What is known about Atlantis. The Narrative of the Egyptian Priests. A mystery that excites the minds of people
The modern world with all its technical capabilities has never received real facts of the existence of a huge continent of high intellectuals. Atlantes, as they were the mystical heritage of the times before our era, so they remain. The vast majority of the scientific world compete for the opportunity to provide evidence against the words of Plato and his followers.
To be or not to be Atlantis. History of an unknown civilization
By ancient gods distributed the available land among the central land gods. That's how Poseidon got into his power beautiful island Atlantis, which was later settled by people from their underwater world. natural conditions on the island they disposed to a peaceful life - from the coast to the very center stretched a plain ideal for agriculture, without rocks or cliffs, there was only one elevation on the island - a steep mountain, on top of which the first of the wisest men, Evenor, settled. In earthly life, the man was bound by marriage to Leucippe, a young and incredibly beautiful woman. During the years of marriage, they had a daughter, Kleito, of indescribable beauty and liveliness of mind.
After the death of her parents, Kleito was seduced by Poseidon, who had been watching the inhabitants of the mountain all this time. In order to protect his most tender lover from other men, the god of the sea depths enveloped the hill with several ditches and embankments, which were not easy to cross even for the strongest of people. Soon Kleito gave birth to five pairs of children from Poseidon, all sons. In honor of this, God created two springs on the body of the island: with hot water and cold.
Poseidon wisely divided the entire perimeter of the island between his sons in turn of their birth. The firstborn got the most fertile part of the earth, so they called him Atlas. The descendants of a strong heir became Atlantes, people of unreal wealth and intelligence. The land allocated by the father fully provided the people with food and even mountain copper, which the Atlanteans traded with coastal states.
For several centuries of their existence, the Atlanteans have adorned their island with unprecedented buildings, communicating channels and bridges. The built-in line of defense by Poseidon himself over time became just a legend, the chain of ditches began to shrink, and the embankments themselves were leveled by skillful Atlanteans. Soon the land of Atlantis was covered with sacred monasteries, temples and palaces, the greatness of which was described by the craftsman Plato in his creation.
A selection of popular science documentaries
The Flood or the Search for Atlantis
Mysterious revelations of a lost civilization. The battle of civilizations.
Atlantis, Lemuria and Hyperborea
The mighty country of Atlantes. The collapse of the great empire.
In Search of Atlantis (National Geographic Documentaries)
Atlantis of the Russian North/ 1080p
Atlantis. Reality or fantasy. Documentary
Mystical artifacts Lost Civilizations - Documentary about Atlantis.
Atlantis. Secret stories
fantasy stories. Atlantis. The Mystery of a Lost Civilization Fantastic Stories
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A few years ago, it certainly would not have occurred to me to connect the Theta Disc with the myth that Atlantis was at that time. However, everything has changed: it is no longer a myth! The myth has become a hypothesis, in support of which the forces of dozens of researchers have united, finding more and more indisputable data. Today there are already so many of them that, without the testimony of Plato, we ourselves would now recreate a picture of the Ancient Atlantic with an archipelago of islands that connect its shores and begin at the Pillars of Hercules.
I think it is worth getting acquainted with these data in order to make sure how real the former existence of this country is and how directly related to our hypothesis is possible. And I will start with a general statement: as science has shown, nothing is permanent in our knowledge of the world. The progress of science is in the constant rejection of previous knowledge. For a long time there are already immutable truths and there are no indisputable facts. The view of the problems and objects of study is sometimes subject to a radical change. Actually, the only principle worthy of a man of science is now the readiness to accept the most unexpected explanations of phenomena, it would seem once fully explained.
As an example, let us turn to the past of man, in order to say to ourselves directly, without bluntness: the entire genealogy of the human race, which was hammered into us with such zeal by self-confident or unscrupulous scientists, turned out to be just a speculative construction on paper! Textbooks also say that a million years ago we allegedly descended from the trees. Meanwhile, recent discoveries in Africa have shown the existence of intelligently crafted flint tools as early as 3.5 million years before us.
All the imaginary "intermediate links" between the monkey and Homo sapiens, so adored by paleontologists, often, alas, to their greater glory, return to their places in the animal world. And it began after they discovered in Tanzania more ancient or equal in age to completely human remains and prints of the feet, no different from ours. And that's when a few real scientists dared to publicly express their conviction that the "bone material of evidence" collected over decades is far from complete, badly dated, insufficient, doubtful, and even falsified. And finally, this "something" presented as an ancestor of man may well be simply a parallel branch. In a word, science in its present state has little to say about man's past. Thus, the ancient cultures "received" over thousands of millions more years for their historical development. If our immediate ancestor in 10 thousand years managed to move from a stone pestle to an electron microscope, then the question arises: well, his African predecessor, with equally dexterous hands and the same brain size, had to spend 3.5 million years, so nothing and not reaching?
And now, in our past, an incredibly long, boundless period opened up, during which cultures that we could not even dream of could flourish and die with success! Most likely, they were just that, because they did not leave us rusting landfills and plastic dumps.
In this incomprehensible past, there is enough room for Atlantis.
As Plato says, on the islands of Atlantis “it was easy to move to other islands, and from the islands to the entire opposite mainland, which covered that sea, which really deserves such a name (after all, the sea on this side of the said strait is just a bay with some narrow passage into it, while the sea on the other side of the strait is the sea in the proper sense of the word, as well as the land surrounding it can truly and quite rightly be called the mainland).”
Strikingly, this is an early reference to America; and it doesn't look like fiction at all. But no less remarkable is the mention of a chain of islands. Plato at one time could not know about the Atlantic what we know today: during the last glaciation, the water level was lower by 120–200 meters, and this alone meant that the surface of Azores, Madeira, the Cape Verde Islands, Bermuda and the Bahamas - many times higher than the current one. These were large islands, and their shallow continental shelf, which greatly facilitated navigation, occupied vast expanses.
