The legacy of Atlantis: part three

An investigation in three parts of the migrations of the Atlanteans and the colonies they founded around the world


Introduction

In the first part of this three-part investigation we discussed the location of Atlantis, how the survivors of the several cataclysms which destroyed it fared in the various places they migrated to, the linguistic links between Atlantis and our own world, Lemuria, and some of the useful plants the Atlanteans developed. In part two we told you about the Atlantean colonies in Europe and the Americas and continued our survey of the Oera Linda Book. In this final part we conclude our discussion of the book and tell you of some important discoveries which reveal the vast extent of Atlantean culture and its lasting influence on the modern world. If you have not read parts one and two, now is the time to do so, or you will not reap the full benefits of this investigation.

The wonders of ancient Mexico

We said in part two of this investigation that we would return to the pyramids of Mexico, which in many ways are even more remarkable than those of ancient Egypt. The discovery in 1884 of the very ancient Mexican city of Teotihuacan which covers an area no less than at least six and a half square miles ranks as one of the greatest archaeological finds of all time. There we find the great Pyramid of the Sun and the great Pyramid of the Moon, and there is also the great temple of Tlaloc, and of Quetzalcoatl, to name only a few of the many buildings uncovered. It was the city where prayers were offered up to God, as its name implies. It was covered by thick layers of alluvium, the upper cultural layers beneath the ruins of the city concealing numerous ceramics destroyed by volcanic eruptions some 8,000 years ago. It is indeed a magnificent city, with symmetrical buildings and streets which issue in regular order from the 130 foot wide, 1½ mile long main avenue—the so-called 'Avenue of the Dead'—which ends in a spacious square surrounded by important edifices.

pyramid of the sun

The Pyramid of the Sun at Teotihuacan with smaller pyramids in the foreground

The great Pyramid of the Sun is 230 feet high, 720 feet long, 760 feet wide and covers an area of over 547,000 square feet. It is built up in the form of five truncated pyramids, one on top of the other, arranged in steps. The great Pyramid of the Moon is 140 feet high, and is at least 7,000 years old. The whole city was covered by hills, with a top layer of earth three feet thick, beneath which was found a layer of cement a foot thick, covering the main buildings. Think what this means in labour when spread over such a vast area. Why was it concealed? What surprises, not to say treasures, might yet be found in future? One surprise discovery was the entrance to an underground tunnel exposed in 2003, after heavy rain storms had devastated the area. The tunnel runs approximately 330 feet from the Ciudadela—an immense sunken square, nearly seventeen acres in extent, situated at the very heart of Teotihuacan—to the centre of the temple of Quetzalcoatl. It had apparently been intentionally sealed with large stones thousands of years ago; no one knows why.

In 2015, archaeologist Sergio Gómez announced that he had discovered large quantities of liquid mercury in three chambers at the end of the tunnel, 60 feet below the temple of Quetzalcoatl. Near the entrance of the chambers, he found a trove of strange artefacts: jade statues, jaguar remains, a box filled with carved shells and rubber balls. What is even stranger, is that lakes and rivers of mercury are said to surround the as yet unexcavated tomb of the first Emperor of China—Qin Shi Huang Di—whose famous Terracotta Army so astonished the world when it was discovered in 1974. According to Chinese historian Sima Qian (145-90 B.C.) writing a century after the completion of the tomb, 100 flowing rivers were simulated using mercury. Recent investigations have revealed abnormally high quantities of the metal in the ground, suggesting that Sima Qian's account may well be true. Why was such a highly toxic metal buried deep underground in both these places? We do not know and the scientists are strangely silent on the subject!

pyramid of the moon

The Pyramid of the Moon at Teotihuacan

The peninsula of Yucatan was the land of the Maya, who from time immemorial have dwelled there, and their culture was most refined and remarkable. Their wonderful buildings, constructed without the use of iron, for they had tools of wood or stone only, are amazing indeed, so that their achievements are even more astonishing than those of the Babylonians and Egyptians.

