Atlantis underwater. Atlantis is a lost world, a bone of contention for the scientific community. Secrets of antiquity. Atlantis: The Lost Civilization

Atlantis (Greek: Ἀτλαντὶς νῆσος, Atlantis island) - mythical Island state, first mentioned and described by the classical Greek philosopher Plato in the dialogues Timaeus and Critias. About what Atlantis is and where it is located, they have been arguing since the first mention of it. This concept represents a variety of ideas: for some, it is an object of archaeological research, waiting to be discovered, a lost source of supernatural knowledge and power, or perhaps nothing more than a philosophical treatise on the danger of civilization at its apogee. Whether Atlantis was real, or just Plato's invention, will probably never be known. Nevertheless, the idea of ​​its existence continues to inspire and intrigue many, echoing the desire to achieve or return to an era of prosperity.

Origin of the myth

The description of Atlantis by Plato, which is considered the first, is found in the dialogues Timaeus and Critias, written in 360 BC. e. In the Socratic style of dialogue, the author conveys his story through the conversation of the politicians Critias and Hermocrates, as well as the philosophers Socrates and Timaeus. The island state is spoken of by Critias, first in the Timaeus, briefly describing the vast empire "beyond the Pillars of Hercules", defeated by the Athenians after it tried to conquer Europe, and then Critias proceeds to describe in detail a powerful civilization. The politician claims that his stories about ancient Athens and Atlantis stem from a visit to Egypt by the Athenian legislator Solon in the sixth century BC. e. There he met a priest from Sais, who translated the history of the ancient states, recorded on papyri, into Greek.

Narratives of the Egyptian clerics

The story told by the priests was unknown to Solon. According to the records, the Athenians fought a war against the rulers of Atlantis about nine thousand years ago and won it.

The ancient and powerful kings of the mythical island formed a confederation, with the help of which they ruled it and other islands. Having started the war, the rulers sent troops to Europe and Asia. To counter this attack, the Athenians formed a pan-Greek alliance. At the first difficulty, it collapsed, and the Athenians fought the war alone. The invasion was stopped, and then Egypt and other countries conquered by the rulers of Atlantis were liberated.

Shortly after the victory, even before the Athenians returned home, the island nation suffered catastrophic earthquakes and floods until it disappeared under water. According to legend, all the brave men were consumed in one day and night of horror. That is why the Egyptians never thanked the Athenians.

In addition, Plato describes the history of Atlantis, which shows how the rulers got to the point where they wanted to conquer the whole world. The story was written down by Solon and passed down in his family from generation to generation.

Divine redistribution

According to the records of Solon, the history of the mythical island began at the beginning of time. It was then that the immortal gods divided the world among themselves and each controlled his part. God Poseidon got Atlantis. Where it is located was not specified, but it was an island, the size of which was larger than Libya and Asia combined. He chose the mortal woman Kleito as his wife and with her founded a dynasty of rulers of the state.

Poseidon and Kleito

Poseidon built a house on a high hill, in the very center of the island. The building towered over a fertile plain bordered by the sea. To protect his beloved wife, Poseidon, with ease and divine art, surrounded her house with five concentric rings of water and soil. Hot and cold springs spouted from the ground. With the development of the city, its inhabitants have never lacked water.

Cleito bore Poseidon ten sons, five pairs of twins. Atlas, the first son of the first couple, became the lord of his father's vast land. His brothers were appointed archons, each of whom ruled for the most part this territory. The most valuable part of the kingdom was the mother's house on top of the mountain and the land around it. Atlas had many sons, and the throne passed to the eldest of them.

peaceful prosperity

For generations, Atlantis has remained peaceful and prosperous. Almost all the needs of the population were provided by the mines, fields and forests of the island. Everything that was not produced was imported. This became possible because a canal was built that passed through all the rings from the ocean to the center of the kingdom, the acropolis, where near the house of Poseidon and Kleito stood royal palace. Each subsequent ruler tried to surpass his predecessor in creating a larger kingdom. Finally, the magnificent Metropolis and outer city extended beyond the large outer wall.

Laws of Poseidon

Poseidon established the laws of Atlantis, which the rulers had to abide by. The governing body was to meet regularly. It consisted of ten representatives of the first rulers - Atlanta and his brothers - who had absolute power over the life and death of their subjects. The meetings took place in the temple of Poseidon, where the first rulers inscribed the laws on an orichalcum pillar. First of all, in accordance with the requirements of the ancient ceremony, the archons exchanged gifts. Then the sacrifice of the sacred bull took place. The blood was mixed with wine and poured into the fire as an act of purification. The rulers were served wine in golden goblets, poured libations over fire, and swore to pass judgment in accordance with prescribed laws. Everyone drank wine and dedicated his cup to the temple. This was followed by lunch, for which the participants dressed in magnificent blue robes. In them, they resolved issues relating to the kingdom, in accordance with the laws of Poseidon.

court of the gods

As long as the rulers judged and lived according to the laws of Poseidon, the state flourished. When the laws began to be forgotten, trouble arose. The rulers began to marry mortals and behave like unreasonable people. Pride seized them, and they began to fight for more power. Then Zeus saw what happened: the rulers abandoned the laws of the gods and began to act in concert with the people. He gathered all the gods of Olympus and was going to make a decision about Atlantis. This concludes Plato's story.

Fact or fiction?

Whether this was done on purpose or not, no one knows. Just like no one knows, Plato believed in the real existence of the island, or it was pure fiction. Many are convinced that the author, who used many details in his description, believed in him. Others reject this, arguing that it was precisely because the story is pure fiction that Plato was able to come up with as many details as he wanted. Its dating is also questionable. According to Solon, the island existed 9,000 years ago. This is in line with the earlier stone age. During this period, it is difficult to imagine the existence of agriculture, architecture and maritime navigation, described in the story. One explanation for this inconsistency is Solon's misinterpretation of the Egyptian character 100 as 1000. If so, then Atlantis existed 900 years before the time of the story. This corresponds to the middle of the Bronze Age, when the tools and equipment necessary to achieve the described level of development already appeared.

Many ancient philosophers regarded Atlantis as a fiction, including (according to Strabo) Aristotle. Nevertheless, there were also philosophers, geographers, and historians who took Plato's story at face value. One of them was Krantor, a student of Plato's student Xenocrates, who was trying to find evidence for the existence of Atlantis. His work, the Timaeus commentary, is lost, but another ancient historian, Proclus, reports that Crantor went to Egypt and actually found columns with the history of the island written in Egyptian hieroglyphs. As in all works of antiquity, it is difficult to evaluate the ambiguous proclamations here, since no evidence other than written evidence has been preserved.

Second Troy?

The debate about the location of Atlantis, until the end of the nineteenth century, was not as stormy as after the discovery in 1872 by Heinrich Schliemann lost city Troy. He did this with the help of Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, so it became clear that the classical sources, previously considered myths, actually contain some lost truths. Scientist Ignatius Donnelly published Atlantis: An Antediluvian World in 1882, which stimulated interest in the legendary island. The author took the mention of Plato seriously and tried to establish that all known ancient civilizations originated from a high Neolithic culture. Others have proposed more outlandish ideas, attributing supernatural aspects to Atlantis, combining them with stories of other lost continents such as Mu and Lemuria, popular figures in the theosophical movement, the occult, and the growing New Age phenomenon.

Parable of Plato

Most scholars have dismissed belief in Atlantis as the idea of ​​a "new age" religion, considering the most plausible explanation that the island was a parable of Plato, or based on another known civilization, the Minoan. The fact that the Greek philosopher often told moral stories under the guise of fiction is cited in support of this view. The Cave is perhaps the most famous example in which Plato illustrates the nature of reality. Scientists warn that the literal understanding of the myth is its perversion. It is more likely that Plato sent a warning to his fellow tribesmen about the dangers of imperial expansion, political ambitions, praising nobility and the conversion of knowledge not for personal gain.

The truth about the intentions of the Greek philosopher will remain known only to himself, but no one can doubt the symbolic longevity of his story. If Atlantis cannot be a physical place, then it certainly has a place in the general human imagination.