The testimony of Heinrich Schliemann, the famous discoverer of Troy, is little known (by the way, it has already been discovered a second time, in another place). He claims that during his stay in St. Petersburg, he found and read an Egyptian papyrus kept in the Hermitage, which says the following:
"The pharaoh sent an expedition to the west to search for traces of the continent of Atlantis, from which the ancestors of the Egyptians arrived 3350 years ago, bringing with them all the knowledge of their native land."
Interestingly, Aristotle, who rejected Plato's message, claimed that the Phoenicians and Carthaginians knew about a large island in the west of the Atlantic, which they called Antilla.
This name is very close to the Greco-Roman "Atlantis" (the so-called lost island or continent).
So if we prove the existence of this "chain of islands", then not only Atlantis will become reliable, but also the ambiguities in the problem of the settlement of America will disappear. The "Siberian Way" through the Bering Isthmus does not fully explain everything either in time or in the ethnic composition of the South American peoples. Some of them, such as the Mexican Olmecs with Negroid traits, the creators of the oldest culture in this country, came (according to Professor Andrzej Wierczyński) from the Ibero-African region. Such resettlement would be highly doubtful if there were no transatlantic island chain. The cradle of a number of other American tribes with clearly Indo-European ethnic features, not without reason, could be seen precisely on Atlantis.
Ancient sources are full of numerous references to the invasion of Europe and Africa by "sea peoples" from the west. The inhabitants of this region have preserved legends, records and even some ruins - traces of these invasions from the sea. Egyptian chronicles mention the mysterious attacks of "people of the sea". Irish legends tell of Froborgs who arrived from the Atlantic. The ruins of ancient stone fortresses testify to the attacks committed thousands of years ago. And what is interesting: these stones bear traces of exposure to high temperatures. The Atlantic coast of Spain and France is also full of ancient ruins, covered with legends of attacks from the west in time immemorial.
The ancient Gauls, Irish, Welsh and other Celtic tribes were convinced that their ancestors came from a continent that had sunk in the "Western Sea". The Welsh called it Avalon.
The Basques, who are a completely mysterious racial and linguistic "island" in Southwestern France and Northern Spain, and to this day believe that they are the descendants of Atlantis, which is called the Atlantic. In Portugal, it is also widely believed that Atlantis was near this country, and the Azores are its remnants.
Indigenous people canary islands they are still called by their old name - Atalaya, and the first newcomers from the continent were presented as distant descendants of the few ancestors who survived the great catastrophe.
The Vikings claimed that Atli was wonderful country in the West. For the ancient Arabs, the first civilization existed on the "continent of Hell in the Western Ocean." Why, even the ancient Indian texts "Purana" and "Mahabharata" mention "Atalla, White Island in the Western Ocean, "half the world" from India.
And so on and so forth. There are many such traces of the past in America. For example, in Venezuela, the conquistadors came across a village of "white people" called Atlan. However, other tribes conquered by them told about their coming from across the sea, from places in the name of which the sound combination atl was repeated.
Cultural similarities on two continents are significant. Already the first Spaniards heard about things that they knew very well from the traditions of the Middle East, from the Bible and other texts: about the great flood that a few chosen ones and their animals survived on boats; about the construction” of a high tower in order to avoid another flood; about repentance and deliverance from sins; about communion in the form of bread, perceived as the body of God, and also about the cross, which turned out to be ancient image Tree of Life.
The Indians, in turn, had long awaited the arrival of the Spaniards and, with an accuracy of up to a year, foresaw the return of the "white gods", who many centuries ago brought them civilization, and then sailed east.
What else struck the Spaniards, and still strikes us, is the use by the Indians of words from the ancient languages of the Old World. So, for example, in the Aztec language Nahuatl there is the word theoakilli (TheosaSh), meaning "house of the gods", and in Greek - theou potassium (theou calia) - "God's house". Another Nahuatl word tepek (tepee), that is, "hill", sounds almost like tepe (tehe) - "hill" in the Turkic languages. The Indian "Potomac" (river in the USA) and numerous names of other rivers beginning with "pot" are reminiscent of the distant Greek patomas (potomos) - "river". There are too many such transatlantic linguistic similarities to be considered accidental. Here are a few more examples out of hundreds of others:
The list of such similarities could be continued. It certainly excludes any chance. These words are brought across the ocean by people. We do not know how long ago and in what way. It is generally believed that this was done by Asian hunters and gatherers who migrated from Siberia, perhaps 50,000 years ago. The oldest human bones in the United States date back to the 40th millennium BC. The advance of the tribes through the Bering Strait to Alaska, and then through the lands of present-day Canada, the USA, Mexico, Central America to Peru, Chile, Argentina and Tierra del Fuego lasted for millennia, and during this time, before deserts, mountains, jungles and prairies were overcome, hundreds of generations have changed. Well, let's say that the life expectancy of people of those times was on average 25 years, which means that in 1 thousand years - 40 generations, and in 40 thousand years - about 1600 generations. This is so much that that ancient living speech has completely changed, forming the current mosaic of almost radically different Indian languages.
It is difficult to agree that some Siberian tribe 40 thousand years ago used the word meo (leo), “saint”, and it was brought to the Aztecs, and then to the Greeks, and at the same time did not change for 1600 generations ... But the word ball (bal) "ax", in Sumer and among the Araucanians three quarters of the way around the Earth? Oh, and incredible.
The ethnic composition of the peoples of America tells us another solution. Although in general the inhabitants of the New World undoubtedly have Asian features, there are, however, islands of races with Negroid and Indo-European ethnic properties, and their presence cannot be explained by Siberian migration. They and their languages got to America from the Old World in a different way.
The riddles don't end there. A major Sanskrit scholar, at my request, analyzed some of the Nahuatl words to which I associate biochemical meanings. And what turned out? They have Sanskrit roots and with the same meaning as in Mexico!
