Discovery story missed altogether last year, regarding castle at the bottom of a lake: [View all]

[Judi Lynn]

A Mysterious 3,000-Year-Old Castle Has Been Found Under a Lake in Turkey
MICHELLE STARR 7 APR 2018



Sunken cities are typically the stuff of legend, but at the end of last year archaeologists found the real thing hiding deep within Lake Van in Turkey.

After a decade of searching the Middle East's second largest lake, the home of a lost kingdom has been found hundreds of metres beneath the surface.

Archaeologists from the Van Yüzüncü Yıl University announced the incredible discovery in November 2017 - a vast 3,000-year-old castle preserved deep within the lake in amazing condition. The researchers worked closely with an independent team of divers to find their prize.

Lost underwater cities and castles are a popular motif in folklore and local legend around the world. Indeed, so are stories of ancient lost monsters hiding in deep lakes.

More:
https://www.sciencealert.com/lake-van-turkey-3-000-year-old-sunken-castle-discovered-urartu

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The True Story Behind Turkey's Ancient 'Underwater Castle'
By Owen Jarus, Live Science Contributor | November 28, 2017 10:47am ET

- click for image -

https://img.purch.com/h/1400/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5saXZlc2NpZW5jZS5jb20vaW1hZ2VzL2kvMDAwLzA5Ni85NzMvb3JpZ2luYWwvdW5kZXJ3YXRlci1zdHJ1Y3R1cmUtMi5qcGc=

The castle found beneath the surface of Lake Van in Turkey may have been built 3,000 years ago by ancient people called the Urartians, but archaeologists can't say for certain.
Credit: Photo by Tahsin Ceylan

Last week, a story about a 3,000-year-old castle discovered beneath the waters of Lake Van, in Turkey, went viral. But what's the real story behind this Atlantis-like discovery?

It turns out that the story is more complicated and mysterious than recent news reports suggest, Live Science found after speaking with several archaeologists as well as the leader of the photography team who discovered the castle.

Parts of the "castle," a term that the discoverers use to describe it, likely date to the Middle Ages, which lasted from about A.D. 476 to 1450, and it may not be an entirely new discovery: Reports from surveys of the Lake Van area conducted in the 1950s and 1960s noted the existence of the structure. It's not clear when the castle was washed underwater. [See Photos of the Remains of the Underwater Castle in Turkey]

For instance, some of those reports indicated that medieval castle builders at Lake Van actually reused ancient material dating back to about 1000 B.C. to create the castle walls. The reports also mention a wall that plunges into the lake that has inscriptions on it that discuss an ancient king named "Rusa" and his interactions with a god named "Haldi."

More:
https://www.livescience.com/61038-real-story-of-ancient-underwater-castle.html

Unexpected images of the landscape around Lake Van, Turkey. Interesting.

http://tinyurl.com/y2e2m5pb