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NEWS October 2024
OCTOBER 2024 The recent cyber attack on the Internet Archive is deplorable and can be reasonably compared with the repeated burning of the Great Library of Alexandria. I have used the Wayback Machine extensively, but, until the full extent of the permanent damage is clear, I am unable to assess its effect on Atlantipedia. At […]Read More »
Joining The Dots
I have now published my new book, Joining The Dots, which offers a fresh look at the Atlantis mystery. I have addressed the critical questions of when, where and who, using Plato’s own words, tempered with some critical thinking and a modicum of common sense.Read More »
Russia
Crimea
Crimea is a large peninsula on the Black Sea coast of Ukraine. At the time of writing (April 2023) Crimea was still occupied by the Russian military. From an atlantological point of view, it is interesting that one of the principal icons of Ukraine is a stylised trident, the symbol of Poseidon.
Crimea itself has had a number of attempts made to associate it with the location of Atlantis. The most eye-catching promoters of this idea were the late Leon Flying Eagle and Mary Whispering Wind, who published their theory in The Atlantis Motherland [0138] nearly twenty years ago. They claimed(a) that in the Crimean port city of Kerch the nearby Mithridat Hill was the original site of the capital city of Atlantis confirmed by the surrounding topography that matched closely Plato’s description. They have also suggested that the shallow Strait of Kerch between Crimea and Russia as the location of Plato’s ‘shoals‘(c).
An interesting detail is that the Strait of Kerch was one of several locations that the ancient Greeks referred to as the Pillars of Heracles listed by Robert Schoch in Voices of the Rocks [454.87], but, unfortunately, without citing his source.
They further claim(b) that there is evidence that the Kopet-Dagh fault line, which runs just above the strait, experienced a devastating (8.9) earthquake around 9600 BC destroying Atlantis in the Strait. At this time what we now call the Sea of Azov was the well-irrigated plain adjacent to the city of Atlantis described by Plato. They claim that the earthquake caused a massive influx of water from the Caspian Sea, which had been rising due to the melting ice caps in the north. This combination caused the creation of the Sea of Azov and the flooding of Atlantis.
All this would have been fine except that at the start of their homepage, they announced that “Thirty-nine thousand years ago a primitive tribe of wild robust Neanderthals celebrated the beginning of a new species. Visitors from a distant planet united with their tribe. Together they created the great Empire of Atlantis, the Motherland of all Modern Humans.” For me, this just undermines the credibility, if not the rationality of the authors.
Anatoliy Ivanovich Zolotukhin is a Ukrainian researcher from the city of Nykolaiv (also known as Mykolaiv) who authored Homer: The Immanent Biography [1015], in which he claims that Homer was born in Alibant (Mykolaiv) on September 14, 657 BC)(f). He follows the views of Karl Ernst von Baer (1792-1876) who believed that most of Odysseus’s travels took place in the Black Sea rather than the Mediterranean. Additionally, Zolotukhin locates Atlantis in the western Crimean area of Evpatoria(d) on his multilingual website with the inviting title of Homer and Atlantis(e).
Werner E. Friedrich is a German researcher who published a bilingual booklet in 2006 [0695] in which he firmly located Atlantis in the Black Sea region circa 10,000 BC on a plain west and east around today’s Crimean peninsula.
Christian & Siegfried Schoppe are a father and son team of German researchers, who firmly assert that Atlantis was located in the Black Sea. More specifically they suggest that Snake Island(h) situated 35km east of the Danube Delta, was the location of the Atlantean capital. Snake Island has also been referred to on a Russian website(i) that discusses a Black Sea Atlantis. It includes some video clips with Russian dialogue. Snake Island has also been adopted by George K. Weller as the location of Atlantis(j). Snake Island also featured in the current Russian invasion of Ukraine.
In his 2020 book, Apocalypse [1874], Dr Sean Welsh agreed that Noah’s Ark finally rested on Mt. Ararat, but took everyone by surprise by claiming that it was not Ararat in Turkey but Ararat mountain/hill on Crimea’s Kerch Peninsula!
