Atlantis and the Silver City

by Peter Daughtrey

  The ruling elite of Atlantis may have had prior warning of the eventual overwhelming disaster and have left before it struck or, possibly, survived in their citadel and left afterward. There could well have been a preceding period of seismic activity. Some may have left as a result of an earlier major earthquake that sank part of the plain. Not all of the empire would have been affected at the same time, so these “civilizers” could also have departed to other countries from various parts of the Atlantean kingdom at different times. It is likely, for instance, that some of those who visited South and North America would have come from the Antilles/Bahamas region.

  In both South America and Egypt, these seemingly identical people arrived complete with the same knowledge that had been developed in the place from whence they came.

  Author Andrew Collins, in his books Gods of Eden and From the Ashes of Angels, proposes that these “gods,” who were responsible for this much-earlier culture in Egypt, for whatever reason left there and resettled in the Lake Van region of Kurdistan.99 Much later, the remnants of this group descended from that base onto the plains of the Fertile Crescent and kick-started the Sumerian civilization.

  Plato indicated that Atlantis also ruled well into the Mediterranean. Did some of those ruling elite strike out to the east and northeast, eventually penetrating as far as India, and then establish the Silk Road all the way to China?

  Let us consider what we know:

  • Many thousands of years ago, tall, blond or red-haired, blue-eyed, and bearded civilizers arrived by sea in South America, having voyaged from the east.

  • Others, physically identical, arrived in Egypt from the west and again introduced the arts of civilization. Indications are that this could have happened as long as fourteen thousand years ago.

  • The installation of the first demigods as rulers of Egypt corresponds with Plato’s date for the destruction of Atlantis.

  • Both groups are described as having the same mastery of agriculture, mathematics, astronomy, building, irrigation, and writing.

  Many commentators have pointed out the obvious: that this indicates a dispersal of the same people from the same place, somewhere between the two destinations, a place where they had already developed their knowledge and skills. Atlantis and its island empire in southwest Iberia fit that hypothesis perfectly.

  This would, however, only appear to account for the ruling elite group, who were small bands of select, knowledgeable individuals. The destination of any survivors from the ordinary population is best gleaned from the current placement of the blond/red hair gene and the ancient alphabet. That would indicate Scandinavia, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, and pockets in the eastern Mediterranean. The blonds of the Atlas mountains in Morocco and the Canary Islands were likely there all along as part of the empire. Most of those down on the North African coastal plains would have been annihilated by the disaster; only pockets in the mountains survived and remained fiercely loyal to their territory and tribe. Some among the North American tribes have blond hair, and they have preserved legends that their ancestors came from a foreign land.

  This proposed migration from southwest Iberia to the Celtic areas of Great Britain has received support from research recently carried out in Wales. Professor John Koch from the University of Wales at Aberystwyth says that archaeological inscriptions on those large stones found in the Algarve show that the Celts came from southern Portugal and southwest Spain—not from central Europe, as previously accepted. He maintains that the Southwestern Script in Chapter Seventeen can be deciphered as Celtic.

  Another expert on Welsh history, Dr. Raimund Karl from the University of Wales at Bangor, has said: “In the last couple of years there have been a number of genetic studies of human DNA indicating that the population of much of the western part of the British Isles is related to other communities along the Atlantic seafront. These include Brittany, northern Spain, Portugal, and the French Atlantic coast. That’s their genetic origin.”

  Even earlier, Professor Sykes of England’s Oxford University had carried out DNA research that established that ancient Britons originated from the Iberian peninsula many thousands of years ago. In 2001, research by Oxford University combined with the University of California found that the Basques of northern Spain were genetically linked to the Celts of Ireland and Wales. Other research has also shown that the Berbers of the Atlas Mountains fall into the same group and, in 2009, a paper in BMC Evolutionary Biology recorded that research had found that the Berbers were of the same lineage as the Guanches on the Canary Islands. Other work has also shown a link with the Balkans.

