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Atlantis (the real history of the earth) by James R. Wilson
This story was passed down from many generations of Egyptian priests, to Solon, the great lawgiver of Athens, Greece, and finally to Plato. In the words of Plato:
"The island, Atlantis, was just across from the Pillars of Hercules. It was larger than the combined sizes of Libya and Asia. From it, ships could travel to other islands and even to the great continent that surrounds the ocean. For the sea that lies within the pillars, the Mediterranean, is only a harbor with a narrow entrance. Beyond it is the great ocean and the surrounding land, a mighty continent.
"...But afterwards, there were violent earthquakes and floods. In one day and one night, all of your troops disappeared into the sea. In the same manner, Atlantis also disappeared into the depths of the ocean. Because of this, the sea in that place can no longer be navigated. It is blocked by mud shallows which the island produced when it sank."
After the sinking of Atlantis, legends from cultures at all points of the compass tell of the advanced civilization brought by the immigrants who escaped the dying Atlantis. To the Basques, it was called Atlaintika; to the people of the Canary Islands, Atalaya; to the Vikings, Atli; to the Phoenecians, Antilla; to the Egyptians, Amenti; to the Babylonians, Arallu; to the Aztecs, Astlan; to the other tribes in Mexico, Azatlan and Atlan; to the people of India, Attala...
This was the biggest find since King Tut's unrobbed tomb. Although a small pyramid, this one was the oldest ever found in Egypt. And, like King Tut's, this one had never seen a grave robber.
Due to a strange set of circumstances, three nonEgyptian archeologists were honored to be on the team of scientists present for the breaking of the seal.
Once inside the warm, dark, stale-smelling tomb, the suspense was heart rushing. Just inside the main burial chamber, a metal object drew immediate attention.
"This is a telescope!" exclaimed the young male archeologist from America, Dr. John Christianson.
"Dr. Christianson!" remarked the beautiful archeologist from Hawaii, her expressive Eurasian eyes emphasizing the surprise in her voice. "This tomb dates a good 4,000 years before Galileo! Are you saying you honestly believe they had telescopes back then?!"
Chapter 2: In An Ancient City Far Away, about 410 A.F. (After the Flood)
Boy didn't like his lessons. "What is today's lesson about?" he asked testily.
"Weather," answered Master. No one on this continent knew his real name. He was simply Master. He smiled at Boy. He had named him well (it was the tradition for a teacher to call his student by a name that represented his character or some endearing feature about him).
"I don't want to study about weather! I want to go outside and play games with my friends!"
"War games!?"
"So, nobody gets hurt!"
"These games are designed by the Warlords to prepare your minds and bodies for fighting in their wars."
"So? They are fun."
"Whenever somebody invites you on a journey, first find out where they are taking you."
"Why not find out along the way?"
"You might not find your way back."
Boy knew he had lost the contest of words, so he unhappily listened to the lecture on weather. As he listened, he did his own study of the weather outside. The mid-day rain had just fallen (it rained almost every day in Atlantis, as the eastward traveling clouds tried to climb over the mountains running down the center of the Middle Continent).
A workman outside was taking advantage of the newly wetted marble to finish his job of polishing. Using very fine-grit sand and a rag, his rhythmic sanding entertained Boy's senses as he followed his lessons.
As the sun heated the air, the workman stayed in the shadow of the giant column. In an earlier lesson, Boy had studied the giant columns of Atlantis, the largest in the world, and the mighty machinery used to erect them. In spite of his daydreams, he nonetheless became interested and asked perceptive questions.
Down on the street beneath them, two men were talking together, pointing up at them. Both men wore the shiny white togas with spun gold interwoven, as a sign of prosperity and status.
"That young man is fortunate," said the first man.
"I'll say," agreed the second, "I've been trying to get Master to teach my son for almost 8 years."
"The master teacher in Alton has a few openings."
"I want the best for my son."
"Your son will be a master teacher himself before Master has time to teach him."
"I wouldn't care. Heck, if Master had time to teach me too, I'd become his student."
