atlantis'in nerede olduğu konusu hala bir muamma olmakla birlikte yapılan araştırmalarla birçok varsayım öne sürüldü. bunlardan birkaçı vakt-i zamanında bir ders için ^* incelemiştim. boş bir yazı veya tek derste yazılan bir yazı olmadığı için buraya eklemeye karar verdim. türkçe'ye çevirecek vakit bulamadığımdan ingilizce versiyonunu yazıyorum, umarım bu yazı ilgilenenlere faydalı olur:

there has always been a thin line between a myth and a historical fact. a myth is a “handed-down story from olden times containing the early beliefs” (britannica). on the other hand, a historical reality is more than a pure belief and we do not question a historical fact after we have seen the proofs. as being one of the most controversial issues in ancient history, plato’s atlantis is a great example of how people can confuse myth with history. the issue of atlantis will be examined by presenting three major locations for ancient atlantis: crete, thera and troy. the land of troy will be concluded as the best bet for the location of atlantis while rebutting the arguments of non-believers of atlantis account.
the interpretation of the atlantis faced two major obstacles throughout the time. firstly, the search for an ancient civilization requires co-work of many disciplines such as history, philology, archeology (zannger, 1992). secondly, people cannot accurately apply logical reasoning. it is for sure that the dimensions of the discussion are huge since more than 50.000 books have been published until now (zannger, 1992). because of the great conflict on atlantis’ existence, people have shown 40 different locations including the netherlands, south america, greenland and even the planet venus itself! (zannger, 1992).almost all of these opinions lack unbiased view on atlantis account which makes the investigation harder.

in order to avoid any unproven personal opinion, the right step will be taken by starting the research with the basis of the atlantis legend, namely, with the writings of plato. plato’s unfinished trilogy “timaeus-critias-hermocrates” was meant to be the “history of the universe” as it originates from the studies of old scholars such as eudoxus and solon (zannger, 1992). the trilogy was considered as an explanation of the creation of the world and its old residents. however, this trilogy was stuck in the middle of the second book critias and the writing was left unfinished. in those primary sources, plato explains how the topic of atlantis came into being: during a conversation between solon and saitian priests, one priest emphasizes the importance of ancient greek culture while pointing out the significance of atlantis civilization (zannger, 1992). especially, in critias the main focus is on atlantis. in his second book plato describes atlantis like the following:
“… the island of atlantis, which we said was larger than libya and asia once upon a time, but now lies sunk by earthquakes and has created a barrier of impassable mud which prevents those who are sailing out from here to the ocean beyond from proceeding further…” (critias)
from this quote we can easily conclude some facts that atlantis was:
• an island
• larger than libya and asia combined
• sunk by earthquakes
• surrounded by a barrier of impassable mud (zannger, 1992)

atlantis - a fiction?
as a reaction to these writings, some people strongly opposed the idea of atlantis. they argued that the atlantis account was plato’s pure fiction since no place on earth shares any similarity with atlantis. for instance, they say that items found related to atlantis do not actually belong to atlanteans. in other words, the ancient archeological objects were considered as the atlanteans’. however, it is later revealed that those item belong to other civilizations. for example, people found a fossil monkey skull and they quickly conclude that this skull was from atlantis’ time. yet, further examinations showed that the skull was actually a bulb of lava (mystical search). as another example of wrong argument, an object found was an atlantean warrior figure. however, the same figure is discovered in mexico and the account of atlantis was disproved (mystical search).
in addition to this argument the non-believers state that a whole continent as big as plato describes cannot sunk during one single day. this argument seems to be extremely right since it takes more than thousands years to observe geological changes like continent movement etc. the non-believers claim that the term “continental shelf” is completely misunderstood by other scientists who support the existence of atlantis. (weird geology, 2001)

the statements of non-believers may sound logical. nevertheless, plato would have made some mistakes by interpreting solomon’s notes. despite several confusions created by plato, many geo-archeologists keep on searching for the location of atlantis. they show generally 3 different spots and they focus their research on those locations.

atlantis as minoan crete?
some experts like balch (1917) came up with the statement that atlantis was minoan crete. the advocates of this idea show the description of atlantis, given above, which reflects the characteristics of minoan crete and aegean sea.
“all these and their descendants for many generations were the inhabitants and rulers of various islands in the open sea; and also, as has been already said, they held sway in our direction over the country within the pillars as far as egypt and tyrrhenia.”
with the help of this part of the writing people can conclude that the kingdom of atlantis was very powerful and expanded its borders to the far destinations. the supporters of minoan crete thesis point out that the minoan crete was in control of many small islands nearby and that is why crete could be seen as a dominant kingdom in ancient times (balch, 1917) another fact they use in favor of their argument is that the crete civilization is defeated by the forces of athens and egypt in 1200 bc. this situation is similar to the collapse of atlantis where the atlantis civilization defeated by athens and then sunk by strong earthquakes. moreover, the supporters assert that “the barrier of impassable mud” may refer to the loss of connection between egypt and minoan crete. so, people could not get further information from minoan kingdom (knapp, 1919).
nevertheless, this argument includes an improbability. it is very hard for athens to forget the minoan civilization which they have destroyed some time ago. it is known that even after the collapse the minoans kept a connection with the athens (knapp, 1919)