Very ancient pyramids have also been claimed for Crimea(g).
(a) http://www.atlantis-motherland.com/home.html
(b) Great Atlantis Flood (archive.org)
(c) Index (atlantis-today.com)
(d) https://homerandatlantis.com/?lang=en
(e) https://homerandatlantis.com/??-??????/?lang=en
(f) Nikolaev Pushkin club (archive.org)
(g) Archive 3619 | (atlantipedia.ie)
(h) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snake_Island_(Ukraine)
(i) http://survincity.com/2010/04/conspiracy-theory-black-sea-atlantis-the-case-of/ (link broken Dec.2020)
Baalbek *
Baalbek, situated in the Bekka Valley in Lebanon, undoubtedly presents us with what I consider to be one of the greatest mysteries of the ancient world. It was the site of a most impressive Roman temple complex dedicated to Jupiter. However, the very name Baalbek suggests an earlier connection with the Caananite/Phoenician god Baal.
Peter Mungo Jupp has suggested that the original temple at Baalbek had involved Holy Prostitution in the service of Baal(z), while another commentator has even suggested a link with Indian yogis!(t)
Although the Roman remains are still impressive, it is some blocks in the lower and presumably earlier courses(d), that have continued to stump archaeologists, three of which are of cut limestone and are estimated to weigh 
up to 800 tons(c). (compare with the content of the link(k))
An article(q) by Gian J. Quasar regarding this strange masonry is worth a read.
Even more disturbing is a block still lying in a nearby quarry, where it was cut, and which has been calculated to exceed 1000 tons and named The Stone of the Pregnant Woman. Another block, in the same quarry, was only discovered in the 1990’s and is thought to be even heavier at 1200 tons(g).
In 1997, Andrew Collins ventured to suggest that Baalbek because of its high elevation “hints at the fact that it once served as some kind of platform for the observation of celestial and stellar events”(v). Collins expanded on his views in two later papers on his website(w)(x).
While the Baalbek monoliths are astoundingly impressive, they would appear to be outshone by the unfinished stele in the quarry at Yangshan in eastern China. Its estimated weight has been put as high as over 6,000 tons. Its creation is attributed to the reign of the Yongle Emperor in the early 15th century. However, others claim much greater antiquity, insisting that “although it is a limestone quarry, the stones were not cut and shaped with hammer and chisel, as you will see. They were machined.(y)!
Hugh Newman, a self-described ‘megalithomaniac’(r), has produced a paper(s) on the enormous Baalbek monoliths, in which he cites Graham Hancock speculatively dating the age of Baalbek megaliths at 12,000 years or more.
In March 2014, it was widely reported(e) that even heavier megaliths had been identified on Siberia’s Mount Shoria. However, the images I have seen suggest to me a natural origin(f). A short video clip is available(j).
We do not know how such huge objects were made or moved in ancient times. I often think that the bigger question is why did they bother to cut such large blocks! An online article(b) tells how the ingenuity of our ancestors produced the most powerful hand crane in history which multiplied the force of its operator 632 times. However, just because we do not yet know precisely how the Baalbek blocks were manipulated, does not justify wild claims that they were moved by high-tech Atlanteans or extraterrestrials. I may not know how stage magicians saw ladies in half, but that does not compel me to label them Atlantean or alien.
The most persistent question relating to all megalithic structures is “how did they manage to build them using such large heavy rocks and blocks”? Many ingenious solutions are on offer, but perhaps the most remarkable is that proposed by W. T. Wallington who demonstrated that using basic materials, which were available to the Egyptians, one individual can manipulate a 4500kg stone block. His website includes a remarkable video clip of his method. A review(n) of this video is worth a read. Another or comparable technology may have been used by Edward Leedskainin when he single-handedly built Coral Castle in Florida City(o). What is certain is that Leedskainin had no help from intergalactic visitors.
