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Atlantis' Legendary Metal (Orichalcum) Found in Shipwreck

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« Reply #15 on: January 09, 2015, 01:46:52 am »



8 January, 2015 - 11:34 aprilholloway
Rare orichalcum metal said to be from the legendary Atlantis recovered from 2,600-year-old shipwreck

A team of marine archaeologists have discovered several dozen ingots scattered across the sandy sea floor near a 2,600-year-old shipwreck off the coast of Sicily. The ingots were made from orichalcum, a rare cast metal which ancient Greek philosopher Plato wrote was from the legendary city of Atlantis.

According to Discovery News, a total of 39 ingots (metal cast into rectangular blocks) were found close to shipwreck that was discovered in 1988 lying in shallow waters about 300 meters (1,000ft) off the coast of Gela in Sicily.

Sebastiano Tusa, Sicily’s superintendent of the Sea Office, told Discovery News that the precious ingots were probably being brought to Sicily from Greece or Asia Minor.
- See more at: http://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/rare-orichalcum-metal-shipwreck-legendary-atlantis-020158#sthash.JCYwSGBE.dpuf
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« Reply #16 on: January 09, 2015, 01:49:27 am »

Metal From City Of Atlantis Found Off Sicilian Coast
orichalcum




Sparkling ingots made of orichalcum and thought to be from the lost city of Atlantis have been found and retrieved off the ocean floor near the coast of Sicily.

The metal was recovered from a ship that sunk more than 2,600 years ago. The metal, orichalucum, was believed by the Ancient Greeks to have been found in only one place: the lost city of Atlantis.

Experts believe that the ingots from Atlantis were arriving to Gela in southern Sicily – possibly being delivered from Greece or Asia Minor. The ship carrying the metal was most likely caught in a storm and sunk just as it was about to enter a Sicilian port.

Sicily’s superintendent of the Sea Office, Sebastiano Tusa, spoke about the shipwreck and the discovery.

    “The wreck dates to the first half of the sixth century.It was found about 1,000 feet from Gela’s coast at a depth of 10 feet. Nothing similar has ever been found. We knew orichalcum from ancient texts and a few ornamental objects.”

Orichalcum, the metal of Atlantis, has an ancient and mysterious history. For centuries, experts have hotly debated the metal’s composition and origin. According to the ancien Greeks, orichalcum was invented by Cadmus, a Greek-Phoenician mythological character. The Greek philosopher Plato mentioned orichalcum as a legendary metal when he mentioned it in the Critias dialogue. Plato described the city of Atlantis as flashing “with the red light of orichalcum.” Plato said that the metal, second only in value to gold, was mined on Atlantis used to cover all the surfaces in Poseidon’s temple.

Most experts agree today that orichalcum is a brass-like alloy which was actually made by cementation. This is a process whereby zinc ore, charcoal and copper metal are combined in a crucible. When analyzed with X-ray fluorescence, the 39 ingots of Atlantis metal turned out to be an alloy made with 75-80 percent copper, 14-20 percent zinc and smaller percentages of nickel, lead and iron.

Tusa commented on the importance of the discovery.

    “The finding confirms that about a century after its foundation in 689 B.C., Gela grew to become a wealthy city with artisan workshops specialized in the production of prized artifacts.”

Mentioned briefly in only two of Plato’s works, Critias and Timaeus, readers have latched onto the legend of the island of Atlantis with unending fascination. Reportedly consisting of an advanced society – a utopia of sorts – that ultimately displeased the Greek gods and was sunk to the bottom of the ocean as a result. Since Atlantis was first mentioned in ancient Greece, man has attempted to determine its location, searching everywhere from the Mediterranean Sea to the polar ice caps to the South Pacific.

As of yet, however, Atlantis has remained hidden, if it ever existed at all. Is the orichalcum discovered near Sicily evidence of Atlantis? And if not, why was the metal so rarely used in the ancient world if it was so beautiful? Perhaps one day we’ll know the answers.

[Image via Donald Derek]


http://www.inquisitr.com/1734936/metal-from-city-of-atlantis-found-off-sicilian-coast/
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« Reply #17 on: January 09, 2015, 01:57:56 am »




2,600-year-old shipwreck found off the coast of Sicily

Tusa said that the discovery of orichalcum ingots, long considered a mysterious metal, is  significant as “nothing similar has ever been found.” He added, "We knew orichalcum from ancient texts and a few ornamental objects.”

