ATLANTIS

Part 2

Ancient Sources for Atlantis outside of Plato reports.

First of all, before diving into this fascinating topic, I would like to send a big thank you to all those that in Twitter and You Tube offered me advice, critique and encouragement.

With this said, lets start:

After the presentation of Atlantis Part one, where we looked into the words of Sonchis of Sais spoken through Plato in Timaeus and Critias, its now time to look into less know sources that, although less direct and requiring some speculation, are considered to be related to the famous Island that in this series, I am trying to place in time and space.

I will begin with an exert from The Histories written by Herodotus:

“From the Garmantians at a distance again of ten days journey, there is another hill of salt and spring of water, and the people dwelling around it are called Atarantians, who alone of all human beings about whom we know, are nameless; for while all taken together have the name Atarantians, each separate man and woman of them has no name given to them. These utter curses against the Sun when he is at his height, and moreover revile the sun with all manner of foul terms, because it oppresses them by its burning heat, both themselves and their land. After this at a distance of ten days journey, there is another hill of salt and spring of water, and people dwell round it. Near this salt hill is a mountain named Atlas, which is small in circuit and rounded on every side; and so exceedingly lofty is it said to be, that it is not possible to see its summits, for clouds never leave them either in the summer or in the winter. This, the natives say, is the pillar of the heavens. After this mountain these received their name, for they are called Atlanteans; and it is said that they neither eat anything that has life nor have any dreams.”

In this text there are some interesting claims. But we must first look into these names and locations. The Garmantians were a Nomadic people that occupied a large portion of what today is the Sahara Desert and Libya. It is believed that they were present in the Fezzan region as far back as 1000BC. They appear in the written record for the first time in the 5th century BC. According to Herodotus, they were “a very great nation” who herded cattle, farmed dates, and were known to hunt the Ethiopian cave-dwellers living in the desert by the unfair use of four-horse chariots. These cave-dwellers, according to the Garmantians that hunt them, were snake and lizard eaters, uttering a language that was unintelligible and often communicated by squealing. Rome described them as bearing ritual scars and tattoos.

The Roman writer Pliny the Elder (23–79CE) noted in his Natural History, that the Garamantes, who were in control of the date-palmed oases at Fezzan, acted as middlemen between the peoples of North and sub-Saharan Africa. This arrangement would continue throughout the history of Trans-Saharan commerce because those who controlled the desert, who knew the secrets of meeting its formidable challenges, also controlled the trade.

One of those commodities was Saharan Salt, or Rock salt as it was known, this was apparently controlled by the Atarantians. As for the Ethiopian cave-dwellers I would speculate that these might be the last mentioned remnant of the all but extinct Homo-Erectus, that did once occupied the caves in that exact area. Their different looks and cultural behaviour could have been the cause for them to be hunted as beasts from others that fear them not for their power, they had none, but for their strangeness. But enough of that.

Now, the Atarantians, that are the name of interest here, are always referenced as a people without name, who dwelt in circles around natural springs and pillars of salt. They dislike the Sun, who they deem responsible for their misfortune. There are two mentions of these settlements, being the most distant to the Garmantian capital, somewhere near the tallest Atlas mountain whose summit was forever above the clouds. I here speculate that, perhaps, these people who are associated with salt deposits, be them pillars as mentioned or domes and this leads me to say that these Atarantians were also dwellers of the Richat structure, far to the South-West that was once a Salt Dome. This is a place being that despite too wide 35km/21.7mi, too elevated 400m/1312ft and too far from the sea 500km/310.6mi has been considered by many as the location of Atlantis, but not to as one of the dwelling places of the Atlantean people. However I am speculating on top of vague and non specific old texts whose object of interest is not Atlantis focused contrary to Plato’s texts I analyzed in part 1.

But I think possible that these people, these nameless people, might be the distant descendants of the Atlanteans that managed to survive, either by being already on these places, perhaps Atlantean settlements of old, far from the main island by the time of its subsidence, or by other means, namely as one of the places where the survivors landed, forced to live a existence on a barren place where the Sun would burn every and all. Curiously, and adding to these speculations, while Herodotus called them Atarantians, The Garmantians on the other hand, called these tribes as Atlanteans, although not because of the mythical island, but out of their settlements around the Atlas mountain. However, it is probable that they, meaning the Atlanteans, are the ones that named the mountains, and not the other way round. In fact, the next cited text somewhat express this idea. The last two details given about these people were rather strange, I for one, know not how to take it. At face value, it means that they eat only sub-products without life, Grains, fruits and eggs come to mind, this because even the ancient peoples knew that not only animals, but plants are also alive, as for the second, describing them as having no dreams, is somewhat cryptic. Are they unable to dream? Even speculation is nigh impossible on this one. It might mean that they are a traumatized people, whose sleep is never deep enough to dream. It reminds me of Tolkien, that was many times assaulted in his sleep by a gigantic wave sweeping the land, that he described as his Atlantis end of days nightmare. He described it powerful enough to awake him from sleep in a disturbed unpleasant way.

