An A-Z Guide To The Search For Plato's Atlantis

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W. T. Wallington

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 baalbek3up 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

(g) https://www.ancient-origins.net/opinion-guest-authors/forgotten-stones-baalbek-lebanon-001865#!biIakW

(h) https://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/largest-known-megalithic-block-antiquity-revealed-baalbek-002385

(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

(n) https://www.anvilfire.com/bookrev/index.php?bodyName=wallington/forgotten_technology.htm&titleName=The%20Forgotten%20Technology%20by%20Wallace%20Wallington

(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) 

 

Advanced Technology*

Advanced Technology is regularly claimed by ‘fringe’ writers to have existed in ancient, even prehistoric, times. These claims usually have one of two aims, either to support the idea that in ancient times there was a civilisation/s with highly advanced technology since lost, or that such technology was given to ancient societies by aliens from other planets and which was also lost over time. Both schools of thought offer the same ‘evidence’ to support their claims.

Technology can be defined as techniques, skills, methods and processes, usually intended to improve the human lifestyle. ‘Advanced’ is a relative term implying superiority over what had previously existed – wheeled vehicles were an improvement on sledges or bronze tools were better than copper ones.

When such writers refer to advanced technology, they really mean apparent anachronistic technology, which is frequently inferred from the existence of structures that cannot be duplicated with today’s technology. It is argued by proponents of ancient advanced technology that many ancient monuments, such as Stonehenge, Lixus, Baalbek or the Pyramids, could not have been built without some unknown power source, frequently attributing the existence of such technologies to extraterrestrials from the planet ‘Zog’.

Also from Egypt is the claim that there is compelling evidence of powered stone cutting ‘machinery’ there in antiquity. Similar evidence is also claimed to be found in South America. A one-hour Russian video with English dialogue, relating to this, is quite thought-provoking(g). While the evidence is strong, we cannot rule out the possible existence of long-forgotten techniques rather than mechanical technologies, of which nothing has been found. In the case of ancient Egypt, we have the remains of their primitive tools as well as tomb walls decorated with the same implements. If they had possessed some advanced technology, why did they need those simple tools, which are still available to us, or depict such technology on their tomb walls?

For me, it is also remarkable that cultures such as that of the Pueblo people of the American Southwest managed to create architectural complexes using advanced geometry — with incredible mathematical accuracy”(o) despite having no written language or system of numerical notation.

Chris Dunn, famous for his belief that the Great Pyramid was in fact built as a power generator[1234], has also claimed that the ancient Egyptians were capable of advanced machining(k) . Margaret Morris, a respected Egyptologist, took issue with Dunn, challenging him to a debate, which, as far as I can ascertain, never materialised. Morris encapsulated her objections thus(l): In short, Chris Dunn’s methodology is so poor that he has resorted to inventing a cataclysm that cannot be scientifically substantiated and he elevates the pyramid builders to the technological level of space travelers, with no physical evidence at all for either assertion.”

 Amenhotep III

Amenhotep III

For my part, if the 2.9m high red granite head of Amenhotep III was carved by the Egyptians, without alien intervention, Dunn’s claims are pretty shallow. However, I think it is only fair that readers should have access to Dunn’s side of the dispute(m), which can be found in Atlantis Rising magazine #26(aa). The debate continued in issue #27 with further comments from Morris and Stephen Mehler joining the fray, generally in support of Dunn(ab).

However, I must point out that the late Dr Jose Alvarez Lopez was insistent that he had seen evidence of ancient machining on exhibits in the Cairo Museum that were later removed!(t).

Sometimes the process is reversed and simple technology is discovered today, which could have been known in the past, but since lost, which might explain the megalithic structures that still fill us with awe. An example of this is the discovery by W.T. Wallington(j), which he calls a ‘rediscovery’, of a simple method using a lever and a couple of pivots, for moving concrete blocks weighing many thousands of pounds.

Another or comparable technology may have been used by Edward Leedskainin when he single-handedly built Coral Castle in Florida City(n). What is certain is that Leedskainin had no help from intergalactic visitors. In 2016, Jim Solley published an unnecessarily long paper(ab) claiming that Coral Castle had been built using artificial stone, poured or cast, rather than sculpted. This would have been similar to the building method proposed by Professor Joseph Davidovits that he claims was used for the building of the Egyptian pyramids, as well as other ancient structures!