"Then, you would be the oldest student in Atlantis!"
"But soon, I would be the smartest, as well!" he winked, and his companion nodded after a moment, in reluctant agreement.
"Weather is dependent on many unpredictable things," Master continued. "Clouds can act like blankets making the earth warm in winter and cool in summer, but also bring moisture. Before the Great Flood, no rain fell upon the earth..."
"Tell me about the Flood!"
"What do you want to know?" Master knew well the 7th rule of teaching: "Find an appetite and fill it."
"How big was the Great Flood?"
"Why did it happen?"
"You want to know 'How' or 'Why'?"
"Uh... Why, first."
"God sent it because man had become so evil."
"Did it kill many people?"
"All except Noe and his wife, his three sons and their wives."
"You say people on Atlantis are pretty evil. Will God send another flood?"
"No, He promised He would not."
"How do you know for sure?" Boy responded, a little frightened, for he wasn't a very good swimmer.
"Have you ever seen a rainbow?"
"Sure."
"That's God's sign for no more worldwide floods."
"What!?" asked the perceptive student, "there were no rainbows before the flood?"
"That's right."
"That doesn't make sense. You told me last week a rainbow is caused by a bright sun behind me and little drops of water in the air in front of me! I've got you now! You're not being sight-based!"
"I'm always sight-based," stated Master, without emotion, "No rainbows appeared before the flood because the sun was hidden by very thick clouds."
"We have thick clouds, but we still see the bright sun."
"The clouds before the Great Flood were very thick, and they never thinned out because it never rained. The sun never shined."
"Without rain, how did the plants get water?"
"The dew fell upon the plants, like a fog, and it was warm everywhere, even at night."
"What about the ice sheets and snow?"
"You're changing the subject too quickly. Are you sure you want to cover the Great Freeze now?"
"Sure!" Boy said proudly, feeling he exerted power over Master by directing the lecture into such interesting areas (fulfilling the fifth law of teaching).
In reality, Master was skillfully prying open Boy's mind to more truths. "We will test your skills on weather, to see how much you remember from last week's lecture." (The first law of teaching is challenge the student). "Would freezing weather all over the earth bring the Great Freeze?"
"No."
"Why?"
"The Great Freeze had much snow, and large ice sheets."
"So?"
"Snow and ice have moisture. The moisture must come from somewhere."
"Where?"
"Warm water."
"Why?"
"To warm the air so it will carry lots of water."
"And then?"
"As the air moves over the ice sheets, it cools, dropping its moisture."
"Good. You have not wasted my time as a teacher."
"But, I still don't understand why the seas stayed warm if the ice sheets were so cold."
"Not only were the seas warm, some of them were boiling."
"Boiling seas!? How can this be?"
"Do you remember One-Continent?"
"When the earth was all joined as a single continent."
"Right."
"Do you remember the Tower of Babel?"
"Yes, built by Nimrod, the mighty hunter..."
"...And the Mighty Evil. Never respect evil. Call it for what it is."
"I understand. What went wrong at the Tower of Babel?"
"Man began to organize."
"So what?"
"Man knew much."
"More than today?" puzzled Boy.
"Much more."
"Why?"
"Ancient man lived to be 1000 years old. How much studying... how much learning could you do in 1000 years?"
"I'm afraid I wouldn't do much."
Master sighed a friendly laugh, "Only because you have not caught the love of learning yet. But, you will. Anyway, the 1000-year-old men knew much about the world. One man developed most ancient musical instruments. One man invented 90% of the art of casting and metallurgy. Yes indeed, men had stronger brains in those days..."
"Why?"
"Man was closer to the Created Pair. Since that time, much wickedness has weakened the loins of men. Evil practices... things I cannot talk to a young man about. Abominable diets... eating things that were forbidden."
"This affected man's mind... and his children's minds!?"
"Yes. Man's body and mind has great potential, but is fragile."
"I see."
"So, what did God do when man began to collect together the wisdom that each man possessed?"
"God confused their tongues."
"Why?"
"So they would not accomplish so much... But, I still don't understand."
