Chapter 7: The Proposal Part 2: The Eye of Africa

"What is the Eye of Africa? Its scientific name is the Richat Structure. It is located in Africa in the country we now know as Mauritania. The Eye of Africa is in the province of Adrar, which only has about 70,000 inhabitants."

"The Richat Structure is a geologic formation (a phi structure) that is generally accepted to be formed naturally. Phi structures are closely associated with valuable nearby mineral deposits. Technically, the Richat Structure is an eroded circular anticline (structural dome) of layered sedimentary rocks (according to NASA). However, there is some disagreement about how the Richat Structure was formed, with some contending that it results from an asteroid strike, known to create phi structures."

"If the Richat Structure was inhabited at any point, the inhabitants simply availed themselves of what nature had provided, so how it was formed really is irrelevant for our analysis. Plato doesn't specify that the land on which Atlantis sat was shaped by humans. Formed during the Late Proterozoic Era according to the most accepted geologic theories, the Richat Structure would have been available to anyone to use."

"All right. Rather than get all windy about this, let's just set forth why the Eye of Africa could be Atlantis. It has the following characteristics which jibe with Plato's requirements:

It is shaped in the form of concentric circles which are level at their tops. Its outer circle is roughly 23.5 km in diameter, more or less (it varies but is within 20-25 km throughout).

The center "island" of the Richat has different levels. This is exactly what you would expect if it was once inhabited. To add to this, there is a well at the center of the Richat that has freshwater, whereas other wells nearby oddly are saltwater. Exactly as described by Plato.

Plato tells us that the Island of Atlantis had many elephants. Elephant skeletons and ancient rock paintings of elephants have been found nearby, suggesting elephants lived there at one time.

The Richat has mountains to the north with what appear to be river channels and other mountains on its approaches, which are beautiful and striking, and the area to the south is open. There is a lower-level channel that approaches the rings.

The first ruler of Mauretania was known as Atlas (where the mountain range gets its name) - which just so happens to be the name of the first ruler of Atlantis. What a coincidence!

A massive level plain surrounds the Richat to the south and there is a rectangular plain nearby. There are red, black and white stones in the region which natives still use to build houses. All of these things are physical descriptions that match Plato's account.

Greek and Egyptian sailors could have sailed there (if there was water) without losing sight of the coast, which was important to sailors at the time. These same sailors would have had to sail out into the Atlantic past the Pillars of Hercules to get there and would have encountered mud if the passage to the area filled in with sand.

Since the Eye of Africa and Egypt are not that distant, it makes perfect sense that Egypt may have been a colony of Atlantis, as claimed by Plato if it was located there. To add to this claim, the key symbol of ancient Egypt, the Eye of Horus, bears an uncanny resemblance to the Eye of Africa.

Plato was adamant that copper and gold, and other precious metals, were present in substantial quantities. There are copper and gold mines nearby, and those are among the chief exports of Mauritania today.

The date provided by Plato for Atlantis' destruction, 11,600 years ago, coincides with a post-glacier change in sea levels known as the Younger Dryas.

The ancient historian Herodotus placed a nation called Atlantis in exactly the location of the Richat Structure in a map that he drew up 2500 years ago. Herodotus, incidentally, is known as the Father of History and was born 58 years before Plato. The map is dated to 430 B.C., three years before Plato was even born.

Herodotus posed a different possible water route to Atlantis, the Nile, which he suggests ran from the Sahara in the past and which is certainly possible.

The Eye of Africa meets virtually all of Plato's very specific requirements for Atlantis. In fact, the Eye of Africa meets them better than any other known place on earth, without exception. If you read Plato, and compare his description of Atlantis to the Richat Structure and add a little imagination about it being at sea level and populated, it is almost uncanny how closely the two match - it's an absolutely dead-on description of it."

"Really, I don't see how he could have given a better description of the Eye of Africa with the above provisions, and people of ancient times could only have known the part about the concentric rings if there had been water there to distinguish them (they are not discernible otherwise at ground level)."

"The few reasons why the Richat Structure does not match the description of Atlantis could be explainable - I am not saying that they are adequately explained given current knowledge, I am saying they could be explainable given additional quite reasonable but unknown factors of geology and archaeology. The differences absolutely do not exclude the site from being Atlantis."

"Plato, himself said, that the tale of Atlantis was strange. This is an area worthy of further research. There is no need for you to believe anything here that conflicts with your previous understanding and accepted dogma. However, perhaps a presentation like this will help you keep an open mind about things we don't know everything about yet."

Professor Thelete finished giving his presentation. He was waiting for a response from his colleagues, but instead, all he got was complete silence. It was a good thing that he had prepared himself mentally for any response. He did not know what the silence meant. It was one of the longest moments in his life and also one that might define the rest of his career in academia, yet there was nothing but stunned silence.

Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, the entire room burst into a cacophony of voices. Some were cheering him on, others were calling him a madman, yet others hurled insults while others gave praise. Soon the entire auditorium was so drowned out by debate that it was impossible for Professor Thelete to discern what anyone was saying. He could scarcely hear himself think.