Lost Ancient Cities What drives people to spend most of their lives looking for places like Atlantis? Is it the chance a great treasure might be found? Maybe, but many of the places are being searched for just for the prestige and of course a book deal doesn’t hurt. What ever the reason, probably the most searched lost city in history, if it ever existed, is Atlantis. During a dig which is said to have reached 200 feet deep an ancient city was found which was estimated to be about 3,000 years old. No, it was not Atlantis, it was Akrotin. What was so much more exciting to the archaeologists than just finding an ancient city was the fact paintings were found which seem to be of Atlantis. The city had been covered with a blanket of ash from a nearby volcano, preserving much of the city. But wait, this discovery took place in the mid-1850s and we still haven’t found Atlantis. The paintings are interesting however and seem to be of a lost civilization. Every few years someone thinks they have discovered the lost city of Atlantis, only to find out they were wrong. Sometimes we don’t even hear they were wrong but hear nothing at all after that. Another famous lost city is the city of Z which is supposed to be somewhere in the Brazilian jungle. The lost city became somewhat famous when Percy Fawcett, a British explorer found a document known as Manuscript 512. The document was found in the National Library of Brazil and was dated 1753. It was believed a sailor named João da Silva Guimarães and others found the ruins of an incredible lost city. After World War I Fawcett went looking for the city but became ill and had to return. Five years later he went back with his son, but they disappeared into the jungle and were never seen again. Explorers have been looking for the Kingdom of Lyonesse, which is a lost kingdom with quite a story. Supposedly it was on a piece of land which stretched from the tip of Cornwall in England to what is now the Isles of Scilly. In case you have never heard of the Isles of Scilly, they are an archipelago off the southern tip of Cornwall. They have nothing to do with Sicily in Italy. Today it is believed Lyonesse is a mythical place by many, but there are still those who think it may have existed. Supposedly it was said by some to exist but sank under the sea. Remember Troy was also thought to be mythical until it was found. I believe most of us have heard of El Dorado. El Dorado strict translation means the golden one, but most call it the city of gold. Some say this city never existed because it was originally a legend about a mythical chief known as Zipa, who was the chief of the Muisca people. It is said he used to cover himself in gold dust and then dunk himself in Lake Guatavita. Many claim over time this was a myth which was converted from a chief to a city somehow. This certainly didn’t stop explorers from looking for El Dorado. Sir Walter Raleigh formed two expeditions to look for it but was unsuccessful. Spanish conquistadors looked for it and they never found it either. Kalahari is another lost city which has been searched for. In the year 1885 a man named Guillermo Farini decided to explore the Kalahari Desert located in Southern Africa. When he returned, he had photographs with him which were said to show ruins he had discovered. One of the problems was Farini was an entertainer and was called “The Great Farini.” Nothing against entertainers, but the question is, was he drumming up business, because he wrote papers and a book about the place? He went on to say the ruins stretched almost a mile. Many expeditions went to the area without luck. Even the grandparents of Elon Musk searched for it. One ancient city which some believe to have existed is Camelot. If that name looks familiar to you, it should. It was supposedly the home of the legendary King Arthur. Most scholars think it never existed, but there are some who believe the Arthur legend and believe Camelot was a city located somewhere inside Great Britain. No searcher has ever found it and there is no solid evidence for where in Great Britain it might have been located. The island of Aztlan is said to be the homeland of the Aztec people before they came to what today is Mexico City. Supposedly it would have one or more cities on it. There are those who do not believe it ever existed, but also those who believe it did. Searches have been conducted from Western Mexico, all the way to Utah in the United States but nothing has ever been found. The word Aztec means the land to the north. Arabia is a famous lost city in Dubai. It was said to have been swallowed up by the desert sands. The famous character Sinbad the Sailor was said to have come from there. In real life Ahmed ibn Majid a famous sailor was said to also have come from there. How many times have we heard the exotic name Arabia? Think of Lawrence of Arabia for example. Sometimes there can also be lost countries and one of these is said to be Thule. It is said Thule was an island and was located somewhere between Scandinavia and Iceland. A large area indeed. Many believe it never existed, and interestingly, some others think it was actually Norway. There is a lot of ideas on this subject of misidentification with others thinking it is Shetland or other islands. An ancient Greek explorer named Pytheas wrote about it when he sailed to it during an expedition looking for tin mines. This lends some credence to the fact it might have existed. He said in the winter the sun never rose and in summer there was no night. Plenty of ancient cities were considered lost which have been found and some were believed to have been mythical. I already told you about Troy, but there were many others. Helike, an ancient Greek city was thought to be a myth. In the 1980 in was found. Dvaraka, was rediscovered and is one of the most sacred cities for Buddhists. Caral in Peru was discovered in 1948 in Peru and declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2009. There are far too many to go into any more detail here, but I think you get the idea.
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