Atlantis: The Antedeluvian WorldDonnelly, Ignatius
History
Atlantis: The Antedeluvian World
Donnelly, Ignatius
Atlantis (Legendary place); Deluge; Ethnology
The Phoenicians preserved traditions, which have come down to us in the
writings, of Sanchoniathon, of all the great essential inventions or
discoveries which underlie civilization. The first two human beings,
they tell us, were Protogonos and Aion (Adam and 'Havath), who produce
Genos and Genea (Qên and Qênath), from whom again are descended three
brothers, named Phos, Phur, and Phlox (Light, Fire, and Flame), because
they "have discovered how to produce fire by the friction of two pieces
of wood, and have taught the use of this element." In another fragment,
at the origin of the human race we see in succession the fraternal
couples of Autochthon and Technites (Adam and Quen--Cain?), inventors of
the manufacture of bricks; Agros and Agrotes (Sade and Cêd), fathers of
the agriculturists and hunters; then Amynos and Magos, "who taught to
dwell in villages and rear flocks."
The connection between these Atlantean traditions and the Bible record
is shown in many things. For instance, "the Greek text, in expressing
the invention of Amynos, uses the words kw'mas kai` poi'mnas, which are
precisely the same as the terms ôhel umiqneh, which the Bible uses in
speaking of the dwellings of the descendants of Jabal (Gen., chap. iv.,
v. 20). In like manner Lamech, both in the signification of his name and
also in the savage character attributed to him by the legend attached to
his memory, is a true synonyme of Agrotes."
"And the title of A?lh~tai, given to Agros and Agrotes in the Greek of
the Phoenician history, fits in wonderfully with the physiognomy of the
race of the Cainites in the Bible narrative, whether we take a?lh~tai
simply as a Hellenized transcription of the Semitic Elim, 'the strong,
the mighty,' or whether we take it in its Greek acceptation, 'the
wanderers;' for such is the destiny of Cain and his race according to
the very terms of the condemnation which was inflicted upon him after
his crime (Gen. iv., 14), and this is what is signified by the name of
his grandson 'Yirad. Only, in Sanchoniathon the genealogy does not end
with Amynos and Magos, as that of the Cainites in the Bible does with
the three sons of Lamech. These two personages are succeeded by Misôr
and Sydyk, 'the released and the just,' as Sanchoniathon translates
them, but rather the 'upright and the just' (Mishôr and Çüdüq), 'who
invent the use of salt.' To Misôr is born Taautos (Taût), to whom we owe
letters; and to Sydyk the Cabiri or Corybantes, the institutors of
navigation." (Lenormant, "Genealogies between Adam and the Deluge."
Contemporary Review, April, 1880.)
We have, also, the fact that the Phoenician name for their goddess
Astynome (Ashtar No'emâ), whom the Greeks called Nemaun, was the same as
the name of the sister of the three sons of Lamech, as given in
Genesis--Na'emah, or Na'amah.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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