The Atlantean Connection

[ojai22]

There have been a couple of threads where the discussion has been turned to the Atlanteans as a possible answer to the question of just who the Lost Tribe might be.

I would like to tell you about a book that is not about Battlestar Galactica but reads as though it might well be connected to it. If the Lost Tribe supposedly taught the Mayans, the Egyptians, and the Greeks then it stands to reason that the Atlanteans could have been the Lost Tribe itself.

The book is "Romance of Atlantis" by Taylor Caldwell. I quote here from the Foreword by author Jess Stearn:


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***At the age of twelve, Janet Tayor Caldwell wrote a romance of Atlantis, a presumably legendary land that she knew nothing about. Her father, a newspaper artist, was amazed by the perception in the manuscript, its detail and insight. He sent it to the child's grandfather, a book editor, in Philadelphia. The latter, promptly horrified, suggested the manuscript be destroyed immediately. He did not feel that any child could have produced so unusually mature a work, intellectually and philosophically. The only alternative that suggested itself was that she had borrowed freely elsewhere. In a way, he was right. She had borrowed from the past, not knowing herself how she was dredging up the past.

The manuscript lay fallow for sixty years.***

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So this book was written in 1915 and wasn't published until 1975, about the time Battlestar Galactica was being born...

The story takes place during the last days of Atlantis just before it sank beneath the waves. The Empress is named Salustra, a name very close to Celestra, one the the ships of the ragtag fleet - another ship was name Atlantia. They have a Council of Twelve, which is made up of representatives of the Twelve Provinces. One of the Provinces is named Lamora - reminiscent of Gomoray. They also have electricity. Ships, planes, land vehicles.

The people have such wonderful names. Salustra has a sister named Tyrhia. It was mentioned in another thread that the new BSG villian be named Tyr (pronounced tier). There's Signar, and Zeno, Creto, Divona, Zetan, Tellan, Brittulia, Mahius, Licon, Erato.

At one time Salustra is warned if trouble comes she should flee to the east or the west. Surely there were Atlanteans that fled in both directions. Then they could easily have been the teachers of the natives on both sides of the Atlantic, as well as the progenitors of many of those that came later.

I think the Atlanteans as the Lost Tribe makes a lot of sense. More so than the Egyptians. This story makes it seem not only plausible but almost "factual."

Here is a quote from Taylor Caldwell in a Postscript dated 1974:

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***I cannot remember, at this late date, just when the idea of writing a book on Atlantis occurred to me, but after long reflection I do remember being "haunted" by it for all the short years of my life before I got down to typing it out.***

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Sometimes it sounds downright eerie!

[ojai22]

[Muffit]

Ojai, this book sounds pretty neat. I like books like that, I should try and pick it up.

There is a theory that is gaining momentum that talks about mankind losing its identity every 10,000 years or so. That's why we seem to have no history before that and they say explains why Atlantis was so advanced yet disappeared and all its knowledge was lost with it. Yet there are always a few survivors, and proponents of the theory believe Atlanteans were dispersed all over the earth, which helps account for similar architectures and sciences in distant parts of the world.

I love this kind of stuff. Thanks for sharing

[ojai22]

Recently I read an interesting post by someone and I'm sorry that I can't remember who wrote it. The post was about our space travelers finding Earth. The poster said BSG should run several years, then they should find Earth.

I never wanted the Galactica to find Earth because the journey would end and I didn't want it to end. On the other hand, I find this idea has merit. First, this would give us years of episodes to watch and I can live with that! Then we could pop in the final episode and watch them find their home whenever we wanted to give them a rest. What I am concerned with here is WHEN they find it.

The information In the above article about Atlantis I find intriguing. The Atlanteans appear to have been very advanced while, from what I have read, another continent, Lemuria, was quite primitive. Arriving at a planet and finding a beautiful continent with a warm sunny climate would have been a haven. There may have been some vague famiiarity about the people, the names, emblems, etc. Their ships would have been dismantled to be used on land. Their technology would be utilized to upgrade the life of the Atlanteans. Many of them would have gone to other lands and lived simply, glad to have soil beneath their feet for a change.

They could have lived there happily for generations before the cataclysm that changed the face of the globe would send them fleeing East or West. They would have to learn to survive, once again, in strange lands. And this new challenge would be faced with the strength and hope they had developed in their journey across the Universe. This time they would carry no technology with them. They would have only their memories to carry them onward and upward as their journey continued.

So the Egyptians and the Mayans could conceivably have been the descendents of the rag tag fleet that survived a journey across the Universe. That found a home on a shining planet called Earth. That became part of civilizations that rose and fell and rose again. That finally, scattered throughout cultures around the world they now look at a particular TV show and say, "Let it continue. Let them come home. We need them to come home."


ojai22

[ojai22]

bump

[kingfish]

Earth should remain a mystery to the colonials like in Richard's books. For the Colonials to make such a journey to find a planet that crawls before them is disheartning. That is why 1980 was so bad. The journey was made for naught. Earth had to be brought along slowly. The only other alternative would have been to have the Colonials fing the earth of the 25TH century with a society(Buck Rogers) that could help them defeat the Cylon menace. Larson could have crossed the two shows.

[ojai22]

Originally posted by Warrior
ojai, take a look at the date you intially posted this, and the date you bumped it :laugh: ONE YEAR EXACTLY!

Yer karma is ON, dear!

I had no idea! You're really sharp! I'm not finished with this thread, you know....

[Winemaster]

For me this is what sets the potential of BG apart from other series.
Having the fleet find a technically advanced earth sets the stage for a much greater story utilizing all aspects of this universe.
Patrick Macnee's intro provides the guidelines from which all the themes
should be derived from. (intro for Saga of a Starworld)
I see BG as so much more than merely a journey to find a mythical planet in order to start anew.
The finding of Earth is not the end of BG. It's the beginning of a much greater story. The destiny of all mankind.
The Atlantean 13th tribe connection is so obvious to me. It screams to be utilized to make B.G. truly great