The Egyptian Connection
Plato has indicated that the Atlantean history he received and later compiled into his Timaeus and Critias dialogues was in fact revealed about 200 years earlier by an Egyptian priest to an Athenian sage and lawgiver named Solon (c. 638- 558 BCE); a Greek scholar and statesman of considerable reputation for his democratic ideas and legal reforms. Plato wrote that during a trip to Egypt, Solon met with an aging priest named Sonchis in the sacred ancient city of Sais at a temple dedicated to primordial goddess Neith and together they translated the myth/legend about Atlantis from the Egyptian texts into the Greek language. Moreover, since the original story apparently came from an Egyptian source which describes the First Time, or the Zep Tepi, Plato intimated that due to a steep language barrier the names were almost unrecognizably different in the individual cultures. This is a very important point completely missed by critics who posit that Plato’s story, with its profoundly destructive imagery, is not found in any other Mediterranean cultures and that it is therefore necessarily merely an allegorical educational method used in the erudition of his students. The critical view point proceeds to erroneously conclude that since there is no direct reference to a place named “Atlantis” that was destroyed by an unprecedented catastrophe in known Egyptian lore, then Plato’s Atlantean tale is only a myth. However, by accommodating potential language differences and in again trusting Plato and heeding his logos, our investigation has found an obvious direct Egyptian parallel which closely matches the specifications and details manifest in the Greek works.
Basically, according to accepted research, the predynastic creation and destruction myths or legends thought to have occurred during the Zep Tepi when gods actually lived on Earth, some recorded in the ancient Egyptian Book of Going Forth by Day (Book of the Dead), the Book of the Celestial Cow, and the Pyramid and Coffin Texts, originated in prehistoric times and were transmitted through oral traditions until about 5,200 years ago when various forms of record keeping began to flourish. As mentioned above, in reviewing this store of Egyptian pre-history we’ve identified a strong candidate for the Egyptian counterpart to the Atlantis legend originally translated by the Egyptian priest Sonchis with Solon. With deference for the critics, we will highlight several of the most notable correlations between Plato’s city of Atlantis and the fabled Egyptian city of Bakhu built during Zep Tepi.
First, in a simplified manner, several consistent descriptions among the alleged myths can be identified by noting Atlantis and Bakhu were both located on large islands raised from the deep and formless primeval waters of Earth by a group of creation gods. For the Greeks, Atlantis was built on Atlantic Island by sea god Poseidon whose palace was the focus of the city’s circular rings. And from the Egyptian stories, Bakhu was similarly constructed on Atum Island which was the primordial mound raised from Nun (Neith) the primeval water’s depths by several gods including sea god Sobek, who built his palace there and became Lord of Bakhu. These Egyptian creation theologies assert that Sobek, offspring of Neith, had laid eggs in the bank of the shoreline of Atum Island, which is clearly evocative of several circular rings embedded in the Earth. Therefore, by presumably reasonable and logical extension, Poseidon appears to be generally equivalent in this context to Sobek.
More observations reveal that Atlantis and Bakhu were described as being situated on an average-sized mountain near an eastern sunrise shore and both cities appeared luminescent in the morning light, emitting a distinguished yellow-orange-reddish glow. Specifically, the tops of the covered city walls of Atlantis were said to have been clad with brilliant metals, including the iridescent golden-red alloy known as orichalcum and shiny metallic silver; each metal beaming together in the dawn. And, Bakhu was described as built upon a shimmering crystalline mountain formed of the translucent honey-red carnelian gemstone which would also present a boastful optical display when the yellow rays of the Sun fell upon it in the morning light. It may be possible that orichalcum was very similar to carnelian and vice-versa, so they are descriptively categorized together.
Yet another correlation is that both cities are associated with multiple sets of twins created by the gods with the first born taking precedence and dominion over the others. For Atlantis, the god Poseidon sired or produced 5 sets of twins who ruled the area with Atlas being the first born and the namesake of the region. Atlas can also be described in Greek as Atom, a designation of his position as most indivisible heir to the throne of Poseidon, his progenitor. For Bakhu, the group of creation gods which always includes Ptah in some manner and form, brought the Egyptian man-god Atum (phonetically equivalent to Atom and which is thought to mean undifferentiated; rather similiar to indivisible for Atom ) into existence as their first born and then he created from himself 4 sets of twins to rule their respective realms on Earth. It can be stated that Atum was seemingly hermaphroditic and may essentially be considered a twin unto him/herself in which case a total of 5 sets of twins might be associated with the tale. Again, 5 sets of twins brought into existence by several creation gods including Sobek (Poseidon).
