←
→
orichalcum: (Default)
Add MemoryShare This Entry

Atlantis: The short version

posted by [personal profile] orichalcum at 11:19am on 17/11/2004
Many of you may have seen the claim to have "discovered" Atlantis off the coast of Cyprus last week by an architect named Robert Sarmast. As a professional in the general field, here's the short answer:

  • It's almost certainly wrong - the readings are more consistent with submerged volcanoes, and have been disputed by other experts. Also, there are no signs of sinking or destruction.

  • Much of the crazy Atlantis theories are based on a literal reading of the figures mentioned in Plato's _Timaeus_. Plato uses the story of Atlantis as an allegorical myth, people, and his figures are all amazingly round and perfect numbers. It is not a good source for archaeology.

  • By far the best possibility for any actual "Atlantis" is the Minoan culture on the Aegean island of Santorini/Thera, which exploded in a volcanic eruption around 1450 BCE, changing the island from a round shape to a crescent moon shape. The cultural descriptions do closely match early accounts of Atlantis, including Plato's, and it's at the right point for distant memory. The only factor weighing against the identification is that it does not lie beyond the Straits of Gibraltar (neither does Cyprus, obviously), but it seems probable that Atlantis' location was pushed farther out to the "edges of the earth" as the Greeks explored more territory."


Just in case anyone was wondering.
←
→
There are 6 comments on this entry. (Reply.)
 

(no subject)

posted by [identity profile] ladybird97.livejournal.com at 04:44pm on 17/11/2004
I read that story, and I didn't think it sounded terribly plausible. And it seems like every year or so, someone 'discovers the real Atlantis'! Thanks for clearing this one up.

I also had a weird moment when reading your post, misinterpreting 'Plato's figures' as 'Plato's characters' instead of 'Plato's numbers'. I got this image of perfectly round balloon people floating around Atlantis :)
[link] [reply]
 

(no subject)

posted by [identity profile] digitalemur.livejournal.com at 05:13pm on 17/11/2004
I had _thought_ the Santorini theory was the leading one, thanks for that.

Wait a minute. Minoans.

So could we start crackpot theories that figuring out Linear A would reveal the secrets of Atlantis?
[link] [reply]
 

(no subject)

posted by [identity profile] redhound.livejournal.com at 06:30pm on 17/11/2004
And then we can use the Phaistos Disk to activate the mothership inside the Sphinx!
[link] [parent] [reply]
 

(no subject)

posted by [identity profile] digitalemur.livejournal.com at 07:32pm on 17/11/2004
Dude!

Oh but we better be careful who we tell, or EVERYBODY will want a mothership. Hey, I want a mothership! Why where's _my_ mothership? Oh, we'd never hear the end of it.
[link] [parent] [reply]
 

(no subject)

posted by [identity profile] ladybird97.livejournal.com at 08:05pm on 17/11/2004
[wicked reverb]
I HAVE YOUR MOTHERSHIP. YOU CAN'T HAVE IT BACK.

NYAH NYAH.

[/wicked reverb]
[link] [parent] [reply]
 

(no subject)

posted by [identity profile] digitalemur.livejournal.com at 08:44pm on 17/11/2004
It's mine! Not yours! Damn uppity aliens!
[link] [parent] [reply]

April

SunMonTueWedThuFriSat
      1
1
 2
 
 3
3
 4
 
5
 
 6
1
 7
2
 8
3
 9
1
 10
2
 11
 
12
1
 13
2
 14
 
 15
 
 16
2
 17
3
 18
 
19
1
 20
2
 21
1
 22
1
 23
 
 24
1
 25
 
26
1
 27
 
 28
 
 29
 
 30
1