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A question about the theory of atlantis?
hey guys, while i'm aware that it was plato who was one of the first to write about atlantis, i'm wondering if there is any speak of this ancient advanced civilization by any of the other ancient groups around the world? graham hancock and a slew of other writers have been discussing this for a long time and i've read much of his literature, but i can't seem to find whether or not the babylonians, maya, egyptians or any others have actual documents or evidence recording specific contact with this mysterious civilization. there is talk about how there are many similarities between the cultures; all built pyramids, all applied complex mathematics, all used enormous stones that could not be moved by people alone, all applied astronomical alignments to their architecture, all mummified their dead, all were downright infatuated with the afterlife. but similarities are just similarities; are there any real documents that have survived the ages that explain more about the atlanteans, or is this simply myth and coincedence? thanks in advance for your insight.
@sgatlantisrose, thank you for your insight, you bring up some very interesting points. i always had a feeling that what plato wrote was more along the lines of a fantasy story than an actual account.
however, i still find it hard to grasp how humans could move those stones way back then. i'm very aware that they were just as fervently intelligent as we are today, and that we've been more or less the same for about 200,000 years, but some of those stones weigh around 2 or 3 tons, or MORE, and today we struggle to lift those things with cranes and all our other gadgetry. i'm not saying they couldn't have done it, i'm just fascinated with the remarkable technological and intellectual prowess that they had and just wish i knew more about them.
2 Answers
- sgatlantisroseLv 71 decade agoFavorite Answer
Even though Plato claimed that it was the Egyptians who first documented Atlantis, there is no record of this. And we have very extensive writings about Egyptian history. Plato is the ONLY ancient author to have written about Atlantis. His references seem designed more to describe a Utopian society than to describe a real one. Significantly he has his own people, the Athenians, overthrowing Atlantean rule.
As far as similarities go, there are some between the cultures you mentioned. However. stones that "could not be moved by people alone" is an insult to the ingenuity of the classical builders. Basic mechanical advantages and lots of manpower could explain what they did. Simple measuring tools could assure good quality. Many ancient civilizations had a good grasp of mathematics and astronomy, and applying an astronomical alignment to their buildings would be a simple enough extension of that knowledge. (not that the alignment is always there as claimed).
Preservation of the dead goes back to the prehistoric era, and it's not surprising that mummification would be used in more than one civilization. The type of mummification is significantly different between them.
It seems most likely to me that Plato heard of the destruction of some great city state, such as Minos, and simply used that as the foundation of his story about Atlantis. It's interesting at how fascinated people over the ages have become with the story, but despite better than a century of searching, we have yet to come up with a candidate location that fits what Plato described.
- Anonymous1 decade ago
No, as far as can be determined from the written records of the area, it was just myth, conjecture, and misidentification of the Mycenae culture on Crete, Santorini, etc.