The nearby mountains were seen as representatives of the Gods and celebrated for their lush rivers and waterfalls. These mountains were said to be in the North, the precise location of the Eye’s mountains. When you look at the satellite images of the Eye, you can see the river and water lines that appear throughout the landscape. Exceptional accumulations of Acheulean artefacts, or stone spears and tools, of undetermined age and origin were found at the Richat Structure. That these were generally absent at its innermost depressions has been taken to indicate that the area was only used for short-term stone tool manufacturing and hunting, but this finding would also fit with the description that the outer circle was largely inhabited by working citizens and soldiers, with Atlantian Royalty in the middle. 8. Sub-Saharan DNA from a previously unknown ancient population Atlantis is a story as old as time itself, however, the origins are not often discussed. Though sensationalized to be this lost sunken island by cinema and works of fiction, the first Western mention of this civilization was from the renowned Greek philosopher, Plato. In his unfinished book, Timaeus , the philosopher attempted to describe the world around him and how it came to be. Since I am not fluent in ancient Greek, I will reference a translation by W.R.M. Lamb transcribed in 1925 for the account. The idea that Atlantis was an actual historical place, and not just a legend invented by Plato, didn’t surface until the late 19th century. In his 1882 book, Atlantis, the Antediluvian World, the writer Ignatius Donnelly argued the accomplishments of the ancient world (such as metallurgy, language and agriculture) must have been handed down by an earlier advanced civilization, as the ancients weren’t sophisticated enough to develop these advances on their own.

Because of its enormous size, the Eye of the Sahara is best appreciated from great distances-preferably from space-so for the time being; satellite images will have to suffice. The entire terrain surrounding the Eye was raised by volcanic activity from deep below the surface of the Earth millions of years ago. These areas weren't like the deserts of today. Instead, they probably had much flowing water and were much cooler. a b Monod, T. (1975). "Three Pebble Deposits in the Mauritanian Adrar (Western Sahara)". Provence Historique. 99: 87–97. You can visit the Richat structure location for tourism, geological, or archaeological studies. However, being expansive, you may not have a good visible impression. Also, being in a desert, conditions are extreme and sandy. So, don’t expect a luxurious trip. So all these, themselves and their descendants, dwelt for many generations, bearing rule over many other islands throughout the sea, and holding sway besides, as was previously stated, over the Mediterranean peoples as far as Aigyptos (Egypt) and Tyrrhenia [in Italy]." Nevertheless, there have been countless locations proposed over history for the lost city of Atlantis, including in or near the Mediterranean Sea (Sardinia, Crete, Santorini, Sicily, Cyprus, and Malta have all been considered as possible locations) or in the Atlantic Ocean (the Canary Islands and Madeira Islands are such examples).One of the things I’ve found with people reading this book is that different people find themselves sympathizing with different theories. I have four main theories, and I talk to the people behind the theories and visit the locations. Wagner also puts forward some other interesting claims, including that many elephant bones have been found near the Eye, in line with Plato’s report of an abundance of elephants, and many other animals, on Atlantis (we at Earthly Mission could not find any traces of that evidence online), or that fresh water flowed from the center island of Atlantis, which also exists in the center circle of the Richat Structure (evidence is also hardly available in this regard). The Iberomaurusians (people of Atlantes) may have fought the Sebilians and Harifians (people of Egypt) around 9,000 BC. Plato dates the war to 9,000 years before Solon (640-558BC), that’s around 11,000 years ago. Numerous, concordant radiocarbon dating indicates that the bulk of the sediments had accumulated at the Richat Structure between 15,000 and 8,000 BC. Interestingly, the meteor impact in Greenlandthat might well have spurred the earthquakes and floods may be as young as 12,000 years. All this dating aligns with Plato’s story. 10. There’s evidence of a flood a b Sao, Ousmane; Giresse, Pierre; de Lumley, Henry; Faure, Olivier; Perrenoud, Christian; Saos, Thibaud; Rachid, Mouamar Ould; Touré, Ousmane Cherif (2008). "The Sedimentary Environments of the Pre-Eulean and Aeulean Deposits of the Akerdil and Bamouéré Wadis (Guelb er-Richât, Adrar, Mauritania), A First Approach". L'Anthropologie. 112 (1): 1–14. doi: 10.1016/j.anthro.2008.01.001. Concentric rings are not uncommon in nature, as there are several natural processes that can create them. Impact craters come to mind, but this Richat structure is not an impact crater. It is an eroded dome of magma. Jimmy admits that it is a natural structure, but gets around this massive problem by simply claiming that the Atlantians built their city into the natural formation.

