But to get technical, Atlantis was only a city on the true continent, which bor many names, such as Lemuria, or, a fascinating point: NU.
Lemuria I believe was a lost continent in the Pacific, in contrast to Atlantis, which the location is unknown, but thought to be somewhere around the Caribbean. An interesting point though is that Lemuria was sometimes referred to as MU.
I think it's interesting, the general connection is fairly easy to make, some of the more specific similarities I have seen (in my opinion, I'm not exactly the top source on either CT or Atlantis so if some points are slightly off ..) Don't know how much this has been discussed already, so whatever..
Usage of Sun Energy"For the programming of power crystals the Masters preferred diamonds, whether single, oversized gems, or aggregations of smaller stones; and they always programmed them with prana taken directly from the sun. Once charged with prana the crystals were ready for use; however, they required periodic recharging, the frequency of which was related to the size of the crystal."
This is very similar to the Sun Stone in Zeal, the most important pre-Lavos energy source. Periodic recharging can also be connected to the Sun Stone sidequest where the party goes to the future and retrieves the depleted stone (moon stone), and bring it back all the way to the prehistoric era, putting it in the sun to wait for a lengthy regeneration period, in which it is stolen part way through and ends up with the Porre mayor.
Edgar Cayce (who claimed to be a psychic) wrote a detailed description of Atlantis and their use of one great crystal in particular, the Firestone. This is similar in name to the sun stone, not to mention fire is also associated with the stone (son of sun's appearance, the sun being fire itself, etc). This great crystal was housed in a special building, and exposed to the sun and stars at times that were most appropriate. This crystal collected solar and elemental forces.
Magic Abilities of those in Zeal"The crystals used for purposes of healing and development, as well as those used for data storage, required psychic sensitivity, which almost every Atlantean possessed, much to the detriment of those who used their ability selfishly."
Atlanteans are often associated with being higher spiritual and psychic beings, as this quote also implies, a psychic sensitivity that only they possessed. Those who came before, and after, along with the Earthbound humans at the time, did not have this ability, similar to how humans are not all psychically sensitive. Selfish usage of magic (the parallel to the psychic sensitivity) is apparent with characters such as Dalton.
Relations with Earthbound"The Atlanteans had conquered the Mediterranean as far east as Egypt and the continent into Tyrrhenia, and subjected its people to slavery."
The Earthbound, the humans without magic ability, were also subjected to slave treatment by Zeal, which had control over pretty much the entire world just as Atlantis had control over all the known world.
Destruction of Atlantis/Zeal"The historian Ammianus Marcellinus wrote that "the intelligentsia of Alexandria considered the destruction of Atlantis a historical fact, described a class of earthquakes that suddenly, by a violent motion, opened up huge mouths and so swallowed up portions of the earth, as once in the Atlantic Ocean a large island was swallowed up."
This is both a similar and contrasting aspect to all of this. In both situations, Zeal and Atlantis, large holes came from earthquakes (in Zeal, the cause was Lavos), and giant "mouths" (holes) opened, ending both civilizations in a single day. Atlantis fell just from into the sea, while Zeal had the aspect of fire before falling into the ocean, to be lost forever. This is a strong real life connection, and probably the one most people think about when comparing the two. In later times Zeal is a myth to the population, just as Atlantis is a myth for all of us, its very existence is unknown. It's also interesting because there has been much debate about the location of Atlantis, and the location of Zeal is impossible to tell in the CT world because it floated above land, and then fell into the ocean.
AircraftsAtlantis is thought to have had both ships and aircraft, partially powered by these mysterious crystals. The blackbird is the obvious connection that can be made from this, as it was an aircraft that existed in Zeal before and at the time of its fall.
Antigravity?The civilization of Atlantis is thought to have had access to various antigravity abilities. In Zeal, the very continent the palace lays upon seems to be floating in the air. The skyway up to this continent also seems to have special abilities, this could perhaps be done fully by means of magic, possibly some type of antigravity as well.
Time and ClimateZeal: Fell 12,000 BC
Atlantis: Fell 10,000 BC (+2000 AD would be 12,000 years ago)
It's iffy to try and parallel the CT dates to our dates, but the very close association with time is something I see as more than a coincidence. I also realize that no AD time was added to the Zeal time (which would make it 13,000 years ago for 1000AD and 14,000 years ago for 1999AD). The fall of each of these civilizations marks a time when the climate of the planet shifts from that of an Ice Age to that of a more temperate climate.
This real world graph shows basic climate change over the last 12,000 years or so. This does not use the BC/AD time, but YBP (years before present), so 12,000 years ago would be 10,000 BC -- making the very beginning of the graph the general time period Atlantis is believed to have fallen, even farther to the left than the 10,000 ybp marker. There is a gradual turn from the last Ice Age to a more modern temperate climate, in a similar manner to how the climate changed after Lavos awakened and destroyed Zeal. This eventually leads to the more temperate climate of 600AD, 1000AD, and so forth.
