Plato 427-347 BC Timeaus & Critias

Throughout this, I am going to quote versus from the texts themselves and then give you my
interpretation of them…

A few notes:

1. Verses will be in italics

2. 1 Stadia = 185m
3. Drawings and Maps are modified / made by me.
4. … means there are sections of the text that I have not quoted for sake of brevity.
5. I am assuming the story is true and am not going to change it to fit my interpretation.

Background:

Plato got the story second hand from Solon.

Timeaus: In the Egyptian Delta, at the head of which the river Nile divides, there is a certain district
which is called the district of Sais, and the great city of the district is also called Sais, and is the city
from which King Amasis came… To this city came Solon.

Sais – Capital of Ancient Egypt from 732-720 BC and from 664-525 BC; located in Delta region.

Sais Location and Excavation.

King Amasis – Egyptian name Ahmose II, ruled Sais 570-526 BC.

Solon – Greek Statesman (638 – 558 BC) visited Egypt in 590 BC

Atlantis was not destroyed in a calamity at the end of the Ice Age about 9600 BC or Earlier – the
events written by Plato happened after the end of the Ice Age.

TIMEAUS:

The Atlantis section begins with a long discussion of previous destructions by flood and fire:

There have been, and will be again, many destructions of mankind arising out of many causes; the
greatest have been brought about by the agencies of fire and water, and other lesser ones by
innumerable other causes…

In the first place you remember a single deluge only, but there were many previous ones; in the next
place, you do not know that there formerly dwelt in your land the fairest and noblest race of men
which ever lived, and that you and your whole city are descended from a small seed or remnant of
them which survived. And this was unknown to you, because, for many generations, the survivors of
that destruction died, leaving no written word. For there was a time, Solon, before the great deluge
of all, when the city which now is Athens was first in war and in every way the best governed of all
cities, is said to have performed the noblest deeds and to have had the fairest constitution of any of
which tradition tells, under the face of heaven.

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,

Not just Atlantis existed but many others including Athens and Egypt. Athens was founded 9000
years before Solon so approximately 9600 BC and Ancient Egypt was established around 8600 BC. As
the final battle was between Athens and Atlantis it has to happen sometime after 9600 BC.

The Ice Age peaked about 18,000 BC when sea levels were -125m below today and by 9600 BC the
sea level was -60m below todays. It reached near about our present sea level about 5000 BC.
The History of the Conflict & Location of Atlantis

Many great and wonderful deeds are recorded of your state in our histories. But one of them exceeds
all the rest in greatness and valour. For these histories tell of a mighty power which unprovoked
made an expedition against the whole of Europe and Asia, and to which your city put an end. This
power came forth out of the Atlantic Ocean, for in those days the Atlantic was navigable; and there
was an island situated in front of the straits which are by you called the Pillars of Heracles; the island
was larger than Libya and Asia put together, and was the way to other islands, and from these you
might pass to the whole of the opposite continent which surrounded the true ocean; for this sea
which is within the Straits of Heracles is only a harbour, having a narrow entrance, but that other is a
real sea, and the surrounding land may be most truly called a boundless continent.

Now in this island of Atlantis there was a great and wonderful empire which had rule over the whole
island and several others, and over parts of the continent, and, furthermore, the men of Atlantis had
subjected the parts of Libya within the columns of Heracles as far as Egypt, and of Europe as far as
Tyrrhenia. This vast power, gathered into one, endeavoured to subdue at a blow our country and
yours and the whole of the region within the straits; and then, Solon, your country shone forth, in the
excellence of her virtue and strength, among all mankind. She was pre-eminent in courage and
military skill, and was the leader of the Hellenes. And when the rest fell off from her, being compelled
to stand alone, after having undergone the very extremity of danger, she defeated and triumphed
over the invaders, and preserved from slavery those who were not yet subjugated, and generously
liberated all the rest of us who dwell within the pillars.

But afterwards there occurred violent earthquakes and floods; and in a single day and night of
misfortune all your warlike men in a body sank into the earth, and the island of Atlantis in like
manner disappeared in the depths of the sea. For which reason the sea in those parts is impassable
and impenetrable, because there is a shoal of mud in the way; and this was caused by the subsidence
of the island...

Geographical Information:

1. Atlantis was located on a Island in front of and beyond the Pillars of Heracles (Gibraltar).

Note the tall natural peaks (Pillars) at the Straits of Gibraltar (upper left and right)
 2. The Mediterranean is described as a harbour of the Atlantic Ocean.
3. The Atlantic Ocean is described as a true ocean and beyond lies a boundless continent. This
implies the ancient Egyptians new about North and South America.
4. The island of Atlantis was larger than Libya and Asia put together. Please note that in
Ancient Egypt and Greece Libya referred to coastal North Africa along the Mediterranean
from Gibraltar to Egypt and not the modern country. Asia referred to what is today the
Middle East and not the continent.

