Atlantis historical facts. Opinion of modern scientists about Atlantis. Secrets of antiquity. Atlantis: The Lost Civilization

Disputes about the legendary island of Atlantis, on which the city of the Atlanteans was located, have not ceased for two millennia - ever since the great Plato spoke about it in his dialogues Timaeus and Critias. Wherever they looked for this mysterious country: in the Atlantic Ocean and South America, the Mediterranean Sea and Africa, in Asia Minor, the North Sea and in many other places. But where Atlantis was "found", it did not correspond to Plato's descriptions. And in the place indicated by the philosopher (that is, behind 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. The myths and legends of the peoples of the most 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 kind of 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 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, twisted 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.

Some believe that the legendary Atlantis was in the Aegean Sea, others are sure that it plunged into the depths of the Atlantic Ocean near the current Azores, others are looking for it near the Celtic Range of Great Britain or even in the South China Sea. But California's Robert Sarmast thinks everyone is looking for her in the wrong place. According to him, Atlantis was in Cyprus, which was almost proved by the ancient Greek philosopher Plato. “The island of Cyprus was part of Atlantis, the top of a mountain,” says Sarmast. “This area was at the very center of the ancient world.”
The messages of the ancient Athenian legislator Solon and the text in which Plato describes a powerful civilization destroyed by an angry Zeus have occupied the minds of researchers for many centuries.

Geologists say that the mass of the central mountain range of Cyprus once formed the seabed. Sarmast believes that the mountainous island was the pinnacle of a territory inhabited by a submerged civilization. And she died as a result of a devastating earthquake and subsequent floods thousands of years ago. Drawing on depth surveys, seafloor modeling, and 50 markers found in Plato's Critias and Timaeus dialogues, Sarmast claims to have discovered a submerged rectangular earth mass extending northward. east of Cyprus towards Syria: "Everything matches the dialogue with unprecedented accuracy." Based on data collected ten years ago, Sarmast compiled a detailed three-dimensional map and modeled the bottom of the eastern Mediterranean: “If you lower the sea level by 1600 meters, the island will rise to the surface,” the researcher said.

The Russian symbolist poet V. Ya. Bryusov in his essay "Atlantis" notes that "Plato describes Atlantis already in the state it reached after several millennia of cultural life, when there were already many separate kingdoms on the island, 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 Atlantis and, in addition, he became the ruler of the seas. When Poseidon received Atlantis, only three people lived on the island - "one of the husbands, at the very beginning, was born by the Earth, named Eunor 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.

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 diverted to irrigate Poseidon's Forest, where the fertility of the soil produced trees. 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 high 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 in plains, and these (elephants), although they are huge and gluttonous.

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 a video tape, 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 for selfish purposes by ambitious priests and the increasing frequency of 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, an 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 famous Bermuda Triangle.
As can be seen from the foregoing, the geography of the search for Atlantis is very wide and varied.

In the works of some ancient Greek historians, geographers, mythographers, mathematicians, theologians and astronomers, there are references to one state that has sunk into oblivion: the legendary island of Atlantis. About two thousand years ago, Plato, Herodotus, Diodorus and other respected authors wrote about him in their writings.

Basic information about the lost Atlantis is contained in the writings of Plato. In the dialogues Timaeus and Critias, he talks about an island state that existed about 11,500 years ago.

According to Plato, the god Poseidon was the ancestor of the Atlanteans. He connected his life with a mortal girl who bore him ten sons. When the children grew up, the father divided the island between them. The best part sushi went to the eldest son of Poseidon: Atlan.

Atlantis was a powerful, wealthy and populous state. Its inhabitants built a serious system of defense against external enemies and built a network of circular canals leading to the sea, as well as an internal port.

Big cities were amazing architectural structures and beautiful sculptures: temples made of gold and silver, golden statues and sculptures. The island was very fertile, with a variety of natural world; in the bowels of the earth, people mined copper and silver.

The Atlanteans were a warlike people: the army of the state included a navy of 1000 ships, the number of crews was equal to 240 thousand people; The ground army consisted of 700 thousand people. The descendants of Poseidon fought successfully for many years, conquering new territories and wealth; so it was until Athens stood in their way.

The Athenians, in order to defeat the Atlanteans, created a military alliance with the peoples of the Balkan Peninsula. But on the day of the battle, the allies refused to fight, and the Athenians were left face to face with the enemy. The fearless courageous Greeks defeated the aggressor and liberated the peoples previously enslaved by him.

