[SunkenCiv]

I bought this book in May 2004. Zangger discusses the long history (circa 1885, much earlier than I'd thought) of the "Thera was Atlantis" idea, and beginning on page 44 cuts it to ribbons. It should be noted that Zangger has his own book about what was and wasn't Atlantis. ;') Check out pp 48-49 for a summary of the problems with the idea, and an amusing catalog of other things attributed to the eruption.

"Even when, during the respective Thera Conferences, individual scientists had pointed out that the magnitude and significance of the Thera eruption must be estimated as less than previously thought, the conferences acted to strengthen the original hypothesis. The individual experts believed that the arguments advanced by their colleagues were sound, and that the facts of a natural catastrophe were not in doubt... All three factors reflect a fantasy world rather than cool detachment, which is why it so difficult to refute the theory with rational arguments." -- Eberhard Zangger, "The Future of the Past: Archaeology in the 21st Century", pp 49-50.

The Future of the Past Archaeology in the 21st Century by Eberhard Zangger

[crusher2013]

What other candidate for the Atlantis myth could their be?

[MUDDOG]

Two or three hundred years before the Sea Peoples.

[yarddog]

Ancient Crete is both fascinating and intriguing.

Ancient Greeks considered them a great power, much greater than artifacts, etc. indicate.

[DaxtonBrown]

“Dating the Ancient Minoan Eruption of Thera Using Tree Rings”

I dated an ancient eruption here in Vegas once, but I didn’t need tree rings to figure it out.

[Ancesthntr]

I’d love to see an evidence-based attempt to tie together the chronology of the ancient Middle East, including the Exodus. I think that a lot of people have the screwed-up idea that Ramses II was the Pharaoh of the Exodus (and “The Ten Commandments” hasn’t helped that), where there is evidence that he was not. Egypt’s power was destroyed by the plagues and by the loss of the cream of the crop of his army in the sea (Sea of Reeds, not the Red Sea)...and there is even some evidence that the Pharaoh died in that latter incident.

FYI, here is an interesting article, suggesting that the Pharaoh of the Oppression was (the monotheistic heretic) Akhenaten, while his son-in-law - King Tutankhamun, yeah King Tut - was the Pharaoh of the Exodus (Exodus in -1330):

https://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Who-was-the-pharaoh-of-the-Exodus-395885

Here’s another article claiming that it was Thutmose III (Exodus in -1446): http://www.bible.ca/archeology/bible-archeology-exodus-date-1440bc.htm

IMHO, the biggest problem with fixing dates for a wide variety of events throughout the Middle East for many centuries is the flawed Egyptian dynastic chronology. I don’t pretend to know what it really was, but the fact that it is severely flawed is pretty much beyond debate. Since so much of the history of the surrounding areas is based upon Egypt and its own history, the flaws carry through.

[wildbill]

There may not have been a “real” Atlantis, but surely there are many myths that may overlap with the absolutely certain story of Thera.

[central_va]

Minoan chicks were tough. They leaped bulls bareback and bare chested.

[DiogenesLamp]

So how does tree rings help them when they get them off of long dead trees with no indications as to when the trees started growing?

Wouldn't a 5000 year old tree with a hundred rings be indistinguishable from a 4000 year old tree with a hundred rings?

Somehow there has to be a fixed standard from which to measure tree rings. There must be some distinguishing characteristic about the tree that allows you to date it's beginning, and from there you can measure changes in it's rings.

I don't understand what they are doing here.

[HandyDandy]

Many of you may not be aware that the mummy of Ramesses I took an unplanned tour through Canada and the USA. I first set eyes upon him in a curiosity shop on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls in approximately late 1972. He had been there since 1860 (see Wiki background below). Then, while campus touring Emory University in 2003 (with my daughter) I noticed a large banner, hanging outside their Carlos Museum, declaring, “Come in! Visit Ramesses I!” Well, I couldn’t very well pass that up, now could I? Sure enough, I went in and there he was! It was the same mummy that I had seen so many years prior in Niagara Falls! He’d gone from a curiosity shop mummy to an Egyptian Pharoah! By the end of that month he was back home in Egypt with all pomp and circumstances. See background story from Wikipedia:

“A mummy currently believed to be that of Ramesses I was stolen from Egypt and displayed in a Canadian museum for many years before being repatriated. The mummy's identity cannot be conclusively determined, but is most likely to be that of Ramesses I based on CT scans, X-rays, skull measurements and radio-carbon dating tests by researchers at Emory University, as well as aesthetic interpretations of family resemblance. Moreover, the mummy's arms were found crossed high across his chest which was a position reserved solely for Egyptian royalty until 600 BC. The mummy had been stolen by the Abu-Rassul family of grave robbers and brought to North America around 1860 by Dr. James Douglas. It was then placed in the Niagara Museum and Daredevil Hall of Fame in Niagara Falls Ontario, Canada. The mummy remained there, its identity unknown, next to other curiosities and so-called freaks of nature for more than 130 years. When the owner of the museum decided to sell his property, Canadian businessman William Jamieson purchased the contents of the museum and, with the help of Canadian Egyptologist Gayle Gibson, identified their great value. In 1999, Jamieson sold the Egyptian artifacts in the collection, including the various mummies, to the Michael C. Carlos Museum at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia for US $2 million. The mummy was returned to Egypt on October 24, 2003 with full official honors and is on display at the Luxor Museum.”

[COBOL2Java]

Very cool. Thanks for posting!

[Some Fat Guy in L.A.]

I sometimes wish there were a definitive list of what we actually know about ancient history, vs what we surmise based on what little we actually know. Bet it would be a relatively short list.