Worldwide Locations For The Legend Of Atlantis
The myth or legend of the sunken continent of Atlantis (with the namesake concentric city) has been both fascinating as well as considered pseudo-science throughout the passage of time. Aside from the conventional location of the legendary sunken continent somewhere in the North Atlantic Ocean, numerous other locations across the world have been proposed, some of them more impressive than others. Personally, I found some of them to be quite absurd or, to put it more elegantly, far-fetched, but, to my utmost surprise, while consulting the book Atlantida: Autopsia unui mit (known in French as L’Atlantide: autopsie d’un mythe) by Pierra Carnac (nome de plume of Romanian author Dimitrie Doru-Todericiu who emigrated in France) these locations were deemed relevant enough to be included on a map with multiple candidates for the legend or myth of Atlantis worldwide.
Some of the most plausible locations for the legendary lost continent of Atlantis are, paradoxically perhaps to some, not in or around the North Atlantic Ocean but rather in the old Mediterranean world, an ancient cradle of various complex and advanced civilisations since the Bronze Age. One of these civilisations which is believed to have inspired Plato to write about the myth or legend of Atlantis in two of his well-known dialogues (i.e. Timaeus and Critias) is that of the Minoans, the first civilisation to have emerged in Bronze Age Europe, predating even the ancient Greeks (and, at the same time, after the Mycenaean conquest of Crete, becoming the ancestors of the ancient Greeks alongside the Mycenaean conquerors of the largest island of Greece). Another important aspect regarding the myth or legend of Atlantis is that Plato, an ancient Greek author and philosopher, is that he got to know of it via the ancient Egyptians, more specifically via Solon who heard about the story as it was told to him by Egyptian priests in the city port of Sais situated in the Western Nile Delta.
Regardless of the actual origin of the myth (which is slightly debatable to this day), this brief article revolves around possible or potential candidates for the myth or legend of Atlantis worldwide, more specifically various locations considered throughout the passage of time to represent the legendary sunken continent which has fascinated mankind for centuries.
Map depicting several hypothetical locations of the legendary sunken continent of Atlantis worldwide, aside from the usual or conventional possible location somewhere in the North Atlantic Ocean (approximately around the Azores archipelago, Portugal). Image source: Wikimedia Commons
According to the map above, other potential noteworthy locations for the legendary sunken city-continent of Atlantis are Antarctica, the North Sea around Denmark (i.e. Doggerland), Ireland, southern Finland, Sri Lanka, the Caribbean Sea, or somewhere in the north-east of South America. A rather interesting hypothetical location of Atlantis is thought to be Snake Island (allegedly the capital of the ancient legendary sunken continent) and the Black Sea, according to two German researchers, namely Siegfried Schoppe and Christian Schoppe. Another important possible or potential location for the ancient legendary submerged city of Atlantis is the so-called Richat Structure which is located in Mauritania in north-eastern Africa.
The so-called Richat Structure is a geological concentric structure situated in the Sahara desert, Mauritania, north-eastern Africa. Image source: Wikimedia Commons
Whatever the precise location of the legendary city-continent of Atlantis, one particular aspect is certain after many locations have been already proposed for properly identifying it, namely that the fascination and mystery around this myth is far from being over. Time will tell if the North Atlantic Ocean still has secrets deep beneath its waves for mankind…
Documentation sources and external links:
- Proposed locations for Atlantis on www.wikipedia.org (in English)
- Richat Structure on www.wikipedia.org (in English)
- Richat Structure on www.britannica.com (the online version of Encyclopædia Britannica)