Atlantis Found?

[LitmusDragon]

I think the inspiration was likely Crete, Thera, or Troy. Did I read that right in the article that the new site was found "in mud flats in southern Spain". So, not even an island? That seems like a stretch.

At least it's not as bad a claim as those suspicious-looking rocks off Bimini (which, really, are just some rocks).

 

[Locutus of Bored]

I wonder why this Atlantis myth could manifest itself so strongly in people's minds. It only originated in Plato's dialogues Timaeus and Critias. He made it up.

Like Troy was completely made up by Homer, as it was thought to be during the Enlightenment despite it earlier being considered historical?

While it's certainly possible that Plato just made it up, there's no reason why he couldn't have embellished on a real location.

I think the inspiration was likely Crete, Thera, or Troy. Did I read that right in the article that the new site was found "in mud flats in southern Spain". So, not even an island? That seems like a stretch.

This is what they're claiming it might have looked like at the time before being destroyed by a tsunami:

They say that some ruins beneath the swamp suggest the concentric ring island structure of Atlantis, but nothing has been excavated yet as far as I'm aware (I didn't catch the NatGeo episode), so there's probably a lot of guesswork (and possibly a rough outline based on sensor data) going on.

But there is other evidence from surrounding memorial cities and so forth that supports the idea.

 

[B.J.]

I kinda half-watched the show while doing something else. It seemed to me that they were seeing circles and patterns in places that I couldn't see at all. Then again, if they're experienced archaeologists, they're used to finding things that others can't.

The only reason I give the whole Atlantis thing even half a thought is because of Troy.

 

[JarodRussell]

He could've been inspired by some earlier legend, no?

That's the point. There is NOTHING that came before that. Even people living in Plato's time didn't believe it. Atlantis is just a fictional demonstration of an ideal state.

Unlike Troy, which is documented even before Homer wrote about it.

 

[Scout101]

Always liked the idea of it being beneath the Red Sea, personally. Make it happen a bit earlier, before sea levels rise enough to flood the Red Sea and make it part of the ocean, and you can knock off a bunch of early myths at once. It would have been a fertile area, so likely populated. Located so that stories of it would reach most of the civilized areas in the region, and could account for plenty of the Flood myths (including Noah) as well...

 

[Candlelight]

Yeah, a lost island could've been barely populated and included on some crude, ancient map but gotten some mysticism attached to it after it disappeared.

Sort of like the Marie Celeste, or Flying Dutchman.

Just throwing random legends into the mix here...

 

[Starbreaker]

I'll believe it when I actually get to dive down somewhere and see it for myself.

 

[Sector 7]

Atlantis is Thera. Really.

Atlantis is not Thera... itsa over Hera.

 

[Australis]

^ Droll, very droll.

If you include Crete, Thera is at the centre of a circle of islands. And new data portrays the volcano being dormant with an island in the middle where people lived. Pretty much matches the descriptions.

Bettany Hughes (who for me does for archaeology what Nigella Lawson does for cooking has 4 excellent documentaries about this time and place, 'Helen of Troy', Pts !&2 (about Troy etc), 'The Minotaur's Island' (about Crete), and 'Atlantis - The Evidence' (about Thera). Highly recommended, and I'm sure, available form your regular sources. She's pretty clued up and good at what she does.

 

[danellis]

They find a new Atlantis every year, why should this year be any different?

Way to be topical, BTW, blaming it on a tsnumai :|

dJE

 

[Mr Awe]

I watched the documentary last night, interesting. The scientists are a group of believers so there is a definite danger of them seeing what they want to see. However, having said that, they have a hypothesis based on preliminary data that they should be able to prove or disprove (with outside observers).

They've got 2 specific locations. One in a mud flat that they can excavate and another at the bottom of the sea that they can dive to. There's no smoking gun yet. In fact, there's not a whole lot of concrete evidence of anything. Basically, they've detected shapes underground that match (so they say), Plato's description. They also made the claim that the description of Atlantis matches the description of a city mentioned in the Bible and a city that was documented in ancient times. They make the claim that all 3 cities were really one, Atlantis. Interesting circumstantial evidence but far from concrete.

As of the time of the documentary, they haven't started excavating yet. The proof will be in the pudding. At the very least, they should be able to determine one way or the other with a little digging.

As for being topical with tsunami, while your knowledge and appreciation of tsunamis may be relatively recent, they've been known for a long time. In fact, this specific region in Spain has geological evidence of not one but multiple tsunamis.

Mr Awe

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

Do you recall the name of the city as it was referred to in the Bible?

 

[Mr Awe]

I don't unfortunately, I'm not much into the Bible so it didn't ring a bell with me. Oh, and they had also linked it to a city that was known to the ancient Egyptians. I don't remember that name either! Sorry!

Mr Awe

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

Was it Tarshish?

http://www.spiritandtruthministries...Nations Bible Prophecy/Atlantis Tarshish.html

Although you might think that this web page might be completely nutty from the URL and domain name, its contents don't seem that unreasonable. I like the idea of a connection with the attacks by the "Sea people" at the end of the Bronze Age.

 

[Mr Awe]

It is! And, that web page even mentions the area that is the subject of the documentary: Donana National Park on the south coast of Spain.

Mr Awe

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

I don't necessarily give the theory a lot of credence -- lots of places have been proposed for the location of Tarshish (Yemen coast, Sardinia, Levant) -- and the date doesn't fit that given by Plato, but as previously mentioned, he was concerned with making a philosophical point and not with being historically accurate. If they start digging up artefacts that confirm the theory, that's another thing entirely.

 

[Mr Awe]

Yeah, I wasn't convinced myself. Right now they have some unsupported theories and some vague shapes underground.

The good thing is that they have a very specific place to dig so it should be easy enough to determine if they are correct or not.

Mr Awe

 

[RJDiogenes]

I can see why it was only an hour long. They didn't have much, but I do think they are on to something. The underwater stuff didn't impress me (reminds me of something similar off the coast of Japan), but the evidence for a buried city is strong. Atlantis is still Crete as far as I'm concerned, though; nothing much here to convince me otherwise yet.

Bettany Hughes (who for me does for archaeology what Nigella Lawson does for cooking has 4 excellent documentaries about this time and place, 'Helen of Troy', Pts !&2 (about Troy etc), 'The Minotaur's Island' (about Crete), and 'Atlantis - The Evidence' (about Thera). Highly recommended, and I'm sure, available form your regular sources. She's pretty clued up and good at what she does.

I can't find Atlantis, but I've added Minotaur's Island to my Shopping Cart. Thanks.

 

[Capn Flukie]

Bettany Hughes is so hot. Sounds like he place they found is more likely Atlantisn't.

 

[Australis]

I can see why it was only an hour long. They didn't have much, but I do think they are on to something. The underwater stuff didn't impress me (reminds me of something similar off the coast of Japan), but the evidence for a buried city is strong. Atlantis is still Crete as far as I'm concerned, though; nothing much here to convince me otherwise yet.

Bettany Hughes (who for me does for archaeology what Nigella Lawson does for cooking has 4 excellent documentaries about this time and place, 'Helen of Troy', Pts !&2 (about Troy etc), 'The Minotaur's Island' (about Crete), and 'Atlantis - The Evidence' (about Thera). Highly recommended, and I'm sure, available form your regular sources. She's pretty clued up and good at what she does.

I can't find Atlantis, but I've added Minotaur's Island to my Shopping Cart. Thanks.

Atlantis is an ep of the ongoing BBC Timewatch series, if that's any help.