Atlantis the Lost Continent Finally Found

by Arysio Santos

  Why would the chorus have to be birds to fly over to nearby, continental Spain, if they could get there by simply walking? Why would they have to get to the farthest, forbidden bounds of the Ocean in order to get to coterminous Spain?

  This passage of Euripides is extremely interesting and is worth discussing further. In another passage of his Hippolytus (1053), Euripides returns to the subject and adds that Theseus wants to banish his son to the outermost bounds of the earth: “Yes, to beyond the sea and the Pillars of Atlas, if I could, such is my hatred of you” (peran ge pontou kai topôn Atlantikôn). ↑169

  The word Euripides actually uses, pontos, is not really the Black Sea, as mistranslated by Kovacs, a place where the Pillar of Atlas never was. This word in fact designates the high seas in general, and the wide Ocean in particular. The Black Sea was the Pontus Euxinus, a particular sea, rather than the sea in general, the meaning truly intended here.

  It is this sort of inaccuracy that often distorts the ancient texts beyond clear understanding. We also note an important issue connected with the Pillars of Hercules and/or Atlas. The two heroes and their pillars were often confused one with the other in antiquity.

  In practice, each pillar of the pair was attributed to one of the two heroes. Or, as some sources suggest, it is also possible that the Pillars of Hercules were the ones of Gibraltar and their duals in the Far East, the ones of Atlas, the true ones.

  The first alternative is far more consentaneous with fact. Euripides (480–406 BC) is prior to Plato (428–348 BC), so that there is no question of the philosopher having invented the myth of Atlas and Hercules or their pillars, which dates from a great antiquity in Greece and other places such as Phoenicia and Carthage.

  The idea is ultimately derived from Hindu mythology, where one of the Pillars of Heaven is attributed to Krishna, the other one to Balarama, his dual and twin. From India this tradition passed to Egypt and then to Phoenicia, finally ending up in Greece and Rome.

  But the myth of the Pillar of Heaven even reached the distant Americas, where we encounter it among the Aztecs. It also figures in the sacred traditions of the other Indians, for instance, the Tupi-Guaranis of Brazil and several other tribes. We comment the quaint Amerindian traditions on Atlas and the Pillar of Heaven in our figures section, to which the interested reader is now directed.

  The Aztecs identified the two pillars of heaven to the two poles or trees erected by Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca in order to prop it up again, when it fell over the earth, destroying the world. This type of cataclysm is derived from Hindu doctrines on the yugas, the eras of mankind. It has to do with supervolcanisms and their debris falling from heaven, as if the celestial sphere had shattered.

  An unequivocal proof that Hercules went as far as Indonesia in the course of his twelfth labor is afforded by a revealing event reported by Diodorus. According to this author, Hercules there killed Emathion, the king of Ethiopia, who had attempted to cut off his passage.

  Emathion was the brother of Memnon, whom Hercules subsequently invested on the throne of Ethiopia. The two brothers were the sons of Eos and Tithonos, and their connection with the Far East cannot be doubted, now that we have pointed it out.

  But Hercules’ itinerary is, as we already said, terribly garbled, perhaps in an attempt to hide away the true location of Paradise. However, how could Hercules have met the two kings of Ethiopia had he not gone to the distant realm, in the Far East, in Taprobane, where the sun rises?

  The Split Mountain and the Twin Tree of Life

  The two trees in question here are the Tree of Life and the Tree of Death (or of Wisdom). These dual trees we encounter just about everywhere, including in Hindu myths. These the Hindus identify with the Ficus indica and the Ficus religiosa, which often grow together, one from the top of the other, as a sort of parasite.

  In Greece, as in America, the Twins are also often represented by two poles (Gemini). Even the Cross or Rood is made of two crossed beams, one considered male and the other one female.

  The universal diffusion of this myth is sufficient to prove its Atlantean origin, since it cannot be otherwise accounted for. Only in Pleistocenic times could the myth have diffused to the Americas as it did. Afterwards, the Beringian Passage got closed by the enormous rise of sea level that resulted, so that all further communication between the Old World and the New became impossible.