Location hypotheses

Dozens, and maybe hundreds of assumptions were put forward about where Atlantis is located, until the moment when the name turned into a household name, not related to one specific (perhaps even genuine) location. This is reflected in the fact that many of the proposed locations are not located at all in Atlantic Ocean. Most of the proposed locations share some of the features of the mythical island's history (water, cataclysmic end, appropriate time period), but it has never been definitively proven to be the true Atlantis. Where is located (we cannot provide a photo of it, for obvious reasons), the most likely location of its location can be found from the list of popular options. Some of them are scientific or archaeological hypotheses, while others have been created by pseudo-scientific means.

Mediterranean Atlantis

Where is legendary island, guessed a lot. Most of the proposed sites were located within or near mediterranean sea, or islands such as Sardinia, Crete, Santorini, Cyprus or Malta.

The volcanic eruption on Thera, dated to the seventeenth or fifteenth century BC, caused a massive tsunami, which, according to the hypothesis put forward by experts, destroyed the Minoan civilization on the nearby island of Crete. This catastrophe may have inspired the myth of Atlantis. Proponents of the idea refer to the fact that the Egyptians used moon calendar, based on months, while the Greeks use solar, based on years. It is therefore possible that the time interpreted as nine thousand years actually corresponds to 9000 months, placing the demise of Atlantis within about 7 hundred years.

Santorini

Volcanic eruptions on the Mediterranean island of Santorini during the Minoan civilization most likely caused the cataclysm that destroyed Atlantis. The main criticism of this hypothesis is that the ancient Greeks were well aware of volcanoes, and if there was an eruption, it would be likely that there was a mention of it. In addition, Pharaoh Amenhotep III ordered his emissary to visit the cities surrounding Crete, and he found them inhabited where everything was allegedly completely destroyed.

Spartel

Another hypothesis is based on recreating the geography of the Mediterranean at a time when Atlantis still existed. Where she was, Plato points out - outside the Pillars of Hercules. So called the Strait of Gibraltar, which connects the Mediterranean Sea with the Atlantic Ocean. Eleven thousand years ago, the sea level was 130 m lower, and there were a number of islands in the strait. One of them, Spartel, is Atlantis, where she sank, although there are a number of inconsistencies with Plato's version.

Sardinia

In 2002, the Italian journalist Sergio Frau published the book "The Pillars of Hercules" in which he stated that before Eratosthenes, all ancient Greek writers placed them in the Sicilian Strait, and the campaign of Alexander the Great to the east obliged Eratosthenes in his description of the world to move the pillars to Gibraltar. According to his thesis, Atlantis was there, where Sardinia is today. Indeed, the tsunami produced catastrophic destruction on the island, destroying the mysterious Nuragic civilization. A few survivors moved to the neighboring Italic peninsula, establishing the Etruscan culture that became the basis for later Roman culture, while other survivors were part of the "Sea Peoples" that attacked Egypt.

Beyond the Mediterranean

Outside the Mediterranean Sea, Antarctica was placed in all corners of the world - from Ireland and Sweden to Indonesia and Japan. Many of these theories rely on weak evidence. Two of the most talked about areas are Antarctica.

Is the Bimini Road a sunken Atlantis?

Everyone seems to know where the Bermuda Triangle is located. Often associated with mysterious events, the Caribbean drew attention to underwater structures called the Bimini Road, discovered by pilots in the 1960s. The Bimini Road consists of big stones, located in two parallel rows in shallow water for several kilometers from the Bimini Islands. Many expeditions went there to try to prove or disprove the technogenic origin of these formations and somehow connect them with Atlantis. Most scientists, in particular geologists, have found the evidence inconclusive or have concluded that it is a natural phenomenon. Others, however, strongly argue that rock too symmetrical and deliberate to be a simple creation of nature. In any case, no other remains have been found to confirm that the road leads to the sunken island.

Antarctica

The theory that Antarctica is the place where Atlantis (photo) once sank was especially popular in the 1960s and 1970s. It was fueled by Lovecraft's The Ridges of Madness, as well as the Piri Reis map, which allegedly shows Antarctica as it would be without ice, as far as knowledge of that period allowed. Charles Berlitz, Erich von Daniken, and Peter Colosimo were among the popular authors who made this suggestion. However, the theory of continental drift contradicts this idea, because during the lifetime of Plato, Antarctica was in its current location and retained its inhospitable climate. Nevertheless, the romance of unexplored regions gives rise to many ideas like Atlantis to this day.

pop culture

The exploration and discovery of long lost cities and civilizations is a topic that in the popular imagination is not bound by space or time. Atlantis became that mythical island, the name of which turned out to be significant for all other lost cities. Mentions of it are present in all literary genres, from works of the Renaissance to modern science fiction, fantasy, archaeological and scientific works, New Age books. Television and cinema have also taken advantage of the charm of Atlantis. The myth turned out to be so enticing that one of the largest hotels in the Bahamas, the Atlantis Paradise Island Resort, has become a lost city-themed resort.

There are those in the New Age movement who believe that Atlantis, where there was a technologically advanced civilization, self-destructed due to rapid progress, or that extraterrestrial technology was used there. Similar ideas have been attributed to other ancient cultures, as many New Age believers seek to combine various mysterious phenomena into one idea. In the end, the ongoing discussions of what Atlantis is, where this sunken island is located, is evidence of the endless curiosity of mankind and the desire not to be content with the current vision of the world, but to continue to search for secrets and discover lost worlds our past.

Lost mainland Atlantis excites the minds of millions of people for almost 2500 years. A mystery covered in the fog of millennia, hundreds of theories and hypotheses. Even with modern technology and scientific progress, so far it has not been possible to find not only the location of Atlantis, but also to prove its existence. It is worth noting that on the way to the secrets of the Atlantean civilization, scientists and researchers made many other discoveries. Which sometimes do not fit in the head because of their fantasticness. Many have heard of Atlantis, but few have given much thought to the culture that this great civilization is supposed to have been.

The first mention of the disappeared mainland

The very first mention of Atlantis is considered to be the "Dialogues" of the ancient Greek philosopher and historian Plato. In them, he casually mentioned the location of the mainland in the area of ​​the Strait of Gibraltar. But for the most part he focused on describing the life and culture of the Atlanteans. The accuracy with which Plato describes Atlantis is surprising. Its rich cities and civilization, which has risen to the highest level of development. According to him, the Atlanteans are the descendants of Poseidon. Which, in turn, was their supreme deity.

The wealth and grandeur of the disappeared mainland is amazing. But it can only be judged from the words of Plato. In addition, other information is more interesting. It is proved that Plato himself borrowed stories about the mainland from his uncle Solon. He heard them while in Egypt. The story of Atlantis was told by one of the priests of the goddess of the sky and the mother of the Sun - Neith. At the same time, he showed inscriptions in temples, testifying to the reality of the existence of the deceased continent. It turns out that the Atlanteans knew in advance about the imminent death of their homeland. And they did everything possible to preserve the great secrets and the gene pool of mankind.

Atlantean heritage

Before talking about the possible location of the sunken mainland, it is worth focusing on the achievements of the Atlanteans. The information is extremely interesting, although a little worn out. eternal search the continent itself. The researchers were so carried away by the search that they completely forgot about why they started it all. In ancient sources, there is evidence that the Atlanteans preserved their knowledge for posterity. And they saved not only information, but also themselves. Shortly before terrible disaster, which plunged the country into the ocean, representatives of the great race went to Egypt, Greece and even Tibet.

The information of the famous British esotericist Labsang Rampa is interesting. He claims that in Tibet, under the Potala temple, there are secret caves. In them, Tibetan monks protect three Atlanteans who are in a state of "samadhi". The state itself is mentioned in all religions of the East, so its reality can be taken for granted. Another thing is interesting. Labsang claims that the inhabitants of Atlantis had unique abilities. With the help of the "third eye" they could move heavy objects, possessed advanced science and technology.

