The legend of the continent of Atlantis
Two giant pieces of that rock fell into the sea, forming the Puerto Rico Trench, and other pieces of it hit different places on the earth, including what hit the earth's crust in sensitive places... Atlantis was rocked by devastating earthquakes, and the entire island fell into a trap of fire, and sank into the bottom of the ocean. Nothing was left in place except the tops of the nine lava-covered volcanoes that today make up the Azores.
The legend of Atlantis
The legend of Atlantis, which appeared in Greek literature (the writings of Plato in particular), and the literature that followed indicates the existence of an ancient, developed civilization that existed thousands of years ago in the Atlantic Ocean beyond the Strait of Gibraltar. And that civilization was, according to the belief of those who believe in this legend, a vast land, with the gardens of the Hesperides, that is, the western gardens. This myth preoccupied researchers, writers, and historians throughout the ages, and they differed among themselves about the possibility of the existence of this civilization or not, and they also differed about its place and the cause of its annihilation.
The story of Atlantis as told by Plato
Professor Muhammad Al-Azab Musa mentions in his book “Lost Civilizations”1 that the Greek philosopher “Plato”
(The date of his birth differs between 428-423 BC and the date of his death between 348-347 BC.)
He was the first to record the story of this lost civilization in the historical records (that is, he wrote it down on paper); As it is in about the year 350 BC. Plato mentioned the story of Atlantis in the context of two of his famous dialogues, "Timaeus" and "Critias".
It seems that Plato intended to write a trilogy, in which the story of Atlantis occupies a prominent place, but he only accomplished one dialogue from it, and part of the second dialogue; The first is entitled “Timaeus” and the second is entitled “Critias.” Like the other dialogues of Plato, his teacher Socrates plays the main role in these two dialogues. Hermocrates, a military commander from Syracuse.
And these four are the same ones whom Plato included years earlier in his famous dialogue on the “Republic”, in which he promised to write a new trilogy during which the discussion between the four men will continue in detail about the ideal government.
And Plato made these four men meet in the house of “Critias” on a June day in the year 421 BC.
The "Timaeus" dialogue is supposed to start on the day following the end of the discussion mentioned in the "Republic" dialogue.
Republic conversations
The four men start by remembering the main points of their previous dialogues, then “Harmocrates” refers to an old story mentioned in the ancient heritage, which he mentioned that “Critias” knows it well. And a half years ago, the great Athenian legislator “Solon” visited Egypt (“Solon” is a real person who actually visited Egypt, but his trip took place in about 590 BC, that is, about 20 years earlier than the date given by Plato) and while he was in “Sais”, which is An Egyptian city in the north of the Delta that had close relations with Athens. A number of Egyptian priests told him the story of “Atlantis,” a story described by “Solon” as “definitely true despite its strangeness.”
Recording the legend of Atlantis
Solon intended to record it in his book so that the world would know it after him, but he did not do so, and contented himself with telling it to one of his relatives called “Dropides”, who in turn told it to his son “Critias”, the eldest, and through him it reached his grandson “Critias”, who participates in this dialogue with Socrates and others.
The story of the Egyptian priests and Atlantis
And “Critias” tells in the dialogue “Timaeus” how the Egyptian priests informed “Solon” that, according to the ancient records they had, there was a great Athenian empire 9000 years ago (that is, about 9600 BC), and it was contemporaneous at the same time with another great empire called “ Atlantis »is located on a large island the size of a continent, behind the Pillars of Hercules
(currently the Strait of Gibraltar).
This continent was larger than North Africa and Asia Minor combined, and farther back a chain of islands stretched across the ocean reaching another huge continent.
Description of the Continent of Atlantis” as recorded by “Plato”
“Plato” continues to complete the story of “Atlantis” in the second dialogue, “Critias”, and a detailed description of the continent island appears, since the emergence of civilization on earth, when the earth was divided among the gods and “Poseidon”, the god of the sea and earthquakes, singled out the island of “Atlantis”, but he loves a girl from the sons of Humans called Cleito lived on a hill in Atlantis, and in order to prevent anyone from approaching her, Poseidon encircled the hill on top of which she lived, with successive rings of earth and water, “two rings of earth and three rings of water.” He supplies the hill with enough water and food, “and makes two springs of water emerge from the ground. The one is hot and the other cold, and makes food come forth abundantly from that land.”