atlantis as thera?
besides those believers of crete as the homeland of atlantis, other people suggest a more detailed opinion which admits the relationship between minoan crete and atlantis but demonstrates a different point of view. they claim that santorini island group (also called thera) is probably the most realistic location for atlantis (the best bet for a real atlantis).
approximately, 3500 years ago, a huge volcanic explosion at the center of the santorini island group near greece created great waves which destroyed the civilization and put in under the depths of aegean sea (the best bet for a real atlantis). the believers of that idea highlight some points which show similarities between thera and atlantis. first of all, both in atlantis and thera the land was filled with by sea after various earthquakes. secondly, atlanteans and minoans were both enemies of athens. as the aegean history proves, the minoans were settled in thera which explains the relation between atlantis and thera. in addition, both cultures were interested in sea trades and have some common rituals like bull sacrificing (the best bet for a real atlantis).
however, there are many problems with this statement. the biggest obstacle seems to be the unequal sizes of atlantis and thera. atlantis was described as a big continent and not as a group of islands. another trouble which lowers the credibility of this theory is that atlantis’ collapse happened almost one thousand years before the santorini’s collapse. the dates do not match. so, it would be just not right to establish any direct relationship between thera and atlantis (the best bet for a real atlantis).
atlantis as troy?
despite those voices claiming that atlantis was minoan crete or thera, the strongest argument about atlantis’ location is the land of troy civilization. the description of atlantis perfectly fits for someone watching troy “from the ridge at the aegean shore” (zannger, 1992).
“looking towards the sea, but in the centre of the whole island, there was a plain which is said to have been the fairest of all plains and very fertile. near the plain again, and also in the centre of the island at a distance of about fifty stadia, there was a mountain not very high on any side.” (critias)
troy is in western part of çanakkale in turkey. even today the soil in çanakkale is very fertile and surrounded by many plains. its climate and nature reflect many similarities with the atlantis’. according to plato’s belief about atlantis, it was an island. thus, we cannot make a connection between the troy civilization and atlantis. however, if we keep in mind that the story of atlantis firstly told by an egyptian priest and egyptian people call every foreign land as an island, that is why we cannot accept atlantis as a real island. (zannger, 1999)
so, the fact written by plato is not accurate. additionally, it is very likely that solon made a mistake and called the black sea passage “atlantic ocean passage” in timaeus (zannger, 1992). historical data shows that the archaean ships traveled only in black sea and not in the atlantic ocean.

according to the historical sources, atlantis was very well-known for it’s bronze production (zannger, 1999). as a fact, the oldest bronze statues and items were found in troy. moreover, atlantis is the first city where bulls were sacrificed. although the bull sacrifices are seen throughout the anatolian region, it is strongly considered that atlantis’ main land was troy (zannger, 1999)
another fact that suggests atlantis was troy is that one of the oldest troy king’s name was atlas and his daughter was called atlantis. “...and he named them all; the eldest, who was the first king, he named atlas, and after him the whole island and the ocean were called atlantic...” (critias). this reality leads us to the point that there is once again a connection between atlantis and troy.
the still questionable trojan war is also stressed in plato’s critias.
“let me begin by observing first of all, that nine thousand was the sum of years which had elapsed since the war which was said to have taken place between those who dwelt outside the pillars of heracles and all who dwelt within them; this war i am going to describe...”(critias).

he says that 9000 years ago there was a big war. this situation signifies that the said war could be the trojan war as it was also described in homer’s iliad. although historians cannot establish a clear connection between troy and trojan war, archeologists have already found some evidence which includes a site with two destruction layers of a war around trojan war time. (zannger, 1992)
to sum up, the discussion on atlantis is not closed yet and the final agreement is not established. for numerous people thera or crete could be the real places for the lost civilization of atlantis. however, the argument that atlantis was troy weighs heavier as stated by zannger in a very detailed manner in his book. analyzing many evidences from various disciplines including geology, history and archeology lead to one answer that troy was the homeland of the lost civilization atlantis.