For example, the name of the sign ollin (ollin) "movement" in the usual, everyday meaning - symbolizes a double chromosome. In Vedic Sanskrit, the root “il” (I) really means “to move”, “to move”, but also “to speak”! Hence illin (illin) is “endowed with movement and speech”, that is, “information”! And those two sticks that are drawn in the cell sign really carry genetic information and "pass from cell to cell."
There is too little space here to consider this problem in more detail, so I will only remind you that both Americas are replete with names that undoubtedly come from the Vedic Sanskrit - "the speech of the gods." But how is this possible if Sanskrit originated in the records 3.5 thousand years ago, and Asian languages "penetrated" into America 10, 20, 30 centuries earlier? Only one answer suggests itself: someone taught the peoples in America, and in India, and in the Middle East, and in the region of the Pillars of Hercules. And he fulfilled his mission by the closest route - the Atlantic. This "someone" disappeared from the face of the Earth along with his country.
Now let's move on to direct evidence of the existence of Atlantis. They were deep-sea discoveries made in Lately thanks to the development of diving technology and underwater research. On the sea shelf of the Azores, Canary Islands, Bahamas and Bermuda, scuba divers discovered and photographed numerous stone walls, platforms and stairs laid by the human hand thousands of years ago.
About 300 miles west of Gibraltar lies an underwater range of sunken mountains, rising 5 kilometers above the surrounding depths and not reaching about 200 meters from the surface of the water. Arranged in a semicircle, they received the name "Horseshoe".
This Horseshoe attracts great attention of numerous sea explorers. Expeditions under different flags took geological samples of the bottom, benthic flora and fauna there, which brought very interesting results.
Researchers were surprised to find specific "wrinkles" of the bottom at a depth of several hundred meters. These are sandy shafts, the surface of which is covered with small wavy wrinkles, which form exclusively in coastal areas, where sea waves run onto the shore and roll off it in powerful streams, entraining sand particles. Cliffs were also found - coastal cliffs, washed away by the waves of the surf. Thus, irrefutable evidence was obtained that entire areas of the Horseshoe were once dry land.
But the real sensation was photographs of the sunken plateau of Ampère, lying about 70 meters below the surface of the water. They were made by the Soviet oceanographic expedition on the research vessel Akademik Petrovsky in January 1974. Its participant, V. I. Marakuev, a specialist in underwater photography, “caught” among thousands of pictures of the bottom those that turned out to be so sensational that the word “Atlantis” immediately hit the front pages of newspapers around the world.
One of the photographs shows a fragment of a wall about one and a half meters high and about two meters long, made of stone blocks connected by a bundle. On the other - the same wall from above. The photograph allows you to determine the thickness of the wall at approximately 0.75 meters, as well as see the seams connecting the processed blocks. In the third photo, five steps are visible, partly filled with lava, and in the fourth - a stone platform made of flat slabs.
In the light of these and many other finds, today it is already impossible to deny that the Atlantic hides the remains of some kind of human civilization. The oldest legends about the "people of the sea" and their buildings have received serious confirmation in reality.
Geologists, who in subsequent years took samples of the bottom in various parts of the Atlantic, collected a whole collection of volcanic rocks, which, without any doubt, solidified and crystallized in the atmosphere, outside the waters. Their age does not exceed 15 thousand years. So it can be considered proven that at that time significant sections of the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean were the earth's surface.
Another piece of evidence comes from Wegener's theory of continental drift. The coasts of the Old and New Worlds, which once formed a single whole, are visually connected on the map. The eastern coasts of Brazil and Argentina correspond to the western coasts of Africa. Greenland is drawn to Norway, Florida to Liberia. There is also a geological correspondence on both sides of the ocean. Everything is in place here. With one exception: a piece has disappeared from this mosaic, which should be located in the southern part North Atlantic. But that's exactly where he is. Only underwater! And in the very place where most of the legends interfere with Atlantis.
Nature also remembers her. Birds remember. Sailors and fishermen report a striking phenomenon south of the Azores. It turns out that migratory birds during winter migrations from Europe to South America begin to circle here so low above the sea, as if they are looking for places to land. Not finding land, they fly further, but many weakened birds descend on the water. This is repeated here in the spring, during the return flight. It seems that the birds are instinctively looking for the land on which flocks rested thousands of years ago.
Similar story with butterflies. Species calopsida, living on the northern coast South America, seems to "remember" some land that once protruded from the waters northwest of Guyana. Every year, the males of this butterfly take a massive flight into the ocean and there they settle in whole clouds on the water.
With regard to the possibility of subsiding vast areas of land to a considerable depth, much has been clarified here in last years. Acquaintance with the features of the seabed, the movement of continental plates, as well as the "programming" of probable collisions in the ancient times of the globe with giant cosmic bodies today makes it possible to scientifically substantiate several reliable hypotheses of Atlantis sinking into the ocean. One of them, which takes into account an extremely large amount of data from various fields and is based on a solid chronology and calculations, was developed by Dr. Emilio Spendicato, physicist, professor at the University of Bergamo in Italy - materials on it were kindly provided to me by Dr. Jan Golubets from the Polish Academy of Sciences.
This hypothesis considers the catastrophic disappearance of Atlantis in accordance with Plato's message. In particular, it is largely confirmed by satellite photography of craters that appeared as a result of collisions of the earth with large meteorites, some craters (for example, in Brazil, which is 220 million years old) have a diameter of several tens of kilometers. The crater in Canada (Labrador Peninsula) became the Manicowagan reservoir, comparable in size to the crater Copernicus on the Moon. Similar craters, of course, much more at the bottom of the oceans.
Such collisions should have led to incalculable long-term consequences on Earth: colossal geological, gravitational and magnetic disturbances, climatic changes, catastrophic for the planet.
