Dating Atlantis: How Manetho Helps Address the Critias 108e Problem

In Critias (c. 360 BCE) Plato claims that Solon first heard the story of Atlantis on his visit to Egypt during the reign of King Amasis (Ahmose II of Dynasty 26). Critias 108e states that Atlantis existed 9000 years before Solon's time placing it in around 9600 BCE. No known archaeology supports this date. This transdisciplinary article explores evidence that Plato was aware of Ancient Egyptian king lists, which differ markedly from Ancient Greek archon lists, and that a misunderstanding led to an incorrect date being recorded. Using data analysis of Manetho's king list (c. 332 BCE), a likely solution to the dating error of Solon's visit with Amasis is provided, Plato's date for the founding of Egyptian culture aligns with the predynastic Badarian culture, and geological, archaeological, and archaeogenetic evidence along with textual analysis plausibly points to a myth heavily distorted by Plato and which originates c. 4,900 BCE +/-250 likely in Old Europe.