His statements coincide with the words of the famous Russian occultist Helena Blavatsky. In her writings, she wrote that the Atlanteans took part in moving huge blocks of stone with the help of magic. In addition, Blavatsky said that the Great Pyramid of Cheops is the repository of the knowledge of the Atlanteans. Her words are partially confirmed modern research. Scientists have discovered hidden rooms under the base of the pyramid. Their age can be safely attributed to the tenth, and possibly the twelfth millennium BC.

Where did Atlantis go?

If we leave esotericism unattended for a while, and focus on more material things, then it is interesting to find the place where Atlantis is located today. As for this aspect of research, there are many theories and it makes sense to focus on more real ones. In the process of searching for the flooded continent, scientists have explored the entire globe and obtained information that makes us take a fresh look at the history of mankind. For the sake of justice, it is worth noting that these finds were not always somehow connected with Atlantis. Although they had a character no less important for science.

Atlantean civilization in the Aegean?

The most real among modern versions is the location of the disappeared mainland in the Aegean Sea. Researchers claim that Atlantis was associated with the Minoan civilization on the island of Crete and lasted until the 16th century BC. Around this time, a volcano erupted on the island of Santorini, and the legendary Atlanteans sunk into oblivion. Geological studies confirm the theory. Scientists have discovered underwater deposits of volcanic ash several tens of meters thick in this area. But whether the remains of a great race were preserved under the ashes, science is not able to answer. It remains to be hoped that "yet" is not able to.

Atlantis in Antarctica?

Another interesting theory is the location of the missing continent under a two-kilometer layer of ice in Antarctica. Upon closer examination, the theory no longer seems fantastic. For starters, you should pay attention to the ancient maps of our planet. In 1665, the work of the German Jesuit Athanasius Kircher saw the light. Among other things, it featured a reproduction of an Egyptian map. The map showed Antarctica in detail without ice. This, according to the Egyptians, it was 12,000 years ago. Surprisingly, the configuration of the island on the map is strikingly similar to the outline of Antarctica, obtained using modern equipment.

In addition, ice-free Antarctica is found on many later maps. The fact remains. In the memory of the ancestors, Antarctica was present without ice. Never see her like this again. It is worth noting that many of the ancient maps depicting Atlantis are incredibly detailed and accurate to the minute. How such reliability was achieved also remains a mystery.

How did Atlantis disappear?

Any variations on the theme: "Where to look for Atlantis?" should prove how this continent could disappear in an incredibly short time. According to Plato, Atlantis went under water within a day. Obviously, no cataclysm can produce such a destructive effect. One out of two:

Either Atlantis went into the depths of the sea longer than the stated time;
or the death of the Atlanteans came from outside.

The statement of the same Lama Labsang Rampa fits very smoothly on this hypothesis. In his writings, he stated that the catastrophe was due to a planetoid that collided with the Earth. Thus, displacing it from orbit and forcing it to rotate in the other direction. Let scientists judge the possibility of such an event, but it really explains both the shift of the continents and the disappearance of the first civilization.

The Atlantean Empire is fraught with many secrets, the clues to which are so desirable for enthusiasts. And it is safe to say that research will not subside until Atlantis is found. There is no smoke without fire. So, there is hope that the disappeared continent will come out to meet its descendants.

Movie about Atlantis

If interested, watch the online video film "The Lost World - Atlantis. The Mystery of the Lost Civilization".

Researchers who are confident in the authenticity of the information in Plato's dialogues believe that the death of the island occurred in the period from 9593 to 9583 BC. This date is indicated by some data in the dialogues Timaeus and Critias. Critias, a statesman who lived in the second half of the 5th century BC, told Plato a story that he read in the notes of his grandfather, Solon, which he kept from the words of an Egyptian priest in 593-583 BC. According to Critias, Atlantis died exactly 9000 years before these records, so it turns out that about 11560 years have passed since the death of the island. The author placed Atlantis directly behind the Pillars of Hercules or Hercules, i.e. in the Atlantic behind the rocks framing the entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar. And although some place Atlantis in the Black Sea, the Andes, and even the Caribbean, these are the most accurate coordinates and dates available to historians.

The death of the legendary state

According to Plato, Atlantis belonged to the ruler of the seas, Poseidon, he gave it to his sons from a mortal woman to manage. The state grew and prospered, it was unthinkably rich, it had a great influence on neighboring states and carried on a brisk trade with them. But over time, the inhabitants "corrupted" and the ancient gods decided to punish them. Plato's description of the death of Atlantis boils down to two main factors - and the ensuing tsunami. At first, the ground began to shake, cracks appeared in the soil, many people died in a few hours, and then a flood began, sinking the island to the bottom.

Skeptics claim that Solon mixed up the Egyptian hieroglyphs for hundreds and thousands and wrote down 9000 years instead of 900.

Versions of the death of Atlantis

One of the main versions of the death of Atlantis is the eruption of an underwater volcano, which gave rise to an earthquake and a tsunami. No less popular is the version about the death of the continent as a result of a shift in tectonic plates. By the way, in this version Atlantis is called the antipode of Great Britain, i.e. Atlantis sank on one side of the scale, England on the other. The reason for this shift, according to various researchers, could be the fall of a large asteroid in the area bermuda triangle or off the coast of Japan, the capture by the Earth of its current satellite - the Moon, the change of geographical poles as a result of periodic "castling". This is indicated from ancient texts that “the Earth was once again renewed” or “reborn”, i.e. ancient peoples had the knowledge that such processes are natural and periodic.

In different parts of the world, the picture of the cataclysm could differ significantly. In some places, pieces of a falling cosmic body and the consequences of destruction could be seen, in others - only a roar and giant waves.

In the myths and traditions of different peoples, there are supplemented versions of the death of civilizations that existed before the first. So, for example, in “Chilam-Balam” the fall of some celestial body is described, followed by an earthquake and a flood: “it was going”, “a great serpent fell from the sky”, “and its bones and skin fell to the ground”, “and then flooded terrible waves. Other legends say that "the sky was falling" and in a short time the day changed into night several times.

Modern researchers of the problem of Atlantis argue that such a catastrophe can happen again. The melting of glaciers in recent decades has become more and more intense, this can lead to desalination of the world's oceans, the disappearance of the warm current of the Gulf Stream and a rise in the water level by several tens of meters. As a result, most of the coastal regions will be flooded, and many lands will repeat the fate of the legendary Atlantis.

It is not necessary to assume that only seas and lakes disappear and appear. In the same way, islands appear and disappear. The best example of this is history of Atlantis, an island that was larger than Libya and Asia combined.

History of the island of Atlantis

Atlantis Island

Of course, in the time of Plato, (more:) they represented the size of both Libya and Asia in a different way, but still Atlantis island was not small.

The Atlantis hypothesis begins with Plato's Timaeus and Critias. In them, the great ancient Greek scientist talks about a once-existing large island in the Atlantic Ocean, which was swallowed up by the abyss of water.

But what does Plato say? ancient legend or your own fantasy about a mythical island? Or maybe he tells real facts the existence of an ancient civilization, information about which came to him by chance? So what is this story of Plato - legend, hypothesis, reality? Since the first half of the 4th century BC, attempts have been made to answer this question. But there is still no definitive answer.

Legends of Atlantis

Legends of Atlantis inspired many writers and poets.

• Remember the Julvernian captain Nemo, who, with his arms crossed over his chest, looks at the beautiful city, illuminated by underwater eruption volcano. Before him is the dead Atlantis...
• From the golden top of a gigantic pyramid, cosmic aircrafts to carry away the last Atlanteans from the raging elements to distant Mars. And the waves of the ocean are already licking its foot, and the tremors of a raging earthquake are absorbing the legendary “City of a Hundred Golden Gates”. You probably remember this picture, it was painted in Aelita by Alexei Tolstoy.
• And here's another thing: Aksa Guam, a priest who rebelled against the almighty priests on the pages of Alexander Belyaev's story "The Last Man from Atlantis", steps on the rocky coast of Europe.

And this list could be continued almost endlessly, a list of beautiful fictions generated by an ancient legend.

