The holy grail of archaeology
By Alex Mita

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AMERICAN researcher Robert Sarmast yesterday officially launched an expedition that he hopes will result in the discovery of the lost island of Atlantis. The launch of the expedition is expected to be marked today when the scientists submerge a copper canister with the flags of Cyprus, the EU and a specially designed Atlantis flag five hours out at sea from Limassol port.

At a news conference aboard the vessel that will take the team of experts to a submerged continental shelf – where he believes was the plain of Atlantis – Sarmast said the search for the lost island was the holy grail of archaeology.

“After years of research, and having developed the most accurate maps and models of the eastern Mediterranean seafloor, we believe that we have found Plato’s legendary island of Atlantis and we aim to prove it this summer,” he said.

“This discovery is the holy grail of all archaeological discoveries and the ramifications are due to be staggering. The world could never be the same after this discovery. We celebrate the joining of Cyprus with the EU with this flag ceremony and we are going to sail over the area where we believe the cities of Atlantis were located.”

Sarmast said he believed Atlantis was located about 1,500 metres below water, just a short distance east of Cyprus.

“Once there, we are going to lower this copper capsule which is going to contain the flags of Cyprus, the EU and a flag bearing the symbol of Atlantis,” he said.

“We are going to lower it down to the seafloor around where the cities of Atlantis are located to commemorate this event. It will remain there and we hope some day in the future the world will once again find it and remember this day long after we hopefully discovered the temples of Atlantis.”

Sarmast said the $250,000 plus expedition was set to begin in June and would take place in different phases, through the collaborative efforts of the Cyprus based company EDT, and through the American based company Phoenix, along with other marine specialists from around the world.

In her speech, Yiorgoulla Lori of the Cyprus Tourism Organisation said the CTO welcomed the project that linked Cyprus with Atlantis.

“If this is proved, this is going to be a great event and a great discovery for Cyprus,” she said.

“Today we celebrate the link of Atlantis and Cyprus but also the island’s accession to the EU.”

Sarmast said the cities of Atlantis were numerous, with a group of them located on a rectangular plain that currently stretches from the south-eastern side of Cyprus to the shores of Syria.

“The main city we are going to be looking for is just about half way between Cyprus and Syria,” he said.

“We are going to cover about 150 to 200 square kilometres and we are going to have specialists from America that will operate a Remote Operated Vehicle (ROV), a robot equipped with cameras and arms.

“The ROV is capable of going all the way down to 6,000 metres and it’s one of the best in the world. (When submerged), the ROV will send back video footage and will take snapshots and we will use its arms to bring back any finds,” he added.

Sarmast said the search for Atlantis would be based on a series of clues left by Plato, including a very detailed description of the island as it was told by an ancient Egyptian priest to Solon, who in turn brought the story to Greece.

“We know exactly what this island looked like,” he said.

“There was a long rectangular plain that was at the foothills of this island, that stretched in an east west direction, and we know that the main cities were located near the middle of the plain.

“Not only do we have a match with the island but we also found a rectangular plain, and to our surprise we also found a pyramidal hill in the middle of this plain that matches the description of the Acropolis hill.

“The level of matches is beyond a scale where you can say it’s just coincidental. We have the exact co-ordinates of the Acropolis hill, which is where the main temples and structures where located.”

Sarmast said the structures would be preserved at that depth due to the lack of oxygen and sunlight, something that would increase the odds of finding them and filming them to prove the island existed.

“We are not just looking for a ship or a small item but an entire city,” he said.

“All we really have to do is to film a cut-stone block or a megalithic structure that’s laid out in some geometrical shape of a building on the sea floor.

“We are not looking to retrieve anything although maybe we can bring a little piece of rock or something of a wall, but our aim is to film it.

“If all goes well we’ll be bringing you good news about the greatest archaeological discovery in human history in the near future and we will inaugurate the dawn of a new era of knowledge for human kind.”

Copyright © Cyprus Mail 2004.