Message #30219

[mdsungate]

   Thanks Bianca, that's a much better map.  You can see how close Lanzarote is to Morocco and the coast of Africa.  This is defiantely what Berlitz was talking about.  

Here's a little more of what's on that site I found it on, which was:

http://atlantis.religionstatistics.net/

The article is titled:

ATLANTIS : THE LYBIO-PHOENICIAN EMPIRE OF THE CANARY ISLANDS AND MOROCCO

THE CANARY ISLANDS AND MOROCCO AS THE SOURCE OF THE MYTH.

INFO: The theory exposed here has been developed taking into account the clues that Plato gave about Atlantis' situation, and taking
also into account geographic and historic facts known.

"There was an island opposite the strait which you call the Pillars of Hercules [Straits of Gibraltar], an island larger than Libya [North Africa]
and Asia [Turkey] combined; from it travellers could in those days reach the other islands, and from them the whole opposite continent
[America ?] which surrounds what can truly be called the ocean. For the sea within the strait we were talking about [Mediterranean Sea]
is like a lake with a narrow entrance; the outer ocean is the real ocean and the land which entirely surrounds it is properly termed continent
[America and Europe combined ?]. On this island of Atlantis had arisen a powerful and remarkable dynasty of kings, who ruled the whole
island, and many other islands as well and parts of the continent; in addition it controlled, within the strait, Libya up to the borders of Egypt
and Europe as far as Tyrrhenia [Tuscany and Corsica]. This dynasty, gathering its whole power together, attempted to enslave, at a single
stroke, your country [Greece] and ours [Egypt] and all the territory within the strait. It was then, Solon, that the power and courage and
strength of your city [Athens] became clear for all men to see. Her bravery and military skill were outstanding; she led an alliance of Greeks,
and then when they deserted her and she was forced to fight alone, after running into direst peril, she overcame the invaders and celebrated
a victory; she rescued those not yet enslaved from the slavery threatening them, and she generously freed all others living within the Pillars
of Hercules [so S. Spain and Morocco might have been keept under Atlantean control]. At a later time there were earthquakes and floods
of extraordinary violence, and in a single dreadful day and night all your fighting men were swallowed up by the earth, and the island of
Atlantis was similarly swallowed up by the sea and vanished [the text points as if the Greek soldiers and Atlantis were in different places,
but the catastrophe afftected both]; this is why the sea in that area is to this day impassable to navigation, which is hindered by mud just
below the surface, the remains of the sunken island" [Egyptian priest telling the history of Atlantis to Solon].

Critias: "To his twin brother, who was born after him [the king Atlas], and obtained as his lot the extremity of the island towards the Pillars
of Heracles, facing the country which is now called the region of Gades [Cadiz] in that part of the world, he gave the name which in the
Hellenic language is Eumelus, in the language of the country which is named after him, Gadeirus."

IDEA: If Gades would be Agadir (in ancient times also was known by such name), then with no doubt Critias was talking about the Canary
Islands, in front of Agadir (!), and wich are of volcanic origin. Critias mentioned that Atlantis exercised power over other nearer islands.
The name "Atlantic Ocean" and "Atlas Mountains" are to be found only in Morocco, and if the Canary Islands would rise more, such
islands almost would belong to the Atlas ranges...

INFO: In whichever case, the Canary Islands are just in front of Cadiz: in a SW direction (1200 km).

IDEA: But no native cities were found by the Spaniards in the XIV Century, when conquered the islands, and without cities there
are not civilization... but as the same account of Plato indicates that at least one city sunked into the ocean... it could be suspected
that the cities are not searched... in the right place.

The gist of the entire article is kind of the way I feel myself.  Lots of places are proposed for what could have been Atlantis.  But this article kind of debunks theories like "the islands of Santorin, Crete, and other Aegean islands were the mythical lost continent of Atlantis"  This article points out what is said by Plato as unmistably being in the Atlantic Ocean:

"There was an island opposite the strait which you call the Pillars of Hercules [Straits of Gibraltar], an island larger than Libya [North Africa]
and Asia [Turkey] combined; from it travellers could in those days reach the other islands, and from them the whole opposite continent
[America ?] which surrounds what can truly be called the ocean. For the sea within the strait we were talking about [Mediterranean Sea]
is like a lake with a narrow entrance; the outer ocean is the real ocean and the land which entirely surrounds it is properly termed continent
[America and Europe combined ?]. On this island of Atlantis had arisen a powerful and remarkable dynasty of kings, who ruled the whole
island, and many other islands as well and parts of the continent; in addition it controlled, within the strait, Libya up to the borders of Egypt
and Europe as far as Tyrrhenia [Tuscany and Corsica]. This dynasty, gathering its whole power together, attempted to enslave, at a single
stroke, your country [Greece] and ours [Egypt] and all the territory within the strait. It was then, Solon, that the power and courage and
strength of your city [Athens] became clear for all men to see. Her bravery and military skill were outstanding; she led an alliance of Greeks,
and then when they deserted her and she was forced to fight alone, after running into direst peril, she overcame the invaders and celebrated
a victory; she rescued those not yet enslaved from the slavery threatening them, and she generously freed all others living within the Pillars
of Hercules [so S. Spain and Morocco might have been keept under Atlantean control]. At a later time there were earthquakes and floods
of extraordinary violence, and in a single dreadful day and night all your fighting men were swallowed up by the earth, and the island of
Atlantis was similarly swallowed up by the sea and vanished [the text points as if the Greek soldiers and Atlantis were in different places,
but the catastrophe afftected both]; this is why the sea in that area is to this day impassable to navigation, which is hindered by mud just
below the surface, the remains of the sunken island" [Egyptian priest telling the history of Atlantis to Solon].

I sometimes ask myself, "have these archeologists ever bothered to read Plato?", LOL