Atlantis Bolivia - page 3, Bolivian legend of Atlantis and the discovery of "America"

The Atlantic Island, also called "Atlantis", remained lost from knowledge until 1492 when rediscovered by Christoper Columbus sailing west in an attempt to reach the Indies.
Columbus had with him a map and believed he had reached what he called the "Indias" but Americo Vespucci was first to identify the newly discovered lands as a "new" continent, or "New World"

the New World

Atlantis opposite Pillars of Hercules
The continent opposite the Pillars of Hercules which Columbus found was considered a "New World" by Amerigo Vespucci.

In 1507 the German cartographer Waldseemuller produced a world map on twelve panels which included the newly found continent. He decided to name the continent "America" in honour of the navigator Amerigo Vespucci who was first to recognise that the continent was a continent in it's own right, instead of being part of Asia as Columbus had thought.

america waldseemuller
Panel 1 has an inscription....

beyond the stars

map america 2

america2

So the newly discovered continent came to be called America, but at the same time many people thought that what Christopher Columbus had in fact discovered was Atlantis, also known as "the Atlantic Island". The first book to mention this was "The History of the Indies" [27]by Franciso Lopez de Gomara. Published in 1552, the book was banned the following year and not reprinted until 1727.

The next book to definitivly state that South America was Atlantis was "The Discovery and History of Peru" by Agustín Zarate, (1556) who also stated that Plato's "years" were not "years" but "months". "So far Plato, although he says a little later that nine thousand years before he wrote the power of the waters so increased in those seas that in a day and a night the island was submerged, drowning the lands and population, and leaving the sea so full of mud-banks and shallows, that it was never navigable again. No one could then travel to the other islands or to the mainland. All commentators on Plato accept this history as true. The majority, Marsiglio Ficino and Plantin in particular, deny that it is an allegory, though some give it an allegorical sense, as Marsiglio himself mentions in his Notes on the Timaeus. Plato's computation of nine thousand years is no argument that it is a fable; for according to Eudoxus these were not solar but lunar years, reckoned by the Egyptian calendar. The time was therefore nine thousand months or seven hundred and fifty years"

"The islands mentioned by Plato as visited by traders are surely Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Jamaica and others in that region; and the mainland facing them is what we know today as the Tierra Firme and all its provinces, starting from the Magellan straits and running north to the land of Peru, the province of Popayan, Castilla de Oro, Veragua, Nicaragua, Guatemala, New Spain, the Seven Cities, Florida and the Cod islands, and running up from there to join Norway. Beyond all doubt, there is more land here than in all the populated earth known to us before its discovery. And it is not difficult to understand why it was not discovered before now by the Romans or other nations which at various times occupied Spain. For we must suppose that the seas remained so rough as to prevent navigation."

"I believe it was Plato's authority that led to the discovery of these lands, and that they can certainly be identified with the mainland of which he speaks. For they show all the signs that he attributes to his continent, particularly that of being close to the true sea, which is what we now properly call the Southern Sea. For so far as we have sailed it at present, the whole Mediterranean and so much as we know of the ocean vulgarly called the Northern Sea are by comparison rivers." [30]

This was also repeated in "The History of the Incas" [29] written by the great historian and classical scholar Sarmiento de Gamboa following an official inquest into the true history of the Incas with the backing of the Viceroy of Peru. Sarmiento de Gamboa's book clearly states that South America was Atlantis and at the time he was writing was known by the names of "the western Indies of Castile or America also called Atlanticus or the Atlantic Island". So the continent was also known sometimes as "New Castile", "New Spain" or "Atlanticus", or "the Atlantic island", then latterly, "America". Sarmiento de Gamboa's book was sent to Philip II, king of Spain in 1572 and never heard of again being LOST for 300 years until it was discovered in a library in Germany in 1893 and republished in 1906.

atlantis island

We are all familiar with Atlantis being called "Atlantis", which allows its modern displacement to such places as Thera which is totally unconnected with the original description. But going back for example to an early translation by Henry Davis (1854), the island is merely called "the Atlantic island."

the Atlantic island

The first map to show South America as Atlantis appears to be that of Sebastian Münster as part of his Cosmografia.

sebastian munster map of atlantis insula
above, Map of the New World by Sebastian Münster, 1540. Beneath the word "ORBIS", it says "Insula Atlantica" meaning "Atlantic Island"

sebastian munster map of atlantis insula
above, later edition, Map of the New World by Sebastian Münster, 1561, showing the name "Insula Atlantica" - "Atlantic Island"

detail of sebastian munster map of atlantis insula
above, Detail of the Münster map showing the New World , it appears to say the "Atlantic Island, also known as Brasil or America".

guillermo sanson map of atlantis insula
The "Atlantis Insula" or map of "Atlantis Island" by French cartographer Guillermo Sanson, 1661.

