IT has tickled the imagination of researchers and historians for hundreds of years. It has been a source of fantasy and awe for anyone who has heard or read about the mysterious island whether in folklore or in ancient texts. Atlantis, did it exist or was it just an imaginary beautiful and exotic world described in Plato’s poetry? Where was it located and if it did exist, why have we found no remnants of this amazing world in any archaeological find that answers all the questions related to it?

There have been many claims by anthropologists and archaeologists about ancient ruins or underwater finds that they most probably belonged to the lost world, but somehow all the claims have left something or some point unclear and unanswered. Either the timeframe was not right regarding the time of the destruction of this supposedly great empire or the location seemed too far off the original story.

But here, dear readers, is a story so intriguing that it almost matches the mythical story of the lost island of Atlantis. To get to the bottom of this mystery, it is important to understand that all the ancient knowledge regarding Atlantis has been written by the great and reputable Greek philosopher Plato. He wrote many interesting tales about the history of ancient Greece and was highly respected in his time. Many say that his poem about Atlantis is fictional. But in none of his account about the story has he stated that he wrote it as a fantasy. In fact, he described it in such detail that one wonders how he knew so much about a place that is supposed to have existed centuries before his own time?

The legendary tale has been made fun of by many researchers saying that he made up most of it. But it does not make any sense why Plato would risk his reputation as a great philosopher and wise man and write a fictional story claiming that it was true in a time where a person valued his reputation in society more than his life?

So let’s consider that he was telling the truth. And start with all the details that he described about the mythical island of Atlantis. He wrote, “There lay an island which was larger than Libya and Asia together, and it was possible for the travellers to cross from it to other islands, and from the islands to the whole continent. Now in this island of Atlantis there existed a confederation of kings of great and marvellous power, which held sway over the entire island. And over many other islands also and parts of the continent”.

These few lines from his poem Timaeus which when read along with his other details, shall show us step-by-step if there was or is any truth to this story.

Atlantis is supposed to have been in a middle of the Atlantic Ocean. It was suddenly destroyed by a major catastrophe or natural disaster and that it was situated outside the “pillars of Hercules”, which is the Strait of Gibraltar which is the entrance to the Mediterranean ocean and its influence was so great that it spread far and wide.

The name ‘Atlantis’ was from the Greek mythological name of Atlas, and related to the sea and mountains of Atlas. The layout is described as a circular area consisting of rings of land and water attached by moats and bridges. The size of the entire region ran 23 miles across. The centre circle was the capital city where the temple of Poseidon and priests and king lived along with the royals. The second ring of land was home to a large and advanced navy with 1200 ships that came and went through tunnels made through the water bridges. The third and last ring was the largest and held a huge population — one that we could call the ‘downtown’.

The entire region had a million people residing there. Atlantis had a sizable trade that flourished and beautiful flora and fauna with hot springs and fountains added to the beauty. All this is just a part of Plato’s precise detailing of the famed and ill-fated land.

Since we have a somewhat blurry but definite image in our minds of this magnificent land, we shall now see if any such place or ruins found around the world can lead us to any of the clues.

Now Plato wrote the story of Atlantis as narrated and written by his great ancestor and wise man Solon. Plato gives great respect to Solon who puts the time frame of the existence of Atlantis to 12,000 years ago. Solon too stated that he was told this tale by his respected teachers. Now we come to the present day and age of satellite imagery and carbon dating. And yes, Plato also wrote that it was visible from space. Now experts on the search for Atlantis inspected satellite images from space missions and saw something on Earth that is by itself a mysterious structure and after many explanations by scientists still remains a riddle. It is in the middle of the Sahara desert in Africa called the “Richat structure” — also called the ‘eye of Africa’ due to its shape. It was presumed to have been an impact crater or a collapsed volcano. But both the explanations are not agreed upon.

But there is one assumption that might hold true. Could it be the Lost Atlantis? It has rings around it that might have been circular rings of water and land. The size according to Plato’s measurements is correct and the location? Well that too seems right! Where are the ruins? Everything was made of local rocks and stones of red, black and white colours. And these would have just crumbled and yes, they are there specific to the area. As to the water?

It has been scientifically proven that the Sahara Desert was once a land with flowing water. And last but not least, Plato mentioned that though surrounded by salt water, Atlantis had a well of fresh sweet water. And guess what the researchers found … An old dried up well in the middle of one of the rings of land. So have we been looking in all the wrong places underwater while Atlantis is right on the ground in its ancient shape in Africa? Maybe the legend was true after all.