The Real Atlantis-In the Eye of the Sahara (The Weird Ancient History Series)

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If you type the word “Atlantis” into Google, around 120 million results will pop up. Obviously, Plato’s legend of Atlantis has long preoccupied many people, from scientists to mysticists, with many candidates being cited as the possible location of this lost and sunken civilization. However, in 2005, in a publication by the Macquarie University of Sydney, Australia, the author's wrote: "Several hypotheses have been presented to explain the spectacular Richat Structure and breccia, but their origin remains enigmatic," while a 2011 multi-analytical study (published in the Research Journal of Chemistry and Environment v. 15, no. 3) concluded that "the structure requires special protection and further investigation of its origin." Let’s get to some of his specific claims. His primary piece of evidence is that the Richat structure is a series of concentric rings that precisely matches Plato’s description of Atlantis. The only real match, however, is the simple fact that both are concentric rings, which is not unlikely at all. This is a great example of interpreting a general similarity following basic geometry as if it were a specific match.

Regarding the YouTube channel’s primary ‘piece of evidence’, according to which the Richat structure is a series of concentric rings that precisely matches Plato’s description of Atlantis, Novela points out that the simple fact that both are concentric rings is not unlikely at all, and since the rings are not discrete and not complete in places, it’s unclear how water would have filled the structure. The traditional front-runner and the only one so far that has gotten a lot of traction with mainstream academics is the island of Santorini in the Aegean Sea. There is real archaeological evidence there. The island has a bull’s-eye shape with a ring around its center, and it has a relatively new volcano, which we know erupted in ancient times. Initially, it was thought to have formed from a giant meteor impact like Wolfe Creekin Australia or Barringer Crater, Arizona, USA. Geologic studies concluded it was not and not astroblemes but endogenic. He further has to use some creative imagination to argue that the Richat structure, if it were fed by rivers and therefore filled with water, would have two rings of land and three of water. But that is not obvious at all. The rings are not discrete, not complete in places, and it’s unclear how water would fill the structure. You could count four rings of water if you look at the whole structure.For more criticisms of the Richat Structure as Atlantis theory – see Jason Convalito’s blogpost, plus the various attempts at debunking the theory on YouTube. Final thoughts

He then argues that the size of the Richat structure matches Plato’s description, which translates to about 23 kilometers. But again – what do you count as the outer edge of the structure? NASA puts the size of the structure at 45 kilometers. Jimmy just forces a fit to what he needs, and declares victory. The location of the Eye (Athens and Egypt): The Richat Structure is geographically well related to places associated with Plato’s Atlantis. The Mediterranean Sea lies to the north of Africa, and the Atlantean navy is said to have besieged ancient Athens on its shores. Over in north-east Africa lies Egypt, from where Plato apparently received his information (via Solon) about Atlantis. It has also been suggested that Egypt used to be a colony of Atlantis. Thus far, it’s all looking promising. Well, the Richat Structure is indeed the location of exceptional accumulations of Acheulean artifacts – stone tools characterized by distinctive oval and pear-shaped “hand-axes” associated with Homo erectus, as well as derived species such as Homo heidelbergensis. But Acheulean technologies first developed about 1.76 million years ago, and although their disappearance is not well defined, they could have lasted until about 130,000 years ago (much earlier than the proposed time of Atlantis’ existence about 12,000 years ago).Laughs] I was writing the Machu Picchu book, and I read this headline in the New York Times: “German discovers Atlantis in Africa.” I was like, what? The fact that someone could actually search for Atlantis and be taken seriously was weird. Meado, A. (2011). Richat Structure . NASA. Retrieved January 19, 2023, from https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/92071/richat-structure This is also an example of ignoring details that don’t fit. Plato also described a canal that ran through all the walls to the inner structure, connecting the rings. No such canal is evident. And it isn’t just a case of analogies, majority of ancient stories when comparing retellings to written accounts are astonishingly accurate over millennia.