Atlantis Beneath the Ice (27 page)

TWELVE

CITY OF ATLANTIS

We now ask the gentle reader’s indulgence in a writers’ flight of fancy as we introduce you to a sailor of the Atlantean fleet. Courtesy of Plato’s description
¹
as entrusted to Solon by the Egyptian priest Sonchis, we will follow a young man’s journey into the deepest recesses of the most compelling city of them all—Atlantis.

The Sailor

The chill of the ocean wind stiffened his bones. His lips were cracked and sore from long months of exposure to bitter sea salt. But there was a gleam in his pale eyes as the sailor squinted across the ship’s deck. There she was, only a few hours’ travel away, shining against the horizon, a vision he had only dimly seen in his dreams for all the months he’d toiled and done his duty at sea. Atlantis. The shining city. Capital of an empire. Home.

The mountains of the continent rose in defiance of the waves, reassuring him with their eternal lines that dominated the sky, the sea, and the land itself. The austere welcome of the rigorous peaks was softened by their beauty, reaching so high they seemed to invite a duel with the sun.

The last hours seemed interminable, but as the fleet drifted toward port the clamor from the harbor and the surrounding merchants’ quarter was carried to the crew by the wind. The ceaseless din, the calls and demands of anxious traders, the cries of animals, and the clanging of wares were a sweet tune to the sailors of the colossal Atlantean fleet. From their pivotal location in the belly of the ocean, the Atlanteans had access to every corner of the world. But to the weary sailor, no land, however exotic or fascinating, could compare with Atlantis.

The buildings clustered atop the forbidding outer wall were infused with the brilliance of the approaching sunset as the ship’s crew began their familiar preparations to enter the first of the great canals that would guide them through a ten-kilometer route to the city center. Pungent odors from bustling stalls gradually replaced the bracing sea air. The increasing din of the marketplace signaled a return to civilization as the monotony of the sea gave way to the frantic activity of the merchants’ section stretched along the great wall.

The clamor and excitement were to be expected at the port of a capital as renowned as Atlantis. Here the distribution of the goods to sustain a vast empire kept this vital section of the city a scene of constant activity. Providing the lifeblood of the empire, the prospering merchants’ quarter enveloped three-fourths of the outer city. Trade and barter hummed constantly as foreign fleets crowded the massive docks dominating the port.

These docks were an integral part of a fortress equal to any ever conceived. Built in defense of the Atlanteans’ precious material and spiritual treasures, they were carved from the white, black, and red rock of the land itself. A masterpiece of ingenuity, their pattern was continued in the substance of the towers and gates guarding the entrance. The business conducted in this extensive, noisy section of the city was responsible in no small part for the prosperity and leisure enjoyed by all Atlanteans.

Noise from the market receded as the fleet entered the confines of the canal. Incoming ships were dwarfed by the cliffs that towered on either side of the canal, an intimidating welcome indeed to any foreigner. The ship and her anxious crew were now on their way to their final destination, the inner sanctum of the great capital itself. But in order to reach their haven, ships must travel a slow route through a farther complex series of canals
[
see
figure 12.1
]
.

The young sailor’s impatience to reach the city’s legendary center was tempered by the comfort of being once again within the embrace of his home. His ancestors had constructed a capital befitting their
reputation. The city of Atlantis was an incredible example of city planning on a scale that the twentieth century has yet to match. They were experts at manipulating the most abundant and obvious of power sources—water—to serve their most important needs. All the city’s commercial and transportation needs were met by an intricate system of canals that reached beyond the city into the great plain and farther up to the source of the bountiful waters, the mountains. Ironically, the forces of water were to write their epitaph.

THE MARVELOUS CITY

But that epitaph was still in the unknown future at the time that this unnamed sailor came home. And the city he returned to had no rival in the ancient world. Neither Rome nor Alexandria nor Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire, could outshine Atlantis for sheer
size and beauty. In diameter alone, the city covered twenty-three kilometers. A massive carved wall crowned with dwellings traced a seventy-two-kilometer girth around the city. Most of London’s famous sites would fit comfortably within the dimensions of the inner section of the city of Atlantis (see
figure 12.2
). And unlike the haphazard core of the United Kingdom’s capital, Atlantis was a masterpiece of planning.