"What don't you understand?"
"Why God feared the minds of men."
"You must not think that! God does not fear man, nor anything man can create!"
"But, you said...!"
"I said God wanted to limit man's accomplishments..."
"Why?"
"Not for what man could do to God, but for what harm man would do to man. Great evil comes out of great power."
"And man might become too powerful and wise?"
"Yes, and feel that he no longer needed God."
"Okay. So, God confused man's tongue."
"And, He split the earth up into the East Kingdom, the West Kingdom, and the Middle Kingdom, here on Atlantis, where we live."
"Why did God split the earth up too? Why wasn't it enough just to give man different languages?"
"How many languages do you know?"
"Both languages of the Middle Kingdom," Boy said proudly, for though he hated studying, he loved talking, especially to those from afar.
"But the Middle Kingdom has three languages."
"Well, the third is a very small language."
"The third is the language of the seamen. You must learn that language."
"Why? I hate the sea. It makes me sick. And, why should I want to travel over the seas. Only ignorant and heathen peoples live across the seas, with languages that I know not."
"You mark my words well. One day, you will need to talk to the seamen, so you will learn their language. But, not today."
"Thank God for small favors."
"Don't be sacrilegious."
"I'm sorry, Master."
"So, God split One-Continent into three kingdoms, for He knew that man would try to learn his neighbors' language."
"So, he limited man's neighbors."
"Correct. Now, when the continents split, melted rock came from beneath the earth. Some of this liquid rock came out on land, causing terrible destruction, and blocking out the sun for years, cooling the earth. Some of the melted rock came out under water, and the farther apart the Kingdoms drifted apart, the more melted rock poured out. In some places, so much melted rock came out, the seas boiled..."
"How could they tell what was happening under the seas?"
"They had metal breathing hats that allowed them to walk on the bottom of the ocean, before it got too hot..."
"But, how could they get enough air in the hat to breathe?"
"They used steam engines... you remember what steam engines are...?"
Boy nodded.
"...to push air down a pipe and into the hat..."
"But, how could he see through the metal hat?"
"He couldn't, obviously. But, once the diver was close enough, he could hold his breath and swim around for a few minutes without the hat."
"That must have been exciting to see! Did you see this?"
"No."
"Then, how do you know about it?"
"I read the Ancients. Study the failures and sins of those who lived before you, that you may reduce the evil in your own life."
"Okay. The seas boiled.... go on."
"Great towers of clouds formed over the boiling seas, drifting northward to the cold lands, dumping a thousand feet of snow through years of storms..."
"Is that why the sea became so salty?"
"Why did the sea become salty?"
"Because the clouds only take clean water, leaving the salts behind."
"You are a good student! That's true, before the Flood and Great Freeze, one could drink the seas without harm."
And so the lessons continued, from breakfast to dinner, whether sitting on a grassy hillside or walking in the marketplace, wading in the surf or climbing a tree for the view. Master's body almost as agile as his student's... the student's mind becoming as agile as Master's.
"How come we don't...?" the boy started to say.
"Don't 'How come' me! Slang is a sign of decay. First your language decays, then your civilization!"
"Sorry, Master," Boy bowed his head respectfully, but promptly launched into his next question, "Why don't we live as long now as they did back then? Are our years different in length?"
"A year has always been harvest to harvest, one swing around the sun. The flood brought killing rays into our atmosphere. The ancient women had beautiful creamy-white skin and did not get lines in their skin until they were over 500 years old. The men were well muscled, free from sicknesses, and strong until well past 800 years. Times were good then, before the days of the bright sun and cold nights. Now, we have dirty skins that never wash clean, even in the strongest of lyes or soaps."
"Are you saying the sun is bad? It feels so good to me."
"The sun is strange, curing some illnesses and causing others. If you eat plenty of fish, you don't need the sun, and you will live longer and stronger."
"What do fish do for you?"
"Protect you from the disease of curved bones. During the Great Freeze, people didn't get much sun because of the volcano smoke, and kept themselves covered with skins because of the cold. They didn't catch many fish through the thick ice-covered waters, so people grew stunted bodies, curved bones and slanted foreheads, making them look like ape-men."