Other Information:

1. Atlantis at its height ruled North Africa upto Egypt and possibly Egypt too as well as Europe
till Tyrrhenia (Italy).
2. The Atlanteans must have been seafarers as they were present on both sides of the
Mediterranean and are described as coming from an island. To identify them we need to
find evidence of a seafaring culture that existed in and beyond the Mediterranean Sea in the
post Ice Age Period – answer later.
3. The Athenian Army defeated the Atlanteans.
4. It was the Athenian army that was destroyed in a single day and night by a massive
earthquake and flood (tsunami?).
5. The Island of Atlantis is only said to have been destroyed in a similar manner and that a
shoal of mud exists where it was. We assume it happened at the same time but that cannot
be confirmed from the text.
CRITIAS:

The text begins with a bit of conflicting information and states that 9000 years have passed since the
war which I suspect is a mistake as the previous section clearly states that Athens was established
9000 years before Solon’s visit. It then talks about the founding and rule of Atlantis which I am
skipping over to focus on the physical description only.

Physical Description of Island:

Looking towards the sea, but in the centre of the whole island, there was a plain which is said to have
been the fairest of all plains and very fertile. Near the plain again, and also in the centre of the island
at a distance of about fifty stadia, there was a mountain not very high on any side. … and breaking
the ground, enclosed the hill in which she dwelt all round, making alternate zones of sea and land
larger and smaller, encircling one another; there were two of land and three of water, which he
turned as with a lathe, each having its circumference equidistant every way from the centre, so that
no man could get to the island, for ships and voyages were not as yet.

Interpretation: Centre of island has a plain with one side facing seashore. There is a hill about 50
Stadia (9kms) from seashore at the centre point. The artificial rings of land and sea that eventually
define the City of Atlantis are located around this hill.

…the island itself provided most of what was required by them for the uses of life. In the first place,
they dug out of the earth whatever was to be found there, solid as well as fusile, and that which is
now only a name and was then something more than a name, orichalcum, was dug out of the earth
in many parts of the island, being more precious in those days than anything except gold. There was
an abundance of wood for carpenter's work, and sufficient maintenance for tame and wild animals.
Moreover, there were a great number of elephants in the island; for as there was provision for all
other sorts of animals, both for those which live in lakes and marshes and rivers, and also for those
which live in mountains and on plains, so there was for the animal which is the largest and most
voracious of all. Also whatever fragrant things there now are in the earth, whether roots, or herbage,
or woods, or essences which distil from fruit and flower, grew and thrived in that land; also the fruit
which admits of cultivation…

Interpretation: The island and the plain at its centre were rich in flora and fauna.

The whole country was said by him to be very lofty and precipitous on the side of the sea, but the
country immediately about and surrounding the city was a level plain, itself surrounded by mountains
which descended towards the sea; it was smooth and even, and of an oblong shape, extending in one
direction three thousand stadia, but across the centre inland it was two thousand stadia. This part of
the island looked towards the south and was sheltered from the north. The surrounding mountains
were celebrated for their number and size and beauty, far beyond any which still exist, having in
them also many wealthy villages of country folk, and rivers, and lakes, and meadows supplying food
enough for every animal, wild or tame, and much wood of various sorts, abundant for each and every
kind of work.

Interpretation: The plain which surrounded the city sloped from mountains to sea, was oblong in
shape, 3000 (555 kms) stadia in length and 2000 (370kms) in width. The mountains were beautiful
and full of flora and fauna. In other words, we are not talking Himalaya type snow covered peaks but
high hills with thick woods.

I will now describe the plain, as it was fashioned by nature and by the labours of many generations of
kings through long ages. It was for the most part rectangular and oblong, and where falling out of
the straight line followed the circular ditch. The depth, and width, and length of this ditch were
incredible, and gave the impression that a work of such extent, in addition to so many others, could
never have been artificial. Nevertheless I must say what I was told. It was excavated to the depth of a
hundred, feet, and its breadth was a stadium everywhere; it was carried round the whole of the
plain, and was ten thousand stadia in length. It received the streams which came down from the
mountains and winding round the plain and meeting at the city, was there let off into the sea.

Further inland, likewise, straight canals of a hundred feet in width were cut from it through the plain,
and again let off into the ditch leading to the sea: these canals were at intervals of a hundred stadia,
and by them they brought down the wood from the mountains to the city, and conveyed the fruits of
the earth in ships, cutting transverse passages from one canal into another, and to the city. Twice in
the year they gathered the fruits of the earth-in winter having the benefit of the rains of heaven, and
in summer the water which the land supplied by introducing streams from the canals...