The towers and gates of outer Atlantis would have seemed fairly easy obstacles compared with what lay before any invader intent on unveiling the mysteries of the inner city. Whether enemy or friend, no one could fail to be impressed as he or she sailed across the stretch of water half a kilometer wide that separated the inner city from the merchants’
quarter. This expanse led to a shining wall of brass that concealed the only entrance to the inner city.

Once granted admittance, the full spectrum of the great civilization could be glimpsed. The first ring of land contained a racing stadium, gymnastic areas, and gardens blooming with exotic flowers, plants, and trees from around the world. Beyond this leisure area the pattern of water and land was repeated. The next belt of land was elevated and surrounded by a wall of tin. It protected the palaces, gardens, and fountains of the lesser noblemen of Atlantis.

And then, as if the Atlanteans had deliberately tempted any unwary traveler with the promise of ever more wonderful sights, the last belt of water, girdled by still higher land, came into view. This area was also surrounded by a wall, this time covered in orichalcum, a metal unique to Atlantis that was said to sparkle like fire. It was from this central island, the pinnacle of the pyramid city of shining walls, that the Atlantean Empire was ruled.

On the central island the Grove of Poseidon surrounded the temple. Hot and cold water flowed through the gardens, providing cooling pools in the summer and warm baths in the winter. The temple and palace were protected by a gold-encrusted wall, and the temple itself was coated with silver. Its interior was graced by statues, including a gigantic depiction of the god of the sea, standing on a chariot, its reins connected to six winged steeds. One hundred sea nymphs astride dolphins accompanied the sea god across the ocean.

At the altar of the temple of the sea god were enshrined the laws governing the ten princes of the ten provinces of Atlantis. They were engraved on a pillar of orichalcum, and the king and princes gathered “alternatively every fifth and sixth year (thereby showing equal respect to both odd and even numbers), consulted on matters of mutual interest and inquired into and gave judgement on any wrong committed by any of them.”
²

These intense deliberations were followed by elaborate rituals meant to reinforce the rulers’ mutual commitment to the laws of Atlantis. “When darkness fell and the sacrificial fire had died down they all put
on the most splendid dark blue ceremonial robes and sat on the ground by the embers of the sacrificial fire, in the dark, all glimmer of fire in the sanctuary being extinguished. And thus they gave and submitted to judgement on any complaints of wrong made against them; and afterwards, when it was light, wrote the terms of the judgement on gold plates which they dedicated together with their robes as records.”
³

The Atlanteans lived in peace and prosperity, enjoying and exploiting their empire, and “their wealth was greater than that possessed by any previous dynasty of kings or likely to be accumulated by any later.”
⁴

In his dialogue
Critias,
Plato repeats the words of the Egyptian priest who spoke to Solon about the lost city of Atlantis. The priest offered five physical clues to the location of the city:

1. On a large plain
   
2. Near the ocean
   
3. Midway along the continent’s greatest length
   
4. Toward the islands
   
5. Surrounded by mountains.
   

Using these five clues and the climatic facts deduced from the theory of earth crust displacement, we can narrow the search for the city. The maps in
figure 12.3
depict the area of Antarctica that lay outside the Antarctic Circle when Atlantis thrived. More than half of the island continent was under ice at that time. The city would not be found here. Thus the search can be restricted to Lesser Antarctica.

Plato tells us that the city was near the ocean, along the continent’s greatest length, and opposite the islands of Atlantis. It was completely surrounded by mountains and sat on a large plain on a small hill. The Antarctic mountain range runs along the coast on the same side as the small islands. Therefore, in
figure 12.3
, the plain on which the great city probably stood is shown in black.
^a