Divers Discover “Lost City Atlantis” Metals off Italy’s Coast

Researchers believe they have finally recovered a sample of the mysterious metal orichalcum, which is said to have been used throughout the lost city of Atlantis.

No myth of an ancient lost civilization is as enigmatic and captivating as that of ancient Atlantis. The story of this mysterious culture, as told by the ancient Greek philosopher Plato in his writings Timaeus and Critias, dated to around 360 BCE.

Plato details Atlantis in his writings, speaking of the inhabitants as if they were half god and half human. Their capital comprised several concentric islands separated by moats, and their lands were full of precious metals, including gold and silver.

Throughout the dialogue, Plato makes numerous references to orichalcum, explaining that the Atlantians extensively mined the metal and used it on their most sacred structures, including the royal palace known as the Temple of Poseidon.

The name given to the mythical metal comes from the Greek word oreikhalkos, which translates to “mountain copper” or “cooper mountain.”

Ancient Greeks say that Cadmus, a Greek-Phoenician mythological character, invented orichalcum. However, many believe that the metal was a gold-copper alloy, a copper-tin alloy, or copper-zinc brass.

Plato was not the only ancient figure to mention the mythical metal in his works. Vergil’s Aeneid mentioned that the breastplate of Turnus was “stiff with gold and white orachalc.” This led many to believe that orachalcum was an alloy of gold and silver.

As orichalcum became harder to produce, minting orichalcum coins after Nero’s reign increasingly included lead and tin, suggesting that manufacturers added scrap bronze to the coin production process.

Enrico Mattievich, a retired physics professor, believes the Greeks discovered a metallic alloy “with fire-like reflections” similar to Plato’s descriptions of a set of metallic jaguars.

While the metal has often been considered nothing more than a legend, just like the Atlantean city itself, those searching for the lost city of Atlantis have often sought out this precious metal, hoping it could lead them to its submerged remains.

After the impressive discovery, research teams conducted further investigations at the shipwreck, and just two months into 2016, they recovered 47 more ingots in the same vicinity.

Sebastiano Tusa, Sicily’s superintendent of the Sea Office, reveals that the ingots likely came from Greece or Asia Minor to Sicily.

Researchers took samples of the melts and published their results in the Journal of Archaeological Science in 2021.

Researchers identified several unique properties of the metal, one of which is that it is extremely malleable. It is also resistant to tarnishing and far stronger than regular copper.

Despite many attempts to associate this metal solely with the Atlantians, it turns out it was a fairly popular alloy in Ancient Greece and Rome. Due to its resemblance to gold, various prime Romans even took advantage of this.

In ancient times, orichalcum was often referred to as “mountain copper.” One of the earliest references to the metallic alloy stems from the revered Greek poet Homer.

Orichalcum was used in the minting of coins during the early years of the Roman Empire. However, during Emperor Nero’s reign, the level of zinc in coins significantly decreased.

Tusa’s team plans to excavate the entire cargo from the shipwreck and give archaeologists the chance to pull “precious information on Sciily’s most ancient economic history.”

While orichalcum isn’t likely to create a yellow-brick road that leads straight to the doors of Atlantis, the ingots off the coast of Sicily have sparked interest in researchers.

Those who continue to postulate the Atlantis theory often suggest the Orichalcum of the Greco-Roman era may have differed slightly from the original alloy used in Atlantis. However, they argue it’s possible the Greeks inherited this metal from the ancient seafarers.

There is still a strong chance that Atlantis is a myth made for entertainment. Ocean explorer Robert Ballard, an explorer for National Geographic, says there are “no Nobel laureates” that what Plato wrote about Atlantis is true.

The legend of Atlantis is about a society of moral and spiritual people who lived in an advanced utopia that fell victim to their own greed which left them morally (and probably financially) bankrupt.

Beyond the Greek philosopher’s inventions of an idyllic civilization turned evil to tell a cautionary tale, no other written records of Atlantis exist outside of Plator.

The rediscovery of the metal has sparked speculation about a hidden truth, but there is nothing hidden about it. Orichalcum was likely a beautiful metal that Plato was familiar with and wrote into his prose, just as others before and after him had.