Atlantis : Real or Imaginery?

 

If we trace the history of Nusantara, we will find 2 (two) kingdoms that are considered the oldest ones, namely:
- The Salakanagara Kingdom in West Java, which is estimated to have existed in the 2nd century AD, and
- The Kingdom of Kutai in Kalimantan, which was existed around the 4th century AD.
From these historical facts, then how was the condition of the Nusantara before AD? Was there any kingdom or civilization at that time?

The few archaeological remains, the Nusantara Civilization from BC, make it difficult for us to answer the two questions above. But at least, we can present some indications of the possibility of civilization in the nusantara, in the BC period, including:

1. Regarding the existence of 2 ancestors of Aki Tirem (Founder of the Salakanagara Kingdom) who came from the island of Sumatra, namely Aki Bajulpakel (South Sumatra) and Datuk Pawang Marga (North Sumatra). This could be an indication that the island of Sumatra, there was social life in the BC period.
2. There is a Legend of the Golden City of Hiranyapura, which is thought to be on the island of Sumatra, in the Mahabharata Story.
3. The findings of an archaeologist Prof. Giorgio Buccellati, namely a sunken porcelain, on which there are fossil remains of the clove plant, which is a typical Indonesian plant. This porcelain is thought to date from 1,700 BC, found in Terqa, Middle Euphrates.
4. Findings of ancient buildings thousands of years old, known as the Pyramids of Gunung Padang.
5. Opinion of Professor Aryso Santos, through his book "Atlantis, The Lost Continent Finally Found, The Definitive Localization of Plato's Lost Civilization (2005)", the Sundaland region is the continent of Atlantis, which Plato mentioned in his writings Timeus and Critias.

But apart from that, there are some records regarding the historical truth which say that Atlantis is actually an imaginary city, not real. Written by Plato, as material for intellectual discussion with Socrates. It is stated clearly in the book that discusses Atlantis, Timaeus, that Atlantis is a city of imagination. Unreal and non-existent. Quoted from cracked.com, Atlantis is nothing.

First of all, our knowledge of plate tectonics ruled out the possibility of a sinking mystery continent. But there's a much more compelling reason than this: That is, Atlantis was something that actually pulled Plato off his ass so Socrates could have something to talk about, and he specifically mentions in his writings that Atlantis was an entirely hypothetical city.

This is part of the reason why Atlantis was not taken seriously until modern times. Most ancient people actually took Plato's dialogues as their actual thought experiments.

Sources :

Cracked

Kanzunqalam

Wikipedia