  The “lord of the deep-blue mere” could be either Poseidon or Hercules, or even Atlas himself. The three figures are sometimes confused, as we have already affirmed. In fact, it seems that the three were often the same. Strictly speaking, Poseidon is the “Lord of the Sea”, his trident symbolizing his triple aspect, similar to Shiva’s (Trikaya, Triton).

  Poseidon’s figure ultimately derives from the Vedic one of Varuna, who performed the same task in pristine India. Atlas, who represents Atlantis, also fell and became a submarine deity, when his land got submerged. And Hercules was usually associated with the pillars as the impassable bounds which should not be crossed by any sailors.

  Here, Euripides apparently ascribes this role to Atlas and his farfamed Pillar of Heaven. All in all, it seems that all the three gods in question here personify Atlantis.

  The quaint passage of Euripides just quoted connects a series of items which are all associated with Atlantis and its terrible fate. Though obscure, these features figure in innumerous myths and traditions the world over. And this brings us back to the times of Atlantis, when such a universal diffusion was still possible.

  And it further seems that Atlantis and its twin pillars in question here are located in the Far Orient, on the other side of the Ocean, in Taprobane. This “Pillar of Heaven” is in fact the Krakatoa volcano, which destroyed Atlantis and triggered the catastrophic end of the Pleistocene Ice Age. Its explosion and collapse resulted in its splitting into two “pillars” or “pylons”, the ones of the Split Mountain of Paradise (Mt. Mashu), which we will be commenting next.

  As such, this twin mountain also corresponds to the two pylons of the Gate of the Sun mentioned by Homer as a main feature of Paradise. And it also corresponds to the two trees or poles associated with the twin Tree of Life and the two Pillars of Heaven.

  The “Pillar of Heaven” is actually an allegory of the Krakatoa volcano. And this volcano is also associated with Mt. Atlas, as the boundary of Atlantis which should not be idly crossed by anyone. This mountain was ripped open by the cataclysmic eruption and collapsed.

  It thus got cleft into two halves, becoming the Split Mountain of Paradise of which so many sacred traditions speak. Now, this event is historical and actually figures in certain Javanese annals. It corresponds to the opening of Sunda Strait by a giant explosion of the Krakatoa volcano, followed by subsidence and caldera formation. This myth of origin was later unduly transferred to the Strait of Gibraltar, where it never occurred, at least in the times of Man.

  We also note that both the Tree of Life and its dual, the Tree of Death are invariably represented as of an enormous size, reaching all the way to heaven itself. It is clear that this type of tree never really existed, and is merely an allegory for something else. The same can also be said of the Pillar of Heaven, its analog and counterpart.

  And this something is really the giant plume of the volcanic eruption, which often closely resembles a tree, a giant mushroom, a palm tree, an umbrella or canopy, a pillar, and so forth. The prehistoric supervolcanic eruption of the Krakatoa generated such a giant “mushroom”, as can be seen in this accurate computer simulation here due to Ken Wohletz, the reputed Los Alamos volcanologist. ↑170

  The Split Mountain of Paradise was directly connected with Mt. Mashu of Mesopotamian traditions. From it, Shamash the Sun emerged every day to start his daily celestial course, as illustrated in the figure just linked. This myth dates from the Epic of Gilgamesh, if not earlier. It is extremely old, and predates even the existence of Greece itself, let alone the myth of Hercules. ↑171

  The name of Mt. Mashu means precisely
“split mountain” in Akkadian. Its name seems to be a translation from the far older Sumerian language. Curiously enough, Shamash is portrayed, in the figure just linked, holding up a saw in his left hand.

  This is apparently a sort of rebus or wordplay. The word “saw” in Sanskrit is krakata (Drav. krakača). And this name closely suggests the one of the Krakatau volcano (Krakatoa).

  Sheer coincidences? Or are these metaphors intended to be clues, as we suspect they are? Shamash’s saw also closely evokes the sickle of Saturn (Kronos), likewise toothed. With this sickle, Saturn perpetrated the Primordial Castration, an allegory of the giant Krakatoa volcanism and the collapse of the mountain which turned it into a giant caldera.

  Given its early date in the east – where it is already attributed to Indra in Rigvedic times – it is impossible that the myth of opening up Sunda Strait, the true archetype of Mt. Mashu and of the Pillars of Hercules, actually dates from as late as the Middle Ages, as required by the theory of David Keys and Ken Wohletz which we just commented.