Boy laughed. "I would like to have seen the ape-men."
"And the ugly ape-women?"
"Well, maybe not."
Chapter 3: Night in Atlantis
Boy sneaked off at night to train as a hunter with a friend. His friend was a tough, muscular boy, raised without parents and proper guidance. Boy earned bruises and sore muscles from his training, so he had to wear extra long cloaks and make up excuses to explain to Master why he was limping around.
"Stand in front of me now," Boy's friend commanded. Boy stood and his friend promptly knocked him to the ground.
"Hey, why did you do that?!" Boy jumped up from the ground, angrily dusting himself off.
"You call that a stand!? Now, I'll stand, and you knock me over."
"Gladly," stated Boy confidently. But, he noticed, no matter how hard he struck his friend, he did not fall down. "How do you do that?"
His friend showed him how do the "hunter's stance", with legs spread wide, feet angled out, knees bent, with the upper body weaving and dodging. Just before being struck, he sprung up lightly on his toes, so that the feet slid with the blow, absorbing the shock and allowing the stance to be maintained.
"Wow! That's pretty neat!" Boy said excitedly.
"There's much more than this to teach you!"
He also tried to teach Boy sight-based values, and immoral "power rules", such as lying and stealing.
Chapter 4: The Dragon Hunt
"Today we have a special treat!"
"What's that, Master?"
"We get to see a dragon!"
"A real dragon! I thought they all died in the Great Freeze!"
"Most of the large animals died in the Great Freeze after the flood, but a few have survived. What we are going to do is dangerous, so you must obey all rules."
"I will, Master."
Boy stayed respectfully behind Master as he followed the hunting party. Boy watched the brave hunters with their power bows, spears, and their spinning knives. Secretly he wished that he could become a hunter rather than a historian. After all, hunters saw action... historians only learned things.
They walked for hours over lush green foothills, often past fallen relics of past civilizations. "Some of these civilizations were destroyed by the flood. Others were destroyed by wars," taught Master, never missing a chance to fill Boy's mind.
The Head Hunter held up his hand to halt the march and quiet the marchers. In the distance, they could see smoke rising.
"What is that smoke, Master?" whispered Boy, trying to sound brave, though he was trembling.
"It is from the dragon."
"How does he make smoke?"
"The dragon is always hungry, and never very smart. Sometimes he eats what is good, sometimes he eats what is very bad. And he never knows which is which. When he eats the bad, he gets an upset tummy filled with gas. He burps to release the bad gas..."
"He burps!?" whispered Boy, trying very hard not to laugh out loud, but failing.
Master rebuked him silently for his noisy laugh, "Yes, it is very natural for a dragon, since he is so impolite. But, it is not natural, nor polite, for man!"
"Yes, Master."
"So, when the gas comes out, it wanders around looking for fire, whether from a burning tar pit, melted rock from a volcano, or the hand of man..."
"The hand of man...?"
"Yes. One way to keep the dragon from sneaking up on you... and for you to find his hideout, too, is to carry lighted torches. The torch fire lights the trail of gas, which races back to the dragon, who is still leaking gas. The fire flares in his face, and it always surprises him, so that he burps out more gas, which causes more fire to erupt in his face."
"Doesn't all this fire burn the dragon?"
"Yes. That is why the dragon is always angry."
"An angry dragon does not sound good."
"An angry dragon is a foolish dragon. A quiet dragon is very deceitful. It is better to stir up the dragon before you hunt him, so he will act more foolish."
"There is much to learn."
"Too much for one lad. That is why you are a historian, learning the best of wisdom. We can't cram your head with everything, so we pick the best," Master quoted the 10th rule of teaching.
"Yes, Master," Boy responded obediently, doubting whether historians really had the best jobs.
Finally, after quietly creeping for what seemed like an hour, they came to a cave emitting a trace of smoke.
"Dragon in there," the Head Hunter instructed Boy. "You stay here. Much danger."
