# Atlantis was Plato's invention; the Richat only shares its ringed shape

> Still possible: Atlantis is a story Plato made up to carry an argument about the ideal state, so no real place corresponds to it, and the Richat's…

Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/eye-of-the-sahara/answers/ANS0DCKSQBMD29D/atlantis-was-platos-invention-the-richat-only-shares-its  
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[Questions](https://mysteriesdept.com/questions)[Eye of the Sahara and Atlantis](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/eye-of-the-sahara)[Is the Richat Structure the place Plato described as Atlantis?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/eye-of-the-sahara/questions/QST0DCKRC3VMNXB/is-the-richat-structure-the-place-plato-described-as)Answer

Answer · Eye of the Sahara and Atlantis

# Atlantis was Plato's invention; the Richat only shares its ringed shape

Atlantis is a story Plato made up to carry an argument about the ideal state, so no real place corresponds to it, and the Richat's likeness to the city is a coincidence of shape in a natural landform.

**Still possible** Answers **1** question0

## Where it stands

**Still possible** Four pieces of evidence for, one against. It needs two reviews to be accepted.

## What it predicts

- No built remains or Atlantean-age occupation will be found at the Richat.
- Plato's specific figures (ring widths, the plain of 3,000 by 2,000 stades, the 10,000-stade ditch) will not match any real landscape as a set.

## What would rule it out

- Excavation at the Richat of a planned settlement with ringed canals dated to about 9600 BC.

## Evidence 4 for · 1 against

[Archaeologists and classical philologists broadly agree Atlantis was Plato's invention](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/eye-of-the-sahara/evidence/EVD0DCKT9K6WVRP/archaeologists-and-classical-philologists-broadly-agree)

Supported

FOR

[Aristotle is reported to have said Plato invented Atlantis and then sank it, as Homer did the Achaean wall](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/eye-of-the-sahara/evidence/EVD0DCPBNZ8E81T/aristotle-is-reported-to-have-said-plato-invented-atlantis)

Suggestive

FOR

[Classical scholarship reads Atlantis as Plato's own fiction, the earliest narrative fiction in Greek](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/eye-of-the-sahara/evidence/EVD0DCPBP8XCFN2/classical-scholarship-reads-atlantis-as-platos-own-fiction)

Supported

FOR

[The likeness is one of shape: the rings are a natural landform with no human work in them](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/eye-of-the-sahara/evidence/EVD0DCKTAERZJCV/the-likeness-is-one-of-shape-the-rings-are-a-natural)

Supported

FOR

[Plato presents the story as true history from Egypt, and some ancient readers took it so](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/eye-of-the-sahara/evidence/EVD0DCPBPPWJTJB/plato-presents-the-story-as-true-history-from-egypt-and-some)

Suggestive

AGAINST

## The questions it answers

[Is the Richat Structure the place Plato described as Atlantis?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/eye-of-the-sahara/questions/QST0DCKRC3VMNXB/is-the-richat-structure-the-place-plato-described-as)

OpenNo answer ahead yet

## Cite it

```
Mysteries Department. (2026). Atlantis was Plato's invention; the Richat only shares its ringed shape [Answer ANS0DCKSQBMD29D]. https://mysteriesdept.com/r/ANS0DCKSQBMD29D
```

Key

**ANS** 0DCKSQBMD29D

Kind

Answer · theory

Proposed

[Session 1](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/eye-of-the-sahara/sessions/SES0DCKZYK2CKXF/session-1-the-eye-of-the-sahara-and-the-atlantis-claim) · 28 Oct 2026

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