The name orichalucum derives from the Greek word oreikhalkos, meaning literally "mountain copper" or "copper mountain". According to Plato’s 5th century BC Critias dialogue, orichalucum was considered second only to gold in value, and was found and mined in many parts of the legendary Atlantis in ancient times

Plato wrote that , the three outer walls of the Temple to Poseidon and Cleito on Atlantis were clad respectively with brass, tin, and the third, which encompassed the whole citadel, "flashed with the red light of orichalcum". The interior walls, pillars and floors of the temple were completely covered in orichalcum, and the roof was variegated with gold, silver, and orichalcum. In the center of the temple stood a pillar of orichalcum, on which the laws of Poseidon and records of the first son princes of Poseidon were inscribed. (Crit. 116–119)
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« Reply #18 on: January 09, 2015, 01:58:32 am »



The orichalucum ingots found off the coast of Gela in Sicily. Credit: Opinión Bolivia

For centuries, experts have hotly debated the metal’s composition and origin. According to the ancient Greeks, orichalcum was invented by Cadmus, a Greek-Phoenician mythological character.  Cadmus was the founder and first king of Thebes, the acropolis of which was originally named Cadmeia in his honor.
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« Reply #19 on: January 09, 2015, 01:59:22 am »



Cadmus, the Greek mythological figure who is said to have created orichalcum (Wikipedia)

Orichalcum has variously been held to be a gold-copper alloy, a copper-tin, or copper-zinc brass, or a metal no longer known. However, in Vergil's Aeneid it was mentioned that the breastplate of Turnus was "stiff with gold and white orachalc" and it has been theorized that it is an alloy of gold and silver, though it is not known for certain what orichalcum was.
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« Reply #20 on: January 09, 2015, 01:59:37 am »



Cadmus, the Greek mythological figure who is said to have created orichalcum (Wikipedia)

Orichalcum has variously been held to be a gold-copper alloy, a copper-tin, or copper-zinc brass, or a metal no longer known. However, in Vergil's Aeneid it was mentioned that the breastplate of Turnus was "stiff with gold and white orachalc" and it has been theorized that it is an alloy of gold and silver, though it is not known for certain what orichalcum was.
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« Reply #21 on: January 09, 2015, 02:01:12 am »



The breast plate of Turnus was said to be made with gold and white 'orachalc’'  'The Fight between Aeneas and King Turnus' by Giacomo del Po, Italy, Naples, 1652-1726. (Wikimedia Commons)

Orichalcum is also mentioned in the ‘Antiquities of the Jews’ (1st century AD) - Book VIII, sect. 88 by Josephus, who stated that the vessels in the Temple of Solomon were made of orichalcum (or a bronze that was like gold in beauty).

Today, some scholars suggest that orichalcum is a brass-like alloy, which was made in antiquity the process of cementation, which was achieved through the reaction of zinc ore, charcoal and copper metal in a crucible.

The latest discovery of the orichalcum ingots that had laid for nearly three millennia on the sea floor may finally unravel the mystery of the origin and composition of this enigmatic metal.

Featured image:  Artist’s depiction of the sunken city of Atlantis. Source: Fotolia

By April Holloway

http://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/rare-orichalcum-metal-shipwreck-legendary-atlantis-020158
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« Reply #22 on: January 09, 2015, 02:23:54 am »

https://sites.google.com/site/ancientegyptiansinamerica/ancient-egyptians-grand-canyon


http://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/rare-orichalcum-metal-shipwreck-legendary-atlantis-020158
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« Reply #23 on: January 09, 2015, 02:37:03 am »

Awesome find! I wonder if this means Atlantis was in the Mediterranean now?
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« Reply #24 on: January 10, 2015, 04:18:49 pm »

The Lost Alloy of Atlantis

On 6 January 2015, Discovery published an article entitled "Atlantis' Legendary Metal Found in Shipwreck," detailing a finding of orichalcum (a metal mentioned in some ancient writings, including a

story of the mythical island kingdom of Atlantis related in Plato's Critias dialogue). Although nobody today knows exactly what the "orichalcum" referenced in ancient writings was (possibly a gold/copper alloy), the Discovery article predictably led many readers to conflate the supposedly unique and valuable discovery of a rare, ancient alloy (orichalcum) with a presumption that the finding represented evidence of the existence of a mythical Atlantis.

The combination of archeology and folklore proved fascinating to many readers, and on 8 January 2015 the claim was picked up by the popular blog I F*cking Love Science, who advanced both interest and confusion regarding the orichalcum finding by opening its article thusly:

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« Reply #25 on: January 10, 2015, 04:19:17 pm »

When the mythical island of Atlantis submerged into the ocean, it took all of its orichalcum with it. The legendary cast metal was reputedly second only to gold in value. Now, a team of divers say they've recovered 39 blocks of orichalcum in a sixth-century shipwreck on the seafloor near Sicily, Discovery News reports.
Discovery reported the find, but did not provide any information about when the presence of the alloy had been discovered:
Gleaming cast metal called orichalcum, which was said by Ancient Greeks to be found in Atlantis, has been recovered from a ship that sunk 2,600 years ago off the coast of Sicily.

"The wreck dates to the first half of the sixth century," Sebastiano Tusa, Sicily's superintendent of the Sea Office, told Discovery News. "It was found about 1,000 feet from Gela's coast at a depth of 10 feet."

