A: Aalu to Aztlan 25
finds throughout Atlantic coastal Morocco reveal consistent themes related to
Heracles. Also, a similarity appears to exist between the names Antaeus and Atlas.
(See Atlas, Kleito)Anubis
Greek for a funeral-god known to the Egyptians as Anpu. Although most
Egyptologists describe him as jackal-headed, his title, “The Great Dog,” dem-
onstrates he was canine cephalic. And, like the seeing-eye dog, Anubis loyally
guided the recently deceased through the darkness of death. He was a spirit-guide,
who comforted the ba, or soul, leading it to the Otherworld. Prayed to as “The
Westerner,” Anubis was said to have “written annals from before the flood”
which destroyed his island-home in the Distant West, from whence he arrived
to reestablish his worship in Egypt. He was also known as the “Great Five,” the
sacred numeral of Atlantis, according to Plato. Hence, the funeral rites associated
with his divinity became Egyptian mortuary practices after their importation
from the sunken civilization.
(See Plato)Apaturia
“The Gathering of the Clans,” an ancient Greek religious festival lasting three
days and staged every year, during which the phratriai, or various clans of Attica,
met to discuss national affairs, celebrate their common culture, and publicly present
children born since the previous Apaturia. The name means “shared relationship,”
underscoring the Greek heritage shared with all the tribal groups of Ionia. In his
account of Atlantis (Timaeus), Plato wrote, “Now, the day was that day, the third
of the festival of Apaturia, which is called the Registration of Youth (the
Koureotis), at which, according to custom, our parents gave prizes for recitations,
and the poems of several poets were recited by us boys.” One youth, Amynander,
makes a speech in praise of Solon, which begins the story of Atlantis, as it was
brought to Greece from Egypt by the great Athenian law-giver.
Whether the tale was, in fact, recounted at each Koureotis (“Shearing Day,” a
ceremonial haircut; the last day of the festival and its climax) or Plato merely
used the occasion as a related backdrop for his narrative, the Apaturia made an
altogether appropriate setting for celebrating victory over the invading Atlanteans.
It was an annual affair of national patriotism, in which the common greatness of
the Greeks was honored. Interestingly, the previous day was known as Anarrhysis,
or “the Day of Rescue.” Nothing beyond its provocative name survives, but it may
have been a commemoration of survivors from the Atlantean disaster. Moreover,
the Apaturia was held in honor of Dionysus, whose myth portrays the god of rebirth
as a culture-bearer following some catastrophic flood. Each Apaturia took place
during the harvest time of Pyanopsion (the “Bean Month”), in late October/early
November; according to the Egyptians, Atlantis was defeated by the Greeks and