Atlantis in scientific literature

There are about Atlantis literature and others. No less fantastic in content, but claiming the right to be called scientific literature.

One of these books was rather self-confidently called "The History of Atlantis".

And the author of the other was Schliemann - the grandson of a man who discovered the stones of the legendary Troy from under the layers of many centuries. Shamelessly speculating on the name of his famous grandfather, he titled the book rather pretentiously: "How I found the lost Atlantis." Both of these books are from the current of the so-called "occult literature", which shrouded the problem of Atlantis in such a thick mystical fog that for other scientists it still obscures scientific significance this problem.
However, real science is interested in the problem of Atlantis, because it has countless questions waiting to be solved:

• Here, it would seem, is a science very far from the problem of Atlantis - botany. Where is the birthplace of the banana - a plant cultivated so long ago that it can now only be propagated by cuttings? How did bananas become cultivated in America and Africa?
• Where is the birthplace of maize - a plant that is now included in the famous "troika" of the main breads of mankind along with wheat and rice? Modern corn is completely incapable of propagating by self-sowing, and plants that could be considered its ancestors have not been found. Meanwhile, corn has long been known not only in America, but also in Africa. So where did this plant come from in the cultivated cereals of the two continents?
• Here is comparative linguistics. How did the roots of Greek words get into the Mayan language - one of the Indian peoples that inhabited Central America?
• How did the word "atlas" get from America to Europe? From North Africa, this word passed into the name of the Atlantic Ocean. Meanwhile, it has nothing in common with European languages, but in the Pagua language, which has long lived in Mexico, words with the same root mean "water", "sea", "death".
• Why did the myths of the American continent preserve stories about the death of the land located across the ocean in the east, and in the legends of European peoples about the sunken land across the ocean in the west?
• History of culture. Why were ancient sculptures of lions and other animals not living in America found in Peru, and no less ancient images of saber-toothed tigers that died out here about 300 thousand years ago in Europe?
• Why was the custom of making mummies widespread not only in Egypt, but also among the Maya in Central America?
• Ethnography. Why do Cro-Magnons, the ancient ancestors of Europeans and some Indian tribes have a close anthropological resemblance?
• Zoology. Why eels from the rivers Western Europe go to spawn in the Sargas Sea, whose algae are related to the Mediterranean?
• Wild horses were known in Europe during the Paleolithic era, they were used as a hunting item by cavemen. Then their traces disappear, and in the Bronze Age, a domestic horse appears. Who carried out this domestication?

It seems that these and many other questions do not give the right to an unconditional denial of the existence of Atlantis, although they do not give the right to assert that Atlantis existed. Therefore, again and again, researchers turn to the primary source of information about the sunken mainland, to two dialogues of Plato.

The history of Atlantis in Bryusov's poem

One of the first in modern times made an attempt to investigate the history of Atlantis by a remarkable Russian poet.

He was an amazing person, a poet, writer, mathematician, a great connoisseur of ancient history, an expert in research in various fields of the natural sciences. The problem of Atlantis interested him literally from childhood. In his youth he worked on poem "Atlantis".

In the years of creative maturity, he wrote a cycle of poems dedicated to the same problem. He published a large scientific work "Teachers of teachers". The poet-scientist called the ancient inhabitants of Atlantis, in which

all knowledge originated

and in which

everything that is possible, comprehended the first children of the Earth.

(lines from the "Atlantic" cycle of Bryusov's poems are in quotation marks). He made an attempt to trace their influence on the most ancient peoples of the world, and first of all on the Cretan-Mycenaean culture.

After analyzing the stages of development of ancient cultures, including the Egyptian and Aegean, Bryusov comes to the conclusion that their initial stages are strange and incomprehensible.

Egyptian culture begins mysteriously: the most ancient pyramids are also the highest. The origins of their arts are unclear, they suddenly appear before the astonished world, like Pallas Athena, who arose in dress and weapons from the head of Zeus.

Bryusov also sees something similar in the Cretan-Mycenaean culture. The legendary labyrinth appears as if suddenly. Before him, only the remains of people who had not yet left the Stone Age could be found on the island. Shouldn't this leap be explained by someone's influence that spread to the culture of peoples living on different continents? Does not all this testify to the existence in ancient times of a people who became a universal teacher,

teacher of teachers?

It was after these arguments that the poet-scientist moved on to that culture that could claim the honor of being called

teachers teachers.

Tradition prompted him the right name - Atlantis. And in search of an answer, Bryusov turns to Plato's Dialogues.

Based on contemporary data about Atlantis, analyzing the messages of Plato, Bryusov comes to the conclusion (lines from the work "Teachers of Teachers"):

If we assume that the description of Plato is a fiction, we will have to recognize Plato as a superhuman genius who managed to predict the development of science for thousands of years to come, to foresee that someday learned historians will discover the world of Aegeia and establish its relations with Egypt, that Columbus will discover America, and archaeologists will restore the civilization of the ancient Mayans, etc.

Needless to say, with all our respect for the genius of the great Greek philosopher, such insight seems impossible to us and that we consider another explanation simpler and more plausible: Plato had at his disposal materials (Egyptian) that came from ancient times.

The method adopted by Valery Bryusov is simple and logical: he read Plato's dialogues and compared them with the objective level of knowledge of the ancient philosopher as a man of his time. Based on this, the poet comes to the conclusion that Plato could have obtained most of the information contained in the Dialogues only from people who knew about the existence of Atlantis. Well, for example,

Plato, like all Greeks, knew nothing of the Aegean kingdoms, which preceded the Hellenic on Greek soil. Therefore, Plato could not have had any reason to imagine a strong state in Attica many centuries before the beginning of Greek history.

Plato writes that Atlantis was located on the islands beyond the Pillars of Hercules (i.e., beyond the Strait of Gibraltar) and from it it was possible, sailing further west, to get to another "opposite" mainland. But the ancient Greeks knew nothing about America! Does this not indicate that these data also reached Plato from some competent source?

Having established in such a way that on the very first pages of his dialogues Plato makes two brilliant discoveries in different fields of science - in history and geography, Bryusov is convinced that Plato is surprisingly close to the truth even in seemingly insignificant details. This applies, say, to the unknown metal orichalcum. After there was no place for him in the periodic table, his very existence became doubtful.

Bryusov believed, however, that this unknown metal could be aluminum. True, to obtain it, an electric current is used, which the Atlanteans did not know about. Or maybe they knew another method for obtaining aluminum?

To this we can add historical fact, reported by the ancient historian Pliny: in the first years of our era, an unknown master brought a metal bowl that shone like silver, but extremely light, to the Roman emperor Tiberius. The master said that he received this metal from clay earth. Tiberius, fearing that the new metal would devalue his reserves of gold and silver, ordered the master's head to be cut off. It is quite possible that we are also talking about aluminum.

Scientists believe that orichalcum could be a natural alloy of copper and zinc, according to modern brass. Occasionally there are ores containing both of these metals at once. Such an alloy also corresponds to the color of orichalcum - "red, having the color of fire." In Plato's "Dialogues" we learn about the flora and fauna of Atlantis. They are amazingly realistic.

Apparently, the most fantastic in the fauna of Atlantis can be considered elephants and horses. According to Plato, the Atlanteans had horses and elephants in their colonies in Africa and America. But this does not contradict the truth at all: both horses and elephants in America died out relatively recently.

In "Teachers of Teachers" Bryusov, getting acquainted with the description of the capital of Atlantis - the City of the Golden Gate, believes that he

also does not go beyond the scope of the possible ... The statue of Poseidon, described by Plato, was huge, but even it approaches in size the statue of Olympian Zeus, sculpted by Phidias ... And in general, in the whole description there is not a single feature that would reveal deliberate fiction ...

Bruce writes. Does Plato's description of Atlantis correspond to new scientific data? After Bryusov, scientists returned to this issue more than once, who found new amazing coincidences. Well, for example, two keys supplying Plato's Atlantis - hot and cold water- really could be on the island associated with the active activity of volcanoes. Scientists also found a mysterious, maybe even for Plato himself, a tree,

which gives drink, and food, and ointment.