While Wallington’s ‘rediscovery’ may not answer all the mysteries of the past it does raise the real possibility that future discoveries may provide unexpected explanations for some of today’s ‘mysteries’.

A recent article on the Ancient Origins website by Lia Mangolini(r) offers her view that crude chemistry, using plant extracts, provided the means of dissolving rock, which could explain how some quality artefacts as well as tight-fitting ancient masonry, such as found in Peru and Egypt, may have been achieved. This is certainly worth a read, but I would prefer to see a demonstration. She expanded on the use of this acid, known in the Middle East as ‘shamir’, in a separate paper(ae).

The idea that advanced technology existed in Atlantis has been regularly claimed by various writers since the latter part of the 19th century. However, I must emphasise that Plato offered no suggestion of the existence of any such technology.

In 1886, Frederick S. Oliver (1866-1899) wrote a channelled book entitled A Dweller on Two Planets[1014]  in which he attributed a number of technologies to the Atlanteans including anti-gravity and flying machines. This book has been the source of much more recent New Age drivel. Edgar Cayce also spoke of Atlantis having flying machines, but more entertainingly, he had them made of elephant skins!

However, leaving all that speculative nonsense aside, is it not strange that this ‘technologically advanced’ civilisation was defeated by the Athenians and that such a culturally sophisticated society was referred to by Plato as barbarians? Even more important is the fact that Plato, who provided such a detailed description of Atlantis, never gave the slightest hint that the Atlanteans had anything more technologically advanced than the chariot.

Technology worldwide, circa 9600 BC, is generally accepted as having been greatly inferior to that described by Plato in Atlantis. The reconciliation of this conflict is the greatest challenge facing supporters of such an early date for Atlantis. Their stance is quite understandable given that Plato refers to the war with Atlantis occurring 9,000 years before Solon’s visit to Egypt around 600 BC and that Atlantis was destroyed ‘afterwards’.

Plato’s description is totally consistent with a Late Bronze Age society. Not only does Plato’s Atlantis appear to be technologically advanced, in Bronze Age terms, but also their military might imply the existence of equally powerful potential enemies supported by similar technology. Consequently, it is not sufficient to claim that Atlantis disappeared along with its superior skills. It would be reasonable to expect that archaeology would uncover comparable technologies in various locations that existed around the same time, particularly since imperial Atlantis is supposed to have occupied or at least heavily influenced both north and south of the Mediterranean as far as Tyrrhenia and Libya respectively.

Some authors in an effort to verify Solon’s date have highlighted a number of controversial instances of apparently anachronistic advanced technology to support the possibility of an early Atlantis date. Artefacts such as the Antikythera Mechanism, the Baghdad Battery(a) and even the Ark of the Covenant(b) have all been adduced to give credence to such an idea. Even more daring are the independent claims that both the lighthouses at Pharos in Egypt and Faro in Portugal were powered by electricity. The claim of ancient Egyptian electricity is regularly trotted out(f) and was the subject of a recent book[0948], edited by Larry Brian Radka. More recently, engineer Andrew Hall offers his evidence for claiming that the ancient Egyptians had used electricity in a YouTube video(ai). However interesting his ideas are they are still based on speculation and a subjective interpretation of Egyptian hieroglyphs and wall paintings.

In all these instances hard proof is clearly lacking, with the sole exception of the Antikythera Mechanism, which was mechanical, not electrical, cannot be dated earlier than the 2nd century BC. The ingenuity of our ancestors was often underrated until something such as the Antikythera Mechanism was found and we were forced to modify our view of the past, but not necessarily abandon the accepted view that technology has evolved gradually, even if there are a few ‘missing links’ in the chain.

Even more worrying is the recurrent claim that atomic warfare was engaged in on the Indian subcontinent thousands of years ago(z). The late Philip Coppens wrote a short paper on this possibility in 2005(c). David Hatcher Childress has also endeavoured to cash in on the same claim in a number of his books [1355] and online(u). Childress also offers a list of his top-ten technologically advanced ancient civilisations(y). Nick Redfern has also entered this market with his Weapons of the Gods [1832].

Debunking such ideas is a free 25-page ebook published by Jason Colavito(v).

