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


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Babylonia was one of the great nations of ancient Mesopotamia in what is now Iraq. Its capital, Babylon, was founded towards the end of the third millennium BC(a) . For many it is best known from its frequent mention in the Bible. The region has also produced whatisarguably the earliest epic narrative in the form of The Epic of Gilgamesh, who was a semi-mythical king. In it, we have an flood myth, which is accepted my some as an earlier version of Noah’s Deluge account(b).

Babylonian astronomy can be traced back to the fourth millennium BC(c) , although some argue that their interest was in astrology rather than what we would call scientific astronomy(d) . A similar debate concerns the claim that the Babylonians had used trigonometry more than a thousand years before Hipparchus(e).

ny suggested connection between the Babylonians and Atlantis is lacking any real foundation. Thorwald C. Franke summed it up as follows:

“Babylon = Atlantis?

 The city of Babylon has a many-fold symbolic meaning for the history of humankind: First, as the most known Mesopotamian city it is a symbol for the development of urban civilization in the course of the history of humankind. Secondly, by the biblical records Babylon became a symbol of decadence and arrogance which lead to decay. Because of this symbolism some identified Babylon with Atlantis.

 But similar symbolism should not seduce to an identification. Babylon is not on an island, it is a quadratic, not a circular-shaped city, and the biblical myth of the Tower of Babel has no correspondance in Plato’s Atlantis account. Indeed, Babylon is old enough for Atlantis but the Bible especially refers to the neo-babylonian empire 626-539 BC.

For adherents of the invention hypothesis Babylon is considered to be one of the models after which Plato allegedly invented the Atlantis account. But even under this perspective the similarities are much too vague in order to make reliable statements on the question.”