The late Alan Alford wrote an extensive paper on Baalbek(a). Immanuel Velikovsky and others have supported the idea that Baakbek was in fact the location of the biblical city of Dan, recorded as the most northern city of ancient Israel. Furthermore, the earlier notes on the subject by Velikovsky are also available online(i) in which he suggested that Baalbek was the temple built by Jeroboam in the north of the former Kingdom of Israel to compete with Solomon’s temple in Jerusalem in the south.
December 2014 found the latest estimate for the weight of the largest dressed stone found at Baalbek was calculated to be 1650 tons(h). It is clear that some explanation is required, hopefully, something better than the implication of extraterrestrial intervention. I would like to think that if we had alien visitors that their technology would be in advance of the ‘stone’ age. Surely they would have something better to produce than enormous foundation stones, which to my puny mind does not smack of the best that a civilisation capable of travelling across the cosmos would have to offer! I find the claims of Graham Hancock or Erich von Dániken equally unconvincing in this instance.
A sober well-referenced article outlining the arguments in favour of identifying the megaliths as Roman is available online(k) as well as supportive blogs from Frank Dörnenburg(m).
A UNESCO-sponsored hitech survey of the Baalbek site as part of a Risk Preparedness Strategy is now proposed so that the most appropriate remedial action can be taken in the event of natural deterioration or even war damage(l).
Brian Foerster’s website(p) has some remarkable images of the Baalbek masonry.
There are a number of YouTube videos featuring the Baalbek ruins(u).
(a) See: Archive 3414
(b) https://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2010/03/history-of-human-powered-cranes.html
(c) https://vejprty.com/baalbek.htm
(d) https://grahamhancock.com/third-megalith-baalbek-hancock/
(e) https://thepeoplesvoice.tv/megaliths-russia-advanced-civilisation/
(f) https://www.academia.edu/6200990/Super_Megaliths_in_Gornaya_Shoria_Southern_Siberia
(i) https://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/arqueologia/esp_baalbek_5.htm
(j) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXeuTK2fhwI
(k) See: Archive 2653
(l) https://www.researchgate.net/publication/301701044_Protecting_Baalbek%27s_Integrity *
(m) https://www.ramtops.co.uk/baalbek.html
or See: https://web.archive.org/web/20170711050921/https://www.ramtops.co.uk/baalbek.html
(o) https://www.ancient-origins.net/unexplained-phenomena/overcoming-gravity-enigma-coral-castle-005051
(p) https://hiddenincatours.com/worlds-largest-megalithic-stones-baalbek-lebanon/
(q) http://www.thelivingmoon.com/43ancients/02files/Baalbek_Temple_of_Jupiter.html
(r) https://www.megalithomania.co.uk/hughnewman.html
(s) See: Archive 3409
(t) Baalbek – Lebanon’s Ancient Yogic Connection – The Isha Blog (archive.org)
(u) https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=baalbek+Lebanon
(v) https://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/arqueologia/esp_baalbek_4.htm
(w) https://www.andrewcollins.com/page/articles/baalbek.htm
(x) https://www.andrewcollins.com/page/articles/baalbek2.htm
(y) http://www.soul-guidance.com/houseofthesun/yangshan.html
(z) Baalbek Temple prostitutes and Holy Prostitution for Baal (archive.org)
Arkaim
Arkaim is a 2nd millennium BC archaeological site in Russia, although some date it to 7000 BC(c). The site was rediscovered in 1987 just as the locality was at risk of submersion due to a proposed nearby dam-building project. This was later put on hold.
It has been compared with Stonehenge(b), Troy Towns(d) and Plato’s Atlantis(a). It is also claimed as a psychic ‘hotspot’’(e) as well as a site of UFO activity!
The suggested Atlantis link is just fanciful and does not stand up to the most cursory examination. For example, there is no evidence that Arkaim was ever submerged as Atlantis was recorded to have been by Plato.
A 2014 article that compared Arkaim with Stonehenge commented that “It would seem that Arkaim is an even better astronomical observatory than its namesake.”(g)
Victoria Lepage, a purveyor of mystical twaddle has endeavoured to incorporate Arkaim into her pathetic view of world history(h).
