Wilhelm Brandenstein

Pallottino, Massimo (L)

Published November 11, 2010

Massimo Pallottino (1909-1995) was an Italian archaeologist and professor of Etruscan Studies at Rome’s University La Sapienza. In 1952 he expressed his views^[222] on Atlantis, which were somewhat ambiguous and that its reality was still an open question. He believed that Atlantis was a combination of a number of traditions. He felt that the war with Atlantis may have included an echo of the invasion of the Sea Peoples and that the design of Plato’s city was based on Plato’s knowledge of Carthage.

Thorwald C. Franke considers the views of Pallottino to be an elaboration of those of Wilhelm Brandenstein^(a). In May 2013, Franke published an English translation^(b) of his overview of Pallottino’s approach to the Atlantis question.

^(a) www.atlantis-scout.de/atlantis_pallottino.htm

^(b) https://www.atlantis-scout.de/atlantis_pallottino_engl.htm

Tagged Carthage, Massimo Pallottino, Sea Peoples, Thorwald C. Franke, Wilhelm Brandenstein

Minoan Hypothesis *

Published June 10, 2010

The Minoan Hypothesis proposes an Eastern Mediterranean origin for Plato’s Atlantis centred on the island of Thera and/or Crete. The term ‘Minoan’ was coined by the renowned archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans after the mythic King Minos. (Sir Arthur was the son of another well-known British archaeologist, Sir John Evans). Evans thought that the Minoans had originated in Northern Egypt and came to Crete as refugees. However, recent genetic studies seem to indicate a European ancestry!

It is claimed^(a) that Minoan influence extended as far as the Iberian Peninsula as early as 3000 BC and is reflected thereby what is now known as the Los Millares Culture. Minoan artefacts have also been found in the North Sea, but it is not certain if they were brought there by Minoans themselves or by middlemen. The German ethnologist, Hans Peter Duerr, has a paper on these discoveries on the Academia.edu website^(e). He claims that the Minoans reached the British Isles as well as the Frisian Islands where he found artefacts with some Linear A inscriptions near the site of the old German trading town of Rungholt, destroyed by a flood in 1362^(f).

The advanced shipbuilding techniques of the Minoans are claimed to have been unmatched for around 3,500 years until the 1950s ^(l).

The Hypothesis had its origin in 1872 when Louis Guillaume Figuier was the first to suggest ^[0296] a link between the Theran explosion and Plato’s Atlantis. The 1883 devastating eruption of Krakatoa inspired Auguste Nicaise, in an 1885 lecture^(c) in Paris, to cite the destruction of Thera as an example of a civilisation being destroyed by a natural catastrophe, but without reference to Atlantis.

The Minoan Hypothesis proposes that the 2nd millennium BC eruption(s) of Thera brought about the destruction of Atlantis. K.T. Frost and James Baikie, in 1909 and 1910 respectively, outlined a case for identifying the Minoans with the Atlanteans, decades before the extent of the massive 2nd millennium BC Theran eruption was fully appreciated by modern science. In 1917, Edwin Balch added further support to the Hypothesis ^[151].

As early as April 1909, media speculation was already linking the discoveries on Crete with Atlantis^(h), despite Jowett’s highly sceptical opinion.

Supporters of a Minoan Atlantis suggest that when Plato wrote of Atlantis being greater than Libya and Asia he had mistranscribed meison (between) as meizon (greater), which arguably would make sense from an Egyptian perspective as Crete is between Libya and Asia, although it is more difficult to apply this interpretation to Thera which is further north and would be more correctly described as being between Athens and Asia. Thorwald C. Franke has now offered a more rational explanation for this disputed phrase when he pointed out ^[0750.173]that “for Egyptians, the world of their ‘traditional’ enemies was divided in two: To the west, there were the Libyans, to the east there were the Asians. If an Egyptian scribe wanted to say, that an enemy was more dangerous than the ‘usual’ enemies, which was the case with the Sea Peoples’ invasion, then he would have most probably said, that this enemy was “more powerful than Libya and Asia put together”.

It has been ‘received wisdom’ that the Minoans were a peace-loving people, however, Dr Barry Molloy of Sheffield University has now shown that the exact opposite was true^(d) and that “building on recent developments in the study of warfare in prehistoric societies, Molloy’s research reveals that war was, in fact, a defining characteristic of the Minoan society, and that warrior identity was one of the dominant expressions of male identity.”

In 1939, Spyridon Marinatos published, in Antiquity, his opinion that the eruption of Thera had led to the demise of the Minoan civilisation. However, the editors forbade him to make any reference to Atlantis. In 1951, Wilhelm Brandenstein published a Minoan Atlantis theory, echoing many of Frost’s and Marinatos’ ideas, but giving little credit to either.

However, Colin MacDonald, an archaeologist at the British School in Athens, believes that “Thira’s eruption did not directly affect Knossos. No volcanic-induced earthquake or tsunami struck the palace which, in any case, is 100 meters above sea level.” The Sept. 2019 report in Haaretz suggests it’s very possible the Minoans were taken over by another civilization and may have been attacked by the Mycenaeans, the first people to speak the Greek language and they flourished between 1650 B.C. and 1200 B.C. Archaeologists believe that the Minoan and Mycenaean civilisations gradually merged, with the Mycenaeans becoming dominant, leading to the shift in the language and writing system used in ancient Crete.

The greatest proponents of the Minoan Hypothesis were arguably A.G. Galanopoulos and Edward Bacon. Others, such as J.V. Luce and James Mavor were impressed by their arguments and even Jacques Cousteau, who unsuccessfully explored the seas around Santorini, while Richard Mooney, the ‘ancient aliens’ writer, thought ^[0842] that the Minoan theory offered a credible solution to the Atlantis mystery. More recently Elias Stergakos has proposed in an overpriced 68-page book ^[1035], that Atlantis was an alliance of Aegean islands that included the Minoans.