  How, though, does one then account for the many dark-haired Celts? Most likely, it is because the Poseidon family was the blond/red-haired lot, whereas the original ordinary mortals were dark-haired. The combination of their DNA would have spawned a mixture. Also to be considered is the well-ingrained local legend that the south Walians arrived there under their leader Brutus, fleeing from Troy.

  But who were the Trojans from Troy? Japheth was Noah’s third son, and Japheth’s seventh son was called Tiras. He is held to be the ancestor of the Tiracians, more generally known by their Greek name, the Thracians. Troy was reputedly named after Tiras. When founded around 1900 B.C., it was known as Troas, and subsequently Troi, then Troy, with the Thracian inhabitants called Trajans or Trojans. Apart from Brutus, who was related to the old Trojan royal family and who escaped with his followers to Wales, others migrated northeast through Europe and became the ancestors of the Swedes. Many Bulgarians also claim to be descendents of these ancient Thracians—not the Slavs, who only arrived in the region around A.D. 600. The Thracians were described as having ruddy complexions, red or blond hair, and blue eyes.

  There has also been much “coming and going” of groups between Ireland, Wales, and Scotland, as well as Scandinavia. The seeds have been well and truly intermingled.

  The indications are that the Conii from southwest Iberia were also dark-haired. Where do they fit into the puzzle? Were they the remnants of the ordinary Atlanteans, or were they Celts who migrated there from elsewhere in central Europe, as many historians have maintained? This previously accepted history of the Celts is currently undergoing a complete reappraisal. The theory that they came from central Europe is now broadly accepted as being a mistake, resulting from a misunderstanding by ancient chroniclers. The latest genealogical research indicates they were Iberian.

  The original Atlanteans most likely evolved into different tribes or clans, all living harmoniously together. Some had more of the gene producing the red or blond hair, while others, with increasingly less of the gods’ DNA, inherited the original humans’ black hair. Plato said that the “admixture” of the gods had diminished.

  It seems increasingly likely that the Conii and the Celts were one and the same and were the early migratory ancestors of some of the south Walians as well as the Basques.

  It is pertinent here to take up Carlos Castelo’s theory that the ancient southwest Iberian language was carried from that area to the Middle East by the populace fleeing a disaster. If that was the case, these people would have been absorbed into the confused racial mixing bowl there, although the physical characteristics of some—tall, with red/blond hair and blue eyes—were significantly different from those of the indigenous Sumerian and Semitic population. It would certainly explain the frequent occurrence of red hair in that area. Some Israeli scholars have painstakingly linked the Tribe of Dan that invaded Ireland with one of the lost tribes of Israel, also called the Tribe of Dan, after one of Jacob’s sons. The tribe’s journey northwest, overland from Israel, and the areas they settled or migrated through can, claim the scholars, be traced by the names left behind. The Danube and Don Rivers and Denmark (Danemark) are a few examples. This version of history is disputed by others, who maintain it is a bid to enlarge the area of influence of Judaism. Irish records, however, state that these invaders had red hair and blue eyes. Could Dan, who reportedly had red hair and was one of J
acob’s sons, have had a red-haired mother?

  There is a report that Moses’s father-in-law was the head of the Kenites, a group that joined with Moses’s Israelites. An alternative name, frequently used in ancient reports, for the Conii/Kunii people from the Algarve was the Cynetes or Kynetes.

  The Tribe of Dan—or Dana—was also reported to have worshipped the goddess Diana, also a well-known Greek deity. The large river that forms the border between the Algarve and Spain, now called the Guadiana, used to be known as the Ana. I have read that the whole region was once known as the country of Ana (D’Ana?).

  If all this is confusing, I apologize. I have tried to pull together many, many strands that cover thousands of years. Modern genetic research, such as that involving DNA and Haplogroup X, is undoubtedly helping to unravel the tangled web and indicates that the various dispersals of people discussed here are broadly correct.