But early Greek warriors rejoiced at their achievements: the gods decided to intervene in the affairs of people, who had been watching the inhabitants of Atlantis for the last centuries. Zeus considered that the Atlanteans had become greedy, greedy, depraved and decided to punish them to the fullest extent by flooding the island along with its inhabitants and the Athenians who did not have time to celebrate the victory.

Here is what Plato writes about Atlantis in his two writings. At first glance, it's simple beautiful legend, interesting story. There is no direct evidence for the existence of Atlantis in ancient times, nor any reference to authoritative sources.

But these two dialogues survived not only Plato himself, but also two millennia more - during this time many disputes and theories regarding the lost state arose.

Plato's student Aristotle, who listened to the speeches of the Platonist philosophers for about 20 years, eventually categorically rejected the existence of Atlantis, stating that the dialogues "Timaeus" and "Critias" are just an invention, the nonsense of an old man.

It was because of Aristotle that Atlantis was talked about reluctantly, in an undertone until the end of the 18th century. After all, this venerable philosopher enjoyed unquestioned authority in Europe, especially in the Middle Ages. All statements of Aristotle were perceived by Europeans as the ultimate truth.

So why was Aristotle so sure that Atlantis was fiction, because he did not have irrefutable evidence of this? Why was he so harsh in his judgments? Some sources claim that the philosopher simply did not like his mentor, so he decided in this way to spoil the authority of Plato in the eyes of his admirers and admirers.

Mentions of Atlanteans in the writings of other ancient authors

Other ancient authors wrote very little about Atlantis: Herodotus claimed that the Atlanteans had no names, did not see dreams and were defeated by troglodytes - cavemen; according to the stories of Diodorus, the inhabitants of Atlantis fought with the Amazons. Posidonius, who was interested in the causes of land subsidence, believed that Plato's story was plausible.

Proclus in his writings reports on one follower of the ancient thinker: an Athenian Krantor.

Allegedly, he specially went to Egypt 47 years after the death of the philosopher, in order to find evidence in favor of the existence of an island state; returning from a trip, Crantor said that in one of the ancient temples he saw columns with inscriptions retelling the historical events described by Plato.

Search for Atlantis

It is quite difficult to indicate the exact location of the lost Atlantis: there are many hypotheses about where the flooded state may be.

Plato wrote that a huge island was once in the ocean behind the Pillars of Hercules (i.e., behind Gibraltar). But his searches in the area of ​​the Canary, Balearic, Azores and British Islands did not lead to anything.

Some researchers suggest looking for the remains of the material culture of the Atlanteans in the Black Sea, linking the flooding of the island with the "Black Sea flood" that occurred 7-8 millennia ago - then the sea level in less than a year rose, according to various estimates, from 10 to 80 meters.

There is a hypothesis according to which Antarctica is the lost Atlantis. Scientists who adhere to this theory believe that Antarctica in ancient times was shifted to the south pole due to a lithospheric shift, or a sharp shift in the earth's axis as a result of a collision of our planet with a large cosmic body.

There is also an opinion that traces of Atlantis can be found in South America or Brazil. But most interpreters of Plato's dialogues are sure: the lost island should be looked for only in the Atlantic Ocean.

In recent decades, the lost state has been looking for many expeditions, most of which returned empty-handed. True, from time to time the whole world is disturbed by news about the found traces of a flooded island.

Have the Russians found Atlantis?

In 1979, a Soviet expedition, while testing a diving bell, accidentally discovered some objects in the Atlantic Ocean that looked like the ruins of ancient city.

The action unfolded just behind the “Pillars of Hercules” indicated by Plato, 500 km from Gibraltar, above the Amper seamount, which protruded above the surface of the ocean many millennia ago, but then for some reason went under water.

Three years later, the Soviet ship "Rift" went to the same place to explore the ocean floor with the help of the Argus submersible. The aquanauts were amazed by what they saw; from their words, they opened the panorama of the city ruins: the remains of rooms, squares, streets.

But the expedition that took place in 1984 did not live up to the hopes of the researchers: an analysis of two stones raised from the ocean floor showed that it was just volcanic rock, solidified lava, and not the creation of human hands.

The opinion of modern scientists about Atlantis

Atlantis is a fantasy

Most modern historians and philologists are convinced that Plato's dialogues are just a beautiful legend, of which the philosopher has many. There are no traces of this state either in Greece, or in the west of Europe, or in Africa - this is confirmed by archaeological excavations.

