Lost City of Atlantis-Richat Structure

The Lost City of Atlantis has been thought of as mythology for centuries. Why do we, as a whole reject the one thing that Plato wrote about in the Critias and Timaeus, both his dialogues, but accept all other points that he has made? He is viewed by historians as a credible source for information, yet the rejection of his account and recollection of how Atlantis was described to him is not backed up. There is no reason not to believe his tale, except for the fact that Atlantis has not been found—or has it? Could it be located in Mauritania, Africa? For many "pseudoscientists," it is believed that the Lost City of Atlantis has been hidden in plain sight all along, as being the Richat Structure or Eye of the Sahara. Even the recent movie Aquaman hints to the Richat Structure as possibly being the hiding place of Atlantis. Pseudo is the prefix meaning false or of conspiracy. Is this account really myth, though?

The information that Plato had been provided with was a passed down account of an ancestor of six generations prior. This man's name was Solon and he is also believed to be a credible source for information, according to scientists and historians. Solon first learned of Atlantis during his visit to Egypt. He met with an Egyptian priest, going by the name Sonchis of Sais, and was told that Egypt had once been a colony of the large and advanced city of Atlantis.

In Plato's written accounts containing the detailed imagery of Atlantis, he describes the city as having "two rings of land and three rings of water alternating between them, separating them." Plato states that the outer ring is equidistant from the center island. He provides details such as the dimensions of Atlantis, this being 23.5 km measured from the middle to the outer edge. This dimension was achieved by converting Stadia to modern measurements.

As we examine the above picture of the Richat Structure, it is clearly visible that parts of the land are raised and others sunken lower into the ground. This matches up with the architectural evidence that Plato, Solon, and Sonchis offer. Not only is this a compelling piece of evidence, but there is more to it. When the Richat Structure is measured, it turns out to be exactly 23.5 km, converting Stadia to modern.

Now, these are already two compelling pieces of evidence, but let's look into the scenery and detail surrounding the city. Atlantis is described by Plato as large, very large, as we already know; but it has even more massive mountains to the north of it. The Richat Structure shares this similarity and the mountains near it are what give it the eye looking appearance, as seen below.

The mountains are described as having flowing rivers running within them. In the above picture of the Richat, you can see that there are dried up water channels on the sides of the mountains. You can more clearly see the alternate pieces of circular land and a dip in between where water would be.

Atlantis supposedly had a large channel of water connecting from the North Atlantic Ocean to the city, creating the rings of water and making the place very flourishing. In many photographs of the Richat, an eroded pathway of sorts is seen connecting the Richat structure to the sea.

It is said that Atlantis had an abundance of elephants and a freshwater spring/well in the center of the city. The few archeologists and scientists who have been allowed to visit the Richat structure have found scrawled depictions of these large mammal on the walls of the caves found in the mountains nearby. When digging down at the center of the Richat, or inside the main ring, freshwater is produced instead of salt water.

All these pieces of evidence and proof keep stitching the argument together and linking the Richat Structure to the rumored lost city of Atlantis, but what about when Plato detailed its destruction? It is claimed Solon visited Egypt 9,000 years after Atlantis had been sunken into the sea in "a single day and a single night." Solon visited Egypt 11,600 years ago from present time. Add the two groups of years together and you get 20,600 years from present day since Atlantis was swallowed up.

20,600 years ago just so happens to line up with the Younger Dryas climate change. This was caused by a large piece of foreign space material, most commonly thought of as a comet, that hit the earth during a great ice age. The heat from the rock evaporated ice and water into the air, causing the abrupt end of the current ice age and mass flooding from rainfall. Sea levels rose tremendously by 28 meters.

This would explain why Plato concluded that Atlantis had been swallowed by the ocean. Sea levels rose quickly and flooding became a problem, causing the extinction of many mammals over 100 pounds. There is evidence of the Younger Dryas Impact on four different continents with many landmarks having water erosion, including the Sphinx of Giza and the Richat Structure.

So the question is, could the Richat Structure really be the Lost City of Atlantis? Did it truly exist at one point in time?

In my opinion, Plato is a great writer of history, not fiction. I believe that the Richat Structure may be the sight of a lost civilization. I am positive that more artifacts could be uncovered if only the African government would allow the excavation of the Richat Structure. It may have been a natural made structure that man built upon, but it doesn't make the possibilities any less endless.