According to Plato, the death of Atlantis occurred 9 thousand years before him, that is, about 11.5 thousand years ago, counting from our time. Professor Spendicato became interested in what happened in that period on the entire planet. And what? It was then that the last glaciation on Earth ended. The scientist calculated that a meteorite with a diameter of about 1.4 kilometers and a density of 3.3 grams per cubic centimeter crashed into the Earth in the Atlantic region, near the great island, at a speed of 25 kilometers per second. The released energy corresponded to the explosion of a million megaton hydrogen bombs. Even at a distance of 10 thousand kilometers from the impact site, the temperature rose by 30 degrees, and winds at a speed of 100 kilometers per hour blew for 14 hours.
As a result of this collision, a funnel was formed with a depth of 6 and a diameter of 15 kilometers. Since the ocean was then not as deep as it is now, a crater arose in its bottom and an earthquake occurred, most likely causing the release of liquid magma. Then, the instantaneous filling of the colossal crater with ejected and falling back water formed a gigantic kilometer-high wave, which even at a distance of 1,000 kilometers was a 100-meter wall. Thermal shock led to the explosive evaporation of huge masses of water, saturation of the atmosphere and long-term showers throughout the Earth. As a result, the biblical flood, about which legends remained among many peoples of the world. Due to the greenhouse effect, the temperature on the planet has risen so much that the rapid melting of glaciers began and, as a result, an increase in the level of the World Ocean by about 120 meters.
The mystery of Atlantis is described in many works, both adventure novels and serious scientific research. To date, scientists and enthusiastic researchers have put forward more than 1,700 hypotheses about the location of this mysterious continent and the reasons for its disappearance without a trace. However, not so unimportant.
One of the most eminent scientists Ancient Greece, Plato, in the works "Critias" and "Timaeus", mentions Atlantis, referring to data from the diaries of his great-grandfather, no less famous Athenian poet and statesman Solon. About existence big country Atlanteans, who fought with the Greeks for another 9000, he was told by an Egyptian priest. According to this fragmentary information, the land of the Atlanteans was somewhere on the other side of the Pillars of Hercules. According to Plato, according to Solon, Atlantis was a large and rich country with big cities and a very developed economy at that time. The picturesque territory of the country, covered with dense forests, was cut by numerous irrigation canals. Atlantis was a federation of ten kingdoms. The Atlanteans hoped to expand their territory and tried to enslave Athens and Egypt, however, they suffered a crushing defeat in the fight against the Athenian army. According to the same data, as a result of a terrible earthquake during the day, the mighty Atlantis disappeared forever under water.
Scientists to this day have not come to a consensus regarding Plato's story about this mysterious country. Perhaps Atlantis was just a product of one of the ancient Greek legends? This assumption is supported by the fact that not all of Plato's stories were believed even by his contemporaries. According to these scientists, in such ancient times, 9000 years before the birth of Plato, such a highly developed culture could not have existed. It could not for the simple reason that at that time the end of the ice age had just come. Many scientists agree that at one time cavemen and highly developed Atlanteans could live. And can it be that an entire country suddenly disappeared without a trace. However, most scientists argue that Atlantis could well exist in reality, because the legends had to have at least some basis, and most of the myths reflected the events that took place in reality.
After all, the ruins of the once mythical ancient Troy, which was also considered a figment of the fantasy of blind Homer, were found by archaeologists. And not so long ago, the fact was scientifically proven that the ancient Greeks could make quite long long journeys on their ships, and, like Odysseus, reach the shores of Colchis, the country of the Golden Fleece. As for the huge and destructive power of earthquakes, then, according to geologists, it is really capable of burying a vast territory in a short time.
True, if we assume that Atlantis really existed, another rather important question arises. Where should researchers go, where should they look for this mythical land? Scientists from different times and countries could never come to a consensus. Some of them believed that mysterious Atlantis sank to the bottom of the central part of the Atlantic Ocean - somewhere between two continents, Europe and North America. This statement is based on the words of Plato, who noted that the mysterious land was located in front of the strait, called the Pillars of Heracles (framed by the rocks of Abilik and Kalpa), which was located near the Strait of Gibraltar. In addition, many of the same species of animals and plants live in these lands. In addition, not so long ago, the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, located in the depths of the Atlantic Ocean, was discovered. A vast plateau with a number of ridges adjoins the ridge, the peaks of which form the Azores.
It is likely that this area was once land and about 12 thousand years ago, during a geological catastrophe, it sank to the ocean floor. This period just coincides with the alleged time of the existence of Atlantis. After that, the warm Gulf Stream finally reached the shores of Northern Europe, and as a result, the ice age ended in our part of the world. This version of warming in Europe was put forward by the Russian scientist N.F. Zhirov, as well as some other researchers. It is likely that the Azores and the island of Madeira are the very remnants of the lost mainland. According to some scientists, not all the inhabitants of Atlantis died during the collapse of their mainland - some survivors reached shores of America while others made their way to Europe. It was they who laid the foundation for the greatest civilizations of Mexico and Peru, as well as Egypt and Mesopotamia. This explains the striking similarity in their architecture, traditions and religions, all the more surprising because the countries were far from each other.
Indeed, the inhabitants of both sides of the Atlantic equally worshiped the Sun, and believed in the myth of the Flood, which was widespread both in Mesopotamia and among the Indian tribes that inhabited the South and North America. It is striking that the language of the Basques living in northern Spain in Pyrenees mountains absolutely not similar to other European languages, but it is very similar to the languages of some Indian tribes. And the ancient pyramids created by our ancestors in Mexico and Egypt have a lot in common.
In addition, in both countries there is a custom of mummification of the dead, moreover, the same objects are placed in their graves. But the main thing is that in the places where the burials of the Mayan tribes are located, archaeologists find jewelry made of green jade, the deposits of which simply do not exist in America. Maybe he got there from Atlantis?
