Lost city of Atlantis 'found' off Cyprus
The lost civilisation of Atlantis has been found in the watery deep off Cyprus, says a U.S. researcher, adding his theory to a mystery that has baffled explorers for centuries.
Robert Sarmast says a Mediterranean basin was flooded in a deluge around 9000 BC. This submerged a rectangular land mass he believes was Atlantis, lying 1.5 kilometres beneath sea level between Cyprus and Syria.
"We have definitely found it," said Sarmast, who led a team of explorers 80 kilometres off the south-east coast of Cyprus earlier this month.
Deep-water sonar scanning had indicated man-made structures on a submerged hill, including a 3-kilometre-long wall, a walled hill summit and deep trenches, he said. But further explorations were needed, he added.
"We cannot yet provide tangible proof in the form of bricks and mortar as the artefacts are still buried under several metres of sediment, but the circumstantial and other evidence is irrefutable," he said.
Sarmast has provided only animated simulations of the "hill".
Many theories about Atlantis
Whether and where Atlantis existed has captured imaginations for centuries.
According to ancient Greek philosopher Plato, Atlantis was an island nation where an advanced civilisation developed some 11,500 years ago.
Theories abound as to why it disappeared, from Atlantis being hit by a cataclysmic natural disaster to Greek mythology that describes the civilisation as being so corrupted by greed and power that God destroyed.
Sceptics believe Atlantis was a figment of Plato's imagination.
Sarmast says he was led to Cyprus by clues in Plato's dialogues. Plato's reference to Atlantis lying opposite the Pillars of Hercules, believed to be the Straits of Gibraltar, have often led explorers to focus on either the Atlantic Ocean, Ireland or the Azores off Portugal.
"People who dismiss this have not really done their homework; sceptics don't really understand. To understand the enigma of Atlantis you have to have good knowledge of ancient history, Biblical references, the Sumerian culture and their tablets and so on," said Sarmast.
Although the most prevailing story of a world cataclysm is listed in the Biblical Old Testament, several ancient cultures list accounts of civilisations being destroyed in floods.