Poseidon rules the world
Poseidon gave birth to five pairs of male twins from Cleito, who divided the country among them, and they ruled it jointly, headed by the first son of the eldest twin, called Atlas (after whom the island was named). These kings gave birth to many children, and their descendants continued to rule the country for successive generations after them. And "Atlantis" developed, and huge engineering and agricultural facilities were established in it, including palaces and temples, ports and docks, and agriculture and mining flourished in it. The city of Atlantis, which extended around the hill of Clito with its successive rings, was located on the southern shore of the island of Atlantis. It was a round city, like a castle with a circumference of three miles. The kings built bridges linking the land rings surrounding the hill of "Klito" (which is in the middle of the city), and tunnels through which ships passed from one water ring to another. They also erected massive rock walls, inlaid with precious metals, around the wilderness rings. As for the whole city, it is surrounded by a huge wall.
The destruction of Atlantis as told by Plato
The inhabitants of "Atlantis" continued to rule their central island in addition to several other islands, as well as parts of the large continent on the other side of the ocean, but they were not satisfied with what they had of lands and goods, so they decided one day to expand beyond their borders in which they continued to live in generation after generation, as mentioned. Plato on the tongue of the Egyptian priests, who told the news of this city
They said: “All this great force has gathered together and resolved to subdue at one stroke our country, your country, and the whole region beyond the strait.”
Their armies advanced east to the Mediterranean region, seizing North Africa to the borders of Egypt, and southern Europe to Greece, but Athens, which was standing alone, was able to defeat the Atlanteans, but natural factors destroyed both sides. After that there were violent earthquakes and floods, and in one day and night of destruction your warriors were buried underground. Likewise the island of Atlantis disappeared in the same way in the depths of the sea; and for this reason the sea in those parts is not navigable, for there is much shallow mud in the way, on account of the island being beneath it. Socrates rejoices at the story of Critias, which he describes as having “many qualities that make it real and not just a fantasy.” However, the rest of his interlocutor "Timaeus" later revolves around science, and the news of "Atlantis" remains truncated at this point.
lost civilization
Although "Plato" confirms that the story of the lost civilization is taken from ancient Egyptian records, this story was not found directly in the records that were revealed in the Egyptian antiquities, or other remnants of any people who lived before the time of Plato. Thus, the story of “Plato” remained the first and only reference for the legend of “Atlantis”, and all that was written about it later in terms of books and articles depends on the story of “Plato” alone, whether in addition or interpretation.
Atlantis in Greek history
Among the reliable historians who have been exposed to this story «H. c. Wales». He denies the story as it was mentioned in Greek literature, but at the same time he adopts the opinion of Reginald Fessenden, who studied the stories related to Atlantis, and concluded that the accounts on this subject do not necessarily mean the existence of a civilization that existed in the Atlantic Ocean, but rather refer to What he considers to be a civilization that was at one time in history much more important than “Atlantis”,2 it was based in the parts of the Caucasus, and was flooded one day. Also among the trusted historians who have been exposed to the legend of Atlantis is the famous historian Will Durant, who believes that these accounts, although they seem legendary, must be taken seriously. He believes that it may refer to the Easter Island civilization in the Pacific Ocean, or it may refer to an advanced civilization that was in America.
The story of the sunken Atlantis
It has become part of the folkloric human heritage. While it cannot be recognized by traditional archeology, neither can populist belief abandon it. Not everything that science does not prove is invalid. Even legends contain seeds of truth. At a time when senior researchers do not acknowledge this story, on the other hand, senior researchers support it as well. The debate and search for the location of Atlantis never ends.
Searching for the continent of Atlantis
Since Plato's death, many have ventured in search of the lost city, which has natural beauty and great wealth. The researchers differed in the time period in which "Atlantis" existed, between 12000 to 3500 BC. They also differed in its location, so different places were suggested for the location of an island, city, or continent, Atlantis. Some see its presence in South Africa, Crete, the Bahamas, Sri Lanka, or Spain. One of the modern theories linked "Atlantis" with one of the regions located in the Strait of Gibraltar, which had sunk in the sea 11 thousand years ago...etc. From time to time, an article, research, or book is published on the story of Atlantis, and the number of articles, research, and books that talk about this mystery has risen to more than 10,000.
Discover the island of Atlantis
The media monitors research and studies that deal with any reference to Atlantis. In this regard, a few years ago, the BBC quoted Dr. Rainer Coehn from the German University of Obertal as saying that he might have discovered the remains of the lost city of Atlantis. Where satellite images taken of southern Spain revealed that the land there matches the description written by Plato about Atlantis; It is believed that the “island of Atlantis” refers to a part of the coast in southern Spain that was destroyed as a result of floods between 800 and 500 BC.
