rs before his time, or about 11,500 years ago. Atlantis was the location of an advanced civilization that was destroyed by a huge natural catastrophe, and Plato then gives the location of Atlantis, describes it, tells of its age, and its destruction. The details offered by Plato, however, are not clear, though many assumed that Plato was placing Atlantis in the Atlantic Ocean, with others finding evidence that it was located in some portion of the Mediterranean Sea (p. 2).
In the Timaeus, the story of Atlantis is presented through a dialogue among Timaeus and Critias (Plato's cousin) and their mentor Socrates. Critias introduces the story of Atlantis and says it was related to him by his grandfather, also named Critias, who had heard it from Solon, the Athenian statesman who had visited Egypt in 590 B.C. and who then had access to the "House of Books." The visit of Solon to Egypt is a historical fact as Solon went exploring at about 590 B.C. There is considerable evidence that Greeks were visitors to Egypt on a more or less regular basis during that era, a seen in the incorporation of Greek architectural styles into Egyptian temples and in the abundance of Greek artifacts at archaeological sites along the Nile. The Priest of Neith, says Plato, told Solon that there had been may civilizations that had risen and been destroyed in the past and that there would be many more in the future. He told further of a great power that came out of the Atlantic Ocean, and that there was then an island situated in front of the straits known as the Pillars of Hercules (today known as Gibraltar). Neith says that this island was larger than Libya and Asia put together. There was a great empire on the island of Atlantis which ruled over several other regions and which had subjugated parts of Libya, Egypt, and Europe as far as Italy. Plato assures that this story is fact and not fiction. In Timaeus, Plato says that this story has been handed ...