Their calendar was as exact as our own, although it was more complicated, which has not prevented the usual conspiracy theorists from using it to support their nonsensical predictions that a 'golden age', 'pole shift', 'ascension', or 'end of the world' (take your pick) would occur on 21 December 2012. Which goes to show that a 'little knowledge' can be dangerous! The Maya possessed a rich literature, and the colours used in such a beautiful work as the Codex Troano Cortezianus, which can be seen in the Archaeological Museum in Madrid, are most vivid and beautiful. The great pyramids of the Maya were used for astronomical and chronological purposes as well as for religious ones. Their cities were planned in accordance with the orientation of their pyramids, and all the chief buildings had the facades disposed strictly east to west. We find the same orientations in Guatemala and in the Mexican state of Chiapas, though in these latter localities one finds some slight deviations from this rule at times. The area under the cultural influence of the Maya was very large and considerably more extensive than that once covered by the culture of the ancient Greeks. But we must not lose sight of the fact that the Atlantean Greek colony was on a much smaller scale than that of America.

Today we still find some Mayans in the peninsula of Yucatan, and in most of the Guatemalan territory, with an occasional sprinkling of other tribes. Some of these tribes, such as the Nahua, are worthy of some attention, for once upon a time they developed a peculiar and evolved culture. There are some anthropologists who find a connection between them and the Toltecs, who are said to have invaded Central America about 800 A.D. Some writers believe their culture came to an end in 1100 or thereabouts; whilst others maintain that the Toltec Empire was founded about two centuries before our era, and ended about 400 A.D. But all this is pure conjecture, and of exact dates there are none. All that is known is mixed up with the history (if we may call it that) of the various peoples who lived in Mexico at one time or another, and of which there are still some faint records and memories today. Apart from the Maya, there are the Aztecs and the Olmec and Zapotec people, and no doubt many others of whom all records are lost for ever. It is worthwhile noting that research in this field intensified during the 1960's and '70's, which continues to the present day. There is a growing enthusiasm and excitement on the part of modern Mexican and American archaeologists, who are now making zealous efforts to uncover and discover the, so far, almost 'neglected'—if we may use the term—sites and ruins of which there are, at this time, known to be about 11,000. Barely a quarter of these have, as yet, been investigated.

Phoenician trade with America

It is believed by some writers, and we concur with them, that about 3,000 years ago the Phoenicians knew America and were in direct commercial relations with it. But they did not give very precise directions about it, wanting to keep the secret to themselves, for which we cannot blame them for commerce was a serious business even then! About a hundred years ago there was found in Panama an ancient vessel, full of bronze Roman coins of the third and fourth centuries A.D. How did it get there so long before Columbus 'first' discovered America? Did the Phoenicians bring it with them to trade with the natives? We do not know. We are told by Pomponius Mela, in his Chronographica, and in Pliny's History, that in the year 62 B.C. a boat, full of red-skinned people of unknown origin, was thrown up by the sea waves on the German coast. The King of the Suevians gave some of these men as slaves to Metellus Celerus, the Roman proconsul of Gaul. Where did these Indians come from, or is the whole thing a mere fairy tale? No, it is not, for Charles X of France purchased for the Louvre an ancient bronze bust of one of these selfsame Red Indians. The archaeologist Egger established beyond doubt that this was a genuine Roman antique work of art, and, without using any scientific terms, the face and head are of the typical Indian shape, and it cannot have been anything but a Native American Red Indian who sat for that bust.

In our article on the Story of Atlantis we referred to Atlas, who was said to support the Universe. This, of course, was a poetical hyperbole, meaning that the Atlantean continent, or Empire, had been so powerful that it merited this description perfectly, which is why we have chosen the famous Roman statue of the Farnese Atlas supporting the Earth to illustrate this investigation. It follows from this that the 'daughters of Atlas', were nothing more nor less than the various colonies of Atlantis, which no longer existed as such in Homer's time. Thus when Plutarch speaks in his treatise, On Lunar Spots, about 'Meropa's kingdom (Meropa was a Queen, daughter of the Libyan giant Atlas), he may be referring to such a colony, or province, or even kingdom, but this time on the American continent. And the word maro (land) is a Quichua substantive; its genitive case marop is employed in the sense of 'native', 'aboriginal', etc. Thus we may discover by this means the origin of the word Merop, and Meropa's kingdom, for if one asks the South American natives, "Who are you—from whence do you come?," they would reply, "We are of these parts, we are marop." If the Phoenicians really traded with these natives, and we have no doubts about this, they might and would have said that they had been to the land of the marops, altered into Merops in the end. And this last version of the word was what reached Theopompus and Plutarch.