The effects of the sunken Atlantis
The pictures show the salty area known as “Marisma de Henokhs” near the city of “Cadiz”; Two rectangular buildings in mud, and parts of rings that may once have surrounded them. Dr. Rainer said: “Plato wrote about an island surrounded by circular buildings, some of which are made of mud and others of water. What the pictures show is exactly what Plato described.” Dr. "Rainer" believes that the rectangular buildings may be the remains of the "silver" temple dedicated to the sea god "Poseidon" and the "golden" temple dedicated to "Poseidon" and "Clito" as stated in the book "Plato".
And he adds: “Plato mentioned that Atlantis was built of copper. And there is copper in the mines that are in the Sierra Morena mountains.”
The destruction of the continent of Atlantis by meteorites
Accounts differed about how "Atlantis" was destroyed and then caused its disappearance. Many hypotheses and theories have been put forward on this subject. Some of them believe that it sank into the earthly eclipse, and some see that it was flooded by the waters of the tyrant sea, but the strangest hypothesis is the one put forward by the Austrian engineer “Otto Henrik Mock” (1892-1956 AD), in his book “The Secret of Atlantis”, which was published in 1976 AD after The death of the author about twenty years. Mok is a brilliant engineer, who contributed to the development of submarines and missiles, and registered nearly 2,000 patents in his name. And he did research in geophysics and history. 3 It is fortunate for “Plato” that someone like “Muck” sees that he (i.e. Plato) was truthful in what he said about “Atlantis”, not, as some believe, that Plato’s signs are nothing more than imaginary signs that have nothing to do with reality. ; As "Mok" converted to Plato, and he thought that "Atlantis" was located behind the Strait of Gibraltar, as is understood from the words of "Plato", which indicates that it was behind the Strait of "Hercules".
The end of Atlantis
“Mok” believes that the end of “Atlantis” was, as “Plato” himself sees, in the deviation of the stars from their path, and the destruction of everything on earth by fire; The star referred to by “Plato” was an asteroid with a diameter of about 10 km, and belonged to what is known as the “Adonis” group asteroids, which revolve around the sun in eccentric orbits, and rushed towards Earth from the northern side of the sky.
It elaborates on the description of the pillars of flame that ignited in the sky, as a result of the asteroid entering the earth's atmosphere.
And he adds that: two giant pieces of that rock fell into the sea, forming the Puerto Rico Trench, and other pieces of it hit different places on the earth, including what hit the earth’s crust in sensitive places, which is the Atlantic mountain range, so volcanoes erupted, whose ashes covered the earth’s atmosphere, The sky was covered with veils of dust and smoke. Atlantis was rocked by devastating earthquakes, and the entire island was engulfed in fire, and it sank to the bottom of the ocean. Nothing was left in place except for the lava-covered summits of the nine volcanoes that today make up the Azores. The impact of the asteroid explosion was not limited to “Atlantis” alone, but extended to affect all of the Earth. The northeastern side of North America, for example, sank into the Atlantic, while the northwestern side rose over the Pacific Ocean, raising structures and cities from sea level to the heights of the present Andes.
And "Mok" provides physical evidence of this disaster, the sudden extinction of the "mammoth" elephants. Mok believes that the collision made the earth oscillate in its rotation, so the North Pole tilted to the extent that the climate changed dramatically, so Siberia - for example - turned into a large refrigerator, whose extreme cold eliminated the "mammoth" animal. Mok believes that this scenario is the closest to explaining the ice age that befell the Earth during the tenth millennium BC.
Mok also believes that the event was behind the great floods that swept across the earth as a result of the effects of suspended dust in the atmosphere, forming the flood mentioned in the Bible.
He cites archaeological evidence that confirms the occurrence of the flood, from the results of the missions that excavated in the Ur region in Iraq.
It is interesting that the scenario presented by “Mock” regarding the explanation of the disappearance of “Atlantis” could be logical, in light of the studies concerned with the effects of meteorite shocks on Earth and other planets in the solar system. Indeed, Mok is rightfully considered a pioneer in some ideas about the relationship of meteorite shocks and volcanic eruptions. Subsequent studies emerged adopting the idea that meteorite shocks were behind the activity of hot spots on Earth, which lead to volcanic eruptions, and even contribute to the cleavage of continents.
Source: websites