Atlantis is a mystery that tempts scientists and spiritualists to re-examine the advanced human Civilization which, it is said, disappeared. At least, thousands of books have been written particulars of the legend.
At first it was Plato (427-347 BC), a Greek philosopher, who recorded the story of the lost continent in two of his works, Timaeus and Critias. Both are Plato's last works, written in 347 BC. In the same year Plato died. Narrated in both works, Atlantis is a city with high civilization and highly advanced technology.
Atlantis, said Plato, had tremendous maritime power, and was in front of the "Pillars of Hercules." The land is fertile, the people are prosperous. He is a kind of heaven on earth, whose territory covers western Europe to Africa. Plato said, Atlantis was present about 9,000 years before the Solon school, or 9,600 years before the time Plato lived.
The glory of Atlantis, said Plato, began to fade after failing to control Athens, the land of the gods and goddesses. Calamity befell Atlantis so that the island was lost in the sea in a matter of days. The survivors left to find a new place. Atlantis eventually became a "lost paradise."
Indeed, many people have doubts about Plato's fairytale-like story. However, as explained by Alan Cameron in the book “Greek Mythography in the Roman World” published by Oxford (2004), mythology is the pillar of the Greek elite culture. Although many doubt the truth, the story could be a reflection of certain events in the past.
Atlantis, for example, became an interesting topic of discussion after the Age of Enlightenment. There are rebuttals, parodies, to scientific explanations. "It seems only in modern times have people taken the story of Atlantis seriously," Cameron wrote.
Some say the story was inspired by stories from the past, such as the eruption of Mount Thera or the Trojan War. Or consider also the claim that Plato was inspired by a number of contemporary events in his time, such as the fall of the Helike dynasty in 373 BC. Or, the failed Athenian military invasion of the island of Sicily in the war of 415-413 BC.
At the beginning of modern civilization, the story of Atlantis was revived by humanist writers in the European Renaissance era. One of them was Francis Bacon, who published an essay entitled "New Atlantis" in 1627.
In his writings, Bacon saw Atlantis as a utopian society which he called Bensalem. It is located on the west coast of the American continent. Other writers do not want to lose. Olaus Rudbeck, through his writings in 1679, thought that Atlantis was in the country of his birth, Sweden. The country is called Rudbeck as the birthplace of civilization, including language.
The famous British scientist, Sir Isaac Newton, also expressed his opinion. In 1728, the founder of the theory of gravity published a work entitled "The Chronology of the Ancient Kingdoms Amended." Newton was also curious to learn about mythological explanations regarding Atlantis.
Although he did not specifically mention Atlantis, Newton described historical events in a number of places, which had a glorious past similar to Plato's version of Atlantis. For example, the glory of the Ancient Greek Ages, the Egyptian Empire, Assyria, Babylon, Solomon's Temple, and the Persian Empire.
Atlantis mythology also disturbed the Nazi regime in Germany. In 1938, a high-ranking Nazi special police official, Heinrich Himmler, reportedly set up an expedition team to Tibet. You see, there is a story that Atlantis was built by the Aryans, the ancestors of the German people. The mission failed. The Nazi belief was later doubted by a number of scientists.
Traces in the Archipelago of the
Hunt, and speculations of the existence of Atlantis have been searched for throughout the ages. A number of works were published showing certain areas allegedly part of the 'Drowning Glory'.
Indonesia is also included in the speculation list of researchers and enthusiasts of Atlantis mythology. For example, Professor Arysio Santos from Brazil. He's a geologist and nuclear physicist. Then, there is a geneticist from Oxford, England, Professor Stephen Oppenheimer. Both suspect that Indonesian territory harbors the remains of the 'Lost Paradise'.
Santos presented a map of Indonesia in his book published in 2005, "Atlantis: The Lost Continent Finally Found." The lost continent is likely to be in parts of Indonesia and the South China Sea, Santos believes. In that work, he claims to have conducted comparative research, such as regional conditions, weather, potential natural resources, volcanoes, and the lifestyle of the local people.
In the book, he hypothesized that the archipelago was formerly Atlantis. For Santos, the indications include a matter of area. As Plato said, Atlantis was “larger than Libya (North Africa) and Asia (Minor) combined”. Indonesia, according to Santos, is considered suitable with that geographical character.
Santos' video interview on the YouTube page shows he has no doubt that Atlantis really existed, and was not just a myth. Santos explained why scientists had failed to find Atlantis, and doubted the existence of the lost city. “Because they were looking for him in the wrong places. They are looking for it in the Atlantis Sea," he said in an interview on YouTube , as published on the Hubpages page .
