OUR PAGAN HERITAGE ñ PART 3

                                ATLANTIS


The pleistocene era saw the cooling of the climate, and the advance of glaciers. 
Huge masses of ice and snow radiated out from the poles, covering much of the 
land masses into what are now the tropical zones. Due to this cooling, and the 
emergence of the sheets of ice, the water level of the oceans were much lower. 
The ancient shoreline probably followed the continental shelves. The 
Mediterranean Sea was a great green valley with two seas and the Sahara was a 
well watered fertile plain. These two places were just right for the further 
development of the mammals. Dr. Leakey found evidence of Australopethecus in the 
relics of such plains. Let us take the premise from the previous chapter and 
build on that and add some more speculation.

I see the Mediterranean valley as probably the scene of the birth of humanity. 
The historians point out that civilization started in five places in the world, 
five places that developed the human species independent of each other. in the 
following pages, I would like to build on some mythology that would tie the five 
cradles of civilization together, as well as provide some answers to other 
problems in pre-history. The myth that I intend to use is the story of Atlantis. 
I will give its location and the reasons I think it was the original cradle of 
civilization.

The story of Atlantis has intrigued more minds and provided more speculation 
than any other single subject in the "Mythological" world. Various accounts 
place the large island or super continent, all over the Atlantic Ocean, from the 
shores of Africa, to a continent in the ocean making the water to the East and 
West nothing more than salty oversized rivers. Even the Bahamas are not free 
from such speculation.

Stories are told of an advanced society having all sorts of ultra modern 
equipment including certain energy converters which still cause problems in the 
Bermuda Triangle.

It is not surprising what fertile minds can produce out of so small a seed. The 
only account available on Atlantis is the record preserved by Plato. He relates 
a story told to the historian Solon (200 years his senior), thus dating the 
oldest records to approximately 600 BCE. Unlike certain accounts, the height of 
"civilization" that Plato describes of Atlantis is the Atlantians ability to use 
irrigation to raise two crops a year, and hot and cold running water.

In the story narrated by Plato of the great and ancient kingdom, the image is 
presented of a fertile, green land, surrounded by mountains and water. Lush 
vegetation grew due to the irrigation from canals which circled the island and 
provided harbors, and access to the sea from the interior of Atlantis. They had 
hot and cold running water from abundant hot springs within the land. This 
island was located West of the pillars of Hercules.

For centuries, the "Lost Continent of Atlantis" spurred speculation as to where, 
exactly, in the Atlantic Ocean, it was located. Modern scientific investigation 
is ringing the death knell to this speculation. The Mid-Atlantic Ridge, which is 
supposed to be the peaks of the mountains which surround Atlantis, are now found 
to be volcanic island along the fracture lines between the American, Eurasian 
and African plates. They are the safety valves which release the pressure of the 
molten magma and thereby push the continents further apart. Another problem is 
the great depths of the ocean surrounding the peaks. Plato says that after the 
catastrophe, "And that is the reason why the sea in those part is impassable and 
impenetrable, because there is such a quantity of shallow mud in the way, and 
this was caused by the subsidence of the island", thus making the sinking of 
Atlantis to a much lesser depth than afforded in the Atlantic Ocean.

Plato also points out that channels were cut throughout the land, cris-crossing 
the land and interconnecting each other making a system of large canals which 
were open to the sea. The Atlantians were great sailors and this allowed passage 
by ship from the sea to the interior of Atlantis. "Twice in the year, they 
gathered the fruits of the earth--in winter having the benefit of the rains, and 
in summer introducing the water of the canals." (my emphasis) Again a problem 
arises. The Atlantic ocean is salty and irrigation using salty water would not 
provide the harvest as described. on the contrary, heavy concentrations of salt 
water is fatal to most plant life.

With these problems in mind, let us search elsewhere to see if any other area 
would fit the description of Atlantis. Let us look at a map of Southern Europe, 
Northern Africa and Western Asia, as it looked 15,000 years ago.

Many people assume that the face of the of the land has remained relatively the 
same over the centuries. Accounting for the movement of glaciers and silting in 
river outlets, they see the land as unchanged. But 15,000 years ago, ice covered 
much of the North. H.G. Wells, in his Outline of History says, "This vast ice 
cap, which covered both polar regions of the earth, withdrew huge masses of 
water from the ocean, and the seal level consequently fell, exposing great areas 
of land that are now submerged again. The Mediterranean area was probably a 
great valley below the general sea-level, containing two island seas cut off 
from the general ocean. The climate of this Mediterranean basin was perhaps cold 
temperate...". In central Asia, the coolness showed down evaporation, but was 
still warm enough to melt the ice. one huge body of water was formed, which 
encompassed what is now known as the Black Sea, the Caspian Sea and the Aral 
Sea, all the way over to include Lake Baklhash. This ocean, for indeed it was 
one, compares to our present day Mediterranean Ocean--and this was a fresh water 
Ocean.

To reiterate: due to the lower level of the oceans, there was only slight 
passage of water through the present Straits of Gibraltar. The Mediterranean was 
a valley with two large, extremely large lakes. The Western Lake was a slightly 
saline lake extending from east of the present Straits of Gibraltar to Sicily 
and took water both from the land of Spain and France, and also the Atlantic. 
This was a great freshwater lake becoming a salty sea. The second lake was to 
the East and extending east from a point south of Italy to near the shore just 
west of Israel and Lebanon. This lake was fed by fresh water rivers, from the 
North West, rivers beginning in the Alps, running down the back side of the boot 
of Italy and into the Western point of the lake. The North East was fed from the 
fresh water ocean through the straits of Bosporus at the Black Sea (Which was 
probably the ancient "Gates of Hercules"). And from the South, the Nile added 
its waters. The waters from the North East probably cut down along the Turkish 
sea coast and also at the west through the Gulf of Patrai, the low spot between 
Greece and Sparta.