According to a legend widespread among the Indians of Peru and Mexico, which tells about the white god Quetzacoatl, he arrived on the mainland on a sailboat from the edge of the early sun - that is, from the east. God taught the Indian tribes construction and craft, revealed laws and religion to them, and then mysteriously disappeared. The Peruvians, who did not know about the existence of the Aztecs, believed in the same legend, with one amendment - their god was called Viracocha. Perhaps these people came from Atlantis? It is believed that their images are found on the walls of the cities of Chichen Itza and Tiguanacu.
Scientists refer to the evidence of the existence of Atlantis and the ruins of ancient Indian cities, the remains of which are located in the Peruvian Andes and the impenetrable jungle of the Yucatan Peninsula.
In the autumn of 1970, while inspecting the coastal waters of the Bahamas in the Atlantic Ocean from a seaplane, D. Rebikov, a French archaeologist and aquanaut, noticed strange ruins of some buildings on the ocean floor near the island of North Bimini. Divers who went down under the water found giant walls more than a hundred meters long. They were built from giant blocks, each of which weighed about 25 tons. By whom were they built? Perhaps Atlanteans? True, it was soon discovered that these "walls" arose as a result of cracking of coastal rocks that had gone under water due to the gradual sinking to the bottom of the Bahamas.
They are also looking for Atlantis in the Mediterranean. The most plausible is the opinion of the Russian scientist A. S. Norov, who considered the island of Crete and many small Greek islands to the north of it to be the remnants of a continent that had sunk into oblivion. The well-known Soviet geographer L. S. Berg agreed with this opinion. Today, this theory is supported by the vast majority of scientists. This version is supported by recent studies in this area and in the Atlantic Ocean.
When studying the area of the alleged death of Atlantis at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, scientists found that the average thickness of sedimentary rocks in this zone is about 4 meters. At the same time, at the current rate of accumulation of such rocks, which is 10-15 mm per thousand years, this will require at least 300 thousand years, and certainly not 12 thousand, as argued by supporters of the Atlantean origin of the mysterious Atlantis.
In addition, according to evidence from oceanographic studies of recent times, the Mid-Atlantic Ridge is the result of a geological event during which the continents of Africa and South America were “torn apart”. Scientists separately noted the features of the coastline pattern: the western line of the African mainland and the eastern line of the South American.
Accordingly, in order for Atlantis to be located in the Atlantic Ocean, there is simply no place in it. But then what to do with Plato's message about where the disappeared country is located, allegedly located in front of the Pillars of Hercules, that is Strait of Gibraltar? Under the name "Pillars of Hercules" before Plato could mean a completely different place. What is it? Disputes of researchers do not subside until now.
Regarding the Mediterranean location of Atlantis, assumed by most scientists, they provide a number of fairly weighty evidence.
For example, it has been established that on the island of Thira (Santorini), located in the Aegean Sea, about 3.5 thousand years ago, there was a volcanic explosion of destructive force, similar to the one that was noted in 1883 on the island of Krakatau, which in South-East Asia, among the islands of Indonesia. Apparently, it was the greatest geological catastrophe in the entire history of our planet.
In terms of its strength, the explosion of the Santorin volcano was equal to the explosion of about 200 thousand atomic bombs, identical to those that were once dropped on Hiroshima.
Scientist Garun Taziyev gives the approximate date of the explosion - 1470 BC and claims that as a result, about 80 billion cubic meters rose into the air. m of crushed rock, and the waves that arose in the process reached 260 m. Danish scientists reasonably believe that the explosion took place in 1645 BC. e., - almost 150 years earlier.
Just at that time, the islands located in this part of the Aegean Sea were ruled by the Minoans, who achieved great success in science and handicrafts. As a result of a powerful volcanic explosion, as it was found, one of the developed cities on the island of Thira and the center of the civilization of the Minoans, located on Crete - Knossos, perished.
Most of the territory of the state was absorbed by the Aegean Sea. Probably, it was this event, the echo of which reached Plato through the centuries, and was reflected in his story about the country of the Atlanteans. True, in the interpretation of Plato, the size of the sunken continent is much larger, and the time of the catastrophe is shifted many thousands of years ago.
In other words, according to the opinion of the fans of this hypothesis, in the descriptions of Plato we are talking about the state of the Minoans. After all, according to his data, Atlantis was developed maritime power, and the same could be said about the country of the Minoans, which had an impressive navy. Plato said that fat herds of sacred bulls grazed on the island of Atlantis, of which the Minoans had a lot, and they were also considered sacred. A ditch was discovered on the seabed near Tyra, similar to the one that, according to Plato, protected the fortress in the capital of Atlantis. Now the island of Thira is a fragment left after the explosion of a giant volcano. Excavated in 1967, the ruins of the Minoan city lay under a thick layer of volcanic ash and, like Pompeii, are perfectly preserved. Archaeologists have found many colored frescoes and even wooden objects here.
In 1976, the famous French scientist and aquanaut Jacques Yves Cousteau discovered the remains of an ancient Minoan civilization at the bottom of the Aegean Sea near the island of Crete. According to his calculations, it was destroyed during the crushing eruption of the Santorin volcano, which occurred in 1450 BC. e. Nevertheless, Cousteau always considered Atlantis beautiful fairy tale Plato.
The authority of Cousteau's opinion forced many scientists to "return" again to the hypothesis of the Atlantic Atlantis. The impetus for this decision was the discovery of a group of seamounts to the west of Gibraltar, which have table-like peaks, located only 100-200 meters below sea level. Many scientists consider these mountains to be the remains of a vast archipelago that sank in ancient times.
Pictures taken by a researcher at the Institute of Oceanology of the USSR Academy of Sciences in 1973 became a sensation. At that time, he took part in an expedition on the vessel "Akademik Kurchatov". Looking at eight underwater photographs taken by him, you can see the ruins of the fortress wall and other buildings on top of one of the seamounts.
