Atlantis was in SE Asia, book claims
The mythical island of Atlantis was in Southeast Asia, a veteran Indonesian geologist claims in a controversial new book.
Dr Danny Hilman Natawidjaja of the Bandung Institute of Technology said the description of the island by ancient Greek philosopher Plato perfectly fits Indonesia when “Sundaland” existed.
Sundaland is the bio-geographical region of Southeast Asia which encompassed the Sunda Shelf, the part of the Asian continental shelf that was exposed during the last Ice Age. It included the Malay peninsula and the islands of Borneo, Java, Sumatra and their surroundings.
People have over the ages debated the possible existence of Atlantis. Some claim it sank in the Atlantic Ocean or the Mediterranean. Others claim it never existed at all.
Dr Danny wrote in his book: “All these Mediterranean candidates, including Crete-Minoan, Cyprus and others, do not fit the description of the location [of Atlantis] in Plato’s dialogue.”
The dialogues “Timaeus” and “Critias” written by Plato in 360BC are the earliest-known references to Atlantis. He described it as a tropical land with abundant resources and an advanced civilisation. It disappeared under the sea after extraordinary flooding in a single night. “The description of the land of Atlantis by Plato perfectly fits ‘Sundaland’ between 10,000 years and 20,000 years ago – the geography, animals, the natural resources, the two-season climate,” said Dr Danny.