It could be a coconut palm, which really gives both "drink" - coconut milk, and "food" - the pulp of a nut, and "ointment" - semi-liquid coconut oil. Even Plato's remark that the walls and towers of the City of the Golden Gate were built of stone of three colors: white, black, red - found interesting confirmation: it is from such stones that the cities on the Azores are built; they are sometimes considered the mountain peaks of the sunken Atlantis.

Studies carried out in recent years have confirmed the date indicated by Plato. tragic disaster when the remains of a giant transatlantic island that once connected two great continents sank to the bottom of the ocean. What does not confirm such an ancient date? Changing currents?

Ocean currents to one degree or another determine the climate of the continents. Perhaps their appearance and disappearance is the rocket, at the signal of which the glaciers begin their movement? As the glaciers melt, they expose the earth's surface, leaving giant blocks of boulders, as if abandoned in a panic of retreat. Well, why do sea currents arise and disappear?

Atlantologist E. F. Hagemeister suggested that the end of the last ice age was caused by the breakthrough of the warm Gulf Stream into the cold North Arctic Ocean. And it happened, she believes, this is because

Atlantis sank to the bottom of the ocean and opened the way for the Gulf Stream.

Academician fully agreed with this assumption. V. A. Obruchev. He wrote:

The sinking of Atlantis again cleared the way for the Gulf Stream, and in the north, its warm waters gradually stopped glaciation around the North Pole.

The remains of living beings found in the sediments at the bottom of the ocean can tell a lot. Here, for example, is what foraminifers testify to. The coils of foraminiferal shell spirals are twisted to the left in heat-loving forms, and to the right in cold-loving forms. Studying the columns of soils taken in the North Atlantic, scientists came to the conclusion that about 10-13 thousand years ago, water North Atlantic warmed up sharply. This is also associated with the breakthrough of the warm waters of the Gulf Stream.

But when did it happen? Russian hydrogeologist , examining soil samples from the bottom of the polar seas, found that for the first time the hot flow of the Gulf Stream penetrated into northern seas about 12 thousand years ago. This was shown by radioisotope analysis.

Similar results were obtained by American scientists. They studied volcanic ash found in sediments at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. And it turned out that he appeared here about 12 thousand years ago. This once again confirmed the legendary date of the death of Atlantis: the island sank to the bottom of the ocean under the thunderous fireworks of volcanic eruptions.

Most of Bryusov's work is devoted to the connections between the most ancient civilizations of our planet. The poet-scientist pays special attention to the Cretan-Mycenaean culture. His book was published when the excavations in Crete had not yet been completed. This gave her an additional interest, which the author could not ignore. Well, today, does science confirm the existence of such connections?

The oldest civilizations of our planet

It is the question ancient civilizations our A. A. Gorbovsky's book "Mysteries of Ancient History" is dedicated to the planet. Some of Gorbovsky's conclusions may be questioned, but the facts he cites are, as a rule, accurate. And they most often relate to the most ancient ideas about the structure. Well, for example:

1. The idea of ​​a plurality of inhabited worlds, for which Giordano Bruno was burned. It turns out that Egyptian texts, sacred books ancient india and Tibet. Gorbovsky quotes the ancient Sanskrit book Vishnu Purana:
   

   Our Earth is only one of thousands of millions of inhabited worlds similar to it, located in the Universe.

   The idea that creatures like people live on distant stars was also common in ancient Peru.

2. Another example - The ancient Egyptians knew about it.
   

   "The earth was in front of me like a round ball"

   This quote is from the Leiden Demotic Papyrus. The Aztecs depicted the planets as small circles or balls played by the gods.

3. In the Middle East, in Ancient Egypt and India, the year was subdivided into 12 months. But why did the same subdivision exist in South America? Why was the ancient Mayan year, which had 360 days, still used in ancient Egypt, Babylon and India?
4. The ancient Greeks, Indians, Celts, Mayans divided the history of mankind into four periods, and each of them was considered to be colored with a special paint. Surprisingly, they all considered the last, fourth, period to be painted with black paint.
5. Another example. The well-known biblical myth about construction Tower of Babel and the subsequent confusion of languages. It is not surprising that the Babylonians have a similar story: the creators of the Bible simply stole it. But where did this legend come from in ancient Mexico? And they talk about it like this:

They built a high tower... But their languages ​​suddenly mixed up, they could no longer understand each other and went to live in different parts of the Earth.

And more, and more... You can often read that the legends of the "global flood" are common only among coastal peoples and that these are memories of previous floods. In fact, there is no such ancient people who would not have this tradition.

Everyone knows the story of the Bible. Many people know that it is borrowed from the ancient Sumerian epic of Gilgamesh. But the English ethnologist reports that of the 130 Indian tribes of North, Central and South America, not one does not have a myth of a great catastrophe.

In the fifty post-Bryusov years, this list has lengthened almost to infinity.

It would be fair to consider that the work of Valery Bryusov "Teachers of Teachers" summed up the first period of studying the problem of Atlantis, turning the legend set forth in Plato's dialogues into a scientific document. Approximately this is how the author himself assessed the result of his work: “From now on, the “problem of Atlantis” goes out of the realm of fortune-telling, becomes a certain historical hypothesis and must share the usual fate of scientific hypotheses, depending on whether the newly discovered facts will refute or confirm it.”

And yet, it would not be entirely fair if, having paid tribute to the merits of Bryusov's work, we keep silent about its fatal flaw: carried away by a charming legend, he recklessly considered the culture of the Atlanteans to be super-high.

Over the course of millennia, their power increased and their culture developed, reaching a height that, perhaps, was not reached by any of the earthly peoples after that.

This assessment, obviously, was also facilitated by the influence of the books of the occultists, who believed that the Atlanteans knew aeronautics, rocketry, etc.

Scientists in particular N. F. Zhirov, have carefully analyzed the question of how high culture Plato describes.

What metals is Plato talking about? About gold, silver, lead, iron, about the mysterious orichalcum? But gold and silver are found in native form, and their abundance in the capital of the Atlanteans does not indicate that these metals were widely used in the life of the city. Iron, which is mentioned only once in Plato, was probably meteoric.

Indeed, in the "Dialogues" there is no mention of iron or bronze weapons or tools. Metals were used only for facing giant stone walls or for decorating temples. All this cannot be considered evidence of the onset of the copper or, even more so, the bronze age. Both weapons and tools, say, for cultivating the land, and household products were made only of stone and bone, which is quite consistent with the Stone Age.

Plato does not mention lime, cement, gypsum as binding building materials. To fasten the blocks of walls, obviously, metals were used, primarily copper. This also corresponds to the first period of the transition from stone to Bronze Age. There is nothing contradictory in Plato's story about giant size temples. It is at this stage of development that many peoples of the world gravitate towards gigantism in architecture.

A number of authors associate megalithic structures scattered along almost all sea coasts with the Atlantean culture. the globe. Especially a lot of them in the west of Europe. Megaliths are structures made of unhewn or semi-hewn giant blocks of stone, laid in rows or circles. They were built so long ago that even the legends about it are silent. But they are known in Europe, South America, Palestine, Ethiopia, India, Japan, Madagascar. There is only one doubt - these structures were supposed to be built by people of the Stone Age.

The high culture of agriculture, by no means, does not contradict the general assessment of the level of development of the people of Atlantis, given by N. F. Zhirov. By the way, agriculture, apparently, arose 30-20 thousand years ago, which coincides with the date of the heyday and death of Atlantis.

The Russian scientist, Doctor of Chemical Sciences N. F. Zhirov, can rightly be considered the greatest atlantologist. He appeared with articles in newspapers and magazines, on radio and television, and published several books. The last of these, Atlantis, came out in 1964, a few years before his death. According to N. F. Zhirov, the question of the existence of Atlantis should be solved by science. In particular, oceanology has the final say here. It is she who must answer whether there could be and whether there was a sufficiently large island in the Atlantic Ocean, opposite Gibraltar, several millennia ago.