bibliography ^*
1. babcock, w. h. (1917, may). atlantis and antillia. geographical review, vol. 3, no.5, pp.392-395. jstor <http://links.jstor.org/…705)3:5<388:aomc>2.0.co;2-4> ( 2003, 11 november)
2. balch, e. s. (1917, may). atlantis or minoan crete. geographical review, vol. 3, no.5, pp.388-392. jstor <http://links.jstor.org/…705)3:5<388:aomc>2.0.co;2-q> ( 2003, 2 november)
3. britannica encyclopedia cd (1999). volume: m
4. donnelly, i., blavatsky, h., & cayce, e.. (2001) mystical search. skeptic, vol. 8 issue 4, p.102. ebscohost <http://search.epnet.com/…=5446587&db=aph&site=ehost>( 2003, 3 november)
5. plato (360 bc). timaeus, critias. translated by benjamin jowett.
6. the best bet for a real atlantis. skeptic, p101 (no author and unknown volume) from <http://www.skeptic.com/> (2003, 11, november)
7. weird geology, (2001). skeptic, vol. 8 issue 4, p103, 1p (no author). academic research premier <http://search.epnet.com/…=5446589&db=aph&site=ehost> ( 2003, 4 november)
8. zannger, e. (1992). the flood from heaven. printed by mackays of chatham plc, chatham, kent. pp.37-133
9. zannger, e. (presented on 1999, june 15). presentation in istanbul. in koç alliance building.
10. knapp, p. c. (1919, august). geographical review, vol. 8, no.2, pp.126-129. jstor <http://links.jstor.org/…705)3:5<388:aomc>2.0.co;2-f> ( 2003, 3 november)
^*

(xeroquark - 6 Ocak 2006 00:03)

bahamalar'dadir, gidiniz.

gidemeyenler, bakiniz: http://www.atlantis.com/

(hydra hyalt - 6 Ocak 2006 00:04)

nasrettin hoca'nın eşeğinin arka sağ ayağının altındadır.

(astrocracy - 6 Ocak 2006 00:07)

(bkz: discoveryofatlantis)

(xasel - 6 Ocak 2006 00:13)

atlantis seyyar bir kıta olduğundan değişebiliyor. geçen yaz ege sahillerinde imiş.(bkz: domalan)

(avasas - 6 Ocak 2006 00:18)

kocasinin yanidir

(buharli utu - 6 Ocak 2006 00:41)

atlantis ten gelen adam'ın bir kasa biraya göstereceği yer.

(lego - 6 Ocak 2006 00:43)

atlantis'in bulunması muhtemel coğrafi konumlardan her biri . örneğin kimilerine göre manisa
(bkz: atlantis in manisa da olmasi)

(aynı addaki sayın suseri tenzih ederim)

(andrew - 6 Ocak 2006 00:43)

efendim atlantislilerin evrendeki sonsuz yolculukları boyunca uğradıkları her yer atlantis'in olası yerlerinden sayılır. atlantisliler yeniden bedenlenmeyi, astral seyahati ve bunun gibi evrensel çingenelikleri becerebilen bir ırk olduğundan kelli; gerçekten de gezenti bir millet olup yerleri yurtları pek belli değildir. gittikleri yerde rahat durmayı beceremeyen, illa çevreyi ve insanları değiştirmeye çalışan rahipleri olur bunların. onlar rahat dursa, toplumlar rahat duramaz gerçi. öyle bir şeytan tüyü vardır bu atlantis ırkında.

atlantis'in olası yeri ya da yerlerinden ziyade, atlantis'e girişi tarif etmek lazım gelir: "atlantis her yerdedir. gözlerinizi kapatıp atlantis'i düşünmeye başlayın. kobalt mavisi, spiral bir kapı açılacak. ve ölümlü atlantis'e varacak. korkusuzca ilerlerse, parlak ışığın ana rahmi sıcaklığına varacak. ölümlü derin bir nefes alacak. ve evren önünde açılacak..."

diğer atlantislileri bilemem ama; şahsen iz bıraktığım yerler için:
önce (bkz: kıbrıs/#6781524) ve sonra (bkz: xasel/#7773802)
(bkz: atlantis in manisa da olmasi)
(bkz: lemuria)

(bkz: atlantis mir bulusmasi)
fantastik bir atlantis mevkiisi için:
(bkz: yeni atlantis cumhuriyeti)
fakat daha mit bir yaklaşım için:
(bkz: butun asiret birlesip atlantise girmek)

bir de çeviri tepesi diye bir yerde olduğuna hatta oraya kazık kaktığına dair bazı söylentiler var efendim ki bendeniz buna şiddetle inanıyorum.

not: beni soruyorsanız, ben de bilemiyorum artık nerdeyim. geçen gece italyanmaz abinin etiler'deki süper malikanesinde şiir dinletisindeydim mesela. dün gece ise cebelitarık'ta arnold abi ile kelebek yarışlarında kıyasıya kapışıyordum. bakınız şimdi de atlantis çalışıyorum... espavo, evet...

(atlantis - 6 Ocak 2006 01:23)

muhtemelen platonun beyninin sağ lobunda bir yer.

(kalliste - 31 Temmuz 2006 13:58)

(bkz: bimini road)

(anshar - 31 Temmuz 2006 14:09)