What people lived in Atlantis?

Question

What is the name of the culture that built "Atlantis" (the lost city not the TV show)? I think Atlantis is the city that people try to find and their technology was supposed to be extremely advanced. I was wondering if anybody knew the name of the culture that lived there.

Answer 1

The Egyptians have a record of Atlantis that predates Plato's record. They called its people Keftiu - the Egyptian word for Cretans.

I think Atlantis was Crete. The palace at Knossos (quite an architectural feat for its time) was destroyed in the eruption of Thera and it pretty much ended their civilization. Crete did not sink after the eruption, but a good portion of Santorini (where Thera is located) did.

http://maps.google.ca/maps?um=1&hl=en&q=...

Thera (the actual volcano) is now underwater. When the eruption broke down the walls of the volcano, it took much of the land with it. It was one of the most destructive eruptions in history. Even Egypt had volcanic ash fall on its land.

Answer 2

Actually, they would be considered Greeks today. The island with the most connected to historical descriptions is located in the Aegean sea, on the east end of the Mediterranean.

For their time, they were extremely advanced. They had technologies for making pots that were far more durable, as well as advances in boats and sails that nobody of the time really understood.

However, as to what actually happened or where it was, we don't know. Atlanteans either fled the island as it sank or were killed, and after that the technology went to other places (most notably, Sparta and Greece, where Atlantis was recorded... and it should be noted that there isn't any mention of Atlantis in Egyptian lore that I'm aware of, so if it was a huge place, the Egyptians weren't aware of it, and were known to have traded in South America as late as 300 AD).

Answer 3

I've read all types of different things concerning that. Some say it was an Ancient Greek culture and I've seen some try to hint that it could've been an ancient Aztec culture. Who knows? It's made up anyway.

Answer 4

Plato wrote about an ancient lost island called Atlantis.

He states that the account was translated from the Egyptian by Solon. He also states that Critias (Plato's close relative) had Solon's original translation in his possession. If the original manuscript actually existed, Plato likely has access to it.

Plato locates it in the Atlantis Ocean just outside the "Pillars of Herakles" (today the Straits of Gibraltar).

He says it was a central plain with Mountains on the West, North, and East. The central plain of Atlantis is described as being 2000 x 3000 Greek stades in size; which equals about 79,212 US square miles (roughly the size of South Dakota).

Nowhere does he call it a Continent.

Nor does he say it sank in a single day and night.

What he says is that in a single day and night, the Greek army was swallowed by the Earth. He then says that "in the same manner" Atlantis was "swallowed by the sea." But nowhere does he indicate the two events happened at the same time.

Every theory I've seen on Atlantis is either based upon Plato or relies on him for at least some support. This makes Plato's writing the only clear common ground, among all interested parties, in discussions about Atlantis. Plato is the foundation upon which most Atlantean theories are based.

Strangely though, many people who discuss Atlantis (both skeptics and true believers) have never actually read the original account; which is actually quite short.

The account is found in Plato's Timaeus and Critias dialogues. The actual Atlantean sections of any book with Timaeus and Critias, are reasonably short. For example, in the Penguin classic edition, the complete dialogue of Timaeus is about 100 pages long, but the Atlantean section is only 8 pages long. Critias is only 17 pages long.

Linguistically, Plato's writings on Atlantis are reasonably straight forward. In nearly all cases, the meaning of the original Greek is clear enough.

As far as I am concerned, people should be free to choose to accept what Plato wrote, or to reject it. However, what I do have a problem with, is when people take what Plato actually said and twist it into what they claim he "meant" in an effort to adjust Plato to support their theory about Atlantis. They often do this just so they can then say "Plato supports my theory."

You can download a free, pdf copy of my "New Atlantis Reference Edition" from my website:

http://www.greekatlantis.org  

This edition contains Jowett's translation with aligned referencing, explanatory essays, and a comprehensive concordance.

Answer 5

Today, it's widely believed that an ancient Greek culture called the Minoans inspired the myth of Atlantis. The Minoans are famous for building beautiful palaces that were indeed highly advanced for their time (as I recall, their palaces even had indoor plumbing!).

That culture mysteriously vanished centuries ago. However, in recent years, scientists have uncovered evidence that strongly suggests the culture was almost completely wiped out by one or more titanic tsunamis generated by a volcanic eruption on an island several miles away. According to the scientists, the surviving Minoans were almost undoubtedly left vulnerable to foreign invaders who were suddenly able to take over their lands quickly because the tsunami(s) had destroyed the Minoans' powerful navy.

Answer 6

Most people refer to them as the Atlanteans.

If there's any historical basis, it's probably just a myth about a particular inhabited island in the Mediteranean that was submerged by rising sea levels at the end of the last ice age.

They probably didn't have any advanced technology, but maybe were a relatively advanced civilization for the time, like Crete. If so they were probably related to the Minoans, or Phonecians or other ancient mediteranean cultures.

Answer 7

Atlanteans