Threats: Its location in an inhospitable desert presents little threat to human or animal activities. However, continued desertification may result in the burial of this landmark. Mark Adams (26 April 2016). Meet Me in Atlantis: Across Three Continents in Search of the Legendary Sunken City. Penguin Publishing Group. p.203. ISBN 978-1-101-98393-5. Rob Shelsky (23 February 2016). Invader Moon. Simon and Schuster. p.75. ISBN 978-1-61868-666-4. This power came forth out of the Atlantic Ocean … an island larger than Libya and Asia put together … Now in this island of Atlantis, there was a great and wonderful empire which had rule over the whole island and several others, and over parts of the continent.” As you can see from this photo above, there is evidence that there were once rivers running through the mountains that are north of the structure.Cailleux, A. (1962). "El Richat: dôme arasé, surbaissé ou cratère bombé?". Notes Africaines. 93: 27–29. So yeah – you can make something sort-of fit if you are willing to make stuff up as needed. The evidence we have says that the Sahara desert is at least several million years old. There is no evidence that western Africa was under water thousands of years ago. Ignoring fatal problems like this is a classic feature of pseudoscience. Besides this structure, you can also visit some tourist attractions nearby, including Ben Amera, Terjit, Diawling National Park, Chinguetti Mosque, and Banc d’Arguin National Park. Is Mauritania’s Richat structure the lost city of Atlantis? Location:Northwestern Taoudeni Basin, Central Adrar Plateau, west-central Mauritania in the Sahara Desert near Ouadane You might be wondering, is this a joke? The Sahara is, unsurprisingly, a desert which would make the theory of a flood rather silly. However, when taking into account our generation’s favorite issue, climate change, the idea of the Richat Structure being the graveyard of Atlantis is an actual possibility.

Novella, Stephen (19 November 2018). "No – Atlantis Has Not Been Discovered in North Africa". NeuroLogica . Retrieved 8 November 2023. alternate zones of sea and land larger and smaller, encircling one another; there were two of land and three of water…the part about the city was all a smooth plain, enclosing it round about, and being itself encircled by mountains ... [the plain] faced towards the South and was sheltered from the Northern blasts [by the mountains]." 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. In the case of Morocco, a German computer expert, Michael Hübner, became obsessed with “Timaeus” and “Critias” because he’s mathematically inclined. He set up what’s called a Hierarchical Constraint Satisfaction and looked at every one of Plato’s clues in “Timaeus” and “Critias.” He weighted them and came up with an area on the map that was within 3,000 miles (4,828 kilometers) of Athens, Greece.Netto, A.M.; Fabre, J.; Poupeau, G.; Champemmois, M. (1992). "Fission Trace Dates of the Richats Circular Structure". Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences de Paris. 314: 1179–86. Ancient artefacts: The Richat Structure is not known for its archaeology or ancient ruins, yet some artefacts have been found there. The Visiting Atlantis documentary and the Indie Archaeology video feature artefacts in makeshift museums in the desert near to the Richat. These include stone spheres with a flat side, stone arrowheads claimed to be 10,000 years old, and copper artefacts. These may not prove that an advanced ancient culture existed, but they do suggest that the area was inhabited in ancient times. The problem with Atlantis is that we have to figure out whether it’s all true or all false. Plato wrestled with the idea of what’s true and what’s not true. The question is: Does Atlantis actually exist or does it fall somewhere in between? Part true. Part false. So, Mark, will we meet in Atlantis one day? Or is it all a lot of hooey? 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. And that, in part, explains why the myth of an ancient, lost civilisation is so useful. It is a basic tale of a rise and fall that can be corralled and exploited for all sorts of causes. Plato meant his tale to be an allegory. Atlantis was destroyed by the gods who had grown angry with the hubris displayed by its inhabitants and so destroyed it. Don’t get too big for your boots, in other words.