Boy immediately agreed with the Head Hunter, feeling for once that historians might have a desirable job. He also noticed how poor the Head Hunter's grammar was, but he said nothing.
Some of the hunters, with a torch in one hand and a cocked bow in the other, entered the soot-darkened cave one by one. The hunters with the spinning knives and those with spears stayed outside, for their weapons had no power in the confines of a cave. The Head Hunter stayed outside, for he was responsible for directing the fight. He could not afford to be injured in the dangerous game of baiting the dragon out of the cave.
The gray dragon smoke stopped issuing from the mouth of the cave. Only the black smoke from the torches wisped out now. "The dragon is a smart old one," instructed Master.
"How do you know this?"
"He's holding his gas back. He knows the attack is coming. Soon, men will die."
"Die?" asked the surprised Boy, not realizing that hunters accepted death as a daily possibility.
Master did not answer, but it wasn't necessary. Suddenly the cave lit up, and the roar of flames came forth, followed by hunters' screams. Several hunters rushed from the cave, burned and blackened, but still alive.
"Where are the other hunters?"
"Dragons are always hungry."
Boy only stared disbelievingly at Master. To be eaten by a dragon must be worse than death! "Will the hunters have to go back in there again?!"
"No, the dragon's hunger has been aroused. He will come out in the open now."
Already the knife throwers were spreading themselves around the mouth of the cave. Their circular knives were made of cast metal and looked like a fat dinner plate. The rim of the plate was sharpened to a fine edge, except where they cupped it with a hand. They began to swing their arms back and forth, to test the feel of their weapons, and to work any kinks out of their muscles. Even though they were expecting it, the sudden emergence of the dragon was startling and swift.
The dragon was five-men tall, with a large powerful tail, and he stood on his hind legs. His front legs were almost laughably small, but extremely good for tearing at his prey and stuffing his mouth. His face looked like a lizard's face, except for a hundred sharp teeth, each as big as a man's hand.
The spinning knives flew high over the head of the dragon. At the apex, the spinning knives seemed to lose their ability to fly, and dropped. But, in dropping, the specially weighted knife edge came down first. Over half the knives struck the dragon, most of them drawing blood.
"That will kill him?!" asked Boy.
"Probably not. But, it will make him angrier and more foolish."
The hunters with spears moved in. The skin of the dragon was covered with tough scales. Few men had the strength to push the sharpened spears through such a thick hide, but they had been trained to use the strength of the dragon against him.
They approached very boldly, not appearing to fear the dragon at all.
"They are not afraid!" observed Boy.
"There are only two kinds of hunters: Those that control their fear, and those that are dead. Those that have no fear, or fail to control it, soon die."
The dragon continued to belch the foul gas as an offensive weapon, but all the torches had been extinguished. The dragon was robbed of one of his greatest weapons. He charged the nearest spear carrier.
Relying upon years of training, the spear carrier automatically dropped to his knees, driving the butt of the spear into the earth, and aiming the sharpened head of the spear at the narrow and vulnerable line between plates.
The dragon continued his charge, not feeling the prick at first.
The hunter dived to the side, now weaponless but successful, out of the path of the dragon.
Held by the earth and driven deep by the powerful charge of the dragon, the spear struck through the dragon's thick skin. The beast's charge was partially stopped by the strong metal shaft of the spear, and partly by the pain. He roared in pained surprise and spun to charge the next spear carrier. He charged again and again.
"Foolish dragon," Boy mocked.
"Remember this lesson!" instructed Master ominously.
One spear carrier failed to anchor the butt of his spear, and paid for his error with his life.
Soon the dragon's charges became weaker and more infrequent. Ten spears were already stuck through his thick armor and into hurting muscle.
"Fall back!" instructed the Head Hunter.
"What now?" asked Boy.
"The death blow has been struck. The Head Hunter does not wish to risk the lives of any more of his men."
"What do they do now?"
"They will draw back a distance to be safe, but still maintain a ring around the dragon. Those who have lost spears will grab new ones and take up places in the ring."
"What if the dragon heads back to his lair?"