Moses Finley, the respected classical scholar, wrote a number of critical reviews of books published by prominent supporters of the Minoan Hypothesis, namely Luce^(aa), Mavor^(y)^(z) as well as Galanopoulos & Bacon^(aa)^(ab). Some responded on the same forum, The New York Review of Books.

Andrew Collins is also opposed to the Minoan Hypothesis, principally because “we also know today that while the Thera eruption devastated the Aegean and caused tsunami waves that destroyed cities as far south as the eastern Mediterranean, it did not wipe out the Minoan civilization of Crete. This continued to exist for several generations after the catastrophe and was succeeded by the later Mycenaean peoples of mainland Greece. For these reasons alone, Plato’s Atlantic island could not be Crete, Thera, or any other place in the Aegean. Nor can it be found on the Turkish mainland at the time of Thera’s eruption as suggested by at least two authors (James and Zangger) in recent years^(ad).“

Alain Moreau has expressed strong opposition to the Minoan Hypothesis in a rather caustic article⁽ⁱ⁾, probably because it conflicts with his support for an Atlantic location for Atlantis. In more measured tones, Ronnie Watt has also dismissed a Minoan Atlantis, concluding that “Plato’s Atlantis happened to become like the Minoan civilisation on Theros rather than to be the Minoan civilisation on Theros.” In 2001, Frank Joseph wrote a dismissive critique of the Minoan Hypothesis referring to Thera as an “insignificant Greek island”.^(x)

Further opposition to the Minoan Hypothesis came from R. Cedric Leonard, who has listed 18 objections^(q) to the identification of the Minoans with Atlantis, keeping in mind that Leonard is an advocate of the Atlantic location for Plato’s Island.

Atlantisforschung has highlighted Spanuth’s opposition to the Minoan Hypothesis in a discussion paper on its website. I have published here a translation of a short excerpt from Die Atlanter that shows his disdain for the idea of an Aegean Atlantis.

“Neither Thera nor Crete lay in the ‘Atlantic Sea’, but in the Aegean Sea, which is expressly mentioned in Crit. 111a and contrasted with the Atlantic Sea. Neither of the islands lay at the mouth of great rivers, nor did they “sink into the sea and disappear from sight.” ( Tim. 25d) The Aegean Sea never became “impassable and unsearchable because of the very shallow mud”. Neither Solon nor Plato could have said of the Aegean Sea that it was ‘still impassable and unsearchable’ or that ‘even today……….an impenetrable and muddy shoal’ ‘blocks the way to the opposite sea (Crit.108e). Both had often sailed the Aegean Sea and their contemporaries would have laughed at them for telling such follies.” ^(ac)

Lee R. Kerr is the author of Griffin Quest – Investigating Atlantis ^[0807], in which he sought support for the Minoan Hypothesis. Griffins (Griffons, Gryphons) were mythical beasts in a class of creatures that included sphinxes. Kerr produced two further equally unconvincing books ^[1104]^[1675], all based on his pre-supposed link between Griffins and Atlantis or as he puts it “whatever the Griffins mythological meaning, the Griffin also appears to tie Santorini to Crete, to Avaris, to Plato, and thus to Atlantis, more than any other single symbol.” All of which ignores the fact that Plato never referred to a Sphinx or a Griffin!

The hypothesis remains one of the most popular ideas with the general public, although it conflicts with many elements in Plato’s story. A few examples of these are, where were the Pillars of Heracles? How could Crete/Thera support an army of one million men? Where were the elephants? There is no evidence that Crete had walled cities such as Plato described. The Minoan ships were relatively light and did not require the huge harbours described in the Atlantis story. Plato describes the Atlanteans as invading from their western base (Tim.25b & Crit.114c); Crete/Santorini is not west of either Egypt or Athens

Gavin Menzies attempted to become the standard-bearer for the Minoan Hypothesis. In The Lost Empire of Atlantis [0780], he argues for a vast Minoan Empire that spread throughout the Mediterranean and even discovered America [p.245]. He goes further and claims that they were the exploiters of the vast Michigan copper reserves, which they floated down the Mississippi for processing before exporting it to feed the needs of the Mediterranean Bronze industry. He also accepts Hans Peter Duerr’s evidence that the Minoans visited Germany, regularly [p.207].

Tassos Kafantaris has also linked the Minoans with the exploitation of the Michigan copper, in his paper, Minoan Colonies in America?^(k) He claims to expand on the work of Menzies, Mariolakos and Kontaratos. Another Greek Professor, Minas Tsikritsis, also supports the idea of ancient Greek contact with America. However, I think it is more likely that the Minoans obtained their copper from Cyprus, whose name, after all, comes from the Greek word for copper.

Oliver D. Smith has charted the rise and decline in support for the Minoan Hypothesis in a 2020 paper entitled Atlantis and the Minoans^(u).

Frank Joseph has criticised ^[0802.144] the promotion of the Minoan Hypothesis by Greek archaeologists as an expression of nationalism rather than genuine scientific enquiry. This seems to ignore the fact that Figuier was French, Frost, Baikie and Bacon were British, Luce was Irish and Mavor was American. Furthermore, as a former leading American Nazi, I find it ironic that Joseph, a former American Nazi leader, is preaching about the shortcomings of nationalism.

While the suggestion of an American connection may seem far-fetched, it would seem mundane when compared with a serious attempt to link the Minoans with the Japanese, based on a study^(o) of the possible language expressed by the Linear A script. Gretchen Leonhardt^(r) also sought a solution in the East, offering a proto-Japanese origin for the script, a theory refuted by Yurii Mosenkis^(s), who promotes Minoan Linear A as proto-Greek. Mosenkis has published several papers on the Academia.edu website relating to Linear A^(t). However, writing was not the only cultural similarity claimed to link the Minoans and the Japanese offered by Leonhardt.