Yes, N. F. Zhirov answers these questions. Atlantis could exist. The data of modern science indicate that in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean there is an underwater North Atlantic Ridge, which could exist subaerially (above the surface of the water) at times close to those indicated by Plato in his legend. It is possible that some of these areas of land existed until historical time. So, maybe it makes sense to look for traces of Atlantis on these islands?

The islands of the Atlantic Ocean have long attracted the attention of atlantologists. Unfortunately, nothing like a large complex expedition, which would have carried out thorough archaeological excavations, would write down everyday rituals and legends, study in detail the flora and fauna, etc., were not on these islands. Although, according to many assumptions, it is here that the key to Atlantis should be sought.

Curious legends are associated with some of the Azores.

• So, on the island of Corvo, an equestrian statue was allegedly found. The person depicted on it extended his hand to the west. This fact is reported, in particular, by the German scientist R. Hennig.
• On other islands, gravestones were found with inscriptions in an unknown language.
• On one of the islands of Cape Verde, a dolmen and rock inscriptions in the Berber language were found.
• Some experts consider the population of the Canary Islands to be direct descendants of the Atlanteans. After a brutal war waged by the Spaniards against the population of the islands, who did not know any metal, let alone firearms, the twenty thousandth population of the islands was destroyed. By 1600, not a single purebred native remained alive. Palaeanthropological studies have shown that the natives belonged to various ethnic groups. These conclusions were made by the French scientist R. Vernot, who excavated the corresponding burials. The Guanches, as it is customary to call the inhabitants of these islands, spoke languages ​​of Berber origin. Two types of rock inscriptions have also been found. It is believed that one of these types is related to the hieroglyphs of Crete. But not a single inscription has yet been deciphered or read. During one of the first visits to the islands by the Portuguese, a statue of a man holding a ball was discovered here. She was taken to Lisbon, but her whereabouts are now unknown.

Not a little interesting conceals the bottom of the ocean.

• Swedish oceanographic expedition on board the Albatross in one of the columns of soil raised from the bottom West Africa discovered freshwater diatoms. Maybe they were washed into the ocean by the waters of the Congo or Niger River? But in this case, freshwater species would be mixed with marine ones. It is more logical to assume that the soil column was taken where a freshwater lake was once located.

Unfortunately, so far, scientists have not been able to raise any statues of Poseidon, or even a fragment of his trident, from the site of the death of Atlantis. However, there have been findings...

• In the mid-1950s, a sea dredge raised about a ton of very strange formations from the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean south of the Azores. These were limestone discs with a recess on one side, which gave them the appearance of plates. On average, the diameter of these discs reached 15 centimeters, and the thickness - 4 centimeters. Their outer side was relatively smooth, but the inside of the depressions was rough. The strange shape of these formations testifies to their artificial origin. It was possible to establish the age of these "sea biscuits". It turned out to be equal to 12 thousand years, which corresponds to the date of the death of Atlantis. It was possible to establish something else: the "biscuits" were made in atmospheric conditions. By whom? For what? How did they get to the top of the seamount?

N. F. Zhirov in his book mentions the custom that existed among some Caucasian peoples to sacrifice food to the spirits on the tops of the mountains. Maybe the found "sea biscuits" - plates for similar sacrifices made by the inhabitants of Atlantis?

These are the few pieces of evidence for the existence of Atlantis. They could have been cited incomparably more.

Well, in general, what can be said about the problem of Atlantis from the level of modern knowledge?

• First of all, the fact that located in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean mountain range is the center of numerous earthquakes. This indicates a high seismic activity in the area.
• In the Atlantic Ocean there are a number of areas that were relatively recently dry land, and
  

  for all these places

  Notes N. F. Zhirov, -

  we do not exclude the possibility of the existence of islands even in historical time; some of them may have been inhabited.

• The scientist compares information about the islands that existed in historical times, which are available on modern maps. Surprisingly, they are identical. However
  

  there is every reason to assume the possibility of subsidence of individual islands and banks of the North Atlantic in our historical time, which had the character of a cataclysm.

  By this Zhirov explains the impossibility of carrying out such an identification in a number of cases.

• However, according to Plato, there is a lot of evidence of the existence of Atlantis exactly where it should be expected. Thus, relatively recently, a piece of coral was lifted aboard the ship Mikhail Lomonosov from one of the peaks of the North Atlantic Ridge. As you know, corals live only at relatively shallow depths. And since the coral was raised with a piece of bedrock from a depth of two and a half kilometers, it remains to be assumed that the mountain range has recently sunk at least two kilometers into the depths of the ocean here.
• And although many scientists categorically deny the possibility of the existence of large areas of land in the Atlantic Ocean in historical time, there are specialists who assert with equal conviction: yes, Atlantis could have existed and disappeared precisely in the time period that Plato spoke of, i.e., about 12 thousand years ago. In any case, it was precisely at this time that serious changes took place in the Atlantic Ocean, accompanied by breaks in the earth's crust, volcanic eruptions, a change in ocean currents, perhaps the warming of the entire northern hemisphere, which caused the end of the ice age.

More than half a century has passed since Bryusov wrote the work “Teachers of Teachers”. Unfortunately, even today the general attitude of scientists to this issue has not essentially changed. Most still treat Plato's story as unsubstantiated fiction. Evidence of this is that "such fabulous tales, as you know, are full of narrations of ancient writers." There have been no new confirmations of this over the past years. And the quotation given here refers to the very beginning of our century. Often there is an impression that the "opponents of Atlantis" did not read the works of Bryusov. However, this is also possible.

Bryusov's work was published only once, in 1917, in a magazine that was published in an insignificant circulation. Time did not contribute to his fame either: the world was then shaken by a world war. Russia stood on the eve of the revolution. The liveliest problems of modern life were incomparably more important than the history of the mainland that drowned thousands of years ago. And very soon the article "Teachers of teachers" became a bibliographic rarity. And she did not have the opportunity to convince readers that a particular "fabulous tale" contains too much information that Plato could not have, and this requires a more condescending attitude towards him. It remained the property of only specialist atlantologists who came to the same conclusion in their own ways.

But we must not forget another. The world has entered the era of the scientific and technological revolution, capturing ever new areas of knowledge. The ocean succumbed to this irrepressible pressure of science. Researchers have already reached its limiting depths in bathyscaphes. Yes, and without descending into the abyss of the ocean, scientists can already study its bottom in order to find the ruins of giant temples, the remains of city walls and surrounding canals. There is almost no doubt that these search for Atlantis will be undertaken in the near future.

What machines, devices, devices will they work with? Of course, clumsy, clumsy bathyscaphes are not very suitable for working on the ocean floor. But, perhaps, bathyscaphes will not be needed for this. Perhaps the search for Atlantis will be carried out by atlantologists-scuba divers.

Atlantologists scuba divers?! At a depth of more than 3 thousand meters?! Are such depths available for scuba diving? Or will they be available?

It is difficult to answer this question. After all, scuba gear as a means of underwater work appeared quite recently, in 1943, J.I. Cousteau believed at first that this invention of his would help a person master a maximum of two to three tens of meters of water. But…

Here are the record dives for the post-war 30 years. It must be said that in our time, today's record becomes a public value tomorrow. This can be confirmed, say, by an increase in the speeds of cars and airplanes. Probably, everyone remembers the story of overcoming the sound speed by aircraft. Was it a long time ago?! And today, supersonic passenger aircraft have become an everyday reality in many countries of the world. The same thing happens with the records of the diving depth achieved by scuba divers.

So, the first tens of meters are available for an amateur scuba diver who has put on an aqualung for the first time. But it is necessary not to cross the permissible physiological threshold. This threshold is breathing with highly compressed air. In this case, the blood is supersaturated with oxygen and nitrogen dissolved in it. Oversaturation with oxygen causes convulsions, and with nitrogen - intoxication and leads to decompression sickness. At the same time, nitrogen dissolved in the blood begins to be released directly in the veins and arteries. And people often die.

To prevent this from happening, divers rise from the depth extremely slowly, and then the blood has time to free itself from excess nitrogen. At the same time, the ascent from a depth of a hundred meters is delayed for 5-6 hours.

