Paul Schliemann
November 16, 1924
(Hoax)
|
NOTE |
In 1912, an individual claiming to be the grandson of Heinrich Schliemann published a hoax in the New York American detailing his alleged discovery of proof of Atlantis. The article was a hoax and its author, going by the name Paul Schliemann, was most likely an impostor (though some claim he was an illegitimate descendant of Heinrich). In 1924, someone claiming to be the same Paul Schliemann, though now claiming to be Heinrich's son, published a new hoax with further spurious evidence of Atlantis. Long locked away under restrictive United States copyright laws, this is the first republication of Schliemann's second Atlantis hoax, as it appeared in the South Bend Tribune on November 16, 1924. Note: The African "towers" Schliemann claims were built on the continent's west coast by Atlantis are actually the stelae at Axum in Ethiopia, on the eastern side of Africa, built in the fourth century CE.
|
The article as it appeared in 1924. Text transcribed below.
AMAZING NEW LIGHT
ON THE WORLD’S LOST CONTINENT
Professor Schliemann Brings From the Atlantic's Depths
What He Thinks Actual Relics of Mysterious Atlantis,
the Land the Ocean Is Supposed to Have Submerged
|
The late Professor E. Schliemann was famous not only for his discovery and excavation of the ruins of ancient Troy, but also for the remarkable theories he fathered concerning the long-lost continent, Atlantis, which he believed to have existed in prehistoric times somewhere between Africa and America.
Since the death of the elder Schliemann his researches concerning Atlantis have been continued on a broader scale by his son, Professor Paul Schliemann. For fifteen years the latter has been devoting himself to this subject, and in a book soon to be published in Germany he will present for the first time the results of his work. The article by Professor Schliemann presented on this page to-day is a summary of some of the more important facts to be presented to the world in his forthcoming volume. What he has to say, particularly concerning the relics he claims to have recovered from the depths of the Atlantic, is sure to stir the interest even of scientists who have heretofore been disinclined to credit the existence of Atlantis. Professor Schliemann visited America some, years ago and spent a long time trying to trace a connection between the ancient civilizations of Central America and Atlantis. At present he is on the western coast of Africa, pursuing his researches about the continent which he believes to have been the cradle of the human race and to have been sunk ages ago beneath the waters of the Atlantic. |
By Prof. Paul Schliemann,
The Noted German Archaeologist
Several years ago I declared my belief that the world’s lost continent, the so-called Atlantis, lay between the western coast of Africa and the eastern coast of Central and South America and was long ago submerged by the Atlantic.
At that time, I had only archæological theories resulting from a comparison of different art objects to support my belief. Now, however, as a result of a long series of submarine explorations, I am able to support it with many pieces of evidence which have been brought up from the ocean’s depths—from the lost continent itself.
All my later study and investigation add strength to my original belief that until 20,000 years ago or perhaps much longer ago a vast territory stretched between the Africa and American continents.
Whether this was one unbroken expanse of land, a continent or a land bridge, or a chain of innumerable volcanic islands, cannot yet be determined; but I have no doubt that in prehistoric times the volcanic plateau which now forms the Atlantic’s bed in this region was a inhabited part of the earth’s surface—a great area that was later submerged by some tremendous cataclysm.
I have succeeded in bringing up from the tops of the undersea mountains, relics which prove that once upon a time they were inhabited by men and animals of the same species now found in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas.
In fact, I believe that this long vanished land was the actual cradle of the human race, the first home of our aboriginal ancestors, the place from which they eventually spread all over the earth. Here it was that man originated and made his first amazing progress toward culture.
I have discovered and photographed on the tops of the undersea mountains the walls of certain caves that show every evidence of having once been inhabited by men. On the top of one rocky mountain, about 40 feet under water, I discovered fragments or a remarkably well-preserved cave temple, the walls of which were engraved with instruments either of stone or metal. The architecture and decorations of this temple show that whoever built it had a highly developed taste and a good understanding of the principles of engineering.