As a result of the conducted in 1983-1984. research, scientists of the research vessels "Akademik Vernadsky" and "Vityaz" with the help of underwater vehicles "Paisis" and "Argus" confirmed that Mount Amper is an extinct volcano that once sank to the ocean floor. Well, the notorious ruins are far from the creations of human hands, but ordinary natural formations.
This means that the unsuccessful search for Atlantis in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean only confirms the conclusions of scientists looking for traces of her presence in the Aegean Sea. True, some disagreements arose in their orderly ranks. The reason for this in 1987 was the Russian scientist I. Mashnikov. He logically rethought the works of Plato and put forward a new hypothesis.
First of all, he disputes the time of the death of Atlantis, as well as some other data of Plato. For example, the number of land and sea forces of the Atlanteans. Judging by the words of Plato, the Atlanteans had a huge armada - 1200 ships, as well as an army, according to experts, amounting to more than a million soldiers. Accordingly, the Greek army that defeated the Atlanteans should have been no less numerous. According to Mashnikov's quite logical reasoning, in glacial period such a huge army simply had nowhere to come from, taking into account the fact that at that time the number of inhabitants of the entire planet was no more than 3-4 million people, while being at a fairly low level of development.
Accordingly, we are most likely talking about a different, much later time. Mashnikov says that ancient people recorded nine thousand as ten thousand minus one thousand, and, accordingly, nine hundred as one thousand minus one hundred. In the system of calculus adopted in Egypt, a thousand was denoted by the sign "M", and in the ancient Greek system "M" meant ten thousand. Apparently, Solon simply rewrote the Egyptian signs from ancient Egyptian documents, and Plato understood them in ancient Greek. Thus, 9000 appeared instead of 900.
Considering that Solon "stayed" in Egypt (560 BC) 900 years after the death of Atlantis, the approximate date of the disaster is 1460 BC. e. plus a possible error of 100-150 years.
Scientists, looking for Atlantis in the Atlantic, according to Mashnikov, took a false trail, because they did not doubt that the Platonic Pillars of Hercules, behind which this land was located, is the Strait of Gibraltar. But, under Pillars of Hercules apparently meant some other place. However, Plato has direct indications that allow you to determine the location of Atlantis. Plato says that along the Pillars of Hercules the maritime border between the country of Atlantis and the Athenian state was laid. And this means that these pillars could only be in the Aegean Sea. In another place of his story, Plato directly indicates that Athens opposed the state of the Atlanteans, which can be interpreted not only as a war, but also as a geographical one, that is, they were on the other side - on the peninsula of Asia Minor. At that time there was the land of the Hittites. In addition, according to the author, only here the cities were built according to a circular plan, creating canals, as if outlined by a compass.
But after all, Plato spoke of Atlantis as a large island that sank to the bottom of the sea. It can be assumed that part of this state was indeed located on an island, though not as large as Plato claimed. Probably, it was this island, and by no means the whole country, that perished as a result of a volcanic eruption or an earthquake, as a result of which only a chain of islands remained, which is now called the Sporades. It turns out that Atlantis is actually Hittia or its island part. In addition, Plato, in his retelling of Solon, claimed that Atlantis was at war with Athens. And from the sources it is known that in the XIV century. BC e. Egypt waged war with the Hittites, and after a while Athens entered the war, according to the historian Herodotus, inflicted a heavy defeat on the Hittites and captured 13 of their cities. Subsequently, the Hittite empire collapsed.
According to I. Mashnikov, the war between the Hittites and Athens is the key to unraveling another mystery. Obviously, "Atlanteans" is not a nationality, but a contemptuous name for an enslaved people. The sculpture of the enemy, who became a slave and propped up the cornice, was a symbol of the courage of the winners and the humility of the vanquished. The defeated Hittites were turned into slaves and became Atlanteans, their fallen state began to be called Atlantis. "Perhaps these arguments are not far from the truth.
Fancy version about the origin of Atlantis was put forward in 1992 by the German scientist Zangger. Some researchers consider his book about the secrets of Atlantis simply brilliant. According to Zangger, Plato's narrative is a distorted memory of the once fallen Troy. This ancient city, which was located near the Dardanelles and was described by Homer in the XII century. BC e. as fallen under the onslaught of the Greeks, was considered a myth. But, in 1871, the ruins of Troy were found by the German scientist G. Schliemann. At the same time, Zangger provides quite a lot of weighty evidence for this hypothesis, especially if we take into account the coincidences in the descriptions of Homer and Plato of the area in which Troy was located.
But what about the fact that Plato does not speak of a plain, but of a large island? Zanger believes that Solon is to blame for this. When reading hieroglyphic inscriptions on a pillar when visiting the main temple in the residence Egyptian pharaohs posted in Saisi, he made a mistake. Allegedly, these hieroglyphs denoted sand strip or coast. A serious mistake was also made in the designation of the place where Atlantis was located on the other side of the Pillars of Hercules. It is possible that this name was borne by the Dardanelles.
According to the author of this version, another serious mistake crept into Plato's story, which consisted in incorrectly determining the time of the catastrophe. After all, on the column of the Egyptian temple, a story is written that nine thousand years ago the Greeks overthrew a powerful state - Atlantis. This hypothesis also has a weak side - inconsistencies, which the author explains by the mistakes of the ancient sages. In addition, the justification for determining the date of the war is rather unconvincing.
In general, each of the hypotheses has a certain rational grain, and which of them will eventually turn out to be true, only time will tell. Or a new hypothesis - after all, the mystery of Atlantis has not been solved so far.
Atlantis has been described by many researchers as the most advanced of human civilizations. Some believe that the city was destroyed by one of the greatest natural disasters known to man, while others tend to believe that it was nothing more than a figment of Plato's imagination. This article contains some "facts", conceptual images and videos. Let's dream a little together, plunging into the story of Atlantis.