  The myth of the Split Mountain is further discussed in our figures section, further above (Part II), in connection with the quaint pre-Dynastic Egyptian vase illustrated there. The interested readers who somehow missed this discussion are again directed to this section of the present book.

  Chapter 15 - The Jewish Encyclopedia on the True Site of Eden

  The important thing in science is not so much to obtain new facts as to discover new ways of thinking about them.

  Sir William Bragg (1862–1942)

  The Jewish Encyclopedia is a mine of information on obscure passages of the Bible and other Judeo-Christian sacred traditions. And this reference has the advantage of having been written by orthodox Jews, whose faith and accuracy cannot be put to doubt.

  So, the words of this encyclopedia can be trusted by both Jews and Christians alike. In their description of the Garden of Eden, its illustrious authors affirm: ↑172

  The Targum Yerushalmi translates “Havilah” by “Hindiki” (“Hindustan”, or India), and leaves “Pison” untranslated. Saadia Gaon, in his Arabic translation, renders “Pison” as the Nile, which Ibn Ezra ridicules, as “it is positively known that Eden is farther south, on the equator”. Nahmanides concurs in this view, but explains that the Pison may run in a subterranean passage from the northward.

  Obadiah of Bertinoro, the commentator of the Mishnah, in a letter describing his travels from Italy to Jerusalem in 1489, relates the story of Jews arriving at Jerusalem from “Aden, the land where the well-known and famous Gan Eden [i. e., the Garden of Eden] is situated, which is southeast of Assyria”… The first river, Pison, probably refers to the Indus, which encircles Hindustan, confirming the Targum Yerushalmi.

  The second river, Gihon, is the Nile in its circuitous course around Ethiopia, connecting with the Gulf of Aden… Some explain the difficulty of finding the courses of the rivers [of Paradise] by supposing that since the Deluge these rivers have either ceased to exist, entirely or in part, or have found subterranean outlets.

  Indeed, the compiler of the Midrash ha-Gadol expresses himself as follows: “Eden is a certain place on earth, but no creature knows where it is, and the Holy One, blessed be He!, will only reveal to Israel the way to it in the days of the king Messiah.”

  We note that rabbi Ibn Ezra specifically places the Garden of Eden astraddle the Line of the Equator. Many Jewish authorities concur with this view, including rabbi Nahmanides, the illustrious Jewish explorer and mystic. So, this view should not be idly dismissed, unless there is a solid reason to do so.

  The Authority of Thomas Aquinas

  Thomas Aquinas, considered the most erudite of all Church Doctors, also places the site of Paradise at the Equator. In his justly famous Summa Theologica, Aquinas writes that: “The Garden of Eden is located at the Equator, in a most temperate place.” ↑173

  And why should we doubt the erudite Christian doctor’s teaching, since he obviously knew quite well what he was talking about? Some people objected to Aquinas that the Equatorial region was extremely hot, according to Aristotle, and hence unsuitable for Man’s abode. To which Aquinas replied as follows:

  Reply to Objection 4: Those who say that Paradise was on the Equinoctial Line are of the opinion that such a situation is most temperate, on account of the unvarying equality of day and night; that it is never too cold there, because the sun is never too far off; and never too hot, because, although the sun passes over the heads of the inhabitants, it does not remain long in that position.

  However, Aristotle distinctly says (Meteor. ii, 5) that such a region is uninhabitable on account of the heat. This seems to be more probable; because, even those regions where the sun does not pass vertically overhead, are extremely hot on account of the mere proximity of the sun. But whatever be the truth of the matter, we must hold that Paradise was situated in a most temperate situation, whether on the equator or elsewhere.

  Again, Thomas Aquinas also identifies the site of Paradise with “the Abode of the Blessed and the Empyrean Heaven”. The “Abode of the Blessed” is of course the same as the Islands of the Blest of Classical Antiquity. And the Empyrean or Empyreum derives its name from the idea of “fiery” (Greek pyros). ↑174

  The Empyrean is not the Celestial Sphere itself, as most naive people believe, but really the same as Eden, the Terrestrial Paradise. And this region is actually pleasantly cool, rather than hot, as we shall be arguing next.

