Unknown metal ingots on shipwreck offer hint that Atlantis might be real
'Nothing similar has ever been found. We knew orichalcum from ancient texts and a few ornamental objects.'
An unknown metal said to have been used in the sunken city of Atlantis has been found on 2,600-year-old shipwreck near the coast of Sicily.
The 39 ingots of ‘orichalcum’ - described by Plato in his writings about Atlantis - are utterly unique.
'Nothing similar has ever been found,' an expert said.
Plato described Atlantis as glittering ‘with the red light of orichalcum’, and he claimed that it was mined there, and used to build huge, glinting temples to the sea god Poseidon.
Sebastiano Tusa, of Sicily's Sea Office, said, ‘The wreck dates to the first half of the sixth century. It was found about 1,000 feet from the coast at a depth of 10 feet.’
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'Nothing similar has ever been found. We knew orichalcum from ancient texts and a few ornamental objects.'
The real metal is a brass-like alloy, which was made in a crucible in ancient times.
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The ingots offer a tantalising hint that Plato’s stories of Atlantis might have been more than myth - many argue that his tale of the sunken city is ficiton, meant to illustrate his political theories.
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Plato’s account of Atlantis was written around 360BC - he describes it as bigger than Turkey and Libya put together, and claims it was a major sea power located in the Atlantic.
The philosopher wrote, ‘It was the way to the other islands, and from these you might pass to the whole of the opposite continent.’