The witty idea of ​​a Swiss scientist helped to defeat decompression sickness Hansa Keller A. The essence of this idea is to use when lifting from great depth various gas mixtures. Once, while testing his idea, he rose from a depth of 222 meters in just 53 minutes! But the record for diving in a diving suit was only 180 meters, and the ascent from this depth took 12 hours.

Keller descended to a depth of 400 meters. It was in 1960-1962.

In 1970, English scuba divers descended to a depth of 457 meters. But at the end of the same year, the French moved it beyond the half-kilometer mark, they reached 520 meters! And in 1972, an even greater depth was taken - 565 meters.

The next step is striking in courage and magnitude. Four American volunteers descended to a depth of 1520 meters, spent 4 hours at the indicated depth and rose to the surface without any harm to themselves. True, the last experiment was carried out in a pressure chamber, but the essence of the matter does not change from this.

Depth reached!

It remains to double, triple it, and the depths of Atlantis will be in the power of scuba divers. They will be able to search for sunken land and, without returning to the surface of the ocean, relax in special underwater houses. Today, underwater houses of various designs are being tested in the USA, Holland and Italy, Japan and Cuba.

Briefly about the article: A country that thousands of years ago could have conquered all of Europe. Huge marble palaces, multi-deck ships, tall strong people, hitherto unseen weapons, the mysterious magic of priests, nobility and ambition - all this could become a reality of our history, if not ...

Lost Civilization

Atlantis - reality or dream?

All that is hidden now will once be revealed by time.

Quintus Horace Flaccus, Epistles, 6:20

A country that thousands of years ago could have conquered all of Europe. Huge marble palaces, multi-deck ships, tall strong people, hitherto unseen weapons, the mysterious magic of priests, nobility and ambition - all this could become a reality of our history, if not for ...

ABOUT ancient country Atlantis, buried by the ocean depths, thousands of books and articles have been written. What was Atlantis? An ancient and powerful human civilization? Or maybe a refuge for aliens from distant worlds? Why did Atlantis die? Was she the victim of a natural disaster or a devastating war with mysterious weapons?

Other ancient authors also wrote about Atlantis and its inhabitants. True, almost all of them lived after Plato, and therefore, most likely, relied on the data he cited.

The exception is the “father of history” Herodotus (485-425 BC), who mentioned the Atlanteans who lived in North Africa. However, this tribe got its name from the Atlas mountain range.

A surge of interest in the problem of Atlantis falls on the end of the 19th century. In 1882, the American Ignatius Donelly published the book "Atlantis - the antediluvian world", where he argued that this legendary land is the ancestral home of all mankind. To prove the theory, he used the data of archeology, biology and mythology, compared the legends, languages ​​and customs of peoples on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. Donelly's work laid the foundation for the modern view of the problem of Atlantis and became a source of inspiration for other authors. The result is more than 5,000 titles of scientific, popular science and fiction books.

Broken phone

As you can see, atlantology is based on a shaky foundation. You are especially convinced of this by a sober analysis of Plato's texts. The philosopher learned about Atlantis from other people's words, and the whole story resembles a children's game of “spoiled phone”.

So what does Plato say? His great-grandfather Critias, being a 10-year-old boy, heard about Atlantis from his then already 90-year-old grandfather, also Critias. And he, in turn, knew tragic story Atlanteans from a distant relative, the great Athenian sage Solon (640 - 558 BC). Solon, on the other hand, received a “relay baton” from the Egyptian priests from the temple of the goddess Neith in the city of Sais (which has not survived to this day), who from time immemorial allegedly kept historical annals in the form of hieroglyphs on temple columns. It turns out quite a long chain of intermediaries ...

Assuming that Plato did not invent anything, there is still plenty of room for error. Critias Jr. claimed that the story of Atlantis shocked him, so he memorized it in detail. However, there are direct contradictions in the dialogue. For example, in one place Critias says that: "... the story is indelibly imprinted in my memory", and in another - that: "... after such a long time, I did not remember the content of the story enough." Further, it turns out that he had some records. Commemorative notes of the grandfather or Solon? Yes, and the grandfather of Kritia in his 90s could well have confused a lot of things, not to mention the fact that many details of the legend of the sunken earth, perhaps, are the fruit of senile boasting. “And I’ll tell you, granddaughter, a great-a-wild fairy tale!”.

So perhaps Aristotle was right, or partly right. Plato could indeed invent the history of Atlantis to illustrate his views (recall Thomas More's "Utopia"). Or, with all his honesty, the philosopher compiled dialogues from some other sources about Atlantis that have not come down to us, historical and geographical works of various authors, legends, myths and his own conjectures. Well, Plato simply could have come up with a chain of narrators for greater reliability.

True, the ending of Critias is most likely lost. Perhaps the "lost files" contained the answers to all questions?

"Pros and cons"

Plato describes the land of the ancestors of the Hellenes as follows: "It stretches from the mainland far into the sea ... and is immersed on all sides in a deep vessel of the abyss." But the ancient Greeks did not know about the presence of depths greater than a few tens of meters! Atlantologists believe that Plato's words about the "deep vessel of the abyss" are evidence of knowledge preserved from the time of the Atlanteans. However, Plato could use this turn as a poetic comparison. Or, based on the presence of the steep coasts of Attica, independently conclude that if the rocks abruptly break into the sea, it must be very deep there.

On the other hand, the war of the ancient Hellenes with Atlantis is very reminiscent of the wars of the Greeks with the Persians. The thought involuntarily creeps in that the philosopher projected the events of real history onto the distant past. The description of Atlantis in terms of relief and natural data resembles the island of Crete. The Temple of Poseidon, the main religious building of the Atlanteans, is very similar to the sanctuary of Aphrodite in Cyprus. The sculpture of the god of the seas on a chariot drawn by six winged horses resembles a very real statue of Poseidon by Skopas (4th century BC). Coincidence or fraud?

Where is this street, where is this house?

Atlantologists also argue about the location of the legendary land, although it would seem from Plato's dialogues that it is extremely clear that the island was located precisely in the Atlantic.

Plato says that to the west of the Pillars of Hercules (the ancient name of the Strait of Gibraltar) lay a huge island, larger than Libya and Asia combined, from which it was easy to cross the other islands to the “opposite mainland” (America?).

Therefore, many of the atlantologists believe that traces of Atlantis must be sought somewhere at the bottom of the ocean of the same name. Perhaps next to the now existing islands, which could be the high mountain peaks of the sunken earth.

At the same time, atlantologists stubbornly ignore the simplest fact - if an asteroid capable of flooding a hefty island crashed to Earth, this would cause such an increase in atmospheric temperature that almost all life on the planet would be destroyed.

Myths of the peoples of the world

Donelly, the "father" of atlantology, and his followers consider mythology to be the key proof of the existence of Atlantis, or rather, several legends that coincide among many peoples.

First, there are the legends about the flood, which are found in almost all mankind. The gods, tired of human mischief, flood the whole earth with water, adding a number of weighty means of re-educating sinners - in the form of a fiery rain, for example.

Secondly, legends about aliens from distant lands (not to be confused with aliens!). From somewhere far away, an unknown person arrives, speaking in an incomprehensible language and teaching the natives various useful things.

Thirdly, legends about cosmic cataclysms. Something hefty is falling from the sky - a stone, the Moon, the Sun, a Dragon. It does nothing good for people. The people left out of business disperse, who goes where ...

Atlantis in the Mediterranean?

In addition to the Atlantic Ocean, the sunken island is placed in other parts of the world. The Mediterranean Sea enjoys special love.

Upon closer examination, this theory does not look like nonsense at all. Plato wrote that after Atlantis sank, “the sea in those places became ... unnavigable and inaccessible due to the shallowing caused by the huge amount of silt that the settled island left behind.” It is unlikely that in the Atlantic Ocean, with its considerable depths, muddy shallow waters would have served as a serious obstacle to navigation. But in the Mediterranean there are plenty of such places. And the nature of Atlantis may well be correlated with almost any Mediterranean island.

