Ancient Greek Shipwreck Loaded With 'Atlantis Metal' to Be Recovered
By
Tasos Kokkinidis
January 1, 2025
Orichalcum is found at an ancient Greek shipwreck at Gela, Sicily. Credit: Emanuele riela, CC BY-SA 4.0/Wikipedia
A fifth-century Greek shipwreck that contains orichalcum, thought to be the second most precious metal on Earth after gold, is to be recovered from the seabed off Sicily.
The wreck, named Gela II, is where in 2015 and 2017, rare orichalcum metal, said to be from the legendary Atlantis, was recovered. Due to this, details of the shipwreck have been keen sought by both Atlantis enthusiasts and the archaeological world.
Orichalcum was a metal used in coins during ancient times. It is a golden-yellow colored mixture consisting of both copper and zinc and referred to as brass, and has even been mentioned in ancient times by the likes of Plato.
In Plato’s story on the Atlantis, Critias (460–403 BC) says that orichalcum had been considered second only to gold in value and had been found and mined in many parts of Atlantis in ancient times, but that by Critias’ own time, orichalcum was known only by name.
Orichalcum may have been a noble metal such as platinum, as it was supposed to be mined, but has been identified as pure copper or certain alloys of bronze, and especially brass alloys in the case of antique Roman coins, the latter being of “similar appearance to modern brass,” according to scientific research.
More:
https://greekreporter.com/2025/01/01/ancient-greek-shipwreck-atlantis-metal-recovered/
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