  The idea of “fiery” – or, even more exactly of “burnt fat” associated with this name of the place – is in reality a reference to the Universal Conflagration which actually destroyed the site of Paradise, turning it from a place of abundance into a veritable Hell. Such is also the reason why the region of Paradise is called Gomeda (“land of fat cattle”) in Hindu traditions.

  The name “Empyrean” hence literally translates the Sanskrit Gomedha (“Bull Sacrifice”). This word plays with it and is actually an explicit reference to the fiery destruction of the place in the Universal Conflagration which was later followed by the Universal Flood.

  The view that Paradise, though equatorial, was actually quite cool is explicated next, in connection with Tenasserim, whose name means just that: “Cool and temperate region.”

  Tenasserim is located in the Malay Peninsula and Sumatra, being hence localized in the very site of Paradise itself. Though equatorial, this region – being located over lofty, cool mountains – is in fact most temperate, just as Aquinas asserts. And he adds that:

  “In Paradise both conditions [being equatorial and temperate] were found, because, as Damascene says (De Fide Orth. ii, 11): ‘Paradise was permeated with the all-pervading brightness of a temperate, pure, and exquisite atmosphere, and decked with ever-flowering plants.’” ↑175

  It was only later, in the Age of Positivism, that Paradise was transferred to Heaven, and turned into a purely spiritual unreality. But, as Aquinas affirms – and his text just quoted is worth reading very closely

  – Paradise was actually located on earth, at the Line of the Equator (or Equinoctial Line). It is for this reason that the Garden of Eden was called “the Terrestrial Paradise” and was represented in all maps as an actual geographical place, invariably located in the East Indies.

  Curiously enough, the early medieval maps of the world – for instance the one of Beatus (776 AD) – explicitly show the Split Mountain of Paradise (as Mons Synai = Mt. Sinai) in the farthest east. It is placed among the Seres, in China and Taprobane, more or less in its correct location.

  As is clear, the ancients well knew the actual location of the Terrestrial Paradise. We just forgot it, in the course of time, somewhere during the dark Middle Ages, when Pagan books were perfidiously burnt.

  Many authorities, both Christian and Jewish, are of the opinion that Paradise, the Garden of Eden, was an actual region on earth. Heroes such as Ulysses, Hercules and even Alexander the Great sought to find both the place and the Elixir that was uniquely encountered there.
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br />   And so did Christopher Columbus, Ponce de León, Alvaro Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca, and a host of other such explorers both of the Age of Navigation and of modern times. Interestingly, most of these people were matter-of-fact, no-nonsense, commonsensical explorers and archaeologists, not easily fooled by the idle talk of Positivistic quacks such as Darwin and Lyell, bent on demoralizing Tradition.

  We also note that one of the main objections refuted by Thomas Aquinas concerns the fact that the Mountain of Paradise “reaches up to the lunar orbit”, according to Rev. Bede, and hence cannot be located on earth, since no terrestrial place does this. This fact is obviously true. But this belief derives from Hindu mythological traditions on Mt. Meru, which are of course somewhat exaggerated. ↑176

  This tradition has to do with the “Pillar of Heaven” and the fact that the volcanic plume of the giant eruption reached all the way to the sky, at least in the view of humans. Actually, this volcanic plume reached only to the upper stratosphere. But it really appeared to be some sort of celestial pillar, as instanced, say, by the remarkable NASA photo illustrated here. ↑177

  This spectacular photo shows the Etna volcano of Sicily (Italy) during its most recent eruption. This photo was taken from outer space by a NASA satellite. The triangular feature is the island of Sicily, and the land at right is the tip of Italy’s “boot”.

  This photo dramatically shows why erupting volcanoes were called “Pillars of Heaven”. The giant Krakatoa eruption which caused the catastrophic end of the Pleistocene Ice Age was actually thousands of times larger than this one here, as we already illustrated further above.

  Such plumes often take the shape of a giant mushroom, of a palm tree or an ordinary tree, or an umbrella, a lotus flower, etc.. Hence their connection with the giant Tree of Life which grows in Paradise. This mythical motif is typically Hindu: Mt. Meru as the “Pillar of Heaven”; the enormous Jambu Tree which grows in Paradise, etc.. ↑178