"The Head Hunter must prevent that."
The dragon charged first one, then another of the spearmen. Each spearman turned and ran for a short distance, still maintaining the circle unbroken. The tired dragon snorted in victory at the cowardice of his enemy, not realizing that his very activity was sealing his own doom, wearing him down, causing him to lose more blood.
"What would happen if the dragon could return to his lair?"
"He would be in a defensible position. He might be able to pull the spears out, and live to fight another day, given time and rest for his wounds to heal."
"Doesn't he know that?!"
"If he weren't angry, he might figure that out."
Chapter 5: Evil Seeds
The dragon hunt turned out to be a two-week learning trip for Boy. After the dragon died that first day, the hunters peeled off the muscle in thin strips, sprinkled on sea salt, and built huge fires to smoke the meat.
Master explained how the salting and smoking process made the meat edible for over a year's time. And Boy, at first afraid to try the smoked meat, developed a great appetite for it.
On the last night of the campout, Boy interrupted Master's lecture on the brilliant stars hung in the black night overhead. "Dragon meat is good, but we have plenty of meat at home. Dragon hunting is dangerous, and several hunters will not return to their families. Dragons are dying off in the Middle Kingdom, and soon will disappear. Why do we hunt the dragons?"
"Dragons normally stake out their hunting ground with foul smelling liquid from their bodies. So, man could avoid their hunting grounds and live in safety..."
"So, why don't we?"
"Some Warlords look upon the dragon as a weapon. They catch the dragons as pups and train them to fight with their armies. A Warlord with one or two trained and full-grown dragons is almost unbeatable on any field. Man has made the dragons too dangerous, so they must die."
"Why does man do this?" asked Boy, as a tear came unbidden down his cheek. The days of hunting, and watching the dying, had matured him, as Master had desired. While fearing the dragon and cheering his death, another part of him lamented the wastefulness of it all.
"Inside of every man is a seed of evil..."
"Inside of you?"
"Yes."
"And me?"
"Yes."
"Is there no hope for us, then?" Boy asked fearfully.
"Not all seeds sprout, only those you water."
"How is the seed of evil watered?"
"By living for today only. By not loving life in the men and creatures around you. By turning your back upon God."
"Sometimes I cannot find God."
"Yes," smiled Master, proud of his student, "that's why we study history, that we may get a picture of God from the past, for God never changes. If you see Him in the past, you know Him today."
Chapter 6: Choices
"Think you'll get your hunter badge?" Boy's friend asked him.
"I don't think I'll be able to go to the tournament..."
"Why not?!" demanded his friend.
"The yearly Master Historian test is being given that same day. Master will be expecting..."
"You idiot! Don't you realize how hard I've... we've been working for this hunter tournament?! You can't let this chance go by. You can always go to the next historian test."
Boy did not pause to consider that the hunter test and the historian test were given only once a year. So, missing either would mean waiting a year for the next opportunity. In this presence of his friend's strong words, and perhaps, some fear of his anger, Boy decided what he must do.
----------
"All you all ready for the Master Historian test tomorrow?" Master asked.
"I feel awfully sick..." Boy lied, averting his eyes so he wouldn't have to look at Master while lying.
"If you miss this test, you'll have to wait a year for the next..."
"I know that."
"And, that means another year's delay before you can try out for Master Teacher."
"Yes, I know, Master, but I just feel that I could not do very well in the test anyway, the way I'm feeling." Boy tried to look very sick. Not all of this was a act, however, for he felt miserable lying to Master. And, somehow, he suspected that Master knew.
Boy did very well at the tournament, not only earning his badge, but earning it with high marks. He was glad he had lied to Master, for now he could have the best of both crafts.
Master greeted Boy the next day after the test with a great sadness in his eyes, but Boy did not notice. "You must always follow God's ways, no matter how hard it seems, or how much you desire a different path."
"God's ways are too burdensome. No man can always do right," Boy argued.
"Yes, He demands we carry a respectable load, but, He helps us carry it."
"How does He do that?" Boy asked unbelieving.