"Nothing similar has ever been found," Tusa said. "We knew orichalcum from ancient texts and a few ornamental objects."
The article later stated orichalcum is often associated with Atlantis in common lore:
Describing Atlantis as flashing "with the red light of orichalcum," [Plato] wrote that the metal, second only in value to gold, was mined in the mythical island and was used to cover Poseidon's temple interior walls, columns and floors.

Today most scholars agree orichalcum is a brass-like alloy, which was made in antiquity by cementation. This process was achieved with the reaction of zinc ore, charcoal and copper metal in a crucible.
The discovery (while valuable) was not specifically mysterious and failed to yield evidence of a lost civilization. The 39 orichalcum ingots unearthed off the coast of Sicily were analyzed and determined to be a roughly 80 percent copper and 20 percent zinc alloy containing trace amounts of iron, lead, and nickel.

Last updated:   9 January 2014
Read more at http://www.snopes.com/info/news/orichalcum.asp#JHDfzFIlbB3JklzE.99
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« Reply #26 on: January 11, 2015, 02:54:02 am »

Divers Retrieve 'Atlantis' Metal Orichalcum from Ancient Shipwreck

By Rhodi Lee, Tech Times | January 10, 2:01 AM

A group of divers who were exploring a 2,600 year-old shipwreck off the coast of Sicily discovered ingots believed to be made of orichalcum, a metal that the ancient Greek philosopher Plato wrote to have been forged in the legendary city of Atlantis.

The orichalcum, whose composition and origin remain widely debated, is said to have been invented by a mythological Greek-Phoenician alchemist named Cadmus and was considered very valuable in the ancient times it ranked next to gold.

In the fourth century B.C., Plato, one of the greatest geniuses of all time, mentioned the orichalcum in the Critias dialogue with his description of Atlantis being a realm that flashes with the red light of the mysterious metal.

He said that the orichalcum was mined there and that was used to cover the floors and structures of floors of Poseidon's temple. Many experts today believe that the metal is a brass-like alloy produced in the ancient times using a process known as cementation.

Sebastiano Tusa, Sicily's superintendent of the Sea Office, said that 39 ingots had been found by a team of divers who were exploring a shipwreck that dates back to the first half of the sixth century.

The sunken ship, which was found about 1,000 feet from the coast and at a depth of 10 feet, is believed to have likely been transporting cargo from either Greece or Asia Minor when it sank on its way to the port city of Gela in southern Sicily, probably during a storm.

Tusa hailed the finding as a unique discovery given that no similar object has yet been discovered before.

"Nothing similar has ever been found," Tusa said. "We knew orichalcum from ancient texts and a few ornamental objects."

An expert who conducted an analysis of the 39 ingots using X-ray fluorescence found that these were an alloy with up to 80 percent copper, up to 20 percent zinc and a small percentage of lead, iron and nickel.

Some experts however said that the newly found artifacts were not made from the orichalcum. Enrico Mattievich, who used to teach at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), is one of the scholars who do not think the metal has a brass-like nature.

Contrary to views of other experts, Mattievich claims that a metallic alloy characterized by fire-like reflections similar to the Plato's description was found in metallic jaguars associated with the Chavín civilization that thrived in the Peruvian Andes from 1200 B.C. to 200 B.C and these were made of 9 percent copper, 15 percent silver and 76 percent gold.

http://www.techtimes.com/articles/25557/20150110/divers-retrieve-atlantis-metal-orichalcum-from-ancient-shipwreck.htm
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« Reply #27 on: January 11, 2015, 02:58:07 am »

Atlantis metal orichalcum found in shipwreck
According to the ancient Greeks, orichalcum was a highly valuable metal found and mined in Atlantis, a legendary and long lost continent that was famously written about by the philosopher Plato.
Editor : Michael BROWN
Category : SCIENCE08 January 2015 / Thursday 15:15:40
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Archaeologists have uncovered ingots of the legendary alloy in a ship that sunk 2,600 years ago.

According to the ancient Greeks, orichalcum was a highly valuable metal found and mined in Atlantis, a legendary and long lost continent that was famously written about by the philosopher Plato.

Now researchers have discovered a treasure trove of 39 orichalcum ingots in the wreckage of a vessel that appeared to have been traveling from Greece or Asia Minor before sinking near Sicily.

Far from being a magical metal however, orichalcum was actually a brass-like alloy that would have been created through a process known as cementation using zinc ore, charcoal and copper. It was highly prized in Ancient Greece and would have held a value second only to that of gold.

"The wreck dates to the first half of the sixth century," said Sebastiano Tusa, superintendent of Sicily's Sea Office. "It was found about 1,000 feet from Gela's coast at a depth of 10 feet."


The shipwreck was found off the coast of Sicily.

"The finding confirms that about a century after its foundation in 689 B.C., Gela grew to become a wealthy city with artisan workshops specialized in the production of prized artifacts."


http://full-timewhistle.com/science-27/atlantis-metal-orichalcum-found-in-shipwreck-2428.html
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« Reply #28 on: January 11, 2015, 02:58:59 am »

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« Reply #29 on: September 19, 2015, 01:26:00 pm »

Thank you guys
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