Equally persistent are claims of flying machines in ancient India(w) which were given impetus by the publication of Aeronautics, a Manuscript From the Prehistoric Past, a translation of the 3,000-year-old Vymanika Shastra by G.R.Joyser [1340].Some have gone so far as to claim that space flight had been achieved thousands of years ago in India(x). 

Casey Terry notes[1542.36] that Pavel Smutny, a Slovakian researcher has proposed that “maybe it is unusual and surprising, but in ornaments in old carpets are woven-in schemes, and principle plans of advanced technologies, which come from vanished cultures and thousands-year-old civilizations. These residues are probably the last ones, which can help revive forgotten, very sophisticated technologies and methods for exploitation of natural electrostatic energy sources.”

Smutny goes on to claim that the layouts of Egyptian temples “to a person familiar with the basics of computer technologies or even better to a person experienced with the construction of microwave circuits in bands above 1 gigahertz (GHz), he will tell you that these plans (of the temples) are schemes of PCB’s (boards for electronic circuits).”

Commenting on the Maltese temples Smutny proposes in his book Atlantis Unveiled [1733], that the complexes “were used probably as generators of high-frequency acoustic waves. Purpose was (maybe) to arrange a communication channel between various islands.”

Although the idea of electricity in ancient Egypt is a recurrent speculation, the possibility of electricity in ancient India is only marginally more credible. However, James Hartman refers(p) to another Sanskrit text which supports this belief, telling us that In another amazing Indian text, the Agastrya Samhita, gives the precise directions for constructing electrical batteries:

‘Place a well-cleaned copper plate in an earthenware vessel. Cover it first by copper sulfate and then moist sawdust.  After that put a mercury-amalgamated-zinc sheet on top of an energy known by the twin name of Mitra-Varuna. Water will be split by this current into Pranavayu and Udanavayu. A chain of one hundred jars is said to give a very active and effective force.’  Agastya Samhita   (Indian Princes’ Library)

By the way, MITRA-VARUNA is now called cathode-anode, and Pranavayu  and Udanavayu are to us oxygen and hydrogen. This document again demonstrates the presence of electricity in the East, long, long ago. In the not-so-distant past strange events are recorded in Europe’s past.”

A sceptical view of these claims is presented by Jason Colavito(d)(e)(q) who points out that, according to some sources, the passage quoted above is not to be found in the original text!

My scepticism was reinforced when I looked at details presented in a paper(s) claiming to offer 17 artefacts thatsuggest high-tech prehistoric civilizations existed.” Similar lists, frequently citing many of the items on the list below have been offered on various sites.

  1. Prehistoric Wall Near Bahamas? Explained(aj)
  2. 500,000-year-old spark plug? Debunked (ad)
  3. Million-year-old bridge? Debunked(ac)
  4. Prehistoric work site?
  5. 100-million-year-old hammer?
  6. Viking sword Ulfberht Explained
  7. The Iron Pillar of Delhi Explained
  8. 2.8-billion-year-old spheres?
  9. Drill bit in coal
  10. The Antikythera Mechanism
  11. 150,000-year-old pipes? (Explained)(ah)
  12. 2,000-year-old earthquake detector Invented by Zhang Heng – So what?
  13. Piri Reis Map (An ongoing controversy)
  14. 1.8-billion-year-old nuclear reactor. (a natural phenomenon)(af)
  15. Great Wall of Texas (An unusual but a natural geological formation)
  16. Ancient Egyptian light bulb? Debunked
  17. 2,000-year-old batteries (So-called Baghdad Battery – debunked)(ag)
  18. Columbian (Quimbaya) Gold aircraft – debunked(ak)

When a newcomer is first confronted with a list such as the above they are often overwhelmed. However, if you dig beneath the headlines the picture is less clear. For starters, a third of them are not prehistoric (6,7,10,12,13,17 & 18) and would appear to be deliberately included as ‘red herrings’ or just padding. Most of the remainder have been effectively debunked over the past century (1,2,3,11,&16), others are the result of misinterpretation and/or wild speculation (1,2,4,11), while others are natural features (1,3,8,11&14). If you look up ‘concretion’ in Wikipedia and the related images offered by Google you will see that nature has created some highly symmetrical concretions that could easily be thought to be manmade (2&8). Tara MacIsaac, the author of this list, in discussing (4) conceded that “as stated in the case of the hammer above (5), limestone has been known to form relatively quickly around modern tools. 