Furthermore, Crete has quite clearly not sunk beneath the waves. Henry Eichner commented, most tellingly, that if Plato’s Atlantis was a reference to Crete, why did he not just say so? After all, in regional terms, ‘it was just down the road’. The late Philip Coppens was also strongly opposed to the Minoan Hypothesis.^(g)

Eberhard Zangger, who favours Troy as Atlantis, disagrees strongly ^[0484] with the idea that the Theran explosion was responsible for the 1500 BC collapse of the ‘New Palace’ civilisation.

Excavations on Thera have revealed very few bodies resulting from the 2nd millennium BC eruptions there. The understandable conclusion was that pre-eruption rumblings gave most of the inhabitants time to escape. Later, Therans founded a colony in Cyrene in North Africa, where you would expect that tales of the devastation would have been included in their folklore. However, Eumelos of Cyrene, originally a Theran, opted for the region of Malta as the remnants of Atlantis. How could he have been unaware of the famous history of his family’s homeland?

A 2008 documentary, Sinking Atlantis, looked at the demise of the Minoan civilisation^(b). James Thomas has published an extensive study of the Bronze Age, with particular reference to the Sea Peoples and the Minoans^(j).

In the 1990s, art historian and museum educator, Roger Dell, presented an illustrated lecture on the art and religion of the Minoans titled Art and Religion of the Minoans: Europe’s first civilization”, which offered a new dimension to our understanding of their culture^(p). In this hour-long video, he also touches on the subject of Atlantis and the Minoans.

More extreme is the theory of L. M. Dumizulu, who offers an Afrocentric view of Atlantis. He claims that Thera was part of Atlantis and that the Minoans were black!^(m)

In 2019, Nick Austin attempted ^[1661] to add further support to the idea of Atlantis on Crete, but, in my opinion, he failed. The following year, Sean Welsh also tried to revive the Minoan Hypothesis in his book Apocalypse ^[1874], placing the Atlantean capital on Santorini, which was destroyed when the island erupted around 1600 BC. He further claims that the ensuing tsunami led to the biblical story of the Deluge.

Evan Hadingham published a paper^(v) in 2008 in which he discussed the possibility that the Minoan civilisation was wiped out by the tsunami generated by the eruption(s) of Thera. Then, seven years later he produced a second paper^(w) exonerating the tsunami based on new evidence or lack of it.

In April 2023, an attempt was made to breathe some new life into the Minoan Hypothesis in an article^(ae) on the Greek Reporter website. This unconvincing piece claims “Plato describes in detail the Temple of Poseidon on Atlantis, which appears to be identical to the Palace of Knossos on the island of Crete.” The writer, Caleb Howells, has conveniently overlooked that Atlantis was submerged creating dangerous shoals and remained a maritime hazard even up to Plato’s day (Timaeus 25d). The Knossos Palace is on a hill and offers no evidence of ever having been submerged. Try again.

The same reporter did try again with another unconvincing piece supporting the Minoan Hypothesis, also on the Greek Reporter site, in October 2023^(af). This time, he moved the focus of his claim to Santorini where he now placed the Palace of Poseidon relocating it from Crete! I suppose he will eventually make his mind up. Nevertheless, Howells revisited the subject of the Palace of Poseidon just a few weeks later, once again identifying it as the Palace of Knossos – “Plato’s account of the lost civilization of Atlantis includes a description of a marvelous temple of god Poseidon. It was said to have been in the center of Atlantis, so it was a very prominent part. However, in most investigations into the origin of Atlantis, this detailed temple description is ignored. In fact, an analysis of Plato’s details indicates that the Temple of Poseidon on Atlantis was actually identical to the Palace of Knossos on the island of Crete, Greece.” ^(ag)

Most Atlantis theories manage to link their their chosen site with some of the descriptive details provided by Plato. The Minoan Hypothesis is no exception, so understandably Howells has highlighted the similarities, while ignoring disparities. The Minoans were primarily concerned with trading, not territorial expansion. When did they engage in a war with Athens or threaten Egypt? If Howells can answer that he may have something relevant to build upon!

For a useful backdrop to the Minoan civilisation I suggest that readers have a look at a fully illustrated 2019 lecture by Dr. Gregory Mumford of the University of Alabama at Birmingham. In it he give a broad overview of the Eastern Mediterranean, with a particular emphasis on the Aegean Sea, during the Middle- Late Bronze Age (2000-1200 BC). ^(ah)

^(a) http://www.minoanatlantis.com/Minoan_Spain.php

^(b) http://video.pbs.org/video/1204753806/

^(c) http://fr.wikisource.org/wiki/Les_Terres_disparues

^(d) http://www.sci-news.com/archaeology/article00826.html

^(e) See: Archive 3928

^(f) http://dienekes.blogspot.ie/2008/08/minoans-in-germany.html

^(g)https://web.archive.org/web/20180128190713/http://philipcoppens.com/lectures.php (June 3, 2011)

^(h) http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/97440192?searchTerm=Atlantis discovered&searchLimits=sortby=dateAsc

⁽ⁱ⁾ https://web.archive.org/web/20200211184140/http://www.mondenouveau.fr/continents-disparus-les-fausses-atlantides-de-santorin-partie-2/

^(j) https://medium.com/the-bronze-age

^(k)GREECE AND WORLD: Minoan colonies in America? *

^(l) http://www.ancient-origins.net/history/3500-year-old-advanced-minoan-technology-lost-art-not-seen-again-until-1950s-009899

^(m) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqTQeF2gLpg

⁽ⁿ⁾ https://www.haaretz.com/world-news/.premium.MAGAZINE-ancient-tablets-may-reveal-what-destroyed-minoan-civilization-1.7809371

^(o) Archive 3930 | (atlantipedia.ie)