Moving on:

Next we will look at a passage by Diodorus Siculus and his book, The Library of History: Book 3, Chapter 4:

After the death of Hyperion, the myth relates, the kingdom was divided among the sons of Uranus, the most renowned of whom were Atlas and Cronus. Of these sons Atlas received as his part the regions on the coast of the ocean, and he not only gave the name of Atlantians to his peoples but likewise called the greatest mountain in the land Atlas. They also say that he perfected the science of astrology and was the first to publish to mankind the doctrine of the sphere, and it was for this reason that the idea was held that the entire heavens were supported upon the shoulders of Atlas, the myth darkly hinting in this way at his discovery and description of the sphere. There were born to him a number of sons, one of whom was distinguished above the others for his piety and justice towards his subjects, and love of mankind, his name being Hesperus. This king, having once climbed to the peak of Mount Atlas, was suddenly snatched away by mighty winds while he was making his observations of the stars, and never was seen again, and because of the virtuous life he had lived and their pity for his sad fate, the multitudes accorded to him immortal honours and called the brightest of the stars of heaven after him. Atlas, the myth goes on to relate, also had seven daughters, who as a group were called Atlantides after their father, but their individual names were Maea, Electra, Taÿgetê, Steropê, Meropê, Halcyonê, and the last Celaeno. These daughters lay with the most renowned heroes and gods and thus became the first ancestors of the larger part of the race of human beings, giving birth to those who, because of their high achievements, came to be called gods and heroes, Maea the eldest, for instance, lay with Zeus and bore Hermes, who was the discoverer of many things for the use of mankind, likewise the other Atlantides also gave birth to renowned children, who became the founders in some instances of nations in other cases of cities. Consequently, not only among certain barbarians but among the Greeks as well, the great majority of the most ancient heroes trace their descent back to the Atlantides.

From this words, many meanings can be understood, but if they are correct interpretations, of the Author’s own interpretation, or completely off the mark, is for anyone to guess. From these possibilities, I will speak of one that seems reasonable to me. This was written some 2000 years ago, Sonchis from Plato described the last days of the main Isle of Atlantis as near as it makes no difference, 12000 years ago. My point is that there is a 10000 years gap between them. So, it seems quite reasonable to presume that the Atlanteans of Diodorus, are but a pale, beat down version of those that lived many thousands of years before, in a very different planet, both in geography and climate. To Diodorus, the world was but the nations around the Mediterranean, while it was believed in the Greek world that the ocean beyond the Pillars of Hercules, was the great ocean that encircle the known lands. If you watched Part 1 of this series, you will remember that the Egyptian priests of Sais, 600 years before Diodorus, knew not only that there were islands across the Atlantic, they were also aware of the American Continent. Therefore, I deduce that Diodorus’s Atlanteans, that came from 7 females that branded the name, is very likely a morphed version of the 5 twin sons of Poseidon, after all, 10 000 years have passed between the two versions. Humans tend to adapt their lore through time, especially when they are forced to move away from their roots. But their culture tent to go about in circles that in the very least bear the weight of their legacy. These Atlanteans, as Diodorus and Herodotus describe them, are very far from the sophisticated seafaring nation coming out of the Atlantic Ocean. They seem a broken people, with no identity or even individual name. Although I do not deny that their myths and legends can be mirrored in those given to Solon.

Lets now move to

Plutarch (46–120 CE), in his work — Life of Sertorius:

“Here Sertorius met with sailors recently arrived from the Atlantic islands, two in number, divided from one another only by a narrow channel, and distant from the coast of Africa 10 000 furlongs.

Lets stop here for a moment. 10 000 furlongs are 1250 miles or 2011km. If I use this distance from North Africa into the Azores Plateau this is what we get:

As we can clearly see, this distance leaves us well in the Azores area. Take this in consideration when listening to Plutarch next words:

- These are called the Islands of the Blest; rains fall there seldom, and in moderate showers, but for the most part they have gentle breezes, bringing along with them soft dews, which render the soil not only rich for plowing and planting, but so abundantly fruitful that it produces spontaneously an abundance of delicate fruits, sufficient to feed the inhabitants, who may here enjoy all things without trouble or labour.

The seasons of the year are temperate, and the transitions from one to another so moderate, that the air is almost always serene and pleasant. The rough northerly and easterly winds which blow from the coasts of Europe and Africa, dissipated in the vast open space, utterly lose their force before they reach the islands. The soft western and southerly winds which breathe upon them sometimes produce gentle sprinkling showers, which they convey along with them from the sea, but more usually bring days of moist bright weather, cooling and gently fertilizing the soil, so that the firm belief prevails even among the barbarians, that this is the seat of the blessed, and that these are the Elysian Fields celebrated by Homer.”

