40 The Atlantis Encyclopedia
was named after its volcano surrounded by lofty mountains, a setting that could
pass for a scene from Plato’s description of the island of Atlantis in Kritias.
Blackett describes Atitlan as “the large and rich capital, court of the native
kings of Quiche and the most sumptuous found by the Spaniards.” The lake’s
name was apparently chosen to match its appropriately Atlantean environment;
this, together with its obvious derivation from “Atlantis,” and the extraordinary
splendor of its culture, identify Atitlan’s foundation by Atlantean colonizers.Atiu
An extinct volcano forming an atoll among the southern Cook Islands in the
southwest Pacific. “At,” associated with volcanic islands, occurs throughout the
Pacific Ocean.Atius
Among the Pawnee Indians of North America, the sky-god, who controlled
and understood the movements of the sun, moon, and stars. The similarity of his
name and function to Atlas are affirmed by the Pawnee flood story.Atjeh
A mountainous area of Indonesian Sumatra bordering a sloping plain remi-
niscent of Plato’s description of Atlantis. Even in this remote corner of the world,
“At” was anciently applied to sacred mountains.Atl
“Water” in Nahuatl, the Aztecs’ spoken language. The ancient Mexican Atl
is likewise found in Atlantis, a water-born civilization. Atl also occurs on the
other side of the Atlantic Ocean among Morocco’s Taureg peoples, for whom it
also represents “water.” Atlantis’ former location between Mexico and Morocco
suggests a kindred implication between the Nahuatl and Taureg words.
In the Aztec calendar, “4-Atl” signifies the global deluge that destroyed a former
“Sun” or age, immediately after which the Feathered Serpent arrived with his
followers to found Mesoamerican civilization. The date 4-Atl is depicted on the
Aztec Calendar Stone as a celestial bucket of water inundating a half-sunken
stone pyramid, a self-evident reference to the final destruction of Atlantis.
(See Quetzalcoatl)