Atlantis Pyramids Floods (11 page)

NOTES FROM DONNELLY’S
BOOK

“
T
he most
renowned of the Peruvian temples, the pride of the capital and the
wonder of the empire, was at Cuzco, where, under the munificence of
successive sovereigns, it had become so enriched that it received
the name of Coricancha, or ‘the Place of Gold.’... The interior of
the temple was literally a mine of gold. On the western wall was
emblazoned a representation of the Deity, consisting of a human
countenance looking forth from amid innumerable rays of light,
which emanated from it in every direction, in the same manner as
the sun is often personified with us. The figure was engraved on a
massive plate of gold, of enormous dimensions, thickly powdered
with emeralds and precious stones.... The walls and ceilings were
everywhere incrusted with golden ornaments; every part of the
interior of the temple glowed with burnished plates and studs of
the precious metal; the cornices were of the same
material.”

“M. Oppert read an essay at the
Brussels Congress to show, from the astronomical observations of
the Egyptians and Assyrians, that 11,542 years before our era man
existed on the earth at such a stage of civilization as to be able
to take note of astronomical phenomena, and to calculate with
considerable accuracy the length of the year. The Egyptians, says
he, calculated by cycles of 1460 years—zodiacal cycles, as they
were called. Their year consisted of 365 days, which caused them to
lose one day in every four solar years, and, consequently, they
would attain their original starting-point again only after 1460
years (365 x 4). Therefore, the zodiacal cycle ending in the year
139 of our era commenced in the year 1322 B.C. On the other hand,
the Assyrian cycle was 1805 years, or 22,325 lunations. An Assyrian
cycle began 712 B.C. The Chaldeans state that between the Deluge
and their first historic dynasty there was a period of 39,180
years. Now, what means, this number? It stands for 12 Egyptian
zodiacal cycles plus 12 Assyrian lunar cycles.”

“At the year 11,542 B.C. the two
cycles came together, and consequently they had on that year their
common origin in one and the same astronomical
observation.”

That observation was probably made in
Atlantis.

“
Plato identifies “the great
deluge of all” with the destruction of Atlantis. The priest of Sais
told Solon that before “the great deluge of all” Athens possessed a
noble race, who performed many noble deeds, the last and greatest
of which was resisting the attempts of Atlantis to subjugate them;
and after this came the destruction of Atlantis, and the same great
convulsion which overwhelmed that island destroyed a number of the
Greeks. So that the Egyptians, who possessed the memory of many
partial deluges, regarded this as “the great deluge of
all.”

“Herodotus tells us (“Euterpe,”
cxlii.) that, according to the information he received from the
Egyptian priests, their written history dated back 11,340 years
before his era, or nearly 14,000 years prior to this time. They
introduced him into a spacious temple, and showed him the statues
of 341 high-priests who had in turn succeeded each other; and yet
the age of Columbus possessed no arts, except that of printing
(which was ancient in China), which was not known to the Egyptians;
and the civilization of Egypt at its first appearance was of a
higher order than at any subsequent period of its history, thus
testifying that it drew its greatness from a fountain higher than
itself.”

Public
Works.
—
The American nations
built public works as great as or greater than any known in Europe.
The Peruvians had public roads, one thousand five hundred to two
thousand miles long, made so thoroughly as to elicit the
astonishment of the Spaniards. At every few miles taverns or hotels
were established for the accommodation of travelers. Humboldt
pronounced these Peruvian roads “among the most useful and
stupendous works ever executed by man.” They built aqueducts for
purposes of irrigation some of which were five hundred miles long.
They constructed magnificent bridges of stone, and had even
invented suspension bridges thousands of years before they were
introduced into Europe. They had, both in Peru and Mexico, a system
of posts, by means of which news was transmitted hundreds of miles
in a day, precisely like those known among the Persians in the time
of Herodotus, and subsequently among the Romans. Stones similar to
milestones were placed along the roads in Peru. (See Prescott’s
“Peru,”)

Weapons.—The weapons of the New World
were identically the same as those of the Old World; they consisted
of bows and arrows, spears, darts, short swords, battle-axes, and
slings; and both peoples used shields or bucklers, and casques of
wood or hide covered with metal. If these weapons had been derived
from separate sources of invention, one country or the other would
have possessed implements not known to the other, like the
blowpipe, the boomerang, etc. Absolute identity in so many weapons
strongly argues identity of origin.

Religious Beliefs.—The Guanches of the
Canary Islands, who were probably a fragment of the old Atlantean
population, believed in the immortality of the soul and the
resurrection of the body, and preserved their dead as mummies. The
Egyptians believed in the immortality of the soul and the
resurrection of the body, and preserved the bodies of the dead by
embalming them.

The Peruvians believed in the
immortality of the soul and the resurrection of the body, and they
too preserved the bodies of their dead by embalming them. “A few
mummies in remarkable preservation have been found among the
Chinooks and Flatheads.” (Schoolcraft, vol. v., p. 693.) The
embalmment of the body was also practiced in Central America and
among the Aztecs. The Aztecs, like the Egyptians, mummified their
dead by taking out the bowels and replacing them with aromatic
substances. (Dorman, “Origin Prim. Superst.,” p. 173.) The bodies
of the kings of the Virginia Indians were preserved by embalming.
(Beverly, p. 47.)