Intercourse between South America and the Phoenicians (who were probably of Atlantean origin in the first place) has been proved on many occasions by means of Phoenician inscriptions found in South America. There are at least 2,000 of these, though at first the usual 'scientist' pooh-poohed the idea, and gave credit for all such finds to 'practical jokers', or fraudsters, who, for some reason best known to themselves carved inscriptions upon the rocks in America. This is but a repetition of the polemics that raged at the beginning of the 19th century around the cuneiform inscriptions found in Persia at that time. Scientists assured this gullible world that these inscriptions were nothing else but fanciful decorations on the parts of the architects of the ruins upon which these inscriptions were discovered, and as late as 1840 the orientalists believed sincerely that Nebuchadnezzar had never existed but was only some fantastic myth of the ancients. But when at last, at Begistoun, in Persia, there was found a similar inscription written in three parallel alphabets, finally giving the long lost key to the cuneiform writing, which became the foundation for the science of Assyriology, the raving tongues of the scoffers were stilled.

Some miles from Rio de Janeiro, in Brazil, there exists a beautiful spot called Pedra da Gávea, a mountainous district, and at that spot is a great rock, very steep and most difficult to climb. At the height of 2,754 feet was found a very ancient cuneiform inscription, each sign being about three yards wide, and the whole being perfectly visible from a considerable distance. Ha! said the sceptical scientists, another example of the mischievous work of one of those scoundrels, some practical joker; there is nothing in it, it is a mere fraud, please pay no attention to such rubbish.

pedra da gavea

What is stranger still is that the whole rock is carved in the shape of a colossal human head with a beard and a sharp pointed helmet, as can be seen in the photograph at left. More jokes on the part of the same scoundrels! The inscription itself is almost inaccessible and can only be reached with the aid of special climbing equipment. What a lot of trouble the scoundrels took, and what a waste of time, for it is quite impossible to impose on science! Moreover, the whole inscription was meaningless, and consisted of rude scribbles of some lunatic who had nothing better to do, or so the smug scientists said. But at last a man of great learning appeared on the scene, the archaeologist Bernardo da Silva Ramos, who translated and studied this famous inscription. He found that it had been written in the Cuneiform Phoenician alphabet, apparently of the period 887-856 B.C., and it contains the following sentence: "Badezir of the Phoenician Tyre, the first son of Jethbaal." Now, Badezir was King of Phoenicia during 855-850 B.C., and his father, Jethbaal, reigned from 887 until 856 B.C. Here we have documentary proof that the Phoenicians visited Brazil and other parts of South America in those far away times, and the colossal head of Atlas, for this is what it represents, must have been carved in memory of their descent from Atlantis and to immortalise the name of Phoenicia.

inscription

The inscription deciphered by Bernardo da Silva Ramos

Today, the prevailing scientific consensus is that both the inscription and the face are the result of weather erosion. Well, well, well, what a surprise! What do you think, dear reader? In the 1920's Professor Ludwig Schwennhagen discovered in the Brazilian cities of Niterói and Campos, as well as in Tijuca, subterranean galleries of Phoenician workmanship, and these may have been warehouses of the ancient traders. So the inscription of the jokers, or of some rude, untutored old savages in Brazil, or maybe erosion (take your pick), together with the giant head carved out of the rock, a mere accident, may prove in more enlightened times than ours to be none of these, but instead archaeological finds of the greatest importance. Time will tell, but we are not holding our breath so far as the scientists are concerned!

Still more wonders have been discovered in Brazil which, for reasons best known to the scientific community, have rarely appeared in print. Among them are the remarkable finds of a certain French mining engineer by the name of Apollinaire Frot. At first only interested in re-discovering the old gold mines now concealed in the vast forests of Brazil, Frot found instead some most interesting petroglyphs in the forests. This turned him away from his quest for gold, and he became so fascinated by these archaeological finds that he could think of nothing else. He too discovered inscriptions in other languages, so that to his Phoenician finds he could add inscriptions in very ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs. These inscriptions, of which he collected some hundreds, and which were a revelation to the archaeologists all over the world at the time, contain mainly travelling directions, leading from one rock to another, and so guiding the traders, or miners, or whatever they were, to certain spots in the interior. In the end, Frot collected so much material of an astounding nature that he was afraid to publish the results of his work, lest he too would become one of those scoundrels who try to lead science by the nose with his silly jokes.