The opinion of scientists that Atlantis is just a figment of the imagination is also based on the following: the philosopher writes about the network of canals built on the island, about the inner port, but such large-scale projects in ancient times were beyond the power of people.

Plato indicated the approximate date of the island's sinking into the ocean depths: 9000 years before he wrote the dialogues (i.e., approximately 9500 BC). But this contradicts the data of modern science: at that time, humanity was just emerging from the Paleolithic era. It is not easy to believe that somewhere in those days there lived a people who overtook the entire human race in their development by thousands of years.

Many scientists are convinced that Plato, when writing his works, took as a basis some of the events that took place during his lifetime: for example, the defeat of the Greeks when they tried to conquer the island of Sicily and the flooding of the town of Gelika as a result of an earthquake followed by a flood.

Other researchers believe that the basis for the works of the philosopher was the volcanic eruption on the island of Santorini, which subsequently hit the coast of Crete and other islands of the Mediterranean Sea - this disaster led to the decline of the developed Minoan civilization.

The version is supported by the following fact: the Minoans really fought against the Archeans who inhabited Greece in ancient times and were even defeated by them (just like the Atlanteans were defeated by the Greeks in the dialogues Timaeus and Critias).

In general, many researchers of the thinker's works believe that Plato, being a utopian idealist, with his writings only wanted to call his contemporaries to build an ideal exemplary humane state in which there would be no place for dictatorship, violence and tyranny.

However, the philosopher himself in the dialogues constantly emphasizes that Atlantis is not just a legend, but actually existed once. Island state.

Plato doesn't lie

Some researchers nevertheless admit that there is a grain of truth in the writings of the ancient thinker. Excavations carried out in last years archaeologists, helped scientists gain new information about life and technical achievements our ancestors living 5-10 thousand years ago.

Modern archaeologists find the remains of grandiose structures created by ancient people everywhere: in Egypt, Sumer, Babylon. Tunnels for collecting groundwater, many kilometers of galleries, stone dams, man-made lakes- all these structures operated long before the birth of Plato.

Consequently, the philosopher's dialogues cannot be attributed to fiction only on the grounds that mankind 11 millennia ago was unable to build a network of canals and bridges: recent archaeological excavations prove the opposite.

In addition, since the works of Plato rewritten more than once have come down to us, it is likely that over the two millennia there has been a confusion with dates.

The fact is that in the system of Egyptian hieroglyphs, the number "9000" is indicated by lotus flowers, and the number "900" - rope knots; supporters of the existence of Atlantis believe that later scribes of dialogues could easily confuse characters so similar to each other, thus pushing historical event several thousand years ago.

On top of that, Plato, who belongs to one highly revered in Ancient Greece family, in his dialogues he refers to his ancestor: the wisest of the "seven wise men" legislator Solon. And the ancient Greeks were very kind to their roots, tried to protect the sacred memory of their relatives. Would Plato, given his moral qualities, refer to Solon in his works, because if the whole story with Atlantis is just a fiction, he would tarnish the name of the wisest representative of the family?

Afterword

Atlantis has been shrouded in a halo of mystery for many centuries. People have been trying to find the suddenly disappeared state for almost two thousand years: some - wanting to take possession of the treasures described by Plato, others - out of scientific interest, others - just out of curiosity.

In the 50s of the last century, a doctrine called atlantology even appeared, its main task is to identify true information about Atlantis in historical sources and mythical traditions.

The debate about whether the mysterious land once existed or the ancient Greek thinker simply invented it does not subside to this day. Various theories are born and die, conjectures appear and disappear. Some of them are supported by science, while others are more like a beautiful fairy tale.

Perhaps our children or grandchildren will solve the riddle of Atlantis. But it may turn out that another two thousand years will pass, and the mystery lost island will remain undisclosed, and our descendants, just like we are today, will be tormented by conjectures and assumptions.

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The history of an ancient almost mythical civilization, Atlantis, still excites the imagination. The thought that the city simply went under water due to natural disasters excites the mind. Therefore, in every new settlement that is found under water, they see the mythical Atlantis.

The Greeks called this city Heraklion, and the Egyptians - Thronis. Once on the northern coast of Egypt and considered one of the most important port cities in the Mediterranean, it is now at the bottom of the sea it once served. Recently, a 1200-year-old city has been found underwater and is slowly revealing its secrets. Artifacts that are raised to the surface indicate that at one time it was a large shopping center and a busy port. More than 60 ancient ships that were sunk in the port area for various reasons were also found, along with hundreds of anchors, coins, tablets with inscriptions in Greek and Egyptian, and large sculptures from temples. These temples dedicated to the gods remained almost intact.