However, people believe what they want to believe, irrespective of any evidence to the contrary. Along with this, one should keep in mind Carl Sagan’s aphorism which demands that “extraordinary claims demand extraordinary evidence”. The list above does not provide ‘extraordinary evidence’.

(a) https://web.archive.org/web/20200927011940/http://www.unmuseum.org/bbattery.htm

(b) https://thothweb.com/article-print-3190.html

(c) https://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/ancientatomicwar/esp_ancient_atomic_07.htm

(d) https://www.jasoncolavito.com/the-case-of-the-false-quotes.html

(e) https://www.jasoncolavito.com/1/post/2013/11/searching-for-the-winged-iron-chariot-in-the-mahabharata.html

(f) https://www.theepochtimes.com/ancient-egypt-illuminated-by-electricity_996220.html

(g) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyxtFkjBWk8

(h) See: https://web.archive.org/web/20181226050814/https://www.reshafim.org.il/ad/egypt/trades/tools.htm

(j) https://www.anvilfire.com/bookrev/index.php?bodyName=wallington/forgotten_technology.htm&titleName=The%20Forgotten%20Technology%20by%20Wallace%20Wallington

(k) https://www.gizapower.com/Advanced/Advanced%20Machining.html

(l)  See: Archive 3113 & Archive 3118

(m) https://rense.com/general5/morris.htm

(n) https://www.ancient-origins.net/unexplained-phenomena/overcoming-gravity-enigma-coral-castle-005051

(o) https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/01/170125091645.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Ffossils_ruins%2Fancient_civilizations+%28Ancient+Civilizations+News+–+ScienceDaily%29

(p) https://www.sacred-texts.com/ufo/ourpast.htm

(q) https://www.jasoncolavito.com/blog/did-an-ancient-indian-sage-record-a-recipe-for-making-a-battery-a-forgotten-chapter-in-fringe-history

(r) https://www.ancient-origins.net/history-ancient-traditions/ancient-stonework-0012197

(s) https://www.theepochtimes.com/17-out-of-place-artifacts-said-to-suggest-high-tech-prehistoric-civilizations-existed_1767391.html

(t) Dr. José Alvarez Lopez (y las Pirámides de Egipto) – Info en Taringa! (archive.org) *

(u) https://www.456fis.org/EVIDENCE_FOR_ANCIENT_ATOMIC_WARFARE.htm (link broken)

(v) http://www.jasoncolavito.com/ancient-atom-bombs.html

(w)  Vimanas: Greater Understanding on a Hotly Debated Topic | Ancient Origins (ancient-origins.net)

(x) Speakers at Science Congress says ancient India mastered advanced space flight thousands of years ago | Ancient Origins (ancient-origins.net)

(y) Top Ten Civilizations With Advanced Technology (bibliotecapleyades.net)

(z) Ancient Atomic Warfare – Antiguas Guerras Atómicas (bibliotecapleyades.net)

(aa) Atlantis Rising magazine #26  http://www.pdfarchive.info/index.php?pages/At  Abbreviated version of (m) 

(aa) Atlantis Rising magazine #27  http://www.pdfarchive.info/index.php?pages/At

(ab) Coral Castle – Proving Ancient Megalith Construction – WORLD MYSTERIES (archive.org)

(ac) https://ianchadwick.com/blog/debunking-the-adam-bridge/ 

(ad) http://www.hallofmaat.com/oops/the-coso-artifact-mystery-from-the-depths-of-time/ 

(ae) https://www-cartesio–episteme-net.translate.goog/episteme/epi6/ep6-mangol.htm?_x_tr_sch=http&_x_tr_sl=it&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=sc 

(af) https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2018/10/04/earths-first-nuclear-reactor-is-1-7-billion-years-old-and-was-made-naturally/?sh=7ded1fbe5d94 

(ag) https://talesoftimesforgotten.com/2020/03/08/debunking-the-so-called-baghdad-battery/ 

(ah) https://skeptoid.com/episodes/4181 

(ai) Andrew Hall: Electricity in Ancient Egypt | Thunderbolts – YouTube 

(aj) Bimini Road/Wall – Fake Archaeology (archive.org) 

(ak) Tolima Fighter Jets – Ancient Aliens Debunked