  No matter how complicated the path all these blonds or red-haired people took, however, if we could follow them back it is likely they would all lead to southwest Iberia and Atlantis.

  So, do you carry the Atlantean gene this hypothesis about hair color would indicate? If you have blond/red hair, or any of the shades in between, then you probably do. No matter where you now live, somewhere in the ancient past, one of your ancestors with these unique distinguishing features probably struck out from Atlantis. Welcome to the club.

  This book started with that huge stone egg. I have not revisited it so far as, in itself, it did not provide any evidence to prove that Atlantis was in Iberia. Now, with Atlantis firmly nailed down, I decided that it was time to further research this extraordinary object. Might it be the first relic ever found to support Plato’s legend?

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  The Great White Egg

  She had deliberately chosen this very night. The old woman had said it would be auspicious for her mission. The full moon created an eerie combination of flat light and deep shadows.

  She drifted up the gentle slope past the houses, with their slumbering occupants, and the almond trees, with the perfume from their delicate white blossom hanging heavily in the air, until the monument suddenly loomed stark on the skyline, its glistening, white surface beckoning. Willing herself not to recoil against the chill surface, she loosened the robe and pressed her naked body to the stone. She moved gently, massaging against the strange symbol sculpted onto it, her arms widespread in a fervent embrace. She ached for a child but, after several years with her man, pregnancy still eluded her. Now she fervently prayed to the gods to make her fertile.

  The old woman had said that this great white egg, representing the very essence of birth, had worked its magic in the past. Why not for her?

  It was powerful. Legend had it that the gods erected it long ago to mark the begining.

  That’s not a recorded event, but one that I suspect could well have happened quite regularly many thousands of years ago. The stone egg still exists, having survived every calamity the Algarve’s torrid history could throw at it. As recounted in the first chapter, it has been lying unappreciated for some thirty years in a corner of a delightful museum in Lagos, an old coastal town famous as a port for many of Henry the Navigator’s caravels that sailed forth to discover uncharted parts of the world. If this book’s hypothesis for Atlantis is correct, then this object could be highly significant.

  The museum houses an eclectic variety of remains from the Neolithic, Roman, and Moorish periods, together with ethnic examples from life in the area during the last few centuries. The largest object there, the stone egg, is not from Lagos but from land near Silves. I knew the general area where it had been found, but not the exact position. The museum could not help, nor could the local archaeology department; but a spot of amateur sleuthing eventually enabled me to track down one of the local men involved in the discovery. He obligingly took me to the very place. To my amazement, it was overlooking the area I have already suggested was the port for Plato’s Atlantis capital, ancient Silves. He had helped unearth it three decades before, when the land was being prepared for agriculture. A new well was being dug when, at a depth of between four and five meters, the workmen hit the top of a huge, curved, smooth rock. At first they thought it was the back of a carved stone pig, but, as the sides were excavated, it became obvious that it was a large egg. Together, the workmen succeeded in hauling it to the surface with ropes. I had originally been told of its existence more than twenty years ago by an eyewitness who had seen it lying by the side of the road before being moved to its new home in Lagos (Silves did not then have a suitable museum to accommodate it).

  The Lagos museum describes it as a menhir (standing stone), but I believe it is too sophisticated for that and was designed for another specific purpose—although it could have served as a menhir later in its life, as suggested in the opening cameo of this chapter. It is made from local limestone—the same white stone that Plato indicated was among those used extensively in the Atlantis citadel and which is freely available very close to where the relic was found.

  It has been sculpted to represent a large egg, about six feet in height—or length. Unfortunately the side it lies on in the museum has been broken either during its discovery or, more likely, at some stage when it was toppled over from wherever it was erected.

  Sculpted down the three visible sides of the egg is the same large motif. The images stand proud of the surface, indicating that great care had been taken in the stone’s preparation, especially if the workers had only stone tools. It would have been far easier to finish the whole surface, then carve the images into it. (SEE IMAGES 44, 45, AND 46 IN THE PHOTO INSERT.)