^(p) https://vimeo.com/205582944 Video

^(q) https://web.archive.org/web/20170113234434/http://www.atlantisquest.com/Minoan.html

^(r) https://konosos.net/2011/12/12/similarities-between-the-minoan-and-the-japanese-cultures/

^(s) Gretchen Leonhardt is up against some stiff competition from Urii Mosenkis concerning her so-called proto-Japanese origins of Minoan Linear A | Minoan Linear A, Linear B, Knossos & Mycenae (archive.org)

^(t) https://www.academia.edu/31443689/Researchers_of_Greek_Linear_A

^(u) https://www.academia.edu/43892310/Atlantis_and_the_Minoans

^(v) Did a Tsunami Wipe Out a Cradle of Western Civilization? | Discover Magazine

^(w) https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/megatsunami-may-wiped-europes-first-great-civilization/

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

^(y) Wayback Machine (archive.org)

^(z) https://www.nybooks.com/articles/1969/12/04/back-to-atlantis-again/

^(aa) Back to Atlantis | by M.I. Finley | The New York Review of Books (archive.org)

^(ab) The End of Atlantis | by A.G. Galanopoulos | The New York Review of Books (archive.org)

^(ac) Jürgen Spanuth über ‘Atlantis in der Ägäis’ – Atlantisforschung.de

^(ad) Kreta oder Thera als Atlantis? – Atlantisforschung.de (atlantisforschung-de.translate.goog)

^(ae) Was Atlantis’ Temple of Poseidon the Palace of Knossos in Crete? (greekreporter.com)

^(af) Was Atlantis a Minoan Civilization on Santorini Island? (greekreporter.com)

^(ag) https://greekreporter.com/2023/12/01/atlantis-temple-poseidon-palace-knossos-crete/

^(ah) (99+) PPT PRESENTATION: “The Archaeology of the East Mediterranean (mainly Ancient Greece and Turkey/Anatolia),” spanning Middle Bronze Age through Late Bronze Age, ca. 2000-1200 BCE Minoans, Myceaneans, Troy, Hittites, and Sea Peoples (by G. Mumford; 108 slides) | Gregory Mumford – Academia.edu

Tagged A.G. Galanopoulos, Aegean, Alain Moreau, Andrew Collins, Antonis Kontaratos, Arthur Evans, Atlantis, Atlantisforschung, Auguste Nicaise, Barry Molloy, Benjamin Jowett, Bronze Age, Caleb Howells, Colin MacDonald, Crete, Eastern Mediterranean, Eberhard Zangger, Edward Bacon, Edwin Balch, Elias Stergakos, Evan Hadingham, Frank Joseph, Gavin Menzies, Gregory Mumford, Gretchen Leonhardt, Hans Peter Duerr, Henry Eichner, Ilias Mariolakos, J.V. Luce, Jacques Cousteau, James Bakie, James Mavor, James Thomas, Japanese, John Evans, K.T. Frost, Knossos, Krakatoa, L. M. Dumizulu, Lee R. Kerr, Linear A, Los Millares, Louis Guillaume Figuier, Michigan, Minas Tsikritsis, Minoan Hypothesis, Minoans, Moses Finley, Nick Austin, North Sea, Oliver D.Smith, Peter James, Philip Coppens, Pillars of Heracles, Plato, R. Cedric Leonard, Richard Mooney, Roger Dell, Ronnie Watt, Rungholt, Sea Peoples, Sir Arthur Evans, Sir John Evans, Spyridon Marinatos, Tassos Kafantaris, Thera, Thorwald C. Franke, Troy, Wilhelm Brandenstein, Yurii Mosenkis

Chain of Transmission

Published June 6, 2010

The Chain of Transmissionof Plato’s tale to us today should be borne in mind when applying any interpretation to elements in the text available to us. We have absolutely no idea how many languages had to carry the story before it was inscribed on their ‘registers’ (Jowett) in Sais, assuming that aspect of the story to be true. The Egyptian priests translated this tale from the pillars for Solon, who then related the story to his friend Dropides who passed it on to his son the elder Critias who, at the age of ninety conveys it to his grandson, the younger Critias, aged nine. Critias then conveyed the tale to his nephew Plato. Platothen composed his Timaeus and Critias dialogues, which eventually reached us through a rather circuitous route.

There are a number of versions of Plato’s family tree, Sprague de Camp records^[^194.324] three from ancient sources, Diogenes Laërtius, Iamblichus & Proclus, which have small variations. Some sceptics have sought to undermine the credibility of the Atlantis story by highlighting these differences and/or questioning whether the persons recorded by Plato adequately span the years between Solon and Plato. Some of the controversies stem from a number of family members, historical figures of that era and participants in the dialogues who share the same name.On the other hand, I would argue if the Atlantis narrative was just a concoction, I would expect Plato to also have invented a more watertight pedigree.

Plato’s original writings were essentially lost to Western civilisation but for the efforts of Muslim scholars who preserved them until they eventually emerged in Western Europe during the Middle Ages, after they were brought from Constantinople in the century before its fall. In due course the texts were translated into Latin from those Greek versions, which are now lost.

Wilhelm Brandenstein suggested that Solon had combined two accounts, one from Egypt relating to the Sea Peoples and the other concerned a conflict between Athens and Crete^(c⁾. However, this is not convincing as it conflicts with too many other details in Plato’s narrative.

Wikipedia notes that ‘the scholastic philosophers of the Middle Ages did not have access to the works of Plato – nor the Greek to read them.’ Today there are only seven manuscripts of Plato’s work extant, the earliest of which dates to around 900 AD. It is unfortunate that the earliest versions of Plato’s work available to us are only Latin translations of the original Greek text.

