Posted on 10/30/2003 1:44:23 PM PST by Junior
An image from Robert Sarmast's book ' Discovery of Atlantis: The Startling Case for the Island of Cyprus' claims to show the location of the legendary land Atlantis as part of a land mass that connected Cyprus and the Middle East. Drawn from accounts by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Solon, Plato's description of a powerful civilization destroyed by the wrath of God has fired the dreams of explorers for centuries. Using deep-sea imagery, simulations of the sea bed, and following some 50 clues found in Plato's Critias and Timaeus Dialogues, Sarmast said he has discovered a sunken rectangular land mass stretching northeast from Cyprus, toward Syria. Cypriot scholar Sophocles Hadjisavvas is highly skeptical of Sarmast's theory, 'This is mere speculation and has nothing to do with reality,' he said. 'But it is good for Cyprus tourism,' he added. (Origin Press/Reuters)
MOUNT OLYMPUS, Cyprus (Reuters) - Some say it is in the Aegean, others in the Azores, off the Celtic Ridge of Britain or even as far as the South China Sea, but an American researcher says everyone has been looking in the wrong place.
Atlantis was in Cyprus and ancient philosopher Plato is about to be vindicated, according to Robert Sarmast.
"The island of Cyprus was, or is, part of Atlantis -- a mountaintop," Sarmast said from his home in Los Angeles. "This region is at the heart of the ancient world."
Drawn from accounts by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Solon, Plato's description of a powerful civilization destroyed by the wrath of God has fired the dreams of explorers for centuries.
Of late, it has inspired fantasies of webbed-limbed people living in glass bubbles on the sea bed; of old, it was thought by some to be the Garden of Eden, where mankind fell from God's grace.
Geologists say the land mass of Cyprus's central mountain range once formed the ocean floor. Sarmast says the mountainous island was the tip of the civilization submerged in a devastating earthquake (news - web sites) and flood thousands of years ago.
Using deep-sea imagery, simulations of the sea bed, and following some 50 clues found in Plato's Critias and Timaeus Dialogues, Sarmast said he has discovered a sunken rectangular land mass stretching northeast from Cyprus, toward Syria.
"Everything matches the descriptions in the dialogues of Atlantis to an uncanny degree," said Sarmast.
Using scientific data collected a decade ago, Sarmast said he came up with detailed three-dimensional maps and simulated models of the eastern Mediterranean basin.
"We lowered the sea level by 1,600 meters (5,250 feet) and an island popped up," he said.
Having written a book about his discovery, Sarmast now hopes to organize an expedition to the region for further research.
SCHOLARS SKEPTICAL
His theory has been challenged by archeologists, who say the Atlantis story is a myth.
Sarmast, however, says the sheer volume of detail found in the dialogues is proof enough that something is lurking in the watery deep. The dialogues read like a treasure map," he said.
Although theories on where Atlantis was are many and varied, most believers agree the ancient city was probably destroyed in the biblical flood, which has its parallel in the history of the Babylonians, Assyrians, Persians, Egyptians and South Americans.
Plato describes a series of worldwide floods culminating in the deluge of the Deucalion, dated by Greek historians to the end of the last Ice Age, about 10,000 BC.
According to those ancient texts, Atlantis was a powerful nation whose residents became so corrupted by greed and power that Zeus, the king of the gods, destroyed it.
Cypriot scholars are skeptical of Sarmast's conclusions.
"The possibility of Cyprus being Atlantis is next to zero," said Plato scholar Sofronis Sofroniou.
"Cyprus is mentioned by Homer and other people and there is no mention of that.
"If Cyprus was Atlantis, it would probably have been mentioned. There is absolutely no basis for this theory."
Sophocles Hadjisavvas, director of the Antiquities Department, agrees. "This is mere speculation and has nothing to do with reality," he said.
"Atlantis is mythology, but even mythology speaks of Atlantis being outside the Gates of Hercules in the Atlantic," he said, referring to the Straits of Gibraltar.
"But it is good for Cyprus tourism," he added.
Sarmast won't be swayed. "Heinrich Schliemann discovered Troy by following clues in Homer's Iliad," he said, referring to the German explorer who found what he thought was the ancient city of Troy in 1873. "Before that archeologists said it was a myth. It wasn't, and nor is Atlantis."
I second that.
I think that the Moses story, likewise, is a historical record of that event filtered thru many writers' imaginations.
Mickey Mouse will be relieved that nice things are being said about his dog!
--I knew that.
Guess that would explain the chariots at the bottom of the Red Sea.
Interestingly enough, it turns out that the original text did not say "Red Sea", that was a mis-translation. It said, "Sea of Reeds".
The 'Sea of Reeds' is a shallow marshy area on the coast.
So the theory goes: Thera blows up, sending massive tidal waves across the Mediterranean. Before a tidal wave comes on shore, the water receeds. In one case in Hawaii, the water receeded nearly a mile out. A school teacher, not knowing what was coming, took her class down on to the dry sea bed looking for shells . . .
This seems to be a clear description of what happened in the Exodus story, to me. Water receeds, the Jews walk across, army follows, the tidal wave crashes into them.
Incidentally, the earthquakes and tidal waves also destroyed the Mycenean world -- I believe that the story of the Trojan Horse and the Odysey, also, are a historical record of this event filtered thru the imaginations of many writers.
When rednecks take a shine to AC/DC, Plato and the platypus
Quote from an Aussie interview:
But wait there's more. It seems our fauna has significance, too.
"That platypus is going to be my theme animal," Scotch says. "You've got all these biologists wanting to put everything into some kind of category: a mammal, a reptile, amphibian, bird, fish, right down to these single-cell protozoa. It's the same with music: we've got these music Nazis who want to put all music into categories and I want to show them the platypus because here's an animal who by the sheer fact that he's alive is a big ol' f--- you, a big ol' middle finger to all people who want to categorise. Hayseed Dixie, we're like that platypus."
..Hillbillies, learned hillbillies...
For a good ol' boy from Deer Lick Holler, Scotch is amazingly familiar with Australian fauna and biology, isn't he? And maybe even philosophy, for the car crash also offered up a copy of Nietzsche's Beyond Good And Evil...
I also found a a poem about Plato the Platy
a comic strip starring Plato the Platy,
and a bookstore that starts off looking like Betty Boop is the proprietor, but segues into Marvel Comics, "Platypus and the Birthday Party", and textbooks on complex analysis, nursing, drawing, sex, etc.
That little fellow really gets around.
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