story. Then, in the late 1800s, an American named Ignatius Donnelly became fascinated with the story and wrote a book called
Atlantis, the Antediluvian World, which became a bestseller. Ignatius studied
flood history from Egypt to Mexico and believed that
Plato was recording an actual
natural disaster. Since then, several books have been written about the lost city.
Atlantis - Facts And Fiction
The most believable theory about Atlantis came from the Greek archaeologist
Angelos Galanopoulos in the late '60s. He theorized that around 1500 BCE, a massive eruption from a
volcano ripped apart the island of Santorini in the
Mediterranean and probably wiped out most of the civilization on the
Greek islands and regions of Greece. Angelos suggested this disaster is the one that
sank Atlantis. If this is so, then he must have his
dates wrong - or does he? He reasons that when the story was being translated, the
Egyptian symbol
for 100 (a coiled rope) was mistaken for the symbol for 1000 (a lotus
flower). This changes the date from 9000 years ago to 900 years ago. The
only thing wrong with this
explanation is that Plato specifically said the city was near the
Pillars of Hercules, which are thought to be nowhere near Greece.
Where Could Atlantis Be?
The
exact location of the lost city of Atlantis has been
questioned by many people, like British Royal Air Force photo
interpreter J.M. Allen. He is convinced Atlantis is in Altiplano, near
the
Andes Mountains, in Bolivia. The famous psychic channeler
Edgar Cayce believed the remains would be found off the coast of Florida
near Bimini Island. Other people think it's lost somewhere in
Central America, the China Sea or Africa. Others believe that Atlantis is nothing more than
a myth.