A team of researchers managed to map a large area in the eastern Mediterranean, halfway between Cyprus and Syria. This underwater area meets "48 of the 50 geographical features described by Plato
Some say that Atlantis is in the Aegean Islands, others place it in the Azores, others in the Celtic mountain range of Britain or even in the South China Sea, but an American researcher says that everyone is looking in the wrong places. Atlantis is in Cyprus and now it seems that the Greek philosopher Plato was right about the existence of a land that drowned in the sea. This is what amateur archaeologist Robert Somerst claims.
"The island of Cyprus was, or still is, part of Atlantis - its mountain range. The area is in the heart of the ancient world. Tired of arguing with the Athenians, he quoted the Athenian lawmaker Solon, who described a mighty civilization destroyed by the wrath of the gods. This description has fired the imagination of researchers for many centuries.
Until now, Atlantis has remained mainly in the fantasies of those who believe that its people still live in glass bubbles on the bottom of the sea. Others believed that it was the Garden of Eden, where man fell from the step of God. Geologists say that the land mass of the central mountain chain of Cyprus once formed a sea floor. Somerset says that civilization was destroyed by a strong earthquake followed by floods thousands of years ago.
Using the imagery of the deep sea, along with 50 clues in Plato's writings, Somerset says he discovered a triangle of land submerged in the sea pulling northeast Cyprus toward Syria. "Everything matches the descriptions in Plato's dialogues about Atlantis in a surprising way." Somerset said.
Using scientific data collected decades ago, Somerset said he was able to build a 1,600D map and build simulation models of the eastern Mediterranean basin. "We lowered the sea level by XNUMX meters and the island appeared," he said. He wrote a book about his findings and now hopes to organize an expedition to the area to conduct further searches in the field.
(Editor's note: As far as is known, the fluctuations of the Mediterranean Sea have never been greater than 120 meters, and this is also because the eastern part is mainly a closed basin. AB)
His story has been challenged by archaeologists, who have argued that the story of Atlantis is a myth. Smarts, in any case, says that the amount of detail that appears in the dialogues proves that something is submerged in the depths of the sea. "You have to read the dialogues like a treasure map." said.
"Although theories regarding the location of Atlantis reveal great differences, most researchers believe that the ancient city was destroyed in the great flood that left its traces in the story described in the Tanakh and in the historical writings of the Babylonians, Assyrians, Persians, and Egyptians. (Recently the "flood" has been identified with the filling of the Black Sea with Mediterranean water and its level rising by a hundred meters. See link below).
Plato describes a series of floods on a global scale that even reached the high peaks of the Diocleon, and the Greek historians dated it to the end of the Ice Age, around 10,000 BC.
According to these ancient texts, Atlantis was a wonderful nation whose inhabitants became so corrupt and greedy that the power of Zeus, the king of the gods, destroyed it.
Cypriot experts are skeptical
"The possibility that Cyprus is Atlantis tends to zero," said Sophronis Sophronio, a Plato expert from Cyprus. "Cyprus is mentioned in the writings of Homer and other people, and there is no mention of it. If Cyprus was Atlantis, this link would almost certainly have been mentioned by the ancient Greeks. There is no basis for this.
Sophocles Hadjisavas, director of the antiquities department, agrees. "This is speculation and there is nothing behind it in reality." said. "Atlantis is mythology, but even in mythology it is mentioned as being beyond the Straits of Hercules in the Atlantic Ocean." said referring to the ancient name of Egypt Gibraltar. "But it is good for the tourism industry of Cyprus" he added.
Smarts doesn't give up. "Heinrich Schleiman discovered Troy through clues in Homer's Iliad," he said, referring to the German researcher who found the ancient city of Troy in excavations in 1873. "Before that, archaeologists said it was a myth. She is not a myth, and neither is Atlantis."
Was Atlantis in Cyprus? In November the scientist revealed: now an update
An American research team thinks so, and next month (June 2004) another journey will begin to locate the lost continent mentioned in Plato's writings about 2,350 years ago. Head of the team of investigators: By August we will present unequivocal evidence
5.5.2004
The lost continent "Atlantis" was first mentioned in Plato's writings, 355 years BC. Since then, around 40 different sites have been marked around the world that may hint at the exact location of the continent, which some claim existed only in Plato's imagination. The controversy surrounding the truth of the legend of Atlantis did not prevent a team of American researchers from announcing that next month they will begin a journey to find it. This, after collecting evidence that points to their exact location - between Cyprus and Syria, at a depth of about one and a half kilometers.
At a press conference held over the weekend, Robert Sarmast, head of the team of researchers, said that his team was able to map a large area in the eastern Mediterranean, halfway between Cyprus and Syria. This underwater area meets "48 of the 50 geographical features described by Plato," Sarmast claimed. "For the first time we were able to find a match between the description and a real place, which proves the belief of the people of the ancient world that Atlantis was a historical reality and not a myth."
Atlantis is mentioned in Plato's writings as a large island (larger than Turkey and Libya combined), which is beyond the "Pillars of Hercules" (Straits of Gibraltar). In two of Plato's dialogues between teacher and student, Plato explains that the knowledge about Atlantis came from the statesman Solon. Solon heard about the continent from an Egyptian priest, who sailed through his explanations of a developed culture that existed about 9,600 years BC, and which was advanced compared to any other culture of its time. That culture conquered all the peoples of the Middle East, with the exception of the inhabitants of Athens, and recorded incredible technological achievements. But the end of Atlantis was bad and bitter: the wrath of Zeus, the father of the gods, led to its destruction by an earthquake or a volcanic eruption, and this due to the greed of its inhabitants.
"ridiculous claim"
The fact that Atlantis has been "found" so many times in the past, for example in the area of the Greek island of Santorini (which according to geologists experienced a strong volcanic eruption in 1640 BC) or far away in Antarctica, and the claims that Plato used Atlantis as a metaphor to convey his messages rather than as a historical description - do not deter Sarmast. According to him, there is logic in determining the location of Atlantis between Cyprus and Syria, since this location is in the heart of the ancient world - between Greece and Egypt. In an article published in the British "Guardian" it is claimed that Sarmast bases his hypotheses on an Israeli-Russian study from 1989, which stated that there is a sunken continent to the east of Cyprus.
Sarmast is convinced that by August he will be able to present to the world unequivocal evidence that points to the existence of Atlantis. To this end, the team of researchers raised 250 dollars, which will be used to scan an area of about 200 square kilometers below sea level. The team will use an underwater robot capable of diving to a depth of 6,000 meters, equipped with video cameras that will record the findings. According to Sarmast, when the robot reaches the right site, there will be no doubt about the results. "We are not looking for a ship or a small find. We are looking for an entire city," he said, adding that the world will change forever if the existence of Atlantis is proven. But not everyone is enthusiastic. An archaeologist who wished to remain anonymous told the Guardian: "This is not about archaeology. This is just another ridiculous claim."