The god of the seas, Poseidon, fell in love with a simple girl, Kleito, who gave birth to him 5 pairs of twins, who laid the foundation for the people of the Atlanteans.

The Atlantean state was similar to Ursula Le Guin's Earthsea - an archipelago of several islands, the main of which was 1110 km long and 400 km wide. The climate is supposedly tropical, as elephants were found on the island. On south side Atlantis had its capital - the city of Poseidonis with a diameter of about 7 km. In the center of the city there was a lake, in the middle of which lay an island with a diameter of 965 meters, pierced by channels, with palace complex Acropolis surrounded by two earthen ramparts. The outer shaft was covered with copper, the inner - with tin, the walls of the acropolis were lined with orichalcum (metal unknown to us). The structure of the Acropolis included the joint temple of Kleito and Poseidon, surrounded by a golden wall, and the temple of Poseidon himself with a huge statue of the sea god inside. Outside around the temple were images of the wives and relatives of the kings of Atlantis, offerings from their vassals.

The population of Atlantis was about 6 million people. The state system is a monarchy: 10 kings-archons, the highest of which bore the title "Atlas" and lived in Poseidonis. Every 5-6 years, councils-assemblies were held - "courts" of kings, before which "bull sacrifices" were organized (a similar custom existed in Crete).

The Atlantean army numbered 660,000 men and 10,000 war chariots. The fleet - 1200 combat triremes with a crew of 240 thousand people.

Atlantes - the ancestors of the Russians?

Some scientists go their own way, placing the legendary land in the most exotic places. In 1638, the English scientist and politician Francis Bacon in his book "Nova Atlantis" placed Atlantis in Brazil, where, as you know, there are many wild monkeys. In 1675, the Swede Rudbeck argued that Atlantis was in Sweden, and Uppsala was its capital.

Recently, due to the lack of virgin places, they turned to our boundless expanses - the Sea of ​​\u200b\u200bAzov, the Black and the Caspian Sea, too, were honored to accept the completely lost Atlantis into their arms. There is also a charming theory that the Atlanteans are the ancestors of the ancient Russians, and the legendary land of Plato ... sunken Kitezh-grad! True, after the stories that Adam and Eve were from somewhere near Moscow, the Russian-Atlantic version no longer looks sensational enough.

R. Silverberg in "Letters from Atlantis" shows the events of a thousand years ago through the eyes of modern man, whose mind has moved into the body of the Prince of Atlantis (an obvious remake of Hamilton's "Star Kings"!).

A time traveler can also witness the events of the past ("Dancer from Atlantis" by P. Anderson, "Atlantis Endgame" by A. Norton and S. Smith).

Sometimes the Atlanteans became aliens from outer space (A. Shalimov, “The Return of the Last Atlantean”), or they were the first earthlings who came into contact with an alien mind (V. Kernbach, "The Boat over Atlantis"; G. Martynov, "Spiral of Time") . Perhaps it was vile aliens who destroyed Atlantis? Here is the hero of the cycle "Atlantis" by G. Donnegan, the tough commando Eric, together with his comrades from the "fur seals" detachment, is trying to stop the insidious alien-sheds who once treacherously drowned the unfortunate Atlanteans.

Many books tell about the adventures of outcasts who survived the catastrophe. Some have preserved the remains of civilization under water (“Atlantis Under Water” by R. Kadu, “Maracot Abyss” by A. Conan Doyle, “The End of Atlantis” by K. Bulychev). Others slipped away. To America (“Temple. A Manuscript Found on the Yucatan Coast” by H. F. Lovecraft), to Africa (“Tarzan and the Treasure of Opar” by E. R. Barrows); to Spain (“This distant Tartessus” by E. Voiskunsky and I. Lukodyanov); even to Britain ("Stones of Power" by D. Gemmel). For some Atlanteans, the shock from the death of their native side turned out to be so strong that other planets seemed to them the best refuge (A. Tolstoy, “Aelita”; A. Shcherbakov, “Cup of Storms”).

In V. Panov's recent novel "The Department of Wanderers" the catalyst for powerful forces is ancient artifact Atlantean Throne of Poseidon. Even Batman ("The Black Egg of Atlantis" by N. Barret) enters the battle for the Atlantean legacy when Penguin Man tries to take possession of an ancient item that gives dark power.

Why did Atlantis die?

There is also no agreement in ascertaining the reasons for the death of the island.

In addition to the basic, albeit absolutely unrealistic version of the fall of a giant meteorite, the hypothesis of a powerful earthquake is very popular. In history, there are cases of a sharp subsidence of the earth by several meters as a result of such a natural disaster. For example, the death of the pirate capital of Port Royal in Jamaica in 1692, when the city plunged into the sea by 15 meters. Strong earthquakes, especially those with an epicenter on the sea floor, can cause tsunamis. A typical example of such a disaster is the tsunami resulting from the eruption of the Krakatau volcano in Indonesia in 1883, when the wave height was about 40 meters. Such a wave is quite capable of burying under itself coastal zone mainland or even an entire island.

In addition to more or less scientific explanations, there are also occult-fantastic theories about Atlantis, sometimes very specific. For example, members of the Rising Atlantes sect, founded in the 70s of the last century, believe that the Atlanteans are the descendants of aliens, who then laid the foundation for the Egyptian civilization.

The bestsellers of ophthalmologist Ernst Muldashev, who is terribly popular among some Russians, also contain amazing discoveries. It turns out that the Atlanteans possessed extrasensory perception, and 75,000 years ago, with the help of psychokinetic energy, the Egyptian pyramids were erected. A number of great personalities - Krishna, Buddha, Christ - were also Atlanteans. And somewhere in the depths of Tibet in the caves, the surviving Atlanteans are still sleeping in a special form of suspended animation - samadhi.

Atlantis - a myth?

With all the many disagreements, the only thing that cements the discordant ranks of atlantologists is the idea that Atlantis really existed. However, there are many who say: Atlantis is a myth!

These are their main arguments. Firstly, apart from the dialogues of Plato, there are no other reliable references to Atlantis. Secondly, the island had to be too big, and it is not easy to stick it somewhere in terms of geography. Thirdly, modern geological and oceanographic studies do not confirm the sinking of a large part of the land to the ocean floor. Fourthly, 10 thousand years ago there was no developed human civilization. But for any of these arguments, if desired (and many have it!) No less logical counter-arguments are easily found.

The most impartial scholars still admit that Plato's dialogues contain a rational kernel and they describe real natural disasters who comprehended the Mediterranean - the same Crete.

The only thing that can draw a line under many years of discussion, indisputably proving the veracity of the legend, is the discovery of the remains of Atlantis on the sea or ocean floor. But is it possible?

Remains of former luxury

Scientists from many countries are constantly exploring the seas and oceans, making the most valuable archaeological discoveries from time to time. True, so far nothing has been found that would prove the existence of a sunken mainland or huge island. Given the constant improvement of the technical equipment of such expeditions, landmark discoveries may not be far off. Another question - what can scientists find at the bottom?

The main building materials of antiquity were marble, granite, basalt and sandstone. For thousands of years in sea ​​water most of the buildings will completely dissolve, except for some of the marble structures. In addition, some types of mollusks and the presence of strong underwater currents can be destructive to sunken buildings.

In salty sea water, metals undergo accelerated corrosion. Iron oxidizes after 200 years at sea, copper and copper alloys disappear after 400 years. True, if copper products have big sizes(bells, cannons, anchors), a layer of carbonates is formed on their surface that can protect the object. But high-grade gold can lie in the water for a very long time.

Wooden objects die in a couple of centuries, and high-quality ceramics lie at the bottom for millennia. At the same time, many items, if they are quickly overgrown with corals, are also able to be stored for a long time - however, it is difficult to detect them in this case. In general, some of the heritage of the Atlanteans is theoretically able to survive to this day.

Perhaps a miracle will still happen, and humanity will take a fresh look at its history? Schliemann was once also made fun of, but he, in spite of everything, discovered the legendary Troy ...