A most interesting correlation between the cities of Atlantis and Bakhu is their mutual unprecedented, catastrophic destruction and abandonment. In both stories, almost verbatim, the reigning gods (Zeus and Ra) called together the elder gods and asked for their advice on how to punish the insubordinate humans; how to put down the First Rebellion of Man according to the Egyptian text describing events from the Zep Tepi. The sentences containing discussion between Zeus and his elders were actually the very last lines written in the presumably unfinished Critias. In the case of Atlantis, Plato implied the wrathful energy that caused the earthquakes and floods came in the form of a giant, extremely hot lightning-bolt emanating from Zeus in the heavens. And, with great consistency, the Egyptians described the retribution against humanity from Sun god Ra as a frenzied scorching-hot force known as goddess Sekhmet, a feminine manifestation of Ra, who was apparently sent from the celestial Eye of Ra to swiftly strike upon the Earth destroying the insubordinate humans. It can be argued that the Wadjet-Ureus crown, with its cobra-like serpent and vulture, appears to be a representation of Sekhmet’s sudden strike and resultant widespread death associated with the chaos.
It should be noted here that Greek stories which predate Plato and Solon, also have a feminine goddess responsible for the destruction. In this well known version of the altercation, a very angered Hera (he-Ra), wife of Zeus, pressures him to punish the insubordinate relation of Atlas (Atom) known as the Hesperides (Eves) for eating the sacred golden fruit from the tree of knowledge, of wisdom, of life, of immortality, given to goddess Hera by Gaia, the Ge Earth goddess. Resulting from Zeus’ earlier wrath, Atlas and his namesake mountain range was forced to lofty heights (uplifted?) as punishment, forevermore burdened to uphold the heavens of the world for his support of Cronos in battle. Physical descriptions locating the garden home of the Hesperides in these stories are inextricably connected to a place at the base of the mountains of Atlas. Another story with geographic descriptions locating Hera’s sacred tree can be read in the 11th Labor of Heracles which, in addition to the western mountain location, Heracles seems to suggest while on his long and challenging circuitous trek in search of the hidden place with the golden apples (oranges), that there is a sea, or Poseidon, in the west of what the Greeks called ancient Libya; as much earlier mentioned above, this hypothesis also argues there was once a shallow glacial sea west of Libya.
Moreover, several Greek historians, including Herodotus, have indicated the large mythical Lake Tritonis was once found in the south of ancient western Libya (modern Tunisia and eastern Algeria), and, according to Graves (1960), both Neith (Athena) and Poseidon have genesis there, before being carried to Crete and then on to Greek culture. If our hypothetical Saharan-Atlantic Sea is the original Great Lake Tritonis, then many tangible correlationships between various myths and prehistoric peoples become readily apparent and regional connections among their primary deities lead to the western edge of the Sahara at the Atlas Mountains. By following the bits and pieces mentioned by various authors, it does seem that Neith, Sobek and Atum, and Athena, Poseidon and Atom (Atlas) can be directly associated with the Saharan-Atlas Steppe region. Just as we have demonstrated with our epeirogenesis model, the legends further indicate that the Great Lake Tritonis was suddenly drained after a particularly powerful earthquake caused changes in its physical containment. These physical descriptions of Lake Tritonis by Herodotus, Pindar, and Diodorus Siculus, among others, seem to be adequately represented by what some have considered to be a remaining vestige of that once great lake, now known as Chott El-Djerid, a very large dry salt lake in the west of Tunisia and eastern Algeria.
Thus, based on all of these presumably reasonable connections, we submit that the mystifying city of Atlantis may actually be one and the same as the ancient mystical predynastic Egyptian city from the Zep Tepi known by the name Bakhu. And, by accepting that people of different cultures, seperated often by vast distances, will use descriptions of a mystical foreign place which rely upon elements commonly understood within their unique community’s experiences, it follows reasonably for such a natural wonder as the apparent crater-rings would be known by as many names as there are cultures. It can be argued correlating evidence exists to suggest that this city may have been known by several other names in various forms; two of these names include the ancient Sumerian Eridu and the Mosaic Enoch, which then yields the increasing descriptive chain, Atlantis-Bakhu-Eridu-Enoch-Olympos (see below). But, due to the current limits of this work, our focus here is on Greek and Egyptian commonalities, leaving a wealth of research for future investigations. So, let’s take a closer look at more attributes intimately associated with the Greco-Egyptian city, Atlantis-Bakhu.