The Atlantis Island remained a popular name and was shown as such on maps made by the French cartographer Nicolas Sanson and further embellished with the Atlantis legend by his son Guillermo Sanson in Paris in the years around 1661.

But then following the Declaration of Independence by the United States in 1776 the name "America" became universally adopted and the name of Atlantis forgotten until resurrected in modern times.

independence delaration

No attention was given to the fact that the southern continent already had an indigenous name given by the Incas before the Conquest. Their name for the continent was "Tahuantinsuyo" meaning "land of the four quarters".

tahuantinsuyo
Location of Atlantis and Antisuyo in the empire of Tahuantinsuyo

atlantis antisuyo

Atl is an Aztec word meaning "water" and the combination of "atl" and "antis" an excellent name for this continent since large parts of it are in fact under water in the wet season with severe flooding throughout Amazonia and Beni regions.

amazon basin flooded
This satellite imaging photos shows how large parts of Amazonia are under water in the wet season.

amazon apurimac flooded amazon flooded
South America is a watery continent in the wet season and the rivers are vital arteries for transportation.
The "atl" meaning "water" part of Atlantis is aptly named....

Antis is an Inca word meaning "copper" which could refer to the abundance of copper on the continent or the people themselves who are also copper coloured and a tribe of natives living to this day on the eastern slopes of Peru are known as the "Antis". The very name of the Andes themselves is also thought to be a corruption of the word "Antis" and one of the quarters of the Inca Empire was called "Antisuyo" meaning the kingdom of the Antis.

antisuyo
Atlantis and the Kingdom of the Antis in Antisuyo at the time of the Inca empire.

antis indians antisuyo
Antis indians of 1869, Peru



Now if we go to the "Atlantic Island", as described above, and we go to the region bordering on the Antis as described above, we find that most remarkable of all, a Bolivian legend called "The Legend of the Desaguadero" tells of a city on the edge of a lake, punished by the gods and submerged by the sea, in exactly the same manner as Plato's.

legend of the Desaguadero

In the Bolivian legend, Tunupa, the Aymara god also known in Quechua (language of the Incas) as Pachacamac or Viracocha was the Andean god of the waterways, lakes and rivers (i.e. the sea god) and a teacher of mankind - just as in Greek legend the equivalent god was Poseidon.

bolivian legend bolivian legend legend of the Desaguadero

Tunupa/Pachacamac tried to persuade the people from their degenerate ways but failed so the chief of the gods decided to punish the city and sent against it thunder, lightning and storms and it sank beneath the rising waters of the sea (lake).

Tunupa/Pachacamac was cast adrift in Lake Titicaca in a reed boat, but the boat travelled to the south bursting through the southern shore of lake Titicaca and opening up a waterway which became the River Desaguadero until Tunupa/Pachacamac arrived at Pampa Aullagas where he disappeared beneath the waters of the lake.

tunupa in lago Poopo near Pampa Aullagas
Tunupa disappears beneath the waters of Lake Poopo near Pampa Aullagas

There are local variations of the story and in the region of Pampa Aullagas it is said that Tunupa later re-appeared in female form and married a god who lived on a nearby hill, later creating the ringed formations at Pampa Aullagas (just as in Plato's story, Poseidon married a woman who lived on a hill and created the ringed defences of Atlantis). So here we have the origin of Plato's legend of Atlantis - an adaptation of a Bolivian Legend.


When the waters from Lake Titicaca rushed south, they would have destroyed everything in a giant tsunami...

rene rojas Legends of Bolivia
Above, the city is punished by the chief of the Gods,
Illustration from "Legends of Bolivia" by Rene Rojas

click for legends page

Also in Plato's version, the wife of Poseidon had five pairs of twin sons and in Inca legend, after a great flood, Viracocha "adopted" five pairs of sons. Viracocha incidentally means "Spume of the Sea". Other legends say the first Incas were born as pairs of brothers/sisters.
So the first inhabitants of Atlantis were born in pairs and the Inca historian Guaman de Poma tells us the first inhabitants of the Andes were born in pairs.
Additionally, The Aymara kingdoms which existed on the Altiplano also existed in pairs, they were twin kingdoms.

orichalcum twins
orichalcum twins - twins are a common theme in the Andes

sailing to pampa aullagas
remains of Atlantis, at Pampa Aullagas, "the mountain that was low on all sides."