Dale Drinnon’s website included an extensive entry on Arkaim in Feb. 2012(f).
August 2015 produced a report(i) that a 2,000-year-old skeleton of a female, with an elongated skull, had been unearthed in the vicinity of Arkaim. Apparently, this was the result of a local tradition of head-binding.
(a) https://balkhandshambhala.blogspot.com/2013/02/shambhala-ancient-arkaim.html
(b) https://mysteriousuniverse.org/2014/01/arkaim-russias-stonehenge-and-a-puzzle-of-the-ancient-world/
(c) Ajit Vadakayil: STONEHENGE OF ARKAIM RUSSIA – CAPT AJIT VADAKAYIL (archive.org)
(g) https://mysteriousuniverse.org/2014/01/arkaim-russias-stonehenge-and-a-puzzle-of-the-ancient-world/
(h) Arkaim: Russia’s Ancient City & the Arctic Origin of Civilisation | Truth Control (archive.org) *
(i) 2,000-Year-Old ‘Conehead’ Skeleton Unearthed At Russia’s Stonehenge – News Punch (archive.org)
ROIPA
ROIPA is an acronym for the original Russian title of the Russian Society for the Study of Problems of Atlantis which is the leading association in the Russian Federation for the study of Atlantology.
It was formally established in 2003 although it has its roots in the early 1990’s. Since then it has organised three congresses of Atlantologists, published papers and books including its recent Cronos almanac. There is also an ongoing programme of lectures.
Alexander Voronin was the president of ROIPA and I had the pleasure of meeting him in Malta in 2011. Sadly, Alexander died November 6th 2012.
Membership of ROIPA is normally confined to Russian citizens, so I was greatly flattered when I was given honorary membership of the organisation in 2011.
In March 2014, I was contacted by the new president of ROIPA, George Nefediev, who informed me that the work of the society was back on track and has already held a conference in December, 2013. They are currently developing a new website(a).
Later in 2014, ROIPA published the second edition of their Cronos ‘almanac’. It has a number of contributions by researchers frequently encountered in the pages of Atlantipedia, such as Emilio Spedicato and R. Cedric Leonard. Although it will be published in Russian, you can view the contents in English(b). As you will see the subjects are wide-ranging and it is regrettable that the volume will not be available in English.
ROIPA is organising its fourth Congress on the 13-14 April 2015. All are welcome and contributions invited
(a) The theme of the Congress is Atlantology in the XXI century – Development Prospects and is seeking to have Atlantology recognised as a legitimate scientific discipline.
See: Russian Atlantology
*(b) See: Archive 3920*
Voronin, Alexander
Alexander Voronin (1954- 2012) was arguably the doyen of Russian atlantology at the beginning of the 21st century. He had a background in law and journalism, both useful in his research and his position as 
President (since 2003) of the Russian Society for the Study of the Problems of Atlantis (ROIPA(a)).
He was author of over a hundred papers and a number of books[796][797][798] related to ancient civilisations and Atlantis. Voronin was also the editor of the recent Almanac of the Last of Ancient Civilizations: KRONOS, which discusses Atlantis, problems, searches, researchers and hypotheses. He sometimes used the noms de plume Alex Bran and Bran Athanasius. Unfortunately, all his work is available in Russian only. A fuller biography is available in Archive 3922.
He believes that Atlantis was located in the North Atlantic with many colonies in the islands of the Atlantic and North West Africa.
Late 2011 saw Voronin and a team of scientists carrying out research on megalithic sites in the Mediterranean working from the luxury sailing ship Running on Waves. I was honoured to meet Alexander while the ship was docked in Malta and to have had subsequent email contact with him and so was greatly saddened to learn of his death on November 6th 2012. Russian Atlantology has suffered a great loss.
(a) https://roipa-atlantida.narod.ru/ (The ROIPA link has been broken since early 2013)
Bulloni, Marco Francesco
Marco Francesco Bulloni (1960- ) was born in the Italian town of Sondrio, which is in the north of the country. He spent 16 years travelling with his parents in Asia, during which time he developed an interest in history and archaeology. He has a degree in 
Nuclear Engineering, although he works for an insurance company in Milan, where he now lives. Over the past twenty years he has devoted most of his free time to archaeological research.