The assumption that Atlantis was in the Atlantic Ocean is indeed logical. However, it is not the exact location. "Atlantis was in the [Indonesian] Indian Ocean, on the other side of the earth," he said. It was in the eastern hemisphere that civilization began. However, he said, the Indian Ocean or the South China Sea as the location of Atlantis was only a limitation. "More definitely in Indonesia," continued Santos.
Before the ice age ended 30,000 to 11,000 years ago, Indonesia had a large landmass. At that time sea level was 150 meters lower than it is today. It is in that location where civilization exists. Meanwhile, the rest of the earth from North Asia, Europe and North America is still covered in ice.
The islands scattered in Indonesia are considered as mountain peaks, and the highlands of a continent that sank due to Rising Sea Levels, and subsidence of the lowlands at the end of the Pleistocene Ice Age. It happened about 11,600 years ago. "That is the same time span as described by Plato in his dialogue when alluding to Atlantis," Santos wrote in the introduction to his book.
Unlike the beliefs of researchers before or in Santos's generation, he is also optimistic that Indonesia, which is said to be a former relic of Atlantis, became the forerunner to the birth of a number of ancient civilizations.
Residents of the area who survived rising sea levels and volcanic eruptions eventually scattered to find places. They “moved into areas now known as India, Southeast Asia, China, Polynesia, America, and the Near East,” writes Santos.
A similar explanation was also put forward by a British writer, Stephen Oppenheimer, in the book "Eden in The East: The Drowned Continent of Southeast Asia" (1998). He wrote of a continent that sank due to flash floods, and rising sea levels about 7,000 to 14,000 years ago.
The area that sank was in what is now Southeast Asia. Oppenheimer called the sunken continent Sundaland. The residents who survived at that time then spread to various places up to Europe, bringing their culture and lifestyle. That is why Oppenheimer assumed that the origins of the Euroasian race in Europe could be traced back to Asia.
Oppenheimer also believes that the inhabitants of Sundaland at that time had advanced civilizations from other regions. “They have developed a way of making a living, from just hunting animals to farming, gardening, fishing, and even trading across the sea. All of that was done before 5,000 years ago," said Oppenheimer's assumption.
History has so far recorded that the mainstay of modern human civilization came from Egypt, the Mediterranean and Mesopotamia. However, according to him, the ancestors of modern human civilization came from the Malay land which is often called Sundaland, or Indonesia.
What is the proof? "Indonesian agricultural civilization predates other agricultural civilizations in the world," said Oppenheimer in a discussion discussion of his book in Jakarta, October 2010. Of course, the opinion of a geneticist and human DNA structure expert from the University of Oxford, provides a different paradigm from what has existed so far that the earliest civilizations originated in the West.
Unlike Santos, Oppenheimer did not immediately conclude that Sundaland was Atlantis. He himself admits that further research is needed, and hopes that there will be collaboration with researchers in Indonesia, to explain that Sundaland is a Drowned Paradise. However, Oppenheimer believes that Sundaland in the Indonesian Archipelago had the most advanced civilization of its time.
Pseudoscience?
Atlantis, said Plato, had tremendous maritime power, and was in front of the "Pillars of Hercules." The land is fertile, the people are prosperous. He is a kind of heaven on earth, whose territory covers western Europe to Africa. Plato said, Atlantis was present about 9,000 years before the Solon school, or 9,600 years before the time Plato lived.
The glory of Atlantis, said Plato, began to fade after failing to control Athens, the land of the gods and goddesses. Calamity befell Atlantis so that the island was lost in the sea in a matter of days. The survivors left to find a new place. Atlantis eventually became a "lost paradise."
Indeed, many people have doubts about Plato's fairytale-like story. However, as explained by Alan Cameron in the book “Greek Mythography in the Roman World” published by Oxford (2004), mythology is the pillar of the Greek elite culture. Although many doubt the truth, the story could be a reflection of certain events in the past.
Atlantis, for example, became an interesting topic of discussion after the Age of Enlightenment. There are rebuttals, parodies, to scientific explanations. "It seems only in modern times have people taken the story of Atlantis seriously," Cameron wrote.
Some say the story was inspired by stories from the past, such as the eruption of Mount Thera or the Trojan War. Or consider also the claim that Plato was inspired by a number of contemporary events in his time, such as the fall of the Helike dynasty in 373 BC. Or, the failed Athenian military invasion of the island of Sicily in the war of 415-413 BC.
At the beginning of modern civilization, the story of Atlantis was revived by humanist writers in the European Renaissance era. One of them was Francis Bacon, who published an essay entitled "New Atlantis" in 1627.