The legend of Atlantis begins with two dialogues: Timaeus and Critias, written by the classical Greek philosopher, Plato. He describes the inhabitants of Atlantis as noble and strong people who lived on an island located in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Greek myths tell us that Poseidon created a dwelling for the mortal woman Kleito, with whom he fell in love. To protect her, he surrounded the island with rings of water and earth.
Kleito soon gave birth to 5 pairs of twin boys who became the rulers of the country. Atlas became the first king. Atlantis was a thriving trading center due to its location and natural resources. 
Unfortunately, as happened to everyone lost civilizations, greed and power began to corrupt the inhabitants of Atlantis. Zeus was outraged by the immorality of people and had to decide the fate of Atlantis by gathering other gods and determining punishment. At the peak of its greatness, Atlantis was swallowed up by sea waves after a terrible earthquake. 
It is believed that the center of Atlantis was connected to the sea by an extremely large and deep channel - almost 9 km long, 100 m wide and 30 m deep. He was even deeper than Panama Canal, which reaches 18 meters at its deepest location. 
At the very top central mountain A temple was built in honor of Poseidon. Inside was a statue of Poseidon on a chariot with winged horses (Pegases). The statue was usually surrounded by the senior rulers of Atlantis, who discussed laws here, made decisions and paid tribute to Poseidon. 
The main city of Atlantis was located outside the 1st ring of water and covered 17 km of land. It was very densely populated, most of the inhabitants lived here. Outside the city were fertile fields and farms 530 km long and 190 km wide, surrounded by another canal used to collect water from rivers and mountain streams. Each year, the climate of Atlantis allowed 2 harvests. One in winter, which was fed by rains, and one in summer, which was fed by irrigation from canals. 
High mountains surrounded the plain in the north of the 3rd circle. small villages, lakes, rivers and meadows covered most this area. In addition to lush vegetation, the island was very rich in various metals (gold, copper, bronze, silver) and several types of stone. It is also believed that elephants lived here. 
Due to the size of the army and navy, which consisted of approximately 1,200 ships, Atlantis was able to control lands far beyond its territory, including Egypt. 
Today, there are few places in the world where you can experience a small fraction of the atmosphere of Atlantis: the Dubai Palm and Atlantic Paradise (Bahamas). Here are some photos of these places: 
It's always interesting to see how other people feel and imagine Atlantis. Below are some artworks by artists from different corners peace. Enjoy! Mankind can only hope that soon Atlantis will become one of the new
But where Atlantis was "found", it did not correspond to Plato's descriptions. And in the place indicated by the philosopher (that is, behind the Pillars of Hercules), this mysterious land cannot be found until now ...
Among scientists there are two approaches to the term "Atlantis". As mentioned above, in the first Atlantis was called Atlantis by the ancient Greek philosopher Plato. But the predecessors of Plato also knew about it, although they called this country by other names. Ancient authors understood Atlantis as a certain state that was at the same stage of development with Greece, fought with it and died in a grandiose catastrophe during one of the wars.
However, in the occult sciences there is an idea of Atlantis as a kind of proto-civilization that preceded ours and died as a result of a series of catastrophes. This is also evidenced by the myths and legends of the peoples of various countries living on different continents. But many of them have an idea of some kind of people that preceded modern humanity and died as a result of some powerful cataclysm.
"Plato is my friend, but the truth is dearer," the great Aristotle once said. This is how this problem was posed: where, when and how did the state of the Atlanteans exist? Someone recognizes the existence of Atlantis without any doubt, someone rejects it without any doubt, based on the formula: "This cannot be, because this can never be." But most researchers consider the existence of Atlantis quite probable, but requiring proof. The Greek philosopher Krantor says that in 3010 BC. I saw a column in Egypt, on which the whole history of the island that disappeared in the depths of the sea was engraved.
What did Plato know about Atlantis? In his dialogues, he reports that Atlantis disappeared in the course of one day and one tragic night - "in one terrible day."
Starting to describe Atlantis, Plato warns that both the name of the island itself and all the other names in his story are not corrupted, but translated into Greek. The Egyptians, who first wrote the history of Atlantis, translated the Atlantean names in their own way. Solon, who informed Plato of information about this island, did not see the need to preserve the Egyptian names and translated them into Greek.
Russian symbolist poet V.Ya. Bryusov in his essay "Atlantis" notes that "Plato describes Atlantis already in the state it reached after several millennia. cultural life when the island already had many separate kingdoms, many rich cities and a huge population numbering in the millions. "And the history of the island itself began with the division of the earth between the three brother gods: Zeus, Hades and Poseidon. By lot, Poseidon got the island of At -lantis and, in addition, he became the ruler of the seas.When Poseidon received Atlantis, then only three people lived on the island - "one of the husbands, at the very beginning, was born by the Earth, named Evnor with his wife Livkippa and the beautiful daughter Kleito" Poseidon fell in love with Kleito, she became his wife and gave birth to five pairs of twins - the first ten kings of Atlantis.
Poseidon was the first to fortify the island in order to make it inaccessible to enemies. Around a low hill, gradually turning into a plain, three water and two earth rings were dug around the circumference, one after the other. In the very center of the hill (acropolis), on a hill, Poseidon built a small temple for Kleito and himself, surrounding it with a wall of pure gold.
A palace was built on the acropolis, which was expanded and decorated by each king, and the new one was sure to surpass its predecessor. "So it was impossible to see this building without being amazed at the size and beauty of the work."
The kings - the children of Poseidon, of course, could not do without bathing, and for this reason they built numerous baths on the acropolis. "For swimming there were reservoirs, open, and, for winter time, closed; there were special ones - for royal family and for individuals; still others - separately for women, and also for horses and beasts of burden; each of them was located and decorated according to its purpose. The water that came out of these reservoirs was directed to irrigate the forest of Poseidon, where the fertility of the soil produced trees of amazing height and beauty.