A couple of years ago, Bulloni found himself at the White Sea in North-West Russia, just over a hundred miles south of the Arctic Circle. As he surveyed the topography of the area he was reminded of Plato’s description of Atlantis. After studying the region for two years he claims to have identified all the principal features recorded by Plato; the plain, the Pillars, flora, fauna, circular rings, etc., etc. He further claims that these features all conform to the dimensions given by Plato.
Bulloni also believes that his chosen location in the Solovetsky archipelago is reflected in the famous map of Atlantis by Athanasius Kircher.
When I was first alerted to Bulloni’s book I was somewhat suspicious that it might be a hoax, as his name, when spoken, sounds exactly like ‘baloney’ which is American slang for nonsense. Anyway, as I proceeded to investigate, I read his description of trudging through swamps, climbing a mountain in a snow storm and being attacked by mosquitos, while a Russian website described the area being visited by thousands annually, no doubt using the adequate road system shown in my atlas.
Contrary to Plato’s description, Bulloni’s proposed location does not have high protective mountains to the north and while one annual crop in the region is probably very difficult, two would be impossible. The flora noted by Plato is more consistent with a tropical climate, rather than that of Karelia in 1200 BC (Bulloni’s date). Furthermore, he states that Plato said that Atlantis was still visible, which will come as a surprise to many.
While this is all bad enough, we are now threatened with a second book, Analisi Archeoastronomica delle Isole Solovetsky (Analysis of Archaeostronomy in the Solovetsky Islands). I will be surprised if it is not more baloney.
While this is all bad enough, he published a second book, Analisi Archeoastronomica delle Isole Solovetsky[0987] (Analysis of Archaeoastronomer in the Solovetsky Islands) followed shortly afterwards. A third offer (The Sacred Labyrinth). ing was launched in 2013 – Il Labirinto Sacro[0988] (The Sacred Labyrinth). Bulloni’s first book[712] is entitled Ho scoperto la vera Atlantide (I discovered the real Atlantis) but on his website(b) my online translator confusingly gives me Polar Circle: the discovery of Atlantis.
*(b) https://www.atl-antis.com/ (link broken June 2018)*
Russia *
Russia went through a phase, during the Stalinist years when they claimed that every major invention had been the result of Russian ingenuity and a clear demonstration of the superiority of the Soviet system. Included on the list was the radio (did you not know that Marconi was Russian?), the telephone, television and the lightbulb!(c) However, their outlandish claims went beyond science and technology when they also claimed to have possessed Atlantis, which is now covered by the Caspian Sea!
Today, Russia has just a short coastline on the Black Sea another proposed location for Atlantis. Flying Eagle and Whispering Wind, who are proponents of this theory(a), claim a specific site on the Strait of Kerch between the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. They claim(b) that there is evidence that the Kopet-Dagh fault line, which runs just above the strait, experienced a devastating (8.9) earthquake around 9600 BC destroying Atlantis in the Strait. At this time what we now call the Sea of Azov was the well-irrigated plain adjacent to the city of Atlantis described by Plato. They claim that the earthquake caused a massive influx of water from the Caspian Sea, which had been rising due to the melting ice caps in the north. This combination caused the creation of the Sea of Azov and the flooding of Atlantis.
The more conventionally named Christian & Siegfried Schoppe have also opted for the Black Sea as the home of Atlantis, but have identified a different mechanism for its destruction, namely the breaching of the Bosporus around 5500 BC.
Marco Bulloni has also opted for a Russian Atlantis but has identified it further north, just a hundred miles south of the Arctic Circle on the Solovetsky archipelago in the White Sea.
(a) https://web.archive.org/web/20230215193619/http://atmo.info/ *
(b) https://atlantis-today.com/Atlantis_Great_Atlantis_Flood.htm