Tuesday, September 23, 2003
Cyprus is Atlantis, says American researcher
AN AMERICAN researcher claims this week that Cyprus is the site of the lost island of Atlantis.
After nearly a decade of research, author Robert Sarmast claims that the fabled ancient island is located on the sea floor between Cyprus and Syria, and that the present Cyprus is merely what remains of the mountainous region of Atlantis.
He also believes that Atlantis - and therefore Cyprus - was the source of what the Bible calls the Garden of Eden
Now he wants to launch an expedition to explore the sea bed.
"It's one mile down, the Titanic was two miles down in cold water and that was done 20 years ago," he said this week from his office in Los Angeles.
He said that he believes he may find the remains of a city, "containing buildings, roads and tunnels."
He has kept his research secret over the last decade, with everyone involved having to sign secrecy pledges but now says that, despite not yet finding funds for an expedition "I can't just keep sitting on this discovery."
Bonanza
The discovery could mean a tourism bonanza for Cyprus once word gets out, says Sarmast.
He says the site he has been investigating matches Plato's account of Atlantis with astonishing accuracy. Plato based his description on an account by Solon, who is said to have got his information directly from the Egyptians.
His book, Discovery of Atlantis, The Startling Case For the Island of Cyprus, is published this week in the US.
Sarmast says his findings match almost every clue in Plato's description of the legendary city state.
It shows what he says is the location of the rectangular plain of Atlantis, as well as all the other key geographic features that Plato cites-including the precise location of its capital-Atlantis City.
The book goes on to provide a link between this data and the biblical legend of the Garden of Eden.
"Scholars in this field know that any credible claim to have located Atlantis must use Plato's famed account found in his Timaeus and Critias. these classic ancient dialogues remain the sole source for the Atlantis legend," he says.
Technology
The book utilises state-of-the-art oceanographic research and display technology to depict what he says is the actual underwater site of Atlantis. The maps show the Levantine basin and the Cyprus Arc in high-resolution detail for the first time.
The data was obtained in 1987 during a scientific survey of the north-eastern Mediterranean by a Russian survey vessel.
While matching all the clues of the physical site, Sarmast claims to achieve a match with nearly every other clue that Plato lists.
The nearly 50 matches he has made with Plato's clues extend from the philosopher's claim that elephants once lived on Atlantis, to the mineral composition of the island, to mythological figures associated with the legend.
Among his claims are that Sarmast lends new credibility to Plato's account of Atlantis. Crucial here is the recent scientific proof of a catastrophic flood of the entire Mediterranean basin due to the destruction of the Gibraltar 'dam' that closed off the Med from the Atlantic.
This accepted fact of natural history substantiates Plato's claim that an epochal flood "swallowed up" the mountainous island of Atlantis. It lends credence to Sarmast's contention that Plato's overall presentation is historically accurate.
AS IT WAS: Using a Russian survey, Sarmast has mapped the sea bed to ascertain the shape of Atlantis before much of it - exculding the present island of Cyprus - was engulfed by the waters of the Med.
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