Here is a letter he wrote to a friend on the subject. "The Phoenicians used in their South American inscriptions the same methods which were used by the old Egyptians at the earliest period of hieroglyphic writing. The same methods were employed by the Aztecs and by that unknown race which has left its petroglyphs in the Amazonian basin. The results of my investigations are so striking that I am afraid to publish them. In order to give you an idea of them I will say only that I possess proof of the origin of the Egyptians: the forefathers of the Egyptians issued from South America and once formed three powerful empires. Two of them were founded in South America and the third on the Old Continent, The latter included north-western Africa, the Iberian Peninsula and the islands of the ocean neighbouring Europe. The pre-Egyptians started their migration eastwards from the point at 57º 42' 45" West longitude from Greenwich." Frot does not give the latitude of this point, perhaps deliberately, but the longitude corresponds roughly to a location in the Atlantic Ocean 370 miles East of Bermuda.

He goes on to write: "This event is mentioned in an ancient Toltec document which I possess and which, besides the above information, contains also a short history of the pre-Egyptians. Moreover, I have discovered in Amazonia an inscription which contains an account of the voyage of a certain pre-Egyptian priest to what is now Bolivia." Now, this is very interesting indeed as we're sure you will agree, but we are afraid that Monsieur Frot has mistaken the ancient Atlanteans for pre-Egyptians, but at the same time the Atlanteans were truly the forefathers of the Egyptians, and in this sense we may call them 'pre-Egyptians', if we wish to. And it is also possible that some Atlanteans, after having fled to South America, went from thence to Egypt at a later period, and there is nothing we can see against this suggestion. But we must always beware not to take speculation on these obscure matters as facts; for that leads nowhere at all, except into a muddle. Let us keep an open mind on all such things, accepting only that which seems reasonable and possible, without dogmatising about it in any way.

petroglyphs

Brazilian petroglyphs

The Brazilian archaeologist da Silva Ramos, whom we mentioned earlier, made more than 1500 photographs of petroglyphs found in his country, and most of them represent the Phoenician and Egyptian languages. But there are also some Sumerian inscriptions, and a few in Latin. It is possible that these were made by educated Phoenicians, and some must have been made by the Carthaginians in a comparatively late epoch, and not by Romans; at least, there is, so far as we know, no trace of any Roman reports about America.

The extent of Atlantean culture

Further proof of just how widespread Atlantean culture was is found in the fact that, for instance, the Quicha tongue resembles largely old Egyptian, Greek and even Hindustani, as the Brazilian philologist E. O. de Thoron affirms. The same gentleman says that he has traced the origin of the Greek deities in their primal significance, which throws us at once into the middle of Atlantis, whence all these 'deities' were derived, though most of them were great men and women who later on were deified by priests and princes. This was the case with the Frisian Sage—Nyhelennia, also called Min-erva—whose teachings we discuss in our afterword, who was later deified by the Greeks as Athena and by the Romans as Minerva, among which peoples she was revered primarily for her Wisdom. And this was the case in many other places too. But to adopt this theory wholesale would be a big mistake. We feel sure that some of the God-names of antiquity had nothing to do with ordinary human beings, and that these have come to us in their, almost, original form and meaning. Such we are sure are such God-names as Vishnu, Shiva and Brahma in India and Ra in Egypt.

In the Guarani legends we read that their forefathers dwelled in a splendid capital, 'The City of the Shining Roofs'. And here we have a confirmation of the capital of Atlantis with its roofs of orichalcum, as described by Plato. In this manner the first Spanish Conquistadors were misled in to believing that somewhere in the interior of the new continent there still existed a town with golden roofs. This belief has persisted during the centuries, and every now and then we hear of brave travellers penetrating into the interior of Brazil, in order to discover this fabulous town. They should instead acquire a diver's outfit and seek at the bottom of the Atlantic; but then, all they would find, if they are still there, would be roofs of orichalcum! Not so good. But no doubt gold was used largely for the decoration of the great temples, and that may still be there.