The Noted German Archaeologist
Several years ago I declared my belief that the world’s lost continent, the so-called Atlantis, lay between the western coast of Africa and the eastern coast of Central and South America and was long ago submerged by the Atlantic.
At that time, I had only archæological theories resulting from a comparison of different art objects to support my belief. Now, however, as a result of a long series of submarine explorations, I am able to support it with many pieces of evidence which have been brought up from the ocean’s depths—from the lost continent itself.
All my later study and investigation add strength to my original belief that until 20,000 years ago or perhaps much longer ago a vast territory stretched between the Africa and American continents.
Whether this was one unbroken expanse of land, a continent or a land bridge, or a chain of innumerable volcanic islands, cannot yet be determined; but I have no doubt that in prehistoric times the volcanic plateau which now forms the Atlantic’s bed in this region was a inhabited part of the earth’s surface—a great area that was later submerged by some tremendous cataclysm.
I have succeeded in bringing up from the tops of the undersea mountains, relics which prove that once upon a time they were inhabited by men and animals of the same species now found in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas.
In fact, I believe that this long vanished land was the actual cradle of the human race, the first home of our aboriginal ancestors, the place from which they eventually spread all over the earth. Here it was that man originated and made his first amazing progress toward culture.
I have discovered and photographed on the tops of the undersea mountains the walls of certain caves that show every evidence of having once been inhabited by men. On the top of one rocky mountain, about 40 feet under water, I discovered fragments or a remarkably well-preserved cave temple, the walls of which were engraved with instruments either of stone or metal. The architecture and decorations of this temple show that whoever built it had a highly developed taste and a good understanding of the principles of engineering.
Bas-reliefs found in a cave-temple where Prof. Schliemann believes the people of Atlantis worshipped--now a part of the ocean's bed.
My first discovery in the deep sea research was a huge square rock tablet covered with a thick layer of sea salt and shell animal. After cleaning it I found, a bas-relief of five running figures, a remarkably harmonic and well designed composition. It showed that it was broken loose from a great wall, evidences of which we found here and there on the bottom of the ocean.
About a mile or to further away we discovered another similar bas-relief of two running men and an animal between them. This tablet was of the same volcanic granite of which the whole bottom of the ocean in this region is formed. Both tablets gave every evidence of having originated in this region and not ben brought their from some other land.
About fifty miles east of the spot where I discovered the latter of the two tablets I came upon a plateau that is only thirty feet under the water. Here I came upon a strange rock, upon which are deeply engraved figures of animals and a sea devil. At first I thought these might have been formed thus by the action of the water on the rock, but rather Investigation proved them the work of some prehistoric artist.
The whole formation of the rocky sea bottom indicates some volcanic disturbance, but I was unable to destroy all traces of human and animal life. It is very difficult to study the sea bottom. We are limited to the depths divers can reach. We know practically nothing of the deepest valleys of the ocean. Even at a depth of one mile everything is a mystery.
About a mile or to further away we discovered another similar bas-relief of two running men and an animal between them. This tablet was of the same volcanic granite of which the whole bottom of the ocean in this region is formed. Both tablets gave every evidence of having originated in this region and not ben brought their from some other land.
About fifty miles east of the spot where I discovered the latter of the two tablets I came upon a plateau that is only thirty feet under the water. Here I came upon a strange rock, upon which are deeply engraved figures of animals and a sea devil. At first I thought these might have been formed thus by the action of the water on the rock, but rather Investigation proved them the work of some prehistoric artist.
The whole formation of the rocky sea bottom indicates some volcanic disturbance, but I was unable to destroy all traces of human and animal life. It is very difficult to study the sea bottom. We are limited to the depths divers can reach. We know practically nothing of the deepest valleys of the ocean. Even at a depth of one mile everything is a mystery.
Prof. Schliemann's reconstruction of the wonderful beauties of the rock temples which he discovered in what he believes to be the sunken land of Atlantis, now far below the ocean's surface.
The most astounding discovery of my deep-sea explorations was a mountain peak, on the side of which I came upon the remnants of a rock temple. All that remains is a small portion of what must have been a spacious and elaborate affair. Whit I saw was evidently one of the smaller chambers, with huge carved pillars, niches and vaults, that led deeper and deeper into the rock. The floor was covered with the fragments of primitive art objects, all covered with a yellow coating-of the deep-sea sediments.