Chalcidius undertook the first translation of Timaeus from Greek to Latin in the 3rd century AD. He translated the first 70% of the text from earlier Greek versions, now lost. The earliest translation of Plato’s complete works into Latin was by Marsilio Ficinoin the late 15^th century. Janus Cornarius provided us with a Latin translation from earlier Greek sources, apparently different from those used by Ficino. A comparison of the partial Chalcidius and complete Ficino translations shows considerable divergences. The Ficino Latin text was in turn translated back into Greek at the Aldina Academy in Venice in the 16^th century.

In chapter two of his History of Atlantis Lewis Spence has produced a version of the Atlantis texts that is an amalgam of various earlier translations ‘acceptable’ to him.

Diaz-Montexano has written, in his distinctive poor English, a short criticism⁽^a⁾ of the quality of medieval translations of Plato’s Timaeus and Critias that are the basis of the vernacular versions available today.

There are legitimate questions that can be raised regarding the accuracy of the text used by researchers and since some theories relating to Atlantis are often dependant on the precise meaning of particular words, this lack of an original text, leaves some doubt over the persuasiveness of individual hypotheses. It is highly improbable that current texts do not contain a variety of errors when we consider the number of links in the chain of transmission.

Many quotations from Plato’s text will have alphanumeric references, which are derived from the earliest printed edition of Plato’s works by the 16^th century French scholar and printer, Henricus Stephanus; these show page numbers and the letters A-E at equal distances down each page. Although they bear no relationship to the natural breaks in the narrative, the majority of editions and translations now include them.

The entirety of Plato’s Dialogues is to be found on many sites on the Internet. However, I can highly recommend the Perseus website⁽^b⁾ where the works of most ancient authors can be found there in both English and their original languages. It has a number of valuable search tools for both the novice and seasoned student of Atlantology.

*⁽^a⁾ https://web.archive.org/web/20090928000147/https://www.antiquos.com/La-Atlantida-de-Platon/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=65*

^(b⁾ https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/

^(c⁾ https://www.atlantis-scout.de/atlantis_brandenstein_engl.htm

Tagged Aldina Academy, Aldine Academy, Atlantology, Chalcidius, Crete, Critias, Diaz-Montexano, Diogenes Laertius, Dropides, Egypt, Henricus Stephanus, Iamblichus, Janus Ciornarius, Lewis Spence, Marsilio Ficino, Proclus, Sea Peoples, Solon, Sprague de Camp, Wilhelm Brandenstein

Brandenstein, Wilhelm *

Published June 5, 2010

Wilhelm Brandenstein (1898-1967), was a Viennese classical scholar, who wrote a detailed commentary^[¹⁹⁶^] on Plato’s Atlantis and thought, “The theory that Plato simply invented the Egyptian derivation, while at the same time showing an extensive knowledge of sources, and constantly reaffirming that it was all pure truth, cannot be sustained”

He considered the Atlantis story to have been inspired by Minoan Crete although Spanuth claims that Brandenstein wrote to him with the conclusion that the story told to Solon related to the invasion of the Sea Peoples.

In 2013 Thorwald C. Franke published an English translation^(a) of his 2006 paper on Brandenstein’s contribution to atlantology. It is interesting, but not altogether convincing, to read that

“Brandenstein believes that Solon erroneously linked two separate accounts to one: From Egypt he had knowledge on the Sea Peoples wars, from Athens he had traditions on the confrontation of Crete and Athens, as they are indeed documented in known myths. With this Brandenstein believed that only a part of the Atlantis tradition came from Egypt.”

While Franke’s paper is very welcome, it is to be hoped that a translation of Brandenstein’s entire book will be on offer at some point.

In 2023, Heinz-Günter Nesselrath published a paper attacking Thorwald C. Franke’s consistent support for Brandenstein’s Atlantis theories. Franke duly responded in his Newsletter No. 212^(b).

^(a) https://www.atlantis-scout.de/atlantis_brandenstein_engl.htm

^(b) https://www.atlantis-scout.de/atlantis_newsl_archive.htm

^(c)(99+) Revisiting a Flawed Atlantis Classic: W. Brandenstein, Atlantis, Größe und Untergang eines geheimnisvollen Inselreiches, 2023 | Heinz-Günther Nesselrath – Academia.edu *

Tagged Atlantology, Egypt, Heinz-Günter Nesselrath, Minoan Crete, Sea Peoples, Spanuth, Thorwald C. Franke, Wilhelm Brandenstein

Identity of the Atlanteans *

Published May 28, 2010

The Identity of the Atlanteans has produced a range of speculative suggestions nearly as extensive as that of the proposed locations for Plato’s lost island. However, it is highly probable that we already know who the Atlanteans were, but under a different name.

The list below includes some of the more popular suggestions and as such is not necessarily exhaustive. While researchers have proposed particular locations for Atlantis, not all have identified an archaeologically identified culture to go with their chosen location. The problem is that most of the places suggested have endured successive invasions over the millennia by different peoples.

It would seem therefore that the most fruitful approach to solving the problem of identifying the Atlanteans would be to first focus on trying to determine the date of the demise of Atlantis. This should reduce the number of possible candidates, making it easier to identify the Atlanteans.

A final point to consider is that the historical Atlanteans were a military alliance, and as such may have included more than one or none of those listed here. The mythological Atlanteans, who included the five sets of male twins and their successors would be expected to share a common culture, whereas military coalitions are frequently more disparate.

Basques: William Lewy d’Abartiague, Edward Taylor Fletcher

Berbers: Alberto Arecchi, Alf Bajocco, Ulrich Hofmann, Jacques Gossart, Ibn Khaldun

British: William Comyns Beaumont, E. J. de Meester, Donald Ingram, George H. Cooper, Anthony Roberts, Paul Dunbavin.