But, before moving on, we will quickly mention another statement attributed to Herodotus pertaining to the peoples of North Africa (referred to collectively as Libyans) which is also consistent with Plato’s suggestions about the Atlanteans. Specifically, Herodotus suggests that the Libyans were divided into eastern and western tribes which had completely different ways of life. He tells us that the east of Lake Tritonis the eastern Libyans were a nomadic culture of shepherds, tending their animals while moving about freely in search of optimal grazing lands. Whereas the western Libyans, necessarily located west of Lake Tritonis and therefore on the steppes of the Saharan-Atlas, lead a more sedentary life as farmers, cultivating their crops of vegetables and fruits. As we have already detailed, Plato described the plains located on the southern half of Atlantic Island were bountiful gardens boasting a cornucopia of food and other flora. This garden imagery, mentioned in most Mediterranean cultures and various Greek myths, including the garden of the Hesperides of Atlas, is rather consistent indeed with the geographic parameters defined by our hypothesis.
Temples of Atlantis-Bakhu
As we’ve mentioned, Plato never finished writing Critias so he didn’t describe in great detail what all of the temples looked like, but he did indicate that “there were many temples built and dedicated to the many gods” (Table 2, #10). So it seemed plausible that if this location has merit, some of these megalithic temple structures might be present at the Saharan-Atlas site. And, since the Atlantean history was shared by the Greeks and the Egyptians, it’s reasonable to assume that even if the names were different in the individual cultures as Plato indicated they were, both may have referenced formations, structures and images in their legends that dated back to the Atlantean civilization.
So, as one may now suspect, the immediate area surrounding the meteorite craters does indeed appear to yield several distinctly visible formations (partially buried under the sand, but visible via satellite imagery) that closely resemble iconic symbology found in Greek and Egyptian culture. Three of these natural forms are highlighted in Figure 6 (image on left, click to enlarge). The first is shown in the upper image of Figure 6 and resembles the L-shaped architectural square which is a symbol associated with the Greek god Hephaistos and the Egyptian god Ptah. The L-shaped formation in Figure 6 (also visible in Fig 3) is distinctly set apart from the rest of the surrounding landscape. It seems to resemble an homage construction with one of the legs measuring nearly 600 feet (~182 m). This size is noteworthy because the standard unit of measure described by Plato is a “stadium” which is approximately equal in distance; an interesting architectural attribute consistent with a god associated with standard measure, engineering and architecture.
Next, in the middle image of Figure 6, a crocodilian shape can be seen on the right (which may be representing the Egyptian god Sobek, Lord of Bakhu, or even the Greek dragon monster Ladon, protecting the sacred tree of the golden apples) and on the left the upper body of a bird-like formation seems to sit on an earthen feature resembling the twisted-twigs of a nest that appears to be in flames. Greek myth references the well know Phoenix (an eagle-like bird per Herodotus) that rises in rebirth from the ashes of death; whereas the Egyptian stories speak of the immortal Benu bird that is cathartically consumed by flames from its burning nest then youthfully reincarnated, as it were, from the ashes. While some have suggested, citing the Pyramid Texts, that the bird is representing the yellow wagtail of Atum, or still others think a grey heron, it is not known for certain what the Benu bird looks like; but the head of the Egyptian WAS scepter (the staff held by gods and Pharaohs indicating power and dominion) is thought to have symbolized the head of the Benu bird. Interestingly, the shape of the head on the WAS scepter and the head of the enormous bird image on-site have notable similarities.
Additionally, the natural formation of hills in the lower image of Figure 6 looks remarkably similar to the familiar udjat, known also variously as the Eye of Ra, and/or the Eye of Horus, symbolizing the immense power available to the Egyptian Sun god Ra as described in two primary myths. The first has two of creator god Atum’s children, Shu (air) and Tefnut (moisture), lost in the chaos of space, so Atum sent his removable udjat eye to locate them and return them to their creator; the reunion resulted in the udjat of Atum shedding tears of joy which when combined with the soils of Earth created the first humans. And, from the second myth, the udjat symbol can be called the Eye of Thoth as associated with god Djehuty, or Thoth, who was thought to have used his knowledge, wisdom and magic to reassemble the divided left Eye of Horus – the Moon – even though only 63 of 64 pieces were available.
