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Atlantean Research Journal, and Atlantis from 1950 cont.
Orichalcum (The metal of Atlantis), written Dec. 1949 By Edgerton
Sykes
(a Summary)
Plato and
several other classical scholars wrote about Orichalcum in Atlantis, and on its
monuments and walls. The metal was regarded as very useful building material,
and was reported as dark red and white in color, but owing to a lack of
examples of it for testing purposes it has baffled investigators for 2,500
years. Paul Schliemann reported in his statement in 1912 that he had found
several examples of medalions of a whitish color which he presumed to be
Orichalcum, but these are not available at the moment for investigation. The
Late George Isaac Bryant, who spent many years investigating the problem of
Atlantis, suggested that Orichalcum might perhaps be an alloy of platinum,
copper, and aluminum; and recently, thanks to the courtesy of two of our
members, this matter was taken up with the leading authority in this country in
aluminum, and the largest firm of dealers in platinum.
Both these
authorities were firm in their conviction that since aluminum, which does not
exist in a raw state, was only discovered in 1809, its earlier discovery in
Atlantean times would have involved a degree of metallurgical skill far greater
than that which we have any right to presume. They also observed that, owing to
the difference in the melting points, an alloy composed of platinum, copper,
and aluminum could not be produced by heat treatment, but only as a chemical
product, which would again put it outside the filed of any earlier standard of
knowledge.
A point,
however, arises from this correspondence that platinum is present as an
impurity in nickel, from which metal it is usually obtained by a refining
process. It is permissible, therefore, to assume that if the Atlanteans had a
source of supply of nickel in which platinum was present as an impurity, the
natural admixture of the two metals might perhaps have been used to produce
medallions or other specimens of a whitish metal having great durability and
resistance to exposure. Whether this could have been used for building purposes
or not is still an open question.
On the
subject of copper, the name Orichalcum has been translated by several
authorities as Pinchbeck, Mountain Brass, or even just Brass; and it would
appear that it might have been an impure copper which, when heat treated,
showed differences in durability and structure from oridnary copper,
particularly in the resistance to the elements. Those who visited the
The Orichalcum of the Atlanteans, Ivan Tournier(contrib. of
'Atlantis' Journal
(Translation of his article in 'Destins' published with Sykes
article)
"Following
on recent announcements in the press on the transmutation of mercury into gold
in an American laboratory, a writer has observed that it is purely by accident
that this discovery agrees with the dreams of alchemists, and that modern
science has nothing to learn from their grimoires. This is a casual judgment,
since everyone at all familiar with traditional knowledge believes, on the
contrary, that this constitutes a proof of the deep knowledge possessed by the
initiates of yore on the constitution
of matter
and its possible modifications. This isotope of mercury which is transformed
into gold is evidently the mercury of the wise men, already observed as being
different to the usual quicksilver. But, by a technique now unknown, the
specialists of the past managed to prepare this without atomic piles and all
the costly apparatus of today. This fact should incite us to take seriously
other indications handed down by tradition on the metals known to the ancients,
especially in so far as concerns the enigmatic Orichalcum of the Atlanteans.
The ancients,
as we know, had knowledge of seven metals which they made to correspond with
the seven astrological planets: Gold-the Sun; Silver-the Luna; Iron-Mars;
Copper-Venus; Tin-Jupiter; Lead-Saturn; and Quiksilver-Mercury. Thanks to
modern research, nature has shown herself incomparably wealthier, both in
planets (including asteroids), and in metals (some seventy not counting
artificial elements such as neptunium, plutonium, americum, curium, ect., and a
couple of dozen metalloids).
But already
in the times of antiquity an eighth metal seems to have been known, the
orkhalkos mentioned by Plato. Although abundant in Atlantis, it has been lost
since the submersion of the
In the
Critias it is said: "Orchalcum was dug out of the earth in many parts of
the Island and, with the exception of gold, was esteemed the most precious of
metals-the entire circuit of the wall which encompassed the citadel, flashed
with the red light of orchalcum…In the interior of the temple the roof was…
adorned with orichalcum, all the other parts of the walls and pillars and
floors they lined with orichalcum…The injunctions of Poseidon…were inscribed on
a column of orchiculum."