Cro-Magnons: R. Cedric Leonard, Theosophists, Georges Poisson, Robert B. Stacy-Judd, Kurt Bilau, Louis Charpentier

Etruscans: Richard W. Welch, Frank Joseph *

Guanches: B. L. Bogaevsky, Bory de Saint Vincent, Boris F. Dobrynin, Eugène Pégot-Ogier

Irish: Ulf Erlingsson, George H. Cooper, John Whitehurst, Thomas Dietrich, Padraig A. Ó Síocháin, Lewis Spence,

Maltese: Anton Mifsud, Francis Xavier Aloisio, Kevin Falzon, Bibischok, Joseph Bosco, David Calvert-Orange, Giorgio Grongnet de Vasse, Albert Nikas, Joseph S. Ellul, Francis Galea, Tammam Kisrawi, Charles Savona-Ventura, Hubert Zeitlmair.

Maya: Robert B. Stacy-Judd, Charles Gates Dawes, Colin Wilson, Adrian Gilbert, L. M. Hosea, Augustus le Plongeon, Teobert Maler, Joachim Rittstieg, Lewis Spence, Edward Herbert Thompson, Jean-Frédérick de Waldeck,

Megalith Builders: Lucien Gerardin, Paolo Marini, Sylvain Tristan, Jean Deruelle, Alan Butler, Alfred deGrazia, Helmut Tributsch, Hank Harrison, Walter Schilling, Robert Temple, Manuel Vega

Minoans: K.T. Frost, James Baikie, Walter Leaf, Edwin Balch, Donald A. Mackenzie, Ralph Magoffin, Spyridon Marinatos, Georges Poisson, Wilhelm Brandenstein, A. Galanopoulos, J. G. Bennett, Rhys Carpenter, P.B.S. Andrews, Edward Bacon, Willy Ley, J.V. Luce, James W. Mavor, Henry M. Eichner, Prince Michael of Greece, Nicholas Platon, N.W. Tschoegl, Richard Mooney, Rupert Furneaux, Martin Ebon, Francis Hitching, Charles Pellegrino, Rodney Castleden, Graham Phillips, Jacques Lebeau, Luana Monte, Fredrik Bruins, Gavin Menzies, Lee R. Kerr, Daniel P. Buckley.

Persians: August Hunt, Pierre-André Latreille, William Henry Babcock, Hans Diller.

Phoenicians: Jonas Bergman, Robert Prutz,

Sardinians: Paolo Valente Poddighe, Robert Paul Ishoy, Sergio Frau, Mario Tozzi, Diego Silvio Novo, Antonio Usai, Giuseppe Mura.

Sicilians: Phyllis Young Forsyth, Thorwald C. Franke, Axel Hausmann, Peter Jakubowski, Alfred E. Schmeck, M. Rapisarda,

Swedes: Johannes Bureus, Olaf Rudbeck

Sea Peoples: Wilhelm Christ, Jürgen Spanuth, Spyridon Marinatos, Rainer W. Kühne, John V. Luce, Theodor Gomperz, Herwig Görgemanns , Tony O’Connell, Sean Welsh, Thorwald C. Franke, Werner Wickboldt.

Trojans: Eberhard Zangger, Erich von Däniken?

Tagged A. Galanopoulos, Adrian Gilbert, Alan Butler, Albert Nikas, Alberto Arecchi, Alf Bajocco, Alfred deGrazia, Alfred E. Schmeck, Anthony Roberts, Anton Mifsud, Antonio Usai, August Hunt, Augustus le Plongeon, Axel Hausmann, B. L. Bogaevsky, Bibischok, Boris F. Dobrynin, Bory de Saint Vincent, Charles Gates Dawes, Charles Pellegrino, Charles Savona Ventura, Colin Wilson, Daniel P. Buckley, David Calvert-Orange, Diego Silvio Novo, Donald A. Mackenzie, Donald Ingram, E. J. de Meester, Eberhard Zangger, Edward Bacon, Edward Herbert Thompson, Edward Taylor Fletcher, Edwin Balch, Erich vonDäniken, Eugène Pégot-Ogier, Francis Galea, Francis Hitching, Francis Xavier Aloisio, Fredrik Bruins, Gavin Menzies, George H. Cooper, Georges Poisson, Giorgio Grongnet de Vasse, Giuseppe Mura, Graham Phillips, Hank Harrison, Hans Diller., Helmut Tributsch, Henry M. Eichner, Herwig Görgemanns, Hubert Zeitlmair, Ibn Khaldun, J. G. Bennett, J.V. Luce, Jacques Gossart, Jacques Lebeau, James Baikie, James W. Mavor, Jean Deruelle, Jean-Frédérick de Waldeck, Joachim Rittstieg, Johannes Bureus, John Whitehurst, Jonas Bergman, Joseph Bosco, Joseph S. Ellul, Jürgen Spanuth, K.T. Frost, Kevin Falzon, Kurt Bilau, L. M. Hosea, Lee R. Kerr, Lewis Spence, Louis Charpentier, Luana Monte, Lucien Gerardin, M. Rapisarda, Manuel Vega, Mario Tozzi, Martin Ebon, N.W. Tschoegl, Nicholas Platon, Olaf Rudbeck, P.B.S. Andrews, Padraig A. Ó Síocháin, Paolo Marini, Paolo Valente Poddighe, Paul Dunbavin, Peter Jakubowski, Phyllis Young Forsyth, Pierre-André Latreille, Prince Michael of Greece, R. Cedric Leonard, Rainer Walter Kühne, Ralph Magoffin, Rhys Carpenter, Richard Mooney, Robert B. Stacy-Judd, Robert Paul Ishoy, Robert Prutz, Robert Temple, Rodney Castleden, Rupert Furneaux, Sean Welsh, Sergio Frau, Spyridon Marinatos, Sylvain Tristan, Tammam Kisrawi, Teobert Maler, Theodore Gomperz, Theosophists, Thomas Dietrich, Thorwald C. Franke, Tony O'Connell, Ulf Erlingsson, Ulrich Hofmann, Walter Leaf, Walter Schilling, Werner Wickboldt, Wilhelm Brandenstein, Wilhelm Christ, William Comyns Beaumont, William Henry Babcock, William Lewy d’Abartiague, Willy Ley

Franke, Thorwald C.