"By forgiving us when we fail Him."
"What does that mean?!"
"He knows our frame. He knows our weaknesses and makes allowances for them"
Boy's eyes began to tear up. Angrily, he turned away from Master so he could wipe his tears away privately, but Master knew.
"He would never forgive me!"
"For lying?"
"What?! I have never lied!" Boy spun around challengingly, unconsciously assuming the hunter's stance.
"What about the hunter's training at night behind my back?"
"That's a lie!"
"Then, where did you learn the hunter's stance? You do it quite well. It is automatic... that's a sign of thorough training."
Boy looked down at his betraying feet in astonishment, not realizing he had been in the stance. He knew that further bluffing would be pointless. Also, in a flash, he realized he had shamed himself greatly by trying to bluff Master, who knew the truth. Suddenly, all arguments for the immoral "power rules" crumbled under the weight of this shame.
Boy cried for some time without being able to speak. "See!" he finally was able to blurt out, "I'm such a shameful creature, how could God forgive me!?"
"I forgive you, and God loves you much more than I ever could."
Again, Boy was startled and stared at Master as the tears continued to flow freely. Finally, Boy dropped his gaze and asked, "How long have you known?"
"About a year... since before the dragon hunt."
"You knew that long...?!"
Master nodded.
"And you said nothing in the face of my lies?"
Master slowly shook his head.
"I'm so ashamed. I still don't see how God can forgive."
"He looks at the heart, and your heart is tender. God hates the heart of stone, but loves the broken heart."
"Well, my heart is broken..."
"And God is pleased."
[Return to Main Menu]
[Return to Christian Fiction]
Now called the Straits of Gibraltar. [This is a work of historical fiction, blending the truths of the Bible with the modern science and archeology that have historically presumed more than they could prove. I have taken the liberty of mixing in the outlines hinted at by multi-cultural legends. For those desiring to separate fact from fiction, I have included these footnotes.] .
Plato probably understood "Asia" to be Asia Minor and parts of the Middle East; and "Libya" to be North Africa.
This was taken from Plato's dialogue of Critias, which he never finished.
Gathered from Atlantis, Great Mysteries, Opposing Viewpoints, by Wendy Stein, Greenhaven Press.
Indeed, star charts have been uncovered, detailing stars too dim to be seen by the naked eye, and ground glass lenses have been found by archeologists, dating back thousands of years before the first known astronomer, Galileo, suitable for making telescopes. Such glass lenses have been found in Ninevah; Esmeralda, Ecuador; La Venta, Mexico; and Libya. But, the telescope casings themselves were rotted away... or were they ever there?
Over 80 cultures worldwide report the Great Flood in their legends.
In the pictoral language of China, the symbol for "large boat" combines two smaller symbols for "eight" "souls", the same number as were on Noah's ark. The modern Communist Chinese may have no recollection of this, but their language remembers.
"It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud; and I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; the water shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh." (Genesis 9:14,15).
“Sight-based” in Atlantean meant “scientific”.
"For the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to till the ground; but a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground." (Genesis 2:5,6).
Modern plate-tectonics experts call this continent Pangea, from which the other seven were split off. You can prove this to yourself by matching coastlines between South America and Africa, and between North America and Europe. Or, get the article, "Mapping the Sea Floor from Space," in Popular Science, February 1984, where you can see the "stretch marks" between the present continents and their origin.
Evolution insists that man has evolved the best brain in history. However, if it is the best, why does he use only 2 to 10% of it? Other organs that man has ceased to be able to use, like the appendix, are called vestigal organs. Is the brain becoming a vestigal organ? What would man have been capable of, had he at one time used 100% of his brain?
The ancients record the following 1000-year-old men: Manetho and Hieronymus (Egyptian), Berosus (Chaldean), Mochus, Hestiaeus (Phonencian), and Hesiod, Hecataeus, Hellanicus, Acuslaus, Ephorus, and Nicolaus. The Bible indicates that before the flood, many men lived almost to 1000 years. After the flood, man's age was gradually reduced by God over a period of several generations.
