306 The Atlantis Encyclopedia
to Late Shang Dynasty times, before 1000 B.C. This means that knowledge of Atlas was
current in China some six centuries before Plato was born.
The sunken realm portrayed in his Dialogues and symbolized by the Shang Dynasty
statuette still lies under the sea somewhere beyond the Pillars of Heracles, as he and
his time characterized the Strait of Gibraltar. Until its actual discovery, this important
Encyclopedia is our guide to understanding the story of this lost civilization, its Pacific
Ocean counterpart, and the lingering impact made on our world by the two empires
before a similar fate overwhelmed them both.