Is Atlantis related to the green Sahara?

Abstract

Most scholars take Atlantis as Plato’s invention to promote his political ideal articulated in his masterwork The Republic. This paper points out that the green Sahara period encompasses the time of Atlantis according to Plato’s records. The transitions between the green Sahara and desert Sahara were controlled by the water cycle stability in the Atlas Basin, an area fitting all the features of the Atlas Empire as described in Plato’s Timaeus and Critias. The historical account of Atlantis by Plato is compared with the newly identified site, the timelines of climate changes, a likely hydrological process, and the geographical profiles in the Atlas Basin.