Published May 21, 2010

Thorwald C. Franke was born in 1971 in Konstanz in southwest Germany. He studied computer science at the University of Karlsruhe and now works as a software developer. Since 1999 he has been promoting the idea of Atlantis having been located in Sicily. He has written a paper, which makes the case for identifying Atlas with king Italos of the Sicels, who was one of the first tribes to inhabit Sicily and gave their name to the island.

In October 2010, Franke announced that a part of his theory has some elements in it that require further research^(f).

He believes that the war with the Atlanteans was recorded by the Egyptians as the conflict with the Sea Peoples of whom the Sicilians are generally accepted to have been part.

Franke has a well-presented website⁽^a⁾, in English and German, where he cogently outlines his views. He has also written a lengthy, 23-page paper on the need for a classification of Atlantis theories. Even though this item is in German, English readers may find it quite interesting using their browser’s translator. Franke has also compiled an extensive list of Atlantis-related websites^(d)that he expanded further in a new format in October 2011.

His paper for the 2^nd Atlantis Conference in Athens in 2008 is available on the Internet^(c) in which he expanded on his Sicilian location for Atlantis.

Franke has also published a book, in German^[³⁰⁰^] that focussed on Herodotus’ contribution to the Atlantis question^(p). In the same paper, he dealt with the true meaning of the word ‘meizon‘ in Timaeus 24e which tells us that Atlantis was ‘greater’ than Asia and Libya combined, which he clarified as actually referring to their combined power rather than size. However, Franke proposed that the Egyptian word ‘wr’, whose primary meaning is ‘big’ and is sometimes used in a metaphorical sense, may have influenced the wording of the Greek text

Then in a more recent (2010) book^[706]regarding Aristotle and Atlantis, he disputes the generally perceived view that Aristotle did not accept the existence of Atlantis. He builds his case on an 1816 misinterpretation by a French mathematician, Jean Baptiste Joseph Delambre, of a 1587 commentary on Strabo’s Geographica by Isaac Casaubon. Combined with other evidence he has presented a case that removes the only prominent classical writer alleged to have dismissed the existence of Atlantis. In late 2012 Franke published an English translation with the title of Aristotle and Atlantis^[880]. Franke’s views regarding Aristotle have been well received and his book is frequently cited, most recently by Dhani Irwanto in his Atlantis: The Lost City is in the Java Sea^[1093.110].

Franke has now augmented his book on Aristotle with a YouTube video in English^(l) and German^(m). This important book can now be read on the Researchgate website.^(ae)

2012 also saw the publication, by Franke, of the first English translation of Gunnar Rudberg’s 1917 monograph Atlantis och Syrakusai, now Atlantis and Syracuse^[881]. This is a welcome addition to Atlantis literature in English. Students of the Atlantis mystery owe a debt of gratitude to Herr Franke.

In 2006, Franke published a paper outlining Wilhelm Brandenstein’s contribution to Atlantology which in 2013 he published in English^(g). This was followed by a translation^(h) of his overview of the work of Massimo Pallattino, who had adopted some of Brandenstein’s approaches to the Atlantis question.

On the 30th of May 2013, Franke announced⁽ⁱ⁾ that his Atlantis Newsletter, which until now was only available in German, in future will also be published in English. Today he discusses the antics of extremist Atlantis sceptics and the abuse of Wikipedia. I encourage everyone to register and congratulate Thorwald on this development.

There is also a video clip available of Franke showing his library of Atlantis-related books^(e). 2017 has seen Franke produce a number of 30-minute videos, which readers will find informative. They are available in both German and English, (Just Google Plato’s Atlantis – Thorwald C. Franke – YouTube).

Franke has now (July 2013) revamped his website (https://www.atlantis-scout.de/)

More recently, July 2016 saw the publication, in German, of Kritische Geschichte der Meinungen und Hypothesen zu Platons Atlantis^[¹²⁵⁵^] (Critical history of the hypotheses on Plato’s Atlantis). This tome of nearly 600 pages will undoubtedly be a valuable addition to any serious researcher’s library. There is a promotional video, in German, to go with it^(j). Hopefully, an English translation of the book will follow. However, Franke does provide an English summary of the book^(af). In June 2021, Franke announced the publication of the second edition of this remarkable book, but again, in German only. It is now in two volumes, totalling over 800 pages, which include hundreds of new references^(y). Two publications in one week is a record to be proud of.

In June 2018, Franke published a YouTube video in English^(r) and German^(s) highlighting how Plato’s 9,000 years have been alternatively accepted and then rejected many times over since the time of Plato. Franke proposes that the 9,000 years recorded by Plato were comparable with the accepted age of Egypt in his day, at 11,00 years. However, archaeology has demonstrated that Egypt was only 3,000 years old or less when Plato was alive, suggesting that the 9,000 should be reduced by a comparable amount to arrive at the real-time of Atlantis.

In his Newsletter No.90, Franke has highlighted that a small German right-wing group, ‘Pro Deutschland’, has cited on their website the ‘superior civilisation’ of Atlantis in support of their extremist views.

Franke’s Newsletter No. 103 has now provided us with five parallel versions of the Atlantis texts⁽ⁿ⁾, Two English; Jowett & Bury and Two German; Susemihl & Müller as well as a Greek text from the Scottish classicist John Burnet (1863 – 1928)^[1492].

Franke’s Newsletter No.104 offers an overview of the difficulties involved in accepting Plato’s writings too literally^(o). He gives particular attention to the 9,000 years claimed to have elapsed between the Atlantean War and Solon’s visit to Egypt.