Among the traditions of the Guaranis there is a persistent story that their forefathers of long ago had a mysterious way of producing fire, namely, by means of sparks emitted from a sort of machine or engine. This may mean that electricity was known to the emigrants from Atlantis, but that they kept the secret to themselves, and it died out with them in the same manner as the secret means of producing electricity known to some of the ancient Egyptian priests, and no doubt, to the Druids from Atlantis. At any rate, though the old and prehistoric buildings on the Colombian Highlands are of vast proportions and have no windows or any sign that stoves were used, in spite of the very cold weather that can be experienced there, nowhere in these vast buildings and galleries can one find a trace of smoke; and the same applies to the splendidly painted tombs in Egypt. What sort of lighting and heating were known to these people, then, if it were not electricity?

The Spanish chronicles tell us about the magnificent garden of the Incan Emperors in their capital Cuzco. This garden had numerous artificial trees and plants with stems, branches, leaves, flowers and fruits made of brass, silver and gold. This work was most artistic in every way. Silver butterflies sat on golden flowers, and lizards, snakes, and snails made of metal seemed to crawl upon the brass stems and branches. The Indians, we are told, knew how to harden brass and copper, fabricated golden and silver statues and metal automatons. There were parrots which moved their tongues and wings, and monkeys which not only broke nuts with their teeth but even spun with spindles. All these things were made of various metals.

tenochtitlan

An artist's impression of Tenochtitlan—the Aztec capital—at the time of the Spanish Conquest.

Tenochtitlan—the capital of the Aztec Empire—was one of the largest cities in the world when the Spanish conquerors first arrived there in 1519. The chronicles of the time abound with descriptions of its wonders, which exceeded anything known in the Old World. Massive aqueducts carried fresh water for irrigation while a dam ten miles long ran along the east side of the city to hold back floodwaters. We read that Cortez received from the Mexican Emperor Montezuma a series of presents, which incidentally cost that noble emperor his empire and his life. There were mirrors of platinum, a metal which is difficult to melt, and, many plates made of gold and silver metal strips in such a manner that it was impossible to detect the welded joints. We are again reminded here of Plato, who described the metallurgical skill of the Atlanteans in his dialogues. From this we may gain some idea of what the cities of Atlantis were like, though they were no doubt constructed on an even larger scale and boasted even greater technological marvels and artistic wonders than the Aztec capital which so impressed Cortes. If you wish to know more about the Aztecs, there is no finer book on the subject than Prescott's History of the Conquest of Mexico, first published in 1843. And although it is written mainly from the perspective of the brutal Spanish invaders, it is nonetheless filled with detailed accounts of the arts, sciences and culture of the peoples who flourished in this part of America long ago.

destruction of atlantis

Thomas Cole — Detail from The Course of Empire: Destruction — oil on canvas, 1836

The legacy of Atlantis

In this investigation we have taken you to and fro from East to West, North to South, and back again for a very good reason. And that reason is to show you the various races which lived in Atlantis, and how they spread out all over the world in their migrations during the times of the various disasters that befell their motherland. We see the same arts and sciences, mythologies and religions everywhere we go, proving that there was a common centre from which all these things once radiated, and that this centre was Atlantis. The importance of this cannot be over estimated, and from Atlantis must have come all sorts of languages, some of which are still extant today, though vastly altered and enlarged on the one hand, whilst on the other hand many words and terms must have been lost completely.

We began our journey by saying that we ourselves have no doubts whatsoever about the existence of Atlantis, its location or legacy. So it is fitting that we end our investigation with a remarkable discovery which confirms everything we have discussed with you, as well as in our previous articles about Atlantis. Whether this will constitute 'proof' in the eyes of those smug and sceptical scientists for whom the very word 'Atlantis' is anathema, is another matter, but we rather doubt it, for there are none so blind as those who will not see, even when you shove the proof under their superior noses!

On 2nd January 1949 there appeared a most unusual and important article in the Italian journal Illustrazione del Popolo which, so far as we are aware, has never before been translated into English, and is now impossible to find in print or online. We are indebted to one of our contributors for the account that follows, which we are assured is a faithful translation of the article from the journal in their possession.

