Great posts amigos and interesting!
I am not at all sure that the Aztlan legend, must be linked to Atlantis as tempting as that theory is. For one, it seems that Montezuma himself, in his first interview with Cortez, explained about the origins of his own people the Aztecs: quote
"It is now a long time since, by means of written records, we learned from our ancestors that neither myself nor any of those who inhabit this region were descended from its original inhabitants, but from strangers who emigrated hither from a very distant land; and we have also learned that a prince, whose vassals they all were, conducted our people into these parts, and then returned to his native land. He afterwards came again to this country, after the lapse of much time, and found that his people had intermarried with the native inhabitants, by whom they had many children, and had built towns in which they resided; and when he desired them to return with him, they were unwilling to go, nor were they disposed to acknowledge him as their sovereign ; so he departed from the country, and we have always heard that his descendants would come to conquer this land, and reduce us to subjection as his vassals ; and according to the direction from which you say you have come, namely, the quarter where the sun rises, and from what you say of the great lord or king who sent you hither, we believe and are assured that he is our natural sovereign, especially as you say that it is a long time since you first had knowledge of us."
<from LETTERS OR DESPATCHES OF HERNANDO CORTES, TO THE EMPEROR CHARLES V. LETTER II. Dated at Segura de la Frontera, (Mexico,) Oct. 30th, 1520. >
To me, this sounds like there was
contact in ancient times between the Americas and some culture across the sea to the east (where the Sun rises). Not necessarily ten or eleven thousand years previously, perhaps only one thousand, two thousand or three millenia previously. That far distant land
was still extant, for the 'prince' to be able to return there and come back to the Americas again. How would that fit with a sunken Atlantis?
This explains why the Aztecs were so shook up at the sudden appearance of bearded white people on the coast, having crossed the great waters from a very distant land.
I would like to see where it states that Aztlan was destroyed too. I am not saying that is not what is written but would like to see it, if anyone can point me to it? Thanks in advance. I do recall that at least one codex depicts Aztlan as an island with at least one city on it, reeds, herons and at least one volcano. Also, not terribly important but if Aztlan were destroyed by a volcanic eruption, then it is not in agreement with Plato's account, for his version of the destroyed Atlantis was by a combination of earthquakes and floods, no mention of any volcanic eruption - which also fairly well rules out the Minoan satellite city at Akrotiri, since it was clearly destroyed by a volcanic eruption and resulting tsunami. Which is also not to say that Akrotiri/Santorini or as it was called in ancient times Thera, was not used by Plato to draw upon for details to
embellish the history of the proto-civilization of Atlantis.
On the idea of a highly advanced Atlantis, this is rooted in modern times and not in ancient sources. While triremes, canal systems and chariots are somewhat more advanced than say, stone age cultures, it is not on a par with computers, lasers and spacecraft. However there are evidences of some very advanced culture that existed in dim antiquity, which may or may not be related to Atlantis. These artifacts turn up in the oddest places and are usually dismissed by our academics on the basis that they simply will not fit with the accepted dogma of history. ,.
SDCFIA wrote
The problem is, nobody knows that it existed or where it was - at least nobody has verified Plato's story.
Surely you jest Steve! Just recently we have been informed that Atlantis is found, in Crete, Santorini, Spain, Cyprus, Bolivia, South America, Cuba, and Japan! Perhaps you meant to say there is no concensis of approval on any site as Atlantis, nor any concensus on whether Plato has been vindicated? Anyone can actually find Atlantis just by reading Plato with a map in hand, and certainly some of the places which he was drawing on for his details are above water and you can walk on them. The original Atlantis island group however is largely below water, and Spartel island (now a submerged bank) is in the perfect location, along with several other sizable islands near by.
Please do continue,
Atlantis ??
