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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 »
Tuatha De Danann
Thomas Sheridan & Neil McDonald
Thomas Sheridan & Neil McDonald are the authors of Atlantis: An Empire Lost and Found [2070] in which they attempt to associate the megalithic monuments of the eastern Atlantic seaboard with Atlantis. In particular, they are in awe of the sophistication of the megaliths of the Orkneys and the ongoing discoveries being made there. I agree that they are impressive, but there is no evidence to link them with Atlantis. Such speculation regarding the megalith builders is nothing new, so I let it pass. Additionally, the book lacks both a Bibliography and an Index.
However, speculation is okay, but a distortion of facts is unacceptable. The authors’ speculation continued later with the suggestion that the round towers of Ireland “may well indicate artefacts of an Atlantean civilisation.” To support this contention they claim that in his 1834 book, The Round Towers of Ireland [0124], Henry O’Brien “proposed that the towers were constructed by survivors of an Atlantean-style civilisation, and these had become known in time as the Tuatha Dé Danann of Irish mythology.” To be clear, O’Brien never once mentioned either Plato or Atlantis. Muddying the waters further, the theories of Phillip Callahan regarding the towers and paramagnetism are added to the mix.
When I found that Sheridan & McDonald liberally cited sources such as Blavatsky, Steiner and Cayce, I realised that this book had no real value for me and abandoned it.
Shardana *
The Shardana (or Sherden) is usually accepted as another name for one of the groups that comprised the maritime alliance of Sea Peoples. The earliest reference to the Shardana is in the Amarna Letters (1350 BC). However, they are also recorded as mercenaries in the Egyptian army. Since a number of writers have linked the Sea Peoples with the Atlanteans, the Shardana may be legitimately included in any comprehensive search for the truth of the Atlantis story.
The Shardana do appear to have a more complicated history than we are initially led to believe. They are first mentioned in the Amarna Letters (14th century BC.) where they are depicted as part of an Egyptian garrison, after that, some of them were part of the personal guard of Rameses II, later still they are listed as part of the Sea Peoples. A subsequent reference describes them occupying part of Phoenicia.
They are generally identified with the ancient Sardinians, who were the builders of the Nuraghi. Leonardo Melis, a Sardinian, has written extensively[478] on the subject. Links have also been proposed between the Shardana and the lost tribe of Dan and even the Tuatha De Danaan who invaded Ireland.
Trude & Moshe Dothan in their People of the Sea[1524] identify the Shardana as part of the ‘Aegean Sea Peoples’, who settled on the coast of Caanan[p.214]. They also note that “There was as well linguistic and archaeological evidence connecting them with the island of Sardinia, where Mycenaean IIIC:1b pottery was found. Sardinia may have been either their original homeland or, more probably, one of their final points of settlement.”
D’Amato & Salimbeti concluded that ” on the basis of the combined evidence from Corsica and Sardinia, it is difficult to conclude with any confidence if the Sherden originated from or later moved to this part of the Mediterranean.” They find the second theory “more reasonable.”[1152.17]
David Rohl has suggested that the Shardana had originated in Sardis in Anatolia, but “ended up settling in the western Mediterranean, first on the Italian coastal plain west of the Apennines and then in Sardinia – which is, of course, named after them – and Corsica. Their name was clearly pronounced ‘Shardana.'” [229.410]
DNA testing has shown links between Sardinia and Anatolia in Turkey. The late Philip Coppens also noted that the Sardinians are genetically different to their neighbours on Corsica and the mainland of Europe and suggested an Eastern Mediterranean origin for them.(a)
Giovanni Ugas an archaeologist at the University of Cagliari has written extensively on the subject of the Shardana, who he claims were the builders of the nuraghi. Ugas has also touched on the subject of Atlantis, which he locates in northwest Africa(b), across Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia.
The Cogniarchae website(d) has proposed a number of possible locations as the original homeland of the Shardana, finishing with a look at Sarmatia (now Central Ukraine) – “Moreover, the term Shardan has clearly more roots in this part of the world than anywhere else. Namely, Sardanapalus was the name of the last Assyrian king, and many names are containing Shar and Shardan in ancient Persia and Assyria. In fact, the word “Shar” is closely related to the words “Shah” and “tzar” – all meaning “king, emperor”. Shar Kalli Shari was an Akkadian king from the 3rd millennium BC.”
Obviously further research is required to try to establish with greater certainty the exact origins of the Shardana and their links, if any, with Sardinia and/or Atlantis.
(a) (See: Archive 2131)
(b) L’Isola del continente: L’Atlantide tra fantasia e storia (1) [di Giovanni Ugas] | Sardegna Soprattutto (archive.org) (Italian) *
(c) SP INTERVISTA>GIOVANNI UGAS: SHARDANA – Sardinia Point (archive.org)
(d) Origins of the “sea peoples” – The Sherden, the Shekelesh, the Peleset – COGNIARCHAE *
O’Brien, Christian
Christian O’Brien, (1915-2001) was a geologist and head of the Iranian oil industry until his retirement in 1970. He was convinced that Atlantis had been located in the Azores and has suggested a possible geographical outline of Atlantis based on the bathymetric data available for the region(c).
He has also written a number of books in collaboration with his wife Barbara Joy on a range of subjects[492][493].
The O’Briens supported hyperdiffusion and proposed that ‘the Shining Ones’ better known as the Elohim(d) in the Bible were responsible for the sudden development of agriculture, city-states and monumental building sometime before 8000 BC. Eventually, they developed colonies, spreading their knowledge which in due course was responsible for the great civilisations of Egypt, Asia and America.
In The Megalithic Odyssey [1797] O’Brien offers an overview of the many megalithic stone circles and cairns on Cornwall’s Bodmin Moor. However, from chapter 6 until the end, he takes his hobby-horse for a ride, offering a convoluted account involving an order of Sumerian ‘Sages’ who brought advanced knowledge to Egypt, Britain and Ireland and further afield. Along the way, they or their leaders are remembered by different names, Osiris, Tuatha dé Danann, Druids or in Mexico as Quetzalcoatl. O’Brien attributes the megaliths of Bodmin Moor to the influence of some of these Sages, probably the Tuatha dé Danann on their way to or from Ireland!
Included in O’Brien’s contention was the idea that the biblical Garden of Eden, designated by him as ‘Kharsag’, had been located in what is now the Bekaa Valley of Lebanon. A paper(b) outlining this idea includes criticism of Zechariah Sitchin’s translation of Sumerian texts.
The Cretan Phaistos Disk was also studied by O’Brien, who concluded that the pictograms had been derived from ancient Sumerian scripts, which enabled him to offer a complete translation of the Disk(e).
One would have thought that O’Brien has ruffled enough feathers with his range of controversial issues, but went further with his support for the claim that Jesus and Mary Magdalene had been married and blessed with three children(f).
O’Brien’s work is now carried on by Edmund Marriage, his nephew, through an extensive website(a).
(a) Index Main Subjects (archive.org)*
(b) Christian O’Brien v Zecharia Sitchin Comparing Historical Records (archive.org)*
(c) Survey of Atlantis (archive.org)*
(d) Alternative Genesis 1:1 (goldenageproject.org.uk)
(e) The enigma of the Phaistos Disc – a question of language (goldenageproject.org.uk)
(f) Press Release of further comments on the content of The Genius of the Few (goldenageproject.org.uk)