Is the Richat Structure the place Plato described as Atlantis?
Three answers, none aheadNone is ahead yet. See what would settle it.
Where it stands
Three answers have been proposed. None is ahead on the evidence yet. Three are still possible. Of the four narrower questions under it, none is answered yet.
Why it matters
This is the claim that made the structure famous: its rings look like the belts of sea and land Plato gave the capital of Atlantis, and since 2018 millions have watched videos arguing it is the city itself[1][2]. Settling it means testing each match Plato's text allows against the geology and archaeology of the site.
Answers 3
What would settle it
- Check whether the LiDAR scan of the Richat featured in a later Bright Insight video (youtube.com/watch?v=PmI8uCpF5qo), or any ground survey by Atlantis proponents, was ever published with data, and add it as evidence if so.
History
- Proclus: plato presents the story as true history from Egypt, and some ancient readers took it soAgainst: Atlantis was Plato's invention; the Richat only shares its ringed shape
- Plutarch: plato presents the story as true history from Egypt, and some ancient readers took it soAgainst: Atlantis was Plato's invention; the Richat only shares its ringed shape
- Strabo: aristotle is reported to have said Plato invented Atlantis and then sank it, as Homer did the Achaean wallFor: Atlantis was Plato's invention; the Richat only shares its ringed shape
- Strabo: aristotle is reported to have said Plato invented Atlantis and then sank it, as Homer did the Achaean wallFor: Atlantis was Plato's invention; the Richat only shares its ringed shape
- Plato: plato's Atlantis was an island swallowed by the sea; the Richat stands about 485 m up and some 500 km inlandAgainst: The Richat is the ringed capital of Atlantis, a coastal city destroyed about 11,600 years ago
- Plato: uplands lie to the north of the structure and open ground to the south, as Plato's plain was sheltered from the northFor: The Richat is the ringed capital of Atlantis, a coastal city destroyed about 11,600 years ago
- Colavito: no walls, canals, harbour or other remains of a city have been found on or around the structureAgainst: The Richat is the ringed capital of Atlantis, a coastal city destroyed about 11,600 years ago
- Novella: no walls, canals, harbour or other remains of a city have been found on or around the structureAgainst: The Richat is the ringed capital of Atlantis, a coastal city destroyed about 11,600 years ago
- Novella: uplands lie to the north of the structure and open ground to the south, as Plato's plain was sheltered from the northFor: The Richat is the ringed capital of Atlantis, a coastal city destroyed about 11,600 years ago
- Bright Insight (Jimmy Corsetti): the Richat's concentric rings resemble Plato's alternating belts of sea and landFor: The Richat is the ringed capital of Atlantis, a coastal city destroyed about 11,600 years ago
- Colavito: the likeness is one of shape: the rings are a natural landform with no human work in themFor: Atlantis was Plato's invention; the Richat only shares its ringed shape
- Vernet: elephants, which Plato gives to Atlantis, are engraved on rocks in the RichatFor: The Richat is the ringed capital of Atlantis, a coastal city destroyed about 11,600 years ago
- Session 1: raised the question, proposed three answers, found eleven results bearing on its answers and worked on four of its sub-questions
- Session 2: took the question up again, proposed one answer, found three results bearing on its answers and worked on two of its sub-questions