In November 2017, Franke published an uncompromising critique^(q) of Stephen P. Kershaw’s recent book, A Brief History of Atlantis^[1410].

Franke has now published two new videos^(t⁾, in both German and English, in which he reviews a number of Atlantis-related books, both supportive and sceptical. He does so in his usual balanced manner and also exhorts students of Atlantology to learn German to have access to important works only available in that language.

The difficulty of independent researchers getting their work published in academic journals was highlighted by Franke some time ago⁽^a⁾. However, he has had some academic recognition⁽^a⁾ and has modified his view on the function of the academic press vis-á-vis independent writers⁽^a⁾.

>>An interesting paper by Franke entitled The Dark Side of Atlantis Scepticism⁽^aq⁾ was published in 2021, which outlines how scepticism has been used to promote such diverse subjects as false religious and political dogmas.<<

In June 2021, Franke announced the publication of his latest book^(x⁾. Platonische Mythen (Platonic Myths)^[1858], currently in German only. In May 2022 a favourable review, also in German, of Franke’s book was published on the atlantisforschung.de website^(ag). I have archived an English translation in atlantipedia.ie^(ah).

The following month, Franke published Newsletter No.175 in which he accuses the Bryn Mawr Classical Review (BMCR) of scientific bias and inconsistency^(z). The full Newsletter should be read but in particular his conclusions below.

“Let us sum up what we have: BMCR claims to accept no self-published books, but it did review such a book [mine-AO’C]. BMCR claims that it accepts only peer-reviewed books, but besides the question, of what this exactly means, they do indeed review books that were not peer-reviewed. BMCR claims to accept translations but did not accept the translation of Gunnar Rudberg [Franke’s]. BMCR claims to review bad Atlantis books of a certain intelligence in order to debunk them, but at the same time, they avoided a review of a bad book by an Atlantis sceptical Oxford scholar. They claim to treat every author with respect but failed to do so in my case, and not only once. And the same scholar who admits that his scientific view was impacted (!) by one of my books writes BMCR reviews about other Atlantis books, but my books are not reviewed. Long story short: BMCR acts in an arbitrary way and damages its credibility. They screwed up everything that can be screwed up. And it was not me who lead them up the garden path. They did that all by themselves.”

In Franke’s Newsletter No.158 published in early 2021, he reviewed a lecture, previously unknown to him, given by Heinz-Günther Nesselrath, in Bologna, a few years ago⁽^aa⁾ during which he apparently misrepresented Franke’s Atlantis theories. Shortly afterward Nesselrath issued a rather intemperate reply to Franke’s criticisms.⁽^ab⁾ A further document(ac) from Franke detailed his continuing annoyance with what he perceives as ‘a breach of trust’ on the part of Nesselrath. Now in August 2021, Nesselrath has reignited matters again with a further assault on Franke’s views⁽^ad⁾, many of which I share. In a further postscript dated 20.08.21⁽^ab⁾ Franke fired off a few more salvos. I think it’s time for an armistice?

However, in April 2023, Franke issued his Newsletter No. 212⁽^ao⁾, with the following introduction;

“Professor Heinz-Günther Nesselrath has once again written and published two PDF articles⁽^ak)(al⁾ to defend his Atlantis scepticism against the arguments brought up by me. One is directed against my internet article “The Dark Side of Atlantis Scepticism” from 2021, based on my book about the reception history of Plato’s Atlantis story from 2016/2021. The other one makes the attempt to undermine especially the literary arguments of Wilhelm Brandenstein, which I cultivated and will cultivate even more in my next publication.”

Franke responded with two papers⁽^am)(an⁾ that should be read in their entirety.

Franke’s Newsletter #193 reviews an interview with sceptic Flint Dibble⁽^ai⁾. He followed that in July 2022 (#194) with a critique of an article ‘Not Exactly Atlantis’ by Professor Carolina López-Ruiz that Franke identifies as over-dependent on the arguments of promoters of the ‘invention hypothesis’ particularly those of Pierre Vidal-Naquet and Diskin Clay. Franke then proceeded to offer a list of her many errors⁽^aj⁾.

>In January 2024, Franke published his Newsletter #215⁽^ao⁾ where he references a 2023 Graham Hancock lecture⁽^ap⁾ in which “He just takes the numbers in Plato’s text literally, and on this basis he makes his conclusions and calculations. He never asks the question, not for a second, that Plato’s numbers could be wrong. Wrong in a very typical and understandable way, when looking to the historical context. Because, all the ancient Greeks were wrong about the age of Egypt (where the Atlantis story allegedly, or really, had come from). They thought, Egypt was 10,000 years old, and older. But in fact, Egypt was founded only around 3,000 BC. Therefore, if an ancient Greek text points to an event 9,000 years before its time, of which it got to know from Egypt, this means in fact a time after 3,000 BC.

Once you realize this, the whole narrative of a prehistorical Ice Age civilization melts down to nothing, and a completely different picture of the Atlantis question appears.<

⁽^a⁾ http://www.thorwalds-internetseiten.de

^(c) https://www.atlantis-scout.de/atlantis_sicily.htm

^(d)https://www.atlantis-scout.de/atlanlinks.htm

^(e) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5r2yDLEYfjA

^(f) https://www.atlantis-scout.de/index_engl.htm

^(g) https://www.atlantis-scout.de/atlantis_brandenstein_engl.htm

^(h) https://www.atlantis-scout.de/atlantis_pallottino_engl.htm

⁽ⁱ⁾ https://www.atlantis-scout.de/atlantis_newsl_archive.htm

^(j) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1orj7aqdTo

^(k) https://www.atlantis-scout.de/atlantis_newsl_archive.htm

^(l) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inWb6IVNWFQ (English)

^(m) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDG7a09xkZE (German)