In his writings, Bacon saw Atlantis as a utopian society which he called Bensalem. It is located on the west coast of the American continent. Other writers do not want to lose. Olaus Rudbeck, through his writings in 1679, thought that Atlantis was in the country of his birth, Sweden. The country is called Rudbeck as the birthplace of civilization, including language.
The famous British scientist, Sir Isaac Newton, also expressed his opinion. In 1728, the founder of the theory of gravity published a work entitled "The Chronology of the Ancient Kingdoms Amended." Newton was also curious to learn about mythological explanations regarding Atlantis.
Although he did not specifically mention Atlantis, Newton described historical events in a number of places, which had a glorious past similar to Plato's version of Atlantis. For example, the glory of the Ancient Greek Ages, the Egyptian Empire, Assyria, Babylon, Solomon's Temple, and the Persian Empire.
Atlantis mythology also disturbed the Nazi regime in Germany. In 1938, a high-ranking Nazi special police official, Heinrich Himmler, reportedly set up an expedition team to Tibet. You see, there is a story that Atlantis was built by the Aryans, the ancestors of the German people. The mission failed. The Nazi belief was later doubted by a number of scientists.
Traces in the Archipelago of the
Hunt, and speculations of the existence of Atlantis have been searched for throughout the ages. A number of works were published showing certain areas allegedly part of the 'Drowning Glory'.
Indonesia is also included in the speculation list of researchers and enthusiasts of Atlantis mythology. For example, Professor Arysio Santos from Brazil. He's a geologist and nuclear physicist. Then, there is a geneticist from Oxford, England, Professor Stephen Oppenheimer. Both suspect that Indonesian territory harbors the remains of the 'Lost Paradise'.
Santos presented a map of Indonesia in his book published in 2005, "Atlantis: The Lost Continent Finally Found." The lost continent is likely to be in parts of Indonesia and the South China Sea, Santos believes. In that work, he claims to have conducted comparative research, such as regional conditions, weather, potential natural resources, volcanoes, and the lifestyle of the local people.
In the book, he hypothesized that the archipelago was formerly Atlantis. For Santos, the indications include a matter of area. As Plato said, Atlantis was “larger than Libya (North Africa) and Asia (Minor) combined”. Indonesia, according to Santos, is considered suitable with that geographical character.
Santos' video interview on the YouTube page shows he has no doubt that Atlantis really existed, and was not just a myth. Santos explained why scientists had failed to find Atlantis, and doubted the existence of the lost city. “Because they were looking for him in the wrong places. They are looking for it in the Atlantis Sea," he said in an interview on YouTube , as published on the Hubpages page .
The assumption that Atlantis was in the Atlantic Ocean is indeed logical. However, it is not the exact location. "Atlantis was in the [Indonesian] Indian Ocean, on the other side of the earth," he said. It was in the eastern hemisphere that civilization began. However, he said, the Indian Ocean or the South China Sea as the location of Atlantis was only a limitation. "More definitely in Indonesia," continued Santos.
Before the ice age ended 30,000 to 11,000 years ago, Indonesia had a large landmass. At that time sea level was 150 meters lower than it is today. It is in that location where civilization exists. Meanwhile, the rest of the earth from North Asia, Europe and North America is still covered in ice.
The islands scattered in Indonesia are considered as mountain peaks, and the highlands of a continent that sank due to Rising Sea Levels, and subsidence of the lowlands at the end of the Pleistocene Ice Age. It happened about 11,600 years ago. "That is the same time span as described by Plato in his dialogue when alluding to Atlantis," Santos wrote in the introduction to his book.
Unlike the beliefs of researchers before or in Santos's generation, he is also optimistic that Indonesia, which is said to be a former relic of Atlantis, became the forerunner to the birth of a number of ancient civilizations.
Residents of the area who survived rising sea levels and volcanic eruptions eventually scattered to find places. They “moved into areas now known as India, Southeast Asia, China, Polynesia, America, and the Near East,” writes Santos.
A similar explanation was also put forward by a British writer, Stephen Oppenheimer, in the book "Eden in The East: The Drowned Continent of Southeast Asia" (1998). He wrote of a continent that sank due to flash floods, and rising sea levels about 7,000 to 14,000 years ago.
The area that sank was in what is now Southeast Asia. Oppenheimer called the sunken continent Sundaland. The residents who survived at that time then spread to various places up to Europe, bringing their culture and lifestyle. That is why Oppenheimer assumed that the origins of the Euroasian race in Europe could be traced back to Asia.
