Google is officially denying widespread Internet rumors that its Google Earth software located the mythical sunken city of Atlantis off the coast of Africa. Either that, or Google is totally trying to hide something. Since I always appreciate a nice juicy conspiracy theory, I'm going to go with the latter.
So where was Atlantis? Plato gave only one clue to the city's location. He wrote that it sat “in front of the Pillars of Hercules.” This places the city near the Strait of Gibraltar at the western edge of the Mediterranean Sea.
Where is the most likely location of the lost city of Atlantis?
Malta, being situated in the dividing line between the western and eastern Mediterranean Sea, and being home to some of the oldest man-made structures in the world, is considered a possible location of Atlantis both by some current researchers and by Maltese amateur enthusiasts.
Atlantis didn't exist at all—Plato invented it. Most historians and scientists throughout history have come to the conclusion that Plato's account of the lost kingdom of Atlantis was fictional.
They FOUND The Lost City of Atlantis on Google Maps!!!
Has anyone found Atlantis?
Many of the proposed sites share some of the characteristics of the Atlantis story (water, catastrophic end, relevant time period), but none has been demonstrated to be a true historical Atlantis.
Few, if any, scientists think Atlantis actually existed. Ocean explorer Robert Ballard, the National Geographic explorer-in-residence who discovered the wreck of the Titanic in 1985, notes that "no Nobel laureates" have said that what Plato wrote about Atlantis is true.
There are many theories and speculations about where Atlantis might have been located, with some people suggesting that it was in the Mediterranean, the Caribbean, or even Antarctica. Despite centuries of searching, no concrete evidence of Atlantis has ever been found.
Atlantis, according to Plato, was located in the Atlantic Ocean, with its (presumably) easternmost point not too far from the coasts of Spain and Morocco, approaching the Strait of Gibraltar (Crit. 114b).
To solve the age-old mystery, the team analyzed satellite imagery of a suspected submerged city just north of Cadiz, Spain. There, buried in the vast marshlands of the Dona Ana Park, they believe that they pinpointed the ancient, multiringed dominion known as Atlantis.
Plato's 51 clues included a location near the sea; a location outside the "Pillars of Heracles", which many believe to be Gibraltar; the presence of elephants; mountains to its north; a ringlike structure of the city; and most importantly it had to be within roughly 5000km from Athens.
Poseidon and Cleito 2 had five pairs of twins, who, along with their descendants, ruled the ten provinces into which Poseidon had divided Atlantis. The island and the ocean were called after Poseidon's first-born, Atlas, who was also king over his brothers.
Throughout the years since Plato penned the story of Atlantis, many locations have been proposed as possible homes for the ancient submerged city: Malta, Israel, Canaan, the Bimini Road in the Bahamas, the Canary Islands, the Madeira Islands, the Bermuda Triangle, and Indonesia.
[Note: Last week we saw some interesting speculation that Atlantis had been found in Google Earth. As much as we'd love for that to be the case, there is a scientific explanation for the odd markings found on the seafloor.
Lesson Summary. The city of Atlantis is a fictional island nation mentioned in the works of the ancient Greek philosopher Plato. Per Plato's account in his dialogues, the futuristic Atlantic Ocean-based civilization of Atlantis fell thousands of years ago, swallowed by the sea upon defeat in battle.
Despite numerous theories and searches over the centuries, no definitive evidence of Atlantis has been found until now. The discovery of Mount Los Atlantes has reignited interest in the Atlantis legend, offering a plausible explanation for its origins.
The Bible does not mention the lost city of Atlantis by name. But it does mention the first city in biblical history by name that was destroyed by the waters of the global flood. The founder of the city was the firstborn son on earth named Cain.
Despite the legend's intrigue, no historical or archaeological evidence has ever confirmed the existence of Atlantis. Instead, it is widely regarded as a fictional allegory used by Plato to explore themes such as power, virtue, and society.
How Did Atlantis Look? There is a vivid description of this City written by Plato (a Greek Philosopher) in which Atlantis was described as an island consisting mostly of mountains in the northern portions. A great plain, oblong in the South that encompassed the island was spread 555 km long and 370 km wide.
These ultra-ancient Athenians were allegedly amazing and demonstrated the virtues of the ideal city that Socrates wanted to see in action in a story. Atlantis lost the war, but was destroyed only after violent earthquakes and floods occurred, which sadly also destroyed the ultra-ancient Athens.
Legend says that the city of Atlantis was built by Poseidon- the God of the sea, of storms and earthquakes- when he fell in love with a mortal woman, Cleito. He made this city on top of a hill, on an isolated island in the sea, to protect her and named it Atlantis.
The descendants of the Atlanteans according to traditional Theosophy include those of the Mongolian race, the Malayan race, and the American Indian race as well as some people of what in the late 19th and early 20th centuries was called the "olive-skinned" Mediterranean race.
