The holy grail of archaeology
By Alex Mita

AMERICAN researcher Robert Sarmast yesterday officially launched an
expedition that he hopes will result in the discovery of the lost
island of Atlantis. The launch of the expedition is expected to be
marked today when the scientists submerge a copper canister with the
flags of Cyprus, the EU and a specially designed Atlantis flag five
hours out at sea from Limassol port.

At a news conference aboard the vessel that will take the team of
experts to a submerged continental shelf – where he believes was the
plain of Atlantis – Sarmast said the search for the lost island was
the holy grail of archaeology.

"After years of research, and having developed the most accurate
maps and models of the eastern Mediterranean seafloor, we believe
that we have found Plato's legendary island of Atlantis and we aim
to prove it this summer," he said.

"This discovery is the holy grail of all archaeological discoveries
and the ramifications are due to be staggering. The world could
never be the same after this discovery. We celebrate the joining of
Cyprus with the EU with this flag ceremony and we are going to sail
over the area where we believe the cities of Atlantis were located."

Sarmast said he believed Atlantis was located about 1,500 metres
below water, just a short distance east of Cyprus.

"Once there, we are going to lower this copper capsule which is
going to contain the flags of Cyprus, the EU and a flag bearing the
symbol of Atlantis," he said.

"We are going to lower it down to the seafloor around where the
cities of Atlantis are located to commemorate this event. It will
remain there and we hope some day in the future the world will once
again find it and remember this day long after we hopefully
discovered the temples of Atlantis."

Sarmast said the $250,000 plus expedition was set to begin in June
and would take place in different phases, through the collaborative
efforts of the Cyprus based company EDT, and through the American
based company Phoenix, along with other marine specialists from
around the world.

In her speech, Yiorgoulla Lori of the Cyprus Tourism Organisation
said the CTO welcomed the project that linked Cyprus with Atlantis.

"If this is proved, this is going to be a great event and a great
discovery for Cyprus," she said.

"Today we celebrate the link of Atlantis and Cyprus but also the
island's accession to the EU."

Sarmast said the cities of Atlantis were numerous, with a group of
them located on a rectangular plain that currently stretches from
the south-eastern side of Cyprus to the shores of Syria.

"The main city we are going to be looking for is just about half way
between Cyprus and Syria," he said.

"We are going to cover about 150 to 200 square kilometres and we are
going to have specialists from America that will operate a Remote
Operated Vehicle (ROV), a robot equipped with cameras and arms.

"The ROV is capable of going all the way down to 6,000 metres and
it's one of the best in the world. (When submerged), the ROV will
send back video footage and will take snapshots and we will use its
arms to bring back any finds," he added.

Sarmast said the search for Atlantis would be based on a series of
clues left by Plato, including a very detailed description of the
island as it was told by an ancient Egyptian priest to Solon, who in
turn brought the story to Greece.

"We know exactly what this island looked like," he said.

"There was a long rectangular plain that was at the foothills of
this island, that stretched in an east west direction, and we know
that the main cities were located near the middle of the plain.

"Not only do we have a match with the island but we also found a
rectangular plain, and to our surprise we also found a pyramidal
hill in the middle of this plain that matches the description of the
Acropolis hill.

"The level of matches is beyond a scale where you can say it's just
coincidental. We have the exact co-ordinates of the Acropolis hill,
which is where the main temples and structures where located."

Sarmast said the structures would be preserved at that depth due to
the lack of oxygen and sunlight, something that would increase the
odds of finding them and filming them to prove the island existed.

"We are not just looking for a ship or a small item but an entire
city," he said.

"All we really have to do is to film a cut-stone block or a
megalithic structure that's laid out in some geometrical shape of a
building on the sea floor.

"We are not looking to retrieve anything although maybe we can bring
a little piece of rock or something of a wall, but our aim is to
film it.

"If all goes well we'll be bringing you good news about the greatest
archaeological discovery in human history in the near future and we
will inaugurate the dawn of a new era of knowledge for human kind."

Copyright © Cyprus Mail 2004s

Ausar do you know of any other flood stories or origin stories that are anything simular to the one told in the Plato dialogs. I find it odd that a story of this type would not also be recorded elsware in Egypt and be isolated to the delta.

While I am at it do you know the measures that the priests would have used in 590BC when telling the story to Solon? RE: the plato dialogs use Stadia as the measure for distance and size, wha would the preists have used?

The priest would have used a tool called a Merkhet which was used in construction or ritual purposes. The measures and dates for the Greeks and Egyptians are both very different from each other so this might be where the confusion lies.

quote:

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Originally posted by Horemheb:
Its all a bunch of pure baloney. Makes for great TV shows and might sell some books but that is it.

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Whats a bunch of baloney? His theory or the whole Atlantiis thing. Keep in mind that 8 out of ten cultures have a flood and destroyed homeland folk law.

Ozzy

I can tell you that some interesting fndings have recently come from regions like Morocco and the Iberian peninsula. I remeber seeing a story somewhere in the news relating to these regions.

Many cultures might have flood stories including the Mayans of America,but that is because of local activity. To the people in this region the flooding seem to be the entire world. The Tamils in India have a story about a lost civlization and so do other people. Who knows what future archaeologist might find.

quote:

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Originally posted by ausar:
The person who told the story of Atlantis to Plato was Solon. Solon was said to have gotten it from the Egyptian priests himself. I think the whole Atlantis story might be allegorical to something more deeper.

I can tell you that some interesting fndings have recently come from regions like Morocco and the Iberian peninsula. I remeber seeing a story somewhere in the news relating to these regions.

Many cultures might have flood stories including the Mayans of America,but that is because of local activity. To the people in this region the flooding seem to be the entire world. The Tamils in India have a story about a lost civlization and so do other people. Who knows what future archaeologist might find.

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Solon is said to have considered himself as a poet and in fact may have wished he be remembered as such, but his involvement in Politics as the Lawmaker of Athens consumed much of his life and cemmented his legecy as a Solon the Law maker. In his later life he is said to have recorded these tales from Egypt and other countries in his poems. These poems were related and passed down to his family and friends.

Solon did not relate these to plato, as Solon lived 200 years before Plato, the dialogues were recorded around 360BC.

The dialogues are conversations between Socrates, Hermocrates, Timeaus, and Critias, all historical figures and recorded by plato. Timeaus first intoduced the story which was later expanded upon by Critias, who was reminded of the poems his Grandfather had related to him as a boy, the same poems his gramdfather recieved from Solon. So Critias was the great grand sone of Solon and Plato only recorded the tale told by the memories of Critias.

Critias does however say that his descriptions are well remembered and just as his grandfather had related them to him. Solon is said to have writen his peoms in away that are easily understood by the populace to get history and ideas accross to the most uneducated man.

With this in mind the period from which the story has traveled from the preists to Platos record could be said to have been accurate.

If you read some of solons peoms in English you may be supprised that the meaning and even the rhyme is in place. The skill with which he wrote his works is that it has lost little of its meaning and original intent even today. So I see no reason why that would have not also been the case only 200 years after his time.

There is nothing in his story that can not be confirmed current archaeological or Geological knowledge.

What interesting fndings have recently come from regions like Morocco and the Iberian peninsula Ausar?

Ozzy