Oppenheimer also believes that the inhabitants of Sundaland at that time had advanced civilizations from other regions. “They have developed a way of making a living, from just hunting animals to farming, gardening, fishing, and even trading across the sea. All of that was done before 5,000 years ago," said Oppenheimer's assumption.
History has so far recorded that the mainstay of modern human civilization came from Egypt, the Mediterranean and Mesopotamia. However, according to him, the ancestors of modern human civilization came from the Malay land which is often called Sundaland, or Indonesia.
What is the proof? "Indonesian agricultural civilization predates other agricultural civilizations in the world," said Oppenheimer in a discussion discussion of his book in Jakarta, October 2010. Of course, the opinion of a geneticist and human DNA structure expert from the University of Oxford, provides a different paradigm from what has existed so far that the earliest civilizations originated in the West.
Unlike Santos, Oppenheimer did not immediately conclude that Sundaland was Atlantis. He himself admits that further research is needed, and hopes that there will be collaboration with researchers in Indonesia, to explain that Sundaland is a Drowned Paradise. However, Oppenheimer believes that Sundaland in the Indonesian Archipelago had the most advanced civilization of its time.
Pseudoscience?
Santos and Oppenheimer's opinion regarding the traces of Atlantis and Indonesia as the former centers of civilization on the one hand invites fascination. But not all parties believe in that claim. Interestingly, Indonesian scientists themselves criticized the views of the two foreign observers.
Astronomy Research Professor from the National Institute of Aeronautics and Space (LAPAN), Thomas Djamaluddin, doubts the story of Atlantis. For Djamaluddin, the story of Atlantis was just a story, with minimal scientific value.
Astronomy Research Professor from the National Institute of Aeronautics and Space (LAPAN), Thomas Djamaluddin, doubts the story of Atlantis. For Djamaluddin, the story of Atlantis was just a story, with minimal scientific value.
The explanation of Atlantis that has been put forward by researchers so far is included in pseudoscience, or pseudo science. It's not scientific. This is pseudoscience. Between stories and scientific facts are mixed there.
But said Djamaluddin, Atlantis was nothing more than a story written by the legendary Plato. "If that is used as a scientific fact of geological history, Plato is only based on his understanding. Plato didn't mention the data," explained Djamaluddin.
The researcher who graduated from Kyoto University, Japan, also assessed that geological history does not show that Indonesia is Atlantis. “Writings similar to Santos have been around for a long time. It's just conjecture," he said.
But said Djamaluddin, Atlantis was nothing more than a story written by the legendary Plato. "If that is used as a scientific fact of geological history, Plato is only based on his understanding. Plato didn't mention the data," explained Djamaluddin.
The researcher who graduated from Kyoto University, Japan, also assessed that geological history does not show that Indonesia is Atlantis. “Writings similar to Santos have been around for a long time. It's just conjecture," he said.
Another objection, for example, came from a senior geologist from BP Migas, Awang Satyana. During a review of Santos' book, about two years ago, Awang said Santos did not submit geological evidence and arguments.
Sundaland, said Awang, is a stable continental shelf that sank 15,000 – 11,000 years ago by a deglaciation process due to climate change cycles. "Not by volcanic eruptions. A supervolcano eruption will actually cause winter in the long run," said Awang.
Even the matter of the migration of Sundaland people throughout the earth, said Awang, contradicts the evidence from studies of modern human migration biomolecularly.
Geologist from Padjadjaran University, Oki Oktariadi, warned that the alleged location of Atlantis was not only Indonesia. There are many regions such as Andalusia, Crete Island, Santorini, Cape Spartel, Cyprus, Malta, Ponza, Sardinia, Troy, and others.
"Recent research results by Kimura's (2007) found several stone monuments under the waters of Yonaguni, Japan which are thought to be remnants of the civilization of Atlantis or Lemuria," explained Oktariadi in his paper entitled "Is it true that Sundaland is the Lost Atlantis?"
Although the truth is still in doubt, for Oktariadi, the research has positive value for Indonesia. At least, this country is better known internationally, especially among researchers in various fields. Shahnan Tanjung more info
"Recent research results by Kimura's (2007) found several stone monuments under the waters of Yonaguni, Japan which are thought to be remnants of the civilization of Atlantis or Lemuria," explained Oktariadi in his paper entitled "Is it true that Sundaland is the Lost Atlantis?"
Although the truth is still in doubt, for Oktariadi, the research has positive value for Indonesia. At least, this country is better known internationally, especially among researchers in various fields. Shahnan Tanjung more info
