10 Reasons Why The Lost City Of Atlantis EXISTS In West Africa

The story of Atlas has some interesting parallels with Mauretanian history (not to be confused with Mauritania; Mauretania was the name given to the region that encompassed most of north-west Africa, which roughly corresponds with the modern-day Maghreb). Atlas was a legendary king of Mauretania, who is credited with the invention of the celestial globe.

This leads to another compelling similarity with the famous Atlas, of Greek myth, who was condemned to hold up the earth on his shoulders. In fact, there exists a 2nd-century Roman marble copy of a Hellenistic sculpture of Atlas kneeling with a celestial sphere called The Farnese Atlas. It is important to note that he is holding up a celestial sphere, not the globe, for which he is traditionally famous for, in mythology.

The fact that Atlas of Mauritania and Atlas of Mauretania ruled approximately the same region does not seem to be a mere coincidence. Both Atlas of Greek myth and his Mauretanian counterpart are depicted in the same position, carrying the world. Perhaps it would not be a stretch to consider that these namesakes from different cultures could be references to the same figure.