Here was one of the places where the people of the lost Atlantis worshiped their gods. Now it is inhabited by devilfish and other ghastly creatures of the ocean’s depths.
Standing at the entrance of this ruined rock temple I was for a moment overcome by the idea that here I stood probably at the threshold of a gateway into evolutionary mysteries and confronted a sanctuary of men of whose existence we know nothing.
That this had been a place of worship was evident from its serene style of construction and its symbolic decorations. Besides, there were no traces of any household or kitchen utensils. If not a temple, this could have been only a courthouse or the seat of some other governmental activity. Near one of the Volcanic peaks, which must have been among the highest of the submerged land, we came upon many pieces of statuary and tablets. The most remarkable of them was the statue of a man so coated with the sea’s sediment and so worn by the ceaseless action of the waves that its original outlines were barely distinguishable.
Now let me come back to the earth and tell of the things that I discovered on the African and the Central American coasts adjacent to the region where Atlantis lie submerged.
First of all, I find that the excavated art objects of Central America land Africa show a remarkable similarity in workmanship and style. Take, for instance, the art objects that Frobenius discovered on the west coast of Africa and those that I discovered in Yucatan, say, of 3000 B.C. They are so much alike that you would think the same artist had carved them all. The more ancient the art of Africa and America the more similar it is.
The figure of a sleeping queen discovered in Central America by me and dating back to 2000 B.C. is almost a replica of the sculptures of the same period. The monster idols! discovered in the sand of Sahara by the German Expedition are almost copies of similar idols discovered in the ruins of ancient temples in and resemble closely those that I discovered in the ruined caves under the Atlantic Ocean. Who can explain the cause of their close similarity?
The German explorer Lehmann discovered that in prehistoric times a magnificently built highway led from the interior of Central America to the very ocean coast as if it formed part of a route to some lands beyond the sea. In the same way found two well built highways leading from the interior of Africa to the west coast of the ocean and ending abruptly on the water’s edge.
What was the meaning of such roads in, say, the year 6000 B.C.? Who were the men who had the Intelligence and skill to build them?
On the west coast of Africa stand to-day ruins of huge rock towers, very much like our lighthouses; that date back to unknown ages. They seem to indicate that the inhabitants of the coast were the habit of communicating with some; other men far out the ocean.
But navigation, according to our knowledge, did not exist in those primitive days. Then why the light- houses? Who built them, and what purpose? All these are some of the many things that lead me to maintain that Atlantis was a reality and I that a comparatively high state of civilization existed there in what we call the Stone Age, when the rest of the world was still in savagery. Its people were the first to attain any degree of culture, and they spread their ideas both to the east and west. Only this, it seems to me, can explain the similarity between the art of the two hemispheres in ancient times.
The pyramids of Egypt and the pyramids of Central America are universally known replicas of each other. On the stones of those pyramids are engraved hieroglyphics which resemble each other closely and can be deciphered by means of one and the same hieroglyphical key. Fragments of similar hieroglyph-covered rock tablets are to be found on the mountain tops of the submerged land in the Atlantic Ocean. They seem Ito differ only because of their greater age.
Some years ago there was discovered under one of the pyramids of Mexico a wooden mask incrusted with mosaic of turquoise carrying upon it a snake curiously coiled land twisted. This remarkable example of prehistoric art now in British Museum.
The masks is a cleverly executed mosaic, the serpent body being distinguished from the rest by being a brighter blue. It represents a god of the Aztecs. The feathered serpent is clearly indicated by the rattles bf the snake which appear above it. It is a crude copy of similar mask which I found deep down in the Atlantic Ocan, about 300 miles off the African coast.
I have sufficient evidence to make me believe that the lost land between Africa and America was the aboriginal cradle of human, and perhaps the higher animal, life. From this region, after they had developed info sufficiently automotoric organic beings, they emigrated to all parts of the world. The first man was evolved on Atlantis.
