Lost City of Atlantis Found in Spain in 2004?
The lost city of Atlantis could lie in a region off Spain's southern coast, this research was reported by the archaeology journal Antiquity. Archaeologists have not yet commented on this finding and its based solely on satellite images that show ancient ruins matching descriptions made by the Greek scholar Plato. It shows two rectangular buildings hidden in a muddy region known as Marisma de Hinojos near the port of Cadiz. Apparently descriptions of Atlantis as an island refer to this part of Spain that was destroyed by a flood between 800 and 500 B.C.
The theory is supported by the presence of two rectangular features which match temple depictions in Plato's descriptions of Atlantis and the structures are clearly visible in satellite pictures. One feature, 230 meters (755 feet) long by 140 meters (460 feet) wide, could be a silver temple dedicated to the sea god Poseidon; the other, quadratic structure, measuring 280 meters (920 feet) by 240 meters (790 feet), could be a golden temple devoted to Cleito and Poseidon.
They are surrounded by concentric circles which agrees with Plato's description of temples surrounded by concentric circles of water and earth. Even the sizes are correct. According to Plato, the diameter of the largest circle was 27 stades, i.e. 5 kilometers. In the satellite photos, the diameter of the largest circle is between five and six kilometres. Atlantis has eluded scholars ever since Plato first mentioned it around 360 B.C.
The Greek scholar told of a city placed in front of the Pillars of Hercules, the Straits of Gibraltar, which flourished for more than 9,000 years. Reputedly destroyed by the gods when its people became prone to sin and corruption.
Legend has it the entire city was swallowed by the sea within a day and a night under the earthquake and subsequent tidal wave. For centuries scholars and explorers have searched for it. One recent theory equates Atlantis with Spartel Island, which sank to the bottom of the sea 11,000 years ago. The island, just to the west of the Strait of Gibraltar, lies only 120 kilometers (75 miles) from these rectangular structures. According to Plato, the Atlantean capital was placed about nine kilometers from the sea on the edge of a rectangular, smooth and even plain surrounded by mountains that reached to the sea. Apart from this, the country was very high and had a steep coastline.
Close to Cadiz is a rectangular, smooth and even plain which lies at a south coast. The mountains described by Plato would then be the Sierra Morena and Sierra Nevada. It has been noted that the war between Atlantis and the eastern Mediterranean countries described in Plato's writings strongly resembled that of mysterious raiders known as the Sea People around 1200 B.C. The Atlanteans and the Sea People would then be the same, according to the German scientist.
If the capital of Atlantis indeed existed near the mouth of the Guadalquivir, then we suggest that Plato's Atlantis tale is based upon an Egyptian report on the Sea Peoples and some Greek tradition on the Athens of that time.
The report on the Atlantean city and state may refer to a Spanish city, possibly identical with Tartessos, which was probably destroyed by Carthaginians during the sixth century B.C.