The largest and most majestic building of the acropolis was a temple dedicated to one god Poseidon. It was truly gigantic in size: 185 meters long, 96 meters wide and a "corresponding" height. Outside big temple was entirely lined with silver, except for the "extremities" made of pure gold. Inside the temple there were many statues made of gold. The largest of them depicted the god Poseidon, who, standing on a chariot, controlled six winged horses. The statue of Poseidon was so tall that it almost touched the ceiling with its head, which was trimmed with ivory and all decorated with gold, silver and orichalcum. The walls, pillars and floors inside the temple were entirely lined with orichalcum. Everything literally sparkled and "lit up", as soon as the sunbeam penetrated into the sanctuary.
Plato also tells a lot of wonderful things about the capital of the Atlanteans, and then proceeds to describe the whole country. "The island of Atlantis was very elevated above sea level, and the coast rose in an inaccessible cliff. Around the capital, a plain stretched, surrounded by mountains that reached the sea." Everyone said about this plain that it is the most beautiful on earth and very fertile. It was densely dotted with flourishing villages, separated by lakes, rivers, meadows, where many wild domestic animals grazed.
Much came to the Atlanteans from outside, in view of the vastness of their power; but the island itself produced almost everything necessary for life. "Firstly, all metals are hard and fusible, suitable for processing, including the one that we now know only by name: orichalcum ... its deposits were found in many places on the island; after gold, it was the most precious of metals.
The island delivered all the necessary materials for crafts. Lived on an island a large number of domestic animals and wild animals, among other things, many elephants ... The island provided abundant food for all kinds of animals, both living in swamps, lakes and rivers or on mountains and plains, and these (elephants), although they are huge and gluttonous.
Produced and delivered to the island all the flavors now grown in different countries, roots, herbs, juice flowing from fruits and flowers. There was also a fruit that gives wine (grapes), and one that serves as food (cereals), along with those that we also eat, calling the common word - vegetables; there were also fruits that simultaneously gave drink, food and incense (coconuts?) ... Such were the divine and amazing riches, such, in innumerable quantities, this island produced.
On a happy island, each of the ten brothers-kings had absolute power in his kingdom, but the general rule of the state of Atlantis was decided by the kings by the Council, to which they gathered after 5-6 years, alternating even and odd numbers. The supreme power always remained with the direct heir of Atlantis, but even the main king could not sentence death penalty none of his relatives without the consent of the majority of the kings. "As long as the Atlanteans followed the principles of virtue during their reign and as long as the "divine principle" dominated in them, they succeeded in everything. But when the "human disposition" triumphed - the base beginning, when they lost all decency and unbridled greed began to boil in them, when people began to present a "shameful sight", then the God of the Gods - Zeus, seeing the depravity of the Atlanteans, once so virtuous, decided to punish them. "He gathered all the gods in the heavenly sanctuary and addressed them with these words ...".
This is where Plato's dialogue "Critias" abruptly ends. And the story of Atlantis and its search for two thousand years begins. The priests lamented the spiritual wisdom of Atlantis, which defiled itself. Philosophers talked about the divine rulers of this island, poets sang about the fabulous perfection of its structure. However, some researchers believe that Plato needed dialogues about Atlantis in order to express his thoughts about the ideal structure of the state.
But the story of Atlantis, as noted by Valery Bryusov, "is not something exceptional in Plato's writings. He also has other descriptions of fantastic countries, denounced in the form of myths. But none of these stories is furnished, like the description of Atlantis, with references to sources Plato, as if anticipating future doubts and objections, takes care to indicate the origin of his information with the greatest accuracy that only ancient authors knew.
At the beginning of the 20th century, three expeditions were equipped and sent in search of Atlantis, one of which (the second) was led by Pavel Schliemann, the grandson of the famous discoverer of Troy, Heinrich Schliemann. "According to Pavel Schliemann, his famous grandfather left a sealed envelope so that it would be opened by one of the family members who would give a solemn promise to devote his whole life to research, indications of which he would find in this envelope. Pavel Schliemann took such an oath, opened the envelope Heinrich Schliemann reported that he undertook research on the remains of Atlantis, the existence of which he has no doubts and which he considers the cradle of our entire civilization. large sizes, inside which were smaller clay vessels, small figurines made of a special metal, money from the same metal, and objects "made from fossil bones." On some of these objects and on a bronze vessel was written "Phoenician hieroglyphs": "From the king of Atlantis Chronos." But many researchers, Russian and foreign, this story is distrustful.
The search for Atlantis was and is being conducted everywhere - all over the globe. The Soviet hydrogeographer Ya.Ya. Gakkel presented his "Atlantis" in the form of a narrow strip that stretches along the underwater Lomonosov Ridge and connects the Canadian arctic archipelago With New Siberian Islands. Active Member Geographic Society, member of the Scientific Council on Cybernetics of the Russian Academy of Sciences Alexander Kondratov devoted many works to the links between the history of mankind and the history of the oceans. He wrote many books about the legendary Platonic Atlantis and numerous "Atlantis" - the so-called hypothetical lands, now submerged.
Foreign researchers Renata and Yaroslav Malina in their works on natural disasters and aliens from outer space write that the Atlantean navigators explored the Earth ... They say that "they traveled through the air and under water, photographed objects at a great distance, used X-rays, fixed images and sounds on video tapes, used a laser from a crystal, invented a terrible weapon using cosmic rays, and also used the energy of antimatter.However, the use of the dark forces of nature by ambitious priests for selfish purposes and more frequent earthquakes led to the disintegration of the mainland into many islands, which later also disappeared into the sea And ten thousand years before our era underground explosion destroyed the island of Poseidonis. But the radiation emitted by a large crystal lying at the site of the death of Atlantis leads to the sudden disappearance of ships and aircraft in the known bermuda triangle".
As can be seen from the foregoing, the geography of the search for Atlantis is very wide and varied.
