Did Atlantis really exist ?

Question: Did Atlantis really exist !?
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:

Yes, it MAY have had a glorious capital too, as retold by Plato!.!.!. and it MAY have been the original home of the enigmatic 'Sea Peoples', who then settled in Canaan and with a merging with the Canaanites became the Phoenicians!.

But don't believe the alien/flying saucer/gods brigade! The inhabitants were human, genetically maybe early Haplogroup J from the Levant!.

Location!? NOT Santorini in the Mediterranean, that was MUCH later, that was a colony of the Phoenicians!.!.!. its destruction was well documented at the time!.!.!.

The real location!? Just look at any good sea level map of the Atlantic and the North Atlantic Ridge is exactly where Plato said Atlantis was!. The combination of techtonic movement (streching the ridge and lowering it) and rising sea levels after the last ice age, led to a mass exodus of the population!.!.!. and then the massive eruption of Mount Horta was an extinction event that claimed the remaining population!.

All that remains now are mountain tops and the dormant volcano!. Everything is now just as lush and green and beautiful as it must have been back then!.!.!. but I'm not sure I would want to live there, in case the volcano kicked off again!.

Just Google for images of the Azores!Www@QuestionHome@Com

Actually, during ancient Greek times there was a thriving city on an island in the Mediterranean Sea!. The Island was basically a large volcano and one day there was a massive eruption that sent more than half the island into the sea and created a large tsunami!. After that when people went to trade with the people of the island they couldn't find it!.

This was passed down through history and eventually writen down!. Most scientist believe that this very likely did happen, or could have happened!. Most historians believe this story to be what started all of the rumors and myths about atlantis!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

It's believed by some scholars that Atlantis was based on tales of the island of Thera (modern name Santorini), one of the most highly advanced civilizations in the Mediterranean between 2000 and 1600 BCE (running water, sewers, paved streets, chariots, temples and palaces, etc!.- much like the Minoan civilization would later use) until the island was destroyed by probably a series of volcanic blasts between 1650-1500 BC!. The blasts caused tidal waves so furious that the remains of boats from the era have been found on mountain tops and seems to have struck so suddenly in one case that priests and bull died during the middle of a sacrifice and their remains covered in ash and lava that allowed plaster casts to be made (similar to those from Pompeii)!. The inhabitants of the island are known to have used writing but there was evidently a sharp decrease in literacy following the explosions!.
To the ancients such destruction (worse than several atomic bombs) could only be seen as the wrath of the gods!. The stories of the island survived but it became a morality tale!. Plato, who had probably heard the part-true/largely embellished tales, probably used them as a basis for his yet more exaggerated account of Atlantis!.
There are other "lost" civilizations in mythology and oral histories, most importantly probably "Lemuria" (sometimes called just "Mu")!. There is probably some basis to all of them, though mostly myth!. One of the most important recent discoveries was of Ubar, a very wealthy oasis city said to have been destroyed in a single day some time before Muhammad and presumed mythical, but found in the 1990s!.

The island of Santorini (it used to be football shaped in ancient times but is now crescent shaped) is known now as one of the hottest night-life spots in the Med!. Many of the nightclubs and businesses are of course Atlantis themed!.

Santorini/Thera:
http://www!.decadevolcano!.net/santorini/a!.!.!.

Ubar:http://www!.astrographics!.com/GalleryPrin!.!.!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

That could be argued either way!.!. Was there a island that once was above the ocean!? Yes!.!. Was it like the legend makes it out to be!? No!. There was no space ships and such!.!.

Hope this helps a little!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

No!. The story of Atlantis was made up by Plato as a moral fable to warn the people of Athens what would happen to them if they became decadent and corrupt like the Atlanteans!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

no!. it is just an imagination of Plato!. Myth created by Plato to emphasize his political theories!.Www@QuestionHome@Com