Could a massive tsunami have wiped off an entire race of civilization from the face of Earth? Could a killer earthquake have sucked an entire island country deep into the abyss of the ocean? Questions like this have kept mankind guessing for centuries. Welcome to the mystery of Atlantis, the story of a lost world.
The mystery of Atlantis has haunted mankind since the ancient times. The time was 360BC when the well known Greek philosopher Plato published a literary work in which two characters Timaeus and Critias talked about an epic battle that took place some 9600 years before Plato’s time. On one side were the Athenians and on the other side were the Atlanteans, the inhabitants of Atlantis.
This is what makes everyone curious. Athens was there some 9600 years before Plato. And Athens can be seen even today. It is now the capital of Greece. This means there must have been another place, a real life place called Atlantis. If Athens could have survived into the modern times and exists even today then what happened to Atlantis? Why is there not a single piece of evidence of this island country which was considered to be a naval power of its times?
Detailed descriptions about Atlantis have been provided by Plato himself. According to his descriptions an advanced civilization developed almost 11,600 years ago on an island continent known as Atlantis. It has been said that if ever there was paradise on Earth it was Atlantis. For the rich soil of this island continent allowed fruits and vegetables to grow in abundant quantities. Animals both domestic and wild roamed freely on the meadows and in the dense forests. The soil was rich in minerals and the Atlanteans are still now considered to be the wealthiest people that ever roamed on the surface of the Earth.
They were expert engineers and skilled in metallurgy. They built planned cities, complex network of canals and their docks were full with large ships. The Atlantis had everything that a country could possibly ask for in terms of wealth and power. But still they Atlanteans decided to wage wars on other countries. Their naval supremacy helped them conquer large regions of North Africa and Mediterranean Europe.
They planned to conquer Egypt and Athens but it seems destiny had something else in store for them. The army of Atlantis faced its first defeat in the hands of the Athenian army and before they could retaliate, the whole of Atlantis was gone! The entire army, the entire civilization, the entire race and the entire island continent was wiped from the surface of the Earth giving birth to a mystery whose answer is still being searched frantically by man. This is the story that has passed from generation to generation and was not made public until Plato decided to put it forward in the form of his famous dialogues, Timaeus and Critias.
According to Plato, Atlantis was located in front of Hercules’ Pillars. Now the Pillars of Hercules are something that can be seen even today. One among these pillars is the Rock of Gibraltar while the other may be Monte Hacho or Jebel Musa on either flanks of the Gibraltar Strait. This means Atlantis was located somewhere near the Strait of Gibraltar and the Mediterranean Sea which leaves for only one possible option as the location of Atlantis i.e. somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean.
Now what could have possibly destroyed Atlantis? Before finding an answer to this question there are other questions that need to be answered. Why is it that various modern cultures across the world often refer to a Great Flood destroying an existing civilization and giving rise to new civilizations? Bible and Quran refer to Noah’s Ark, Hindu mythology refers to Matsya puran, the Greeks refer to Deucalion and the Mesopotamians referred to Utnapishtim. In every case there is a deluge sending the existing civilization to oblivion. Could it be that all the mythologies are for real? Could it be that all the mythologies hint at the same, catastrophic flood (or a tsunami) that eliminated Atlantis once and for all? Archaeological evidences do suggest of one such catastrophic deluge that occurred when water flowed from the Mediterranean Sea to the Black Sea.
The only written records about Atlantis that the modern man can access are the dialogues and descriptions written by Plato. This means whatever information everyone obsessed with Atlantis knows are based on Plato’s account. But even Plato didn’t see Atlantis with his own eyes nor is he known to have met any living descendant of an Atlantean who survived the catastrophe. So how can Plato give so vivid descriptions about a continent that disappeared more than 9000 years before his time?
It has been seen that people of every religion have always been in a quest to search Paradise, the land of plentiful. Since there has been no fruitful evidence either about the discovery of Atlantis or about its specific location, perhaps that is why Atlantis has become more of a legendary, dreamland for millions across the globe. That is why each and every article regarding Atlantis portrays it as the land of plentiful wealth. This is a hypothetical idea indeed. In the modern world there has been not a single country that can boast of being plentiful. Each and every country in the modern world has some problems or the other to cope with. So the idea of Atlantis being the next thing to Paradise is conjured from the minds of men seeking Paradise on Earth.
It has been said that the Greek God Poseidon was given control of Atlantis. If this is the case then why is it that there are no references of Atlantis in the ancient Greek mythologies surrounding Poseidon? Some questions are better left unanswered. Be it a tsunami, earthquake or divine intervention Atlantis is gone without leaving any single trace and there are no survivors to tell us what really happened. With help from the popular media and the several writings of Atlantis researchers’ people have no other option other than to read the articles and come up with their own theories. If there was ever a secret, it will elude mankind for eternity.