  What could the motif possibly mean, or represent? It immediately struck me that it had an astonishing resemblance to the DNA helix but, before jumping to sensational conclusions, further research was called for.

  Carlos Castelo informed me that each segment of the motif was identical to the fertility symbol of the Kunii people, assumed to have been adopted because of its similarity to the female vulva. It would, however, be illogical to stack a whole pile of segments on top of one another. That would be confusing. One symbol standing alone is more easily recognizable and has greater impact.

  The similarity to the DNA helix is masked by a central rod. Is it possible, though, that there are two elements combined? One element could be the central rod or wand, and the other a simplified version of the DNA helix to make it possible to carve it on stone.

  Throughout ancient history, the rod has represented power, the staff of office, the scepter of kings and queens. Historical records are littered with other references, including:

  • Author Zecharia Sitchin, an expert on ancient Sumerian tablets, believed that the rod or wand traditionally represented “the Lord of the manufacture” or “implement of life.”

  • Ancient Egyptian priests were depicted with rods.

  • Stone Age paintings show figures holding rods, thought to be symbolic of power.

  • Moses had a wand—as did his brother Aaron—that supposedly had magical powers.

  • Druids had a wand that represented “the tool and vehicle of the power of the heavens.”

  • Some scholars believe the rod has roots as a phallus—always a good fallback for bemused experts.

  In 1910, archaeologist Dr. William Hayes Ward wrote that he thought a well-known symbol called the caduceus had originated in Sumeria between 3000 and 4000 B.C. The oldest known example is on a Sumerian cylinder seal. This is uncannily similar to the carving on the Algarve “egg.” It depicts two snakes coiling up the rod and is sometimes shown with wings at the top. (SEE IMAGE 43 BELOW.)

  (IMAGE 43) Chart depicting the DNA symbol, the carving on the stone egg, and other similar symbols of ancient Sumerian origin dating from between 4,000 and 2,000 B.C.

  It is unclear exactly what the caduceus originally represented or stood for, but the most widely accepted explanation is that it was a symbol of fertility and wisdom. Later, the Greeks associated
it with their god Hermes (or Mercury), who was known as “the messenger of the gods.” Among his more dubious credentials, Hermes was the god of thieves, but he was also the protector of merchants. I suppose the latter would have been apt for a monument overlooking a bustling harbor front devoted to trade, although there are no wings or snakes on the Algarve stone. He is also thought to have been the Greek equivalent of the Egyptian god Thoth, who originally ruled in the West.

  The caduceus has also become confused with another ancient motif, the asclepius, which shows a single snake around a rod and was the original medical symbol. Confusion still reigns, with the caduceus wrongly appearing on the badge of the American medical corps.

  Yet another similar symbol predates the caduceus by about a thousand years: the Ningishzida. It represented a Mesopotamian deity who was the god of nature and fertility.

  That the symbol on the egg appears to have evolved into something slightly different in Sumeria but still stood for fertility and wisdom supports the DNA hypothesis. The gods/rulers who influenced the founding of the Sumerian civilization were known as the “serpent people.” If they introduced the symbol into Sumeria, it’s easy to see how it could have evolved into two intertwining serpents. The Sumerians were not the only ones to depict versions of it; an intertwined snake version appears on frescoes on the tombs of Egyptian pharaohs Seti and Rameses VI.

  The age of the Algarve “egg” is critical here. It is thought that the many menhirs and assorted standing stones scattered around the Algarve date from around 3500 to 2500 B.C. As mentioned in the last chapter, the established view is that the Kunii people migrated from the northeast to the Algarve after that period. Carlos Castelo, supported by the latest genetic research, might disagree; but if that is correct, and the “egg” dates back as far as the other menhirs—to around 3500 B.C.—then the original symbol could not have come with the Kunii. They must have extracted just one segment from the egg’s carving, knowing that it was locally associated with fertility and because of its unmistakable similarity to the female vulva.