Here was one of the places where the people of the lost Atlantis worshiped their gods. Now it is inhabited by devilfish and other ghastly creatures of the ocean’s depths.
Standing at the entrance of this ruined rock temple I was for a moment overcome by the idea that here I stood probably at the threshold of a gateway into evolutionary mysteries and confronted a sanctuary of men of whose existence we know nothing.
That this had been a place of worship was evident from its serene style of construction and its symbolic decorations. Besides, there were no traces of any household or kitchen utensils. If not a temple, this could have been only a courthouse or the seat of some other governmental activity. Near one of the Volcanic peaks, which must have been among the highest of the submerged land, we came upon many pieces of statuary and tablets. The most remarkable of them was the statue of a man so coated with the sea’s sediment and so worn by the ceaseless action of the waves that its original outlines were barely distinguishable.
Now let me come back to the earth and tell of the things that I discovered on the African and the Central American coasts adjacent to the region where Atlantis lie submerged.
First of all, I find that the excavated art objects of Central America land Africa show a remarkable similarity in workmanship and style. Take, for instance, the art objects that Frobenius discovered on the west coast of Africa and those that I discovered in Yucatan, say, of 3000 B.C. They are so much alike that you would think the same artist had carved them all. The more ancient the art of Africa and America the more similar it is.
The figure of a sleeping queen discovered in Central America by me and dating back to 2000 B.C. is almost a replica of the sculptures of the same period. The monster idols! discovered in the sand of Sahara by the German Expedition are almost copies of similar idols discovered in the ruins of ancient temples in and resemble closely those that I discovered in the ruined caves under the Atlantic Ocean. Who can explain the cause of their close similarity?
The German explorer Lehmann discovered that in prehistoric times a magnificently built highway led from the interior of Central America to the very ocean coast as if it formed part of a route to some lands beyond the sea. In the same way found two well built highways leading from the interior of Africa to the west coast of the ocean and ending abruptly on the water’s edge.
What was the meaning of such roads in, say, the year 6000 B.C.? Who were the men who had the Intelligence and skill to build them?
On the west coast of Africa stand to-day ruins of huge rock towers, very much like our lighthouses; that date back to unknown ages. They seem to indicate that the inhabitants of the coast were the habit of communicating with some; other men far out the ocean.
But navigation, according to our knowledge, did not exist in those primitive days. Then why the light- houses? Who built them, and what purpose? All these are some of the many things that lead me to maintain that Atlantis was a reality and I that a comparatively high state of civilization existed there in what we call the Stone Age, when the rest of the world was still in savagery. Its people were the first to attain any degree of culture, and they spread their ideas both to the east and west. Only this, it seems to me, can explain the similarity between the art of the two hemispheres in ancient times.
The pyramids of Egypt and the pyramids of Central America are universally known replicas of each other. On the stones of those pyramids are engraved hieroglyphics which resemble each other closely and can be deciphered by means of one and the same hieroglyphical key. Fragments of similar hieroglyph-covered rock tablets are to be found on the mountain tops of the submerged land in the Atlantic Ocean. They seem Ito differ only because of their greater age.
Some years ago there was discovered under one of the pyramids of Mexico a wooden mask incrusted with mosaic of turquoise carrying upon it a snake curiously coiled land twisted. This remarkable example of prehistoric art now in British Museum.
The masks is a cleverly executed mosaic, the serpent body being distinguished from the rest by being a brighter blue. It represents a god of the Aztecs. The feathered serpent is clearly indicated by the rattles bf the snake which appear above it. It is a crude copy of similar mask which I found deep down in the Atlantic Ocan, about 300 miles off the African coast.
I have sufficient evidence to make me believe that the lost land between Africa and America was the aboriginal cradle of human, and perhaps the higher animal, life. From this region, after they had developed info sufficiently automotoric organic beings, they emigrated to all parts of the world. The first man was evolved on Atlantis.
Source: Paul Schliemann, "Amazing New Lights on the Ocean's Lost Continent," South Bend Tribune, November 16, 1924, 38.