A belief in ghosts is found on both
continents. The American Indians think that the spirits of the dead
retain the form and features which they wore while living; that
there is a hell and a heaven; that hell is below the earth, and
heaven above the clouds; that the souls of the wicked sometimes
wander the face of the earth, appearing occasionally to
mortals.

The story of Tantalus is found among
the Chippewayans, who believed that bad souls stand up to their
chins in water in sight of the spirit-land, which they can never
enter. The dead passed to heaven across a stream of water by means
of a narrow and slippery bridge, from which many were lost. The
Zuñis set apart a day in each year which they spent among the
graves of their dead, communing with their spirits, and bringing
them presents—a kind of All-souls-day. (Dorman, “Prim. Superst.,”
p. 35.) The Stygian flood, and Scylla and Charybdis, are found
among the legends of the Caribs. (Ibid., p. 37.) Even the boat of
Charon reappears in the traditions of the Chippewayans.

Marriage in Mexico was
performed by the priest. He exhorted them to maintain peace and
harmony, and
tied the end of the man’s
mantle to the dress of the woman; he perfumed them, and placed on
each a shawl on which was painted a skeleton, “as a symbol that
only death could now separate them from one another.” (Dorman,
“Prim. Superst.,” p. 379.)

The priesthood was thoroughly
organized in Mexico and Peru. They were prophets as well as
priests. “They brought the newly born infant into the religious
society; they directed their training and education; they
determined the entrance of the young men into the service of the
state; they consecrated marriage by their blessing; they comforted
the sick and assisted the dying.” (Ibid., p. 374.) There were five
thousand priests in the temples of Mexico.

They confessed and absolved the
sinners, arranged the festivals, and managed the choirs in the
churches. They lived in conventual discipline, but were allowed to
marry; they practiced flagellation and fasting, and prayed at
regular hours. There were great preachers and exhorters among them.
There were also convents into which females were admitted. The
novice had her hair cut off and took vows of celibacy; they lived
holy and pious lives. (Ibid., pp. 375, 376.)

The king was the high-priest of the
religious orders. A new king ascended the temple naked, except his
girdle; he was sprinkled four times with water which had been
blessed; he was then clothed in a mantle, and on his knees took an
oath to maintain the ancient religion. The priests then instructed
him in his royal duties. (Ibid., p. 378.) Besides the regular
priesthood there were monks who were confined in cloisters. (Ibid.,
p. 390.)

Cortes says the Mexican priests were
very strict in the practice of honesty and chastity, and any
deviation was punished with death. They wore long white robes and
burned incense. (Dorman, “Prim. Superst.,” p. 379.) The first
fruits of the earth were devoted to the support of the priesthood.
(Ibid., p. 383.) The priests of the Isthmus were sworn to perpetual
chastity.

If our knowledge of Atlantis was more
thorough, it would no doubt appear that, in every instance wherein
the people of Europe accord with the people of America, they were
both in accord with the people of Atlantis; and that Atlantis was
the common centre from which both peoples derived their arts,
sciences, customs, and opinions. It will be seen that in every case
where Plato gives us any information in this respect as to
Atlantis, we find this agreement to exist. It existed in
architecture, sculpture, navigation, engraving, writing, an
established priesthood, the mode of worship, agriculture, the
construction of roads and canals; and it is reasonable to suppose
that the, same correspondence extended down to all the minor
details treated of in this chapter.

14

SEEING THE BIG PICTURE

Most of the important information about
Atlantis is found in Plato’s story. There we learned that Atlantis
was a complex, advanced civilization that flourished up to about
11,500 years ago before it was destroyed by a cataclysmic act of
nature. His description of its terrain features match the actual
features well enough to find them on a map and compare them.
However, he is not the only one who wrote about Atlantis; fragments
of the story and brief references to it are found in various other
ancient texts as well. Also, this is not the only book that claims
Atlantis was in the Americas. Many other researchers make similar
claims and have the evidence necessary to support their claims.
Search for the other books online.

As the city on the plain grew, another city
developed, which evolved to become the largest city in the kingdom
by the time Atlantis was destroyed. This was the new city of
Atlantis, and it was much larger than the one on the Florida Plain.
We know it now as Mexico City.

After the destruction of Atlantis, survivors
and observers on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean wrote about the
event based on stories they heard, which were passed down through
the oral tradition. For the most part, they were putting together
stories to explain what they thought had happened. When the stories
entered the oral tradition, they changed over the years. Most of
the changes were influenced by religion, superstition, and
mythology and were probably written down many years after the
devastation took place. Nobody knew what really happened, but every
culture around the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Basin has
stories about the Great Flood.

Researchers who are now looking for clues
about Atlantis must assume that the people who put together the
original stories did not know what really happened because they
were not directly involved with the incident or they were not close
enough to the disaster to know what really happened. Because of
this, all the information they provided and the stories they told
should be considered as potentially unreliable while still serving
as valuable background information, which can be used to build the
bigger picture.

This book sets the stage for science to come
in later. Scientists researching Atlantis in the future can build
on this and other information from other sources to improve the big
picture with finer details regarding Atlantis. As more credible
information becomes available, a new story will be written.
Eventually, a theory should emerge through the academic peer-review
process. In the meantime, we can look to Plato’s story, which is
supported by circumstantial evidence from various sources.