The Atlantis Myth

"Today the marvellous life of Atlantis has been proved by the sensational discovery of the Egyptian Professor Mohammed-Joussef, who has been fortunate enough to track down some tablets in cuneiform characters, proving that Solon and Plato were right. The discovery has caused a stir and the tablets are being carefully and anxiously studied, for there is still a good deal to decipher, being written in rather rare hieroglyphics, of which we await the precious particulars.

"The tablets date back to 6,000 B.C. and were inscribed by a priest of the primitive god Ra, on his return from a long voyage in the country which today is Western Morocco, which spot the author has always regarded as the nearest locality to the fabulous Continent.

"The most interesting part of the tablets is that which confirms the existence of Atlantis, and from the fact that the scribe admits that he re-copied his affirmations from writings in the possession of the inhabitants. He tells of statues of gold and another precious metal looking like orichalcum (the brass of the ancients), all of exquisite workmanship, portraying men and beautiful ladies, warriors and animals, temples and houses. Moreover there were models of ships with many sails, large cars, golden belts studied with gems, diadems, bracelets, and books made of a special substance which the scribe could not explain, but they were well preserved, and from them it was possible to tell of the high state of civilisation at which Atlantis had arrived.

"They buried their dead in gigantic pyramids built above the plains, and there the defunct lay with furniture and numerous objects of everyday life, mummified and shut up in strange transparent boxes which were not made of glass, for this was imported much later by the Phoenicians. The writer of the manuscript goes on to give a list of the names of the cities, rivers, lakes and mountains and he also explains some of the customs and costumes of the inhabitants and is most enthusiastic about the refined gifts bestowed upon him by all he met. The scribe modestly says: "We are less than slaves, and more like beasts compared to those of the other shore."

"Exactly what his judgement is worth it is impossible to say. He speaks of wise Laws which command the respect of one and all, and of a marvellous capital surrounded by woods, rivers, lakes and mountains. Thor, who resided in an immense palace, rich in rare marbles with a 1,000 columns and a roof of gold, was a demi-god king, surrounded by 20,000 courtiers and millions of adoring subjects.

"Generally speaking, a priest who had been unfaithful in Atlantis was expelled, for fidelity was demanded of all subjects and to this end every citizen was guaranteed land, a house, animals, ladies, utensils and sports with, at least once during his lifetime, a personal visit by the king, and finally mummification and a tomb. There were lists of the profuse riches of all, and the priest does not conceal his disapproval of the Egyptian laws of his time, which he says, do not even provide for a visit from the king! The manuscript goes on to tell of the marvellous palaces, superimposed one upon the other (evidently referring to those with more floors than there were in Egypt), of high towers on which were gardens and statues.

"The priest affirms that the Atlanteans were originally of divine origin (which conforms to the mythological legend whereby Atlas, the son of Neptune was the first king of the vanished Continent).

"In their ships, they took long journeys to other peoples, teaching their learning to the Egyptians, the Greeks, the Assyrians and Babylonians in the East, and to the various other peoples of the times.

"These assertions do not need further confirmation when we remember the fact that Atlantean civilisation had been received by the Aztecs and Incas, and this is proved again by the numerous similarities in language, architecture, religion and dress, and also among the ancient inhabitants all along the Mediterranean and certain parts of the two Americas.

"The manuscript of the priest goes on to say that, on the whole, the Atlanteans were not keen on expanding, or yielding to other people; and sometimes the king suspended all contact with foreigners for quite a long time."

atlantean pyramid

Conclusion

Here the article from Illustrazione del Popolo ends. Despite a thorough search over many years we have been unable to find any further information about this discovery or the deciphering of the tablets mentioned in the article, if it was ever completed, which we personally doubt, for whereas there was some scholarly interest in Atlantis during the last century, this has all but ceased. We wonder why? Guilty conscience on the part of the scientists perhaps? Meanwhile, we hope that what we have put before you in this investigation and our afterword has given you plenty to think about and considerable resources for further study of the fascinating subject of Atlantis and its legacy.

If you wish to read the first two parts again, or have stumbled on this page, follow the appropriate link below.


© Copyright occult-mysteries.org. Article added 24 March 2019. Updated 2 September 2022.


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