The legendary island of Atlantis is one of the treasures of the Ancient world that has kept historians and artifact enthusiasts on a constant quest for finding it, even on the bottom of the ocean. So reading reports that Atlantis may have been found has created quite a momentum.
Google Earth has found its usefulness in many fields, and finding long lost treasures could be one of them. The exact location of the island of Atlantis is yet to be established, and what appeared to be an underwater street grid on Google Ocean has naturally drawn a lot of attention.
A British aeronautical engineer first spotted it, while playing with the newest feature of Google Earth. The image was taken 600 miles off the coast of Africa, and west of the Canary Islands.
Legend has it that the island existed since the beginning of time, when the gods were still dividing the world. Poseidon was the one who received the island, and this is where the kings of Atlantis begin their history.
Plato described it in its works as an island larger than Libya and Asia put together, situated in front of the Pillars of Heracles, which existed around approximately 9,600 BC. Atlantis was not only of considerable size, but it was also the way to other islands, and a great and wonderful empire.
Although surrounded by ocean, Atlantis’ power extended far beyond its boundaries, to parts of Libya, Egypt, and even Europe. This vast power, gathered into one, endeavored to subdue at a blow our country and yours and the whole of the region within the straits, Platon describes it in his dialogues, Timaeus and Critias (translation by Benjamin Jowett).
Plato also described the inevitable end: But afterwards there occurred violent earthquakes and floods; and in a single day and night of misfortune all your warlike men in a body sank into the earth, and the island of Atlantis in like manner disappeared in the depths of the sea. For which reason the sea in those parts is impassible and impenetrable, because there is a shoal of mud in the way; and this was caused by subsidence of the island.
Whether this is just a legend, or it has truly existed, it still remains an open discussion. But Google has closed its discussion, by denying it had found Atlantis. In a statement released to the press, Google informed us that the so called underwater street-greed is in fact an artifact of the data collection process.
Google Earth gathers its sea floor data with the help of sonar-equipped boats, and the grids reflect the path of one of these boats, as it collects data. It may not have found Atlantis this time, still Google Earth has found its usefulness in discovering other treasures, such as an Ancient Roman villa.