Interpretation: The plain was surrounded on all sides by a wide ditch that collected all the river
waters from the mountains and put it into the sea at an outlet near the city. The plain also had at
regular intervals canals that cut it across its width and brought water to the ditch on the seaward
side of the plain. Something like the drawing below where the red circle is the City of Atlantis. One
note we do not have a description of the rest of the island and the other sides only this side with the
seaward sloping plain dominating it.
The City of Atlantis

First of all they bridged over the zones of sea which surrounded the ancient metropolis, making a
road to and from the royal palace. And at the very beginning they built the palace in the habitation of
the god and of their ancestors, which they continued to ornament in successive generations, every
king surpassing the one who went before him to the utmost of his power, until they made the
building a marvel to behold for size and for beauty.

And beginning from the sea they bored a canal of three hundred feet in width and one hundred feet
in depth and fifty stadia in length, which they carried through to the outermost zone, making a
passage from the sea up to this, which became a harbour, and leaving an opening sufficient to
enable the largest vessels to find ingress. Moreover, they divided at the bridges the zones of land
which parted the zones of sea, leaving room for a single trireme to pass out of one zone into another,
and they covered over the channels so as to leave a way underneath for the ships; for the banks were
raised considerably above the water.

Now the largest of the zones into which a passage was cut from the sea was three stadia in breadth,
and the zone of land which came next of equal breadth; but the next two zones, the one of water, the
other of land, were two stadia, and the one which surrounded the central island was a stadium only
in width. The island in which the palace was situated had a diameter of five stadia. All this including
the zones and the bridge, which was the sixth part of a stadium in width, they surrounded by a stone
wall on every side, placing towers and gates on the bridges where the sea passed in. The stone which
was used in the work they quarried from underneath the centre island, and from underneath the
zones, on the outer as well as the inner side. One kind was white, another black, and a third red, and
as they quarried, they at the same time hollowed out double docks, having roofs formed out of the
native rock…

The entire circuit of the wall, which went round the outermost zone, they covered with a coating of
brass, and the circuit of the next wall they coated with tin, and the third, which encompassed the
citadel, flashed with the red light of orichalcum. The palaces in the interior of the citadel were
constructed on this wise:-in the centre was a holy temple dedicated to Cleito and Poseidon, which
remained inaccessible, and was surrounded by an enclosure of gold…

Interpretation:

The City would have looked something like this with the red line being the bridge connecting land
zones. The measurements start from the central island of the city on which lay the hill which as the
central part if less than a km across could not have been high. More likely a low hill or mound a
100m or so high. In this drawing the canal from city to sea stops at the ditch surrounding the plain
but would continue on to the seashore itself as all the water from the mountains and plains would
empty out from here. See Drawing next page.
Finding Atlantis:

For those of you who have not already identified the island of Atlantis from the above description; I
am going to focus on finding a plain with the same description as it is a large feature. The City is a
small feature between 4-5kms across so would be easier to find if we can locate the plain and then
look in the appropriate location.

I am also assuming that only the city was destroyed, forgotten or sank underwater as the plain itself
is too large a feature to have gone underwater. If you add the mountains and the rest of the island
even more unlikely. Geologically nothing off that sort has happened since 9600 BC.

First step I did was to convert the artificial looking plain into a natural plain…

So this…

Becomes this…
With the plain crossing canals becoming a series of near parallel rivers.

The ditch becoming two rivers flowing from the mountains via valleys on the left and right side of
the plain.

The ditch on the seaward side becoming an inland waterway into which the rivers flow separated
from the sea by a chain of barrier islands.

Recognize it anyone?

Beautiful wooded mountains a fertile near rectangular plain with parallel rivers sloping to the sea?
Last clue…

For those of you who have read “Maps of the Ancient Sea Kings” by Charles Hapgood; he concluded
that the Peri Reis Map and other Portalano type Maps were drawn on a projection system where
everything centred on Memphis, Egypt (modern Cairo); the ancient capital of Egypt and that a map
drawn with this projection system would look like this…

In this projection the Atlantic and Indian Oceans combine to become a single true ocean and North
and South America look like then combine to become a true continent on the other side.
As to the plain on the Island of Atlantis I believe it to be the Piedmont Plateau of the Eastern USA
and comprises the States of North and South Carolina and Virginia. The wooded rich mountains
become the Appalachians. See the map and Google Earth Image both rotated to match the map
above and the rectangular plain literally pops out. By the way the plain is depending how you
measure it between 550-600kms long and 370 kms wide.
The barrier island chain along the Carolinas…

If my theory is correct… the centre point on the Coast where the City was located would be to the
Left or Right of Cape Fear and possibly Cape Romain.

Good luck Hunting…

One last thing there was a seafaring culture that has archaeological sites along the Atlantic Coast
of Europe and Africa and has sites up to Italy on one side of the Mediterranean and sites along the
North African coast all the way to Egypt.

Its today known as the Megalithic Culture and the oldest sites are all coastal enclaves and date
from 4800 to 3000 BC. The oldest Megalithic site dated is in Egypt and dates back to 5600 BC.