What
visions have been awakened by this mysterious and magic metal! In Benoit's
"Atlantide," Antinea gave a ring of orichalcum to Saint-Avit. It was
Georges Fourest who wrote:
This coffer
of orichalcum sealed with sardonyx,
And lined
with velvet, that Gengis Khan long ago,
Gave to my
ancestor.
( Web Mast.
Note-We can see S. Coleridge's 'Xanadu' and its Pleasure Dome)
Many
commentators have considered Orichalcum to be a myth or an esoteric symbol.
Others have thought it to be brass, which still known as archal in Greek.
Plato, however, seems to have spoken of a noble-as opposed to base-and specific
metal, and not of an alloy. Now-a-days it could be one of the newly discovered
precious metals such as platinum, nickel, iridium, ruthenium, cobalt, etc.
On the
other hand, Pliny gives an interesting clue when he observes that the ancients
attributed to the Atlanteans the knowledge, since lost, of hardening copper or
bronze. That this was not a legend is shown by the discovery, or rediscovery,
of a bronze which can be hardened, in the form of an alloy of copper and
beryllium-a light metal, also known as glucinium, discovered in 1798, and
classified under No.4 in Mendleef's atomic table.
It is
conceivable that the famous "mountain copper" may well have been
copper alloyed with beryllium. One is led to this supposition by the fact that
in 1936, bistouris made of this meta; dating back to the 14th
Dynasty (17th Century B.C.) were found at Assiut (Paris Soir, Nov.
1, 1936). As this metal cannot be oxidized when cold, it may have been employed
as a decorative covering, which would explain its high value.
If
orichalcum alias beryllium/copper, at last rediscovered, has had an interesting
past, the beryllium side of the combination is likely to have an even more
remarkable future, for it is stated that it can easily be used to replace heavy
water or graphite in atomic piles. Since beryllium is easily extracted from
beryl (silicate of aluminum) of which there are large deposits in France, the
interest which this news has aroused in that country will readily be
understood.
Let us hope
that the exploitation of these deposits will only be made in the interest of
peace, and that orichalcum does not vanish for a second time in a new cataclysm
provoked by celestial anger… or human stupidity."
Webmaster
note- Orichalcum has historical footnotes about it. One is the Egyptian word
for a red copper, and usually of a less quality gold was called 'Sab', and the
gold of a amber or redish bronze color was called 'orchies' similar to 'golden,
or reddish barley plants' to the Romans. It must be noted melted 'amber stone'
as having some magnetic qualities about it laminated Orichalcum. 'Amber' gets
connected to 'Gold' in Dionysis cults as the 'barley god'. The Atlantis is made
up of Green Stone and Basaltic rock if it is the Atlantic of mostly volcanic
origin.
Both gold
and copper developed in ancient volcanic environments. Thus, beryllium as the
offspring of aluminum emersed within tin, or having a low arsenic quality
around it would not be out of place in the volcanic areas of the Atlantic.
Conclusion, a rude copper of low quality or traces of silver and gold placed
within it near platinum, and tin sources (Atlas Chain-England) would give a
pink to ruby gold to white color and would be valued, yet plentiful enough to
be placed on temples. Careful tempering of tin, and beryllium as a hardener
would make very durable long lasting surface close to bronze yet with less
discoloration. Also, like the 'Pillar of Amber' would be laminated with a
Lucite, or a oily bitchum like resin, yet dull in color to protect and let the
wall shine for miles as if it were new.
Date
Webmasters first above presented conclusion July 20, 2001
Tiahuanaco-The Next Stage, By Edmund Kiss 1950 cont.
Atlantean Research Journal
List of years and articles.