I am sure that those that watched part one of this series will resonate with me at the similarities between this depiction and the one given by Sonchis to Solon.

Lets see what a Encyclopaedia of classical mythology has to say about the Isles of the Blest

- In Greek mythology a group of islands near the edge of the Western Ocean, peopled not by the dead, but by mortals upon whom the gods had conferred immortality. Like the islands of the Phaeacians (fianciens) in Homer, or the Celtic Avalon and St Brendan’s island, the Isles of the Blest are represented as a land of perpetual summer and abundance of all good things. No reference is made to them by Homer, who speaks instead of the Elysian Plain, but they are mentioned by Hesiod in Works and Days, and they are also mentioned by Pindar.

A very old tradition suggests that the idea of such an earthly paradise was a reminiscence of some unrecorded voyage to Madeira and the Canaries, which are sometimes named Fortunatae Insulae by medieval map-makers that tend to apply what they knew or heard into the known world of their time.

Once again, apart from the mistake of placing them upon the closer and more reachable Madeira and Canaries to the south, it is obvious to me that this is incredibly similar to what is in Critias and Timaeus.

Lets now look into Aelian (175–235 CE), in his work titled: Various Histories:

“Theopompus relates the particulars of an interview between Midas, King of Phrygia, and Silenus.

Silenus was the son of a nymph and, thanks to this, while being less than a god, was more than a human, and immortal. After they had discussed various matters, Silenus told Midas: ‘Europe, Asia, and Libya are islands washed on all their shores by the ocean, and there is but one continent, which is situated outside these limits. Its expanse is immense. It produced very large animals, and people twice as tall as those common to our climate, and they live twice as long.”

In here, there are two things I must say, first, that Aelian rejected this idea and considered Theopompus of Chios as an untrusted writer, describing him as a spinner of tales. Now for the second one, in a more positive line, we now know that the ice-age humans were much more diverse than previously thought, We already know of 4 species, I would not be surprised if a species either already known or yet to be discovered, reveals itself as clever as, if not more than modern Humans, more robust but not less agile and 7 feet tall and up. These would fit well as the first humans of the 2nd Age of Earth, when the Gods not only lived among humans, they had children with them. This is described in myths and legends all over the planet, as the Heroes or mighty men and woman of the golden days from the past age.

And as a last one from Claudius Aelianus here is a citation from his: The Nature of Animals:

“. . . Those living near the Ocean, tell the tale that the ancient Atlantean

Kings, tracing their lineage from Neptune also Poseidon, wore bands made from

the sea–rams upon their heads, as an imperial insignia, while the queens

likewise wore circlets made from the female sea–rams.”

I have yet another source that I place here last, because it is but a Commentary on Plato’s Timaeus, done by Proclus (412–485 CE), it goes as follows:

- The historians who speak of the islands of the exterior sea, tell us that in

their time there were seven islands consecrated to Proserpine, and three

others of immense extent, of which the first was consecrated to Pluto, the

second to Ammon, and the third to Neptune. The inhabitants of the latter had

preserved a recollection (transmitted to them by their ancestors) of the island

of Atlantis, which was extremely large and for a long time held sway over all

the islands of the Atlantic Ocean. Atlantis was also consecrated to Neptune.”

We are now reaching the end of this video, and from what I saw and learned, it seems clear that there was once a large landmass between the Straight of Gibraltar and the American continent, that subsiding into the sea, became modern day Azores. With or without the name Atlantis, it seems certain that there was indeed such land and it was quite different from all other known places, with a unique climate, whose origins came from the depths of time, and that even in its later and lesser years, had a strong impact on the Mediterranean civilizations of that time.

In part 3 I will try to join the data from part one and two, with the available scientific information about the Azores Plateau, its climate and its abrupt changes through time, about eustacy, that is the measure of global change of sea level as contrasted with local diastrophic uplift or subsidence of the land, Diastrophic being a small word that stands for, the action of the forces that cause the earth’s crust to be deformed, producing continents, mountains and changes of level within continental plates. We will look and relate it to isostasy, the rising or settling of a portion of the Earth’s lithosphere that occurs when weight is removed or added, in order to maintain equilibrium between the buoyancy forces that push the lithosphere upward and gravity forces that pull the lithosphere downward. We will look into The Last Glacial Maximum or LGM and of course into the Younger Dryas, the moment in time from where our civilization had its reboot, evolving, or devolving into what we are today. Once all this is combined, I think it will be hard still to prove empirically the existence of Atlantis, but obvious to one and all that the Azores of today, is but the mountain tops of a large landmass not so different, and in the exact place where Sonchis of Sais told it would be.