Archive for Thursday 16th January 2003 - The 10 World's greatest mysteries...
No. 1 Atlantis and the mystery of the Celts

Over great ages, areas of land and sea exchange places. Marine fossils are found on high mountain ranges, and below the ocean are former countries and lost civilisations.

Histories and legends around the world tell of natural disasters that have destroyed whole nations. Most famous of these is the chronicle of Atlantis. The story came from the records of ancient Egypt. It was discovered there in the fifth century BC by Solon, a learned Greek. He repeated it to Plato's great-grandfather, and that is how Plato learnt it. He was the first to write down the story.

Atlantis was a huge island in the Atlantic, beyond the Straits of Gibraltar. It stretched almost to the opposite Continent (America) which, said Plato, was then accessible. The Atlanteans were great traders. They became rich and wanted to conquer the world. But they were defeated by the ancient Greeks, and Atlantis was then destroyed by floods and tempests.

Plato told the story as a parable, with a hidden scheme of number and geometry within it, for the benefit of his advanced pupils. That is why its details seem so fantastic. But he insisted on the literal truth behind it. So what became of the Atlanteans – or what was left of them ? That could be answered by another question. Who are the Celts? In some distant age, a sea-faring, trading people, with a single language and culture, took over the Atlantic coasts of Europe – from Spain to Scotland. Are these mysterious people the survivors of Atlantis?

John Michell