 We
can only speculate about the circumstances under which Atlantis
disappeared. Some theories suggest that there was a huge asteroid
which shifted the poles, split the Atlantic basin and created the
Caribbean region. Others assume that Atlantis was doomed to sink
because of a catastrophic earthquake together with volcanic eruptions.
A fairly plausible explanation concerns the melting of the poles at
the end of the Würm Ice Age 12 000 years ago.
The point in time when Atlantis disappeared can be calculated by
taking into account the statements of Egyptian priests – provided that
they are correct. These priests told Solon:
| “(...) She founded your
city a thousand years before ours, receiving from the Earth and
Hephaestus the seed of your race, and afterwards she founded ours,
of which the constitution is recorded in our sacred registers to
be eight thousand years old. As touching your citizens of nine
thousand years ago, I will briefly inform you (...)“ |
This would indicate that Atlantis had sunk 9 000 years before this
conversation, dating from ca. 570 BC, was held. Hence, Atlantis should
have sunk before 11600 BC. But what was the reason for the destruction
of Atlantis?
| “(...)Zeus, the god of gods, who
rules according to law, and is able to see into such things, perceiving that
an honourable race was in a woeful plight, and wanting to inflict punishment
on them, that they might be chastened and improve, collected all the gods
into their most holy habitation, which, being placed in the centre of the
world, beholds all created things. And when he had called them together, he
spake as follows...“ |
The destruction of Atlantis was based on the same reasons that also
brought forth the Flood legends and led to the doom of Sodom and
Gomorrha. Worldwide, wickedness and arrogance were the origin of
almost any Flood legends or legends concerning the end of the world.
What incident was so devastating that it affected the whole world and
made people think that they themselves were to be held responsible for
such a catastrophe? According to some 19th-century mystics, the
Atlanteans were a technologically superior nation. Had the Atlanteans,
provided that they ever existed, destroyed themselves because they
exerted their influence on Nature? Unlikely, but interesting.
 One
of the Maya scripts still available, the Troanus Codex, tells of a
devastating catastrophe that caused an unknown land to sink and killed
64 million people. However, these pieces of information are based on
speculations since only one third of the Maya scripts has been
deciphered so far. Hence, the details of the translation are not to be
considered as definite facts.
Nevertheless, as far as the years around 10 000 BC are concerned, many
puzzles remain which might be connected to the disappearance of
Atlantis:
| 10 000
BC |
the Ice Age comes to an end,
the poles melt and the sea level rises |
| 9 800
BC |
final traces of the
Magdalenian civilization in Europe |
| 10 000
BC |
beginning of settledness of
people in Syria-Palestine |
| 8 500
BC |
beginning of farming in the
Near East |
| 12 000
BC |
rock paintings in Brasilia |
|
9 000 BC |
first cultures in Central
America |
| 11 000
BC |
cave paintings in France and
Spain |
| 9 800
BC |
golden age of Azilian
cultures in the Mediterranean area |
| 10 000
BC |
domestication of dogs in
North America and North Europe |
| 8 500
BC |
beginning of Arctic art,
appearance of the ski |
These facts point out that, around 10 000 BC, many cultures arose
while others came to their end. Could it be that the refugees from
Atlantia established these cultures all around the Atlantic Ocean in
order to make a new start? The dates given would even agree with
Plato’s writings.
|