In Figure 6b (image on left, click to enlarge), a second sequence of hieroglyphic symbols associated with dominant Sun god Ra from various sources (Gardiner’s List: N5, N6, N7, N8 ) can be seen to graphically represent all three of the apparent rings discernable on-site. These rings, as mentioned earlier, may also be associated with the Egyptian creation story involving Sobek laying eggs on the shore. Even the name of the Greek god’s mount - Olympos – may have its origination in its association with at least two Cretan giants, Olympos and Mylinos, where Mylinos is discriptive of a giant millstone wheel, possibly symbolizing a mountain (Olympos) having a very large circular wheel-like crater (Mylinos). But, this line of thought leads to the conclusion that Mount Olympos of Greek mythology may actually be the same mountain as that of Poseidon and Sobek, as well, suggesting a convergence surely troubling for most researchers. Though troubling, is it illogical?
The upper-ring of the symbols has another smaller ring centered inside the larger, which closely matches the detailed diagrams in Figure 4 that define the central uplift of a complex meteorite impact. We have shown that this uplifted area is a likely location for the primary palace of the Greek and Egyptian gods. And, the lower ring of the symbol has three linear segments projecting in toward the circle and/or away from it, thought to represent actions of the Ra’s people and sunshine, which could also be representing the canals described by Plato that provided passage for the subjects of the god between the harbor and seaport Atlantis-Bakhu.
The chance of all five of these possibly related formations occurring randomly in this exceedingly small area of the entire Earth’s surface, including the seafloor – - remember, an area that was identified by following Plato’s descriptions – - is seemingly beyond astronomical. Therefore, it appears highly unlikely that the presence of these natural formations and earthen sculptures is random, but rather it seems much more likely they are intrinsic parts of an ancient culture rather consistent indeed with what we know from both Greek and Egyptian sources about the Atlantean people and their expansive spheres of economic and military influence.
Sophistication is relative; myth often nature misunderstood
Though much is made of Atlantean sophistication in the popular press when citation is given to some of the colossal accomplishments attributed to this alleged civilization, such as their earth-moving engineering corps, their agriculture and irrigation corps, their metallurgical industry, their architecture, and their navy, it is apparent from the physical geology and geographic evidence offered in this study that the aggrandized popular view has flaws. When faced with these factors, we can begin to realize reading between the lines of Plato’s dialogues that several rather far reaching assumptions have been embraced which have strongly influenced our thoughts about this ancient tribe–assumptions leading us to erroneous conclusions about their society’s advanced state. Of course, to be sure, sophistication is a condition relative to status quo, and it does stand to reason that this tribe’s reputation as a powerful and organized military force could have been warranted. Since the once cloudy Atlantean mystique can now be understood in more natural scientific terms, and, of course, if our solution for the paradox has merit, we can also glean a clue from Plato about this tribe of tribes that became known as the subjects of Atlas (Atom) and his siblings, the Atlantean kings.
According to Plato’s account and current anthropological understanding, near the end of what we know as the Pleistocene ice-ages, a knowledgeable “god-like” man from the sea named Poseidon came upon a mystical island garden paradise which was the home of many small tribes of native people, probably including the prehistoric Iberomaurusians. Genetic studies seem to indicate some of these tribes may have originated in Europe, perhaps driven south by the glacial winters. Poseidon decided to make his home on the island and married a local girl named Cleito who ultimately gave birth to 5 sets of twins. Consistent with historical marriages intended to bind tribes in relative peace, this politically beneficial union appears to have prduced progeny positioned to ultimately rule Cleito’s people. The island was named after the first born, the most indivisible heir, Atlas (Atom/Atum), who along with his siblings then became the ruling kings of the island; thus they were the only true Atlanteans, and 10 does not an instant civilization make.
Alternatively, we want to suggest another interpretation of the story that can be shown to have consistencies which are not entirely unreasonable and do not change the outcome. If Poseidon was the name of a naval warship from an unknown tribe with mastery of the sea, and Cleito the name of a harbor location, then after Cleito gave Poseidon berth, the 5 sets of twins (ranking lieutenant sailors?) would have suddenly appeared exiting the craft, borne as it were, from within the vessel. Regardless of which scenario is used, the Iberomaurusian tribes of northwestern Africa and southern Europe thought to have been inhabiting the large island when Poseidon arrived, were apparently successfully organized as a society and militarized by the 5 sets of twins, the god-kings of Atlantis-Bakhu. Thus, apart from Poseidon and the original 10 god-kings, there was no great sophisticated civilization, rather instead throngs of devoted subjects, fear and awe inspired to subservient obedience by their intelligent and knowledgeable rulers.