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[Ausar]

Lost City of Atlantis Found in Spain?


Lost City of Atlantis Found in Spain?
By Rossella Lorenzi, Discovery News
[Satellite Image of Purported Atlantis Site]
Satellite Image of Purported Atlantis Site

June 8, 2004 ? The fabled lost city of Atlantis might lie in a salt marsh region off Spain's southern coast, according to research reported online by the archaeology journal Antiquity.

The study, not yet peer-reviewed by archaeologists, is based on satellite images showing ancient ruins that appear to match descriptions made by the Greek scholar Plato.





Resembling two rectangular buildings, the structures are hidden in a muddy region known as Marisma de Hinojos near the port of Cadiz.

According to Rainer Kühne, of the University of Wuppertal in Germany, descriptions of Atlantis as an "island" simply refer to this part of Spain, destroyed by a flood between 800 and 500 B.C.

Kühne's theory is supported by the presence of the two rectangular features which match temple depictions in Plato's dialogues "Critias" and "Timaios."

Described as "interesting" by Tony Wilkinson, an expert in applications of remote sensing in archaeology at the University of Edinburgh, U.K., the structures are clearly visible in the satellite pictures.

One feature, 230 meters (755 feet) long and 140 meters (460 feet) wide, could be a "silver" temple dedicated to the sea god Poseidon; the other, somewhat "quadratic" structure, measuring 280 meters (920 feet) by 240 meters (790 feet), could be a "golden" temple devoted to Cleito and Poseidon.

"These rectangular structures are surrounded by concentric circles. This agrees with Plato's description that the temples were surrounded by concentric circles of water and earth. Even the sizes are correct. According to Plato, the diameter of the largest circle was 27 stades, i.e. 5 kilometers. In the satellite photos, the diameter of the largest circle is between five and six kilometers," Kühne told Discovery News.

Atlantis has piqued the imagination of scholars ever since Plato first mentioned it around 360 B.C.

In his account, the Greek scholar told of a city placed in front of the Pillars of Hercules ? the Straits of Gibraltar ? which flourished for more than 9,000 years. It was destroyed by the gods when its people became prone to sin and corruption.

Legend has it the entire city was swallowed by the sea within a day and a night under the onslaught of an earthquake and subsequent tidal wave.

For centuries scholars and explorers have searched for it. The lost city of concentric rings of water and lands has been "found" from Sweden to Palestine, Central Asia, Crete, Carthage, Mexico and Antarctica.

One recent theory equates Atlantis with Spartel Island, which sank to the bottom of the sea 11,000 years ago. The island, just to the west of the Strait of Gibraltar, lies only 120 kilometers (75 miles) from the rectangular structures spotted by Kühne.

According to Plato, the Atlantean capital was placed about nine kilometers from the sea on the edge of a rectangular, smooth and even plain surrounded by mountains that reached to the sea. Apart from this, the country was very high and had a steep coastline.

"Near Cadiz there is a rectangular, smooth and even plain which lies at a south coast. It is the plain south-west of Seville through which the Guadalquivir flows," Kühne said.

The mountains described by Plato would then be the Sierra Morena and Sierra Nevada.

Kühne noticed that the war between Atlantis and the eastern Mediterranean countries described in Plato's writings strongly resembled that of mysterious raiders known as the Sea People around 1200 B.C.

The Atlanteans and the Sea People would then be the same, according to the German scientist.

"If the capital of Atlantis indeed existed near the mouth of the Guadalquivir, then we suggest that Plato's Atlantis tale is based upon an Egyptian report on the Sea Peoples and some Greek tradition on the Athens of that time.

The report on the Atlantean city and state may refer to a Spanish city, possibly identical with Tartessos, which was probably destroyed by Carthaginians during the sixth century B.C.," Kühne concluded in his study.

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[raymon]

Ausar, whatever is said about Atlantis, do you think it really existed?
Is it a city or continent? And why is this considered a myth? At Abu Kir, they have discovered sunken cities? Didn’t they?

[Ausar]

Raymond,the myth of Atlantis comes originally from Solon who was said to have got it from Egyptian priest while visiting Egypt. I have yet to see sufficent evidence for the existence for a civlization like Atlantis but a close contender is that of Crete with the Minoans.

The city found in Alexzandria was dated to have existed around the time of Akenaten and also a major port during the Greco-Roman times.

If you are familar with people like Edgar Casey or the theosophy group many of his followers believe Atlantis was the Bimini wall somewhere in the Carribean. Recently,archaeologist also found some submerged city off the coast of Cuba. I have heard no more about this.