"And Adah bore Jabal. He was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock. His brother's name was Jubal. He was the father of all those who play the harp and flute. And as for Zillah, she also bore Tubal-Cain, an instructor of every craftsman in bronze and iron." (Genesis 4:20-22). Our prejudiced scientists have trained us to think that the further back in time we go, the more primitive the people. But if, in addition to longer lives and stronger gene pool (see note 16 below), ancient man used more of his brain than the pitiful 10% we use, the scientists of their time may have been more capable than ours. How many times have you heard amazement expressed at the craftsmanship of ancient artifacts? And if the five great libraries of the world (Athens, Carthage, Alexandria, Rome, and Syracus) had not been destroyed, we might have much more to be amazed about.
Adam and Eve's children all married their own brothers and sisters, with no ill effects. Noah's descendants all married close relatives, with no ill effects. Abrahm married his half sister, Sarai, and his brother Nahor married his niece, Milcah. Although God was talking regularly with Abrahm, He did not object to this incest. However, by the time of Moses, the human gene pool had become fragile enough that God forbid any more incest among His people (Leviticus 20:17).
In the time of King Solomon of Israel, his Phoenician allies were taking three year sea voyages to distant lands beyond the Mediterranean, to bring back exotic luxuries. They had to be able to communicate with the peoples of many lands. A "bridge" language, common to traders, is a logical explanation, similar to the position that English has attained today in world trade and technology.
History tells us that Alexander went to the bottom of the Red Sea in a diving bell.
Thales of Miletus (640-546 B.C.) invented the steam engine over 2000 years before the one that drove the Industrial Revolution. He learned geometry from the Egyptians and was the first to use it for solving practical problems. He also knew algebra and astronomy, becoming famous in his time for predicting an eclipse of the sun. We don't know what other great discoveries were made, and then lost as single copies of ancient manuscripts burned in the great libraries of Alexandria (alone holding several million scrolls), Pergamon, Carthage, Syracuse, Rome and Athens.
At current rates of runoff, it would take only 30 million years for the seas to turn from fresh water to the current salt content, although the seas are thought to be about a billion years old. The seas became salty quicker because of increased dissolution of that mineral during the Flood, when the entire land area of the earth soaked for a year, and then, the creation of the ice sheets in the northern and southern hemispheres further concentrated the sea salt.
The ancients not only knew how to calculate the length of a year to the accuracy of 1/10,000th of a day, they also knew the length of a Great Year, an astronomical term that only one out of a hundred persons today can define (25,826.4 years... off by a fraction equal to 0.000015), and they drew diagrams of the solar system!
The curved bones and slanted foreheads of humans living during the ice age exactly mimic rickets, caused by lack of sunlight (due to bundling up against the cold) or absence of fish in the diet. Rudolph Virchow, a famous scientist, was the first to diagnose this Vitamin-D-deficiency disease in the Neanderthals, which would explain their sloped foreheads, long ridges above the eyes, curved bones, and recessed chins. They had a brain that was, on the average, larger than ours today. These Neanderthals were not a different species of men, they are us!
Job 41 says the following about Leviathan, a fierce and deadly beast:
"His sneezings flash forth lightning,"
"smoke goes out of his nostrils,"
"his breath kindles coals,"
"a flame goes out of his mouth,"
"though the sword reaches him, it cannot avail; nor does spear, dart, or javelin."
"He regards iron as straw, and bronze as rotten wood."
"He makes the sea like a pot of ointment. He leaves a shining wake behind him."
"His undersides are like sharp potsherds; He spreads pointed marks in the mire."
These record the words of God spoken to Job to prove that God is Almighty, and Job is not. To do this, God wouldn't have chosen a mythical monster Job had never seen. He chose a common beast Job would know of: the fire-breathing dragon. This same creature is also known by the ancient Chinese and Western Europeans. Possibly the Mayans as well.
Such weapons have been unearthed by the archeologists, who were first puzzled by these "handleless axes", until they noticed their ability to fly like a frisbee, then drop suddenly like a cutting knife.