The island of Crete was part of a mountain chain extending from Mt. Olympus in 
Greece, through the Olympian of Sparta, including the island of Rhodes and 
connecting the land in Turkey and completed the circle by going around the 
present Aegean Sea.

The land surrounded by mountains, encircled by water, was a lush warm climate. 
Below sea level, it was warm, surrounded by mountains, it was protected and 
encircled by fresh water, it provided a rich growing paradise. The many springs 
indicate an abundance of water and the hot springs indicate volcanic presence. 
The perfect place for the beginning of society, domestication of plant and 
animal, and more suitable for beginning than the "fertile crescent", which was 
settled much later. "These great valleys about the lakes of the Mediterranean 
bed and in the Red Sea Triangle probably afforded admirable conditions for human 
development." (Outline of History) Fran this Eden, excursions could be made by 
ship to prehistoric Greece, Egypt and north and east into the depth of Asia.

There is a universal story concerning a deluge, which inundated the world, or 
the world as it was known then. This great flood took place probably sometime 
between 15,000 BCE and 10,000 BCE, which happens to be the time Plato sets for 
the destruction of Atlantis: "As touching the citizens of 9000 years ago...". 
The Epic of Gilgamsh states the cyclone and flood lasted for 6 days, "When the 
seventh day cm-e, the cyclone ceased, the storm and battle which had fought like 
an army. The sea became quiet, the grievous wind went down, the cyclone ceased". 
Plato describes the scene: "But afterward there occurred violent earthquakes and 
floods, and in a single day and night of rain, all your warlike men, in a body, 
sank into the earth, and the island of Atlantis in like manner disappeared 
beneath the sea."

The reason for the destruction of Atlantis is made clear to us now,m thanks to 
recent finding of research into plate tectonics. This research was done during 
the ICY, 1954-1955. The Aegean Sea, is completely surrounded by fault lines 
indicating the edges of the European and African plates. in fact, the Aegean 
Sea, itself is a minor plate. A map showing earth quake frequency, shows a 
complete circle around it, and scientists have shown that this is an area of 
downwelling.

We can speculate that pressures built up, first felt as earthquakes along the 
edges of the Eurasian plate and the African plate, causing a rupture to the land 
at Gibraltar, allowing the ocean to rush in. Volcanoes at the other end erupted 
to envelope the island in smoke, but the release of pressure is not enough and 
the land, encircled by faults, sinks lower than the lake to the South and is 
inundated by both the lake and the water from the Atlantic Ocean, rushing 
through the Straits of Gilbralter.

Plato says, "...earthquakes and floods...", and the epic of Gilgamesh says, "A 
black cloud from the foundation of heaven came up, inside it the god Adad 
thundered ... the whirlwind of Adad swept up to Heaven-the whole day long the 
flood descended ... swiftly it sounded up ... the water reached the mountain, 
the water attracted the people like battle."

Was this the end of the Atlantean civilization? If the premise presented here is 
correct, the Atlantians, being great sailors, would have survived, especially if 
they were sailing on the large inland ocean in Asia. Looking at the history 
books, we find that Civilization began independently in five different locals: 
Along the Nile River, the Tigres and Euphrates, the Indus and Ganges, the Huang 
Ho and Wei, and the Danube. All of these civilizations began at the same time, 
or before, 4000-5000 BCE. The books say independently, but do they have 
something in common? The answer is, " Yes!". They were all within relatively 
close proximity, by ship, with the exception of the Chinese Rivers.

The Nile empties directly in too the Mediterranean, and would have done so 
10,000 years ago. Although the first towns in the "fertile Crescent" were nearer 
the sea coast, we know that these "first towns" were not the first. The oldest 
town discovered so far is Catyl Huyuk, in East central Turkey, only a couple of 
hundred miles from where I have indicated Atlantis to have been. The Life World 
Library, says that Catyl Huyuk was "A neolithic settlement, it flourished from 
about 650OBC to about 570013C, some 4000 years before the first Egyptian 
pyramids were built." Elizabeth Gould Davis, in the First Sex, stated, "For the 
Ancient city covers more than thirty-two acres of land and consists of at least 
twelve levels--city piled upon city dating back perhaps to the year 10,000 BC. 
The earliest radiocarbon dating available gives a reading of 7000 BC--nine 
thousand years ago--but internal evidence suggests that the city may have been 
over a thousand years old even then; and the lowest levels had not been 
reached." From there the evidence shows that the cities spread south-eastward 
into the fertile crescent before swing back upward.

A look at a map for that ancient time would tell much. For example the Indus 
rivers and the Ganges rivers were very close to the giant inland sea. Ancient 
Atlantean explorers would find it not too difficult to cross the mountains and 
ride down the valleys, following the rivers from their sources to their mouths. 
The same hold true for the Hwang Ho and Wei rivers, although they were more 
inaccessible, maybe this is why Chinese culture began slightly later than the 
cultures of the other areas. Recent Archeological findings name a fifth area of 
ancient civilization: the Danubiains, a civilization that had spread along the 
Danube River about 6000 BCE.

We can see the possibilities and probabilities of such speculation. There will 
be more later on the birth and development of these cultures. For the time being 
let us say that these cultures were Matriarchal, their rulers were women, their 
primary deities were female, from the Atlantean Cleito, to Ishtar, Tiamat, Isis, 
Rhea Devake and Dana, and they developed similarly.

The matriarchal societies developed agriculture, they were the first to smelt 
brass, commerce developed and writing began. Why aren't they around now? What 
happened that we rarely hear of these great cultures of women? We only hear of 
the advances of men. These and other problem we will be looking into later.