Atlantis on the Altiplano by Lee Smart
Artist's impression "Atlantis on the Altiplano" by Major Lee Smart


Atlantis at Pampa Aullagas, Artist's illustration from "Atlas of Atlantis" - click for this recommended book which presents the various theories, background and locations proposed for Atlantis.



In the region around lake Titicaca, legends talk of a city submerged beneath the waters of the lake. Previous diving attempts revealed nothing, but in the year 2,000 the Akakor expedition discovered ancient walls submerged under lake Titicaca.

Akakor expedition finds 660ft long temple under Lake Titicaca

Then in the year 2004 Akakor returned to Bolivia and found more walls beneath Lake Titicaca.

In 2009, a press release by the Akakor expeditions related discoveries under Lake Titicaca to Atlantis.
akakor expedition Akakor video footage    transcription of akakor video

Quote "At 120 meters depth we discovered roads and containing walls (probably used for agricultural purposes), all of which go back to 6,000 years ago....." Akakor Press release 2004... click here

If walls were found beneath Lake Titicaca which date back to 4,000BC then certainly there must have been people
in other parts of the Altiplano at the same time so currently accepted dating for the region must be wrong....

So now we have the possibility of a city sunken beneath lake Titicaca which would push civilisation in the Andes back several thousands of years, but there is also the recent discovery of pyramids at Caral in Peru which date to 2627BC, contemporary with the oldest pyramids in Egypt and older than Cheop's Great Pyramid in Egypt. Even more recently, remains of a 5,500 yrs old plaza were uncovered. In other words, at the same time as the ancient civilisation of Egypt, there was also an ancient civilisation in the Americas.

caral plaza
click for Caral wikipedia article      click for Caral oldest city in New World article

Coming back to a region nearer to the Altiplano, mummies found near Arica in Chile are also older than the oldest mummies in Egypt. Similarities also exist in the type of boats made of reeds found in Bolivia, Egypt and Mesopotamia.


reed ship    reedship
Above (left) drawing of a reed ship from a cave in the Egyptian Eastern desert
Above (right) model of a traditional Bolivian reed ship from the museum in La Paz

A large stone bowl found on the shores of Lake Titicaca also suggests an ancient connection between the Andes and Mesopotamia since it is covered in proto-Sumerian writing.


fuente magna    fuente magna
The discovery of the Fuente Magna, a large stone dish covered in proto-cuneiform writing from the shores of LAKE TITICACA offers two possibilities. One, that it was brought to the Andes by the proto-Sumerians, or two, that the Sumerians themselves originated here. Click for original report

fuente magna
Fuente Magna NEW PHOTOS

There is a mindset that totally denies any possibility that any of the Ancients could have crossed the oceans and that there could have been some contact at any time between the ancient Americas and the "Old World". But the similarity of artefacts found in the ancient Americas and in the Old World suggests there was indeed at some times or at various times contact. Take for example the amphoras shown below. The amphora is a common Mediterranean object, yet the reader may be surprised to learn that of the examples below, the oldest comes from China. There again, if the reader had to guess which examples came from the Old World and which from the New World, it would be a difficult task due to their similarity.

Yet if we say that some examples are from China and some Roman or Greek, that is acceptable and logical because it is acceptable that an idea such as an amphora could spread from China to the Mediterranean or vice versa. But it seems not acceptable that an idea could spread from China to the ancient Americas, mainly because it is not written about in the history books.


above left, stone age pre-Columbian axe, Bolivia, right, axe from Cyprus 1100BC.


above, left, typical Peruvian pottery, above right typical Andean pottery found in CYPRUS and believed to have been imported between 1650 and 1050BC.
Artefacts, click here to see more artefacts and where they were found...

When the conquistadors arrived off the coast of Peru, they found the native Americans using giant sea-going rafts which instead of using keels and rudders, controlled the direction of the vessel by means of retractable dagger boards (F and G above), a system unknown at the time in Europe.

At a time when Europeans were using inefficient square sails, native Americans used triangular sails which could sail better to windward and which later became the basis for the "Bermudan" sailing rig popular in today's sailing yachts...


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