The city was the official port of Egypt from 664 to 332 BC. e. Now it is located far from the coast, at a distance of 6.5 km. As in many other sunken cities, the artifacts have been preserved in good condition, which helps to accurately recreate the pictures of the life of cities, their architecture and layout. If you answer the question of how the cities ended up at the bottom of the sea, then, most likely, as a result of an earthquake. Since the city was located on the coast, due to geological processes, it could easily go under water.

9. Fanagoria, Russia/Greece

The ancient city of Phanagoria, the hero of myths and works of art, really existed. If you read the history of Rome, it becomes known that in 63 BC. e. the uprising ended with most of the city being burned, the wife and children of Mithridates VI were killed by an angry mob. For a long period it was believed that this was just a myth, until archaeologists studied the underwater necropolis of Phanagoria and discovered a tombstone, the inscription on which read: “Gypsicrates, wife of Mithridates VI.” Hypsicrates is the masculine version of the name Hypsicratia. This tombstone confirmed the reality of the legend that Hypsicratia was bald, taciturn and courageous, so her husband addressed her, calling her a male name.

Phanagoria is the largest Greek city, which is now located on the territory of Russia. It was founded on the Black Sea coast in the 6th century BC. and today is the third sunken city that may be the legendary Atlantis. Although most of it today is covered with a thick layer of sand, scientists distinguish port structures and a large necropolis. Plinths were also found on which stood big statues, and a large number of urban artifacts. Having existed for 1500 years, the city was abandoned in the 10th century, but the reason for this is not known. Since the 18th century, the city has attracted the attention of archaeologists, but excavations are very slow due to the peculiarities of the bottom and the ball of sand, the width of which in some places is 7 m.

Part of ancient Alexandria is at the bottom of the ocean. The city, which is 2000 years old, has been the object of archaeological excavations for decades. This is a long and difficult process that overcomes a number of difficulties related to the depth and lack of visibility that hides part of the city that has sunk in the earthquake. In addition to the royal palace, temples, quarters, military buildings and outposts, large private complexes were found - everything has been preserved in excellent condition over the centuries. Archaeologists have also found palace complex Cleopatra, which she called her and Mark Antony's home, the place where she committed suicide in order not to surrender to her captors.

Huge granite statues remain at the bottom of the ocean, where they once fell, as a result of a series of earthquake shocks from the 4th to 8th centuries BC. e .. There is also the house of Mark Antony, Timomium, where he hid during difficult periods of life. Archaeologists managed to clear the temple of Isis, the statues of Cleopatra's father and son and other artifacts, including dishes, jewelry, amulets, small statues, ritual boats that were raised to the surface from the sand. In 1994, archaeologists explored the ruins of the Lighthouse of Alexandria, one of the seven wonders Ancient Light. In order for those who wish to see the finds, it is planned to create an underwater museum that will allow tourists to stay dry, going down under the water and walking around the sunken city. Difficulties with financing and construction hinder the implementation of plans.

Chinese city Shicheng was founded 1300 years ago, and most of the buildings appeared over the next 300 years after its foundation. Unique architecture includes buildings dating from the Ming and Qing dynasties of the 14th century. Nothing can resist progress, and the city of Shincheng did not resist, in 1959 it was flooded as a result of the construction of a hydroelectric power station. More than 300,000 inhabitants have left their ancestral homes. Today the city is under water at a depth of 40 m and is well preserved.

The city is not completely lost. In 2001, the Chinese government became interested in its fate and found that it was quite well preserved, if not for the water, it seems that the city continues to live. The walls date back to the 16th century and are still standing today, including the city gates and numerous statues. Today, divers are discovering this city and its greatness in a new way for themselves and the world.

If most of the sunken cities are difficult to access physically or because they are heavily excavated, the ruins of the city of Olus are accessible to everyone. It was founded on the northeast coast of Crete and had between 30,000 and 40,000 inhabitants. The city was not built on stones, like all Cretan cities, but on sand, like most sunken cities. A powerful earthquake shock, and he was under water. Today, scuba divers and snorkelers can take exciting underwater walks exploring the ruins and finding sunken artifacts such as coins. Some structures, such as walls, are partly above the sea surface.

The Lapita tribe, settlers of Micronesia and Polynesia, settled on the islands after they left Taiwan and East Asia around 2000 BC e .. In 500 BC. they founded several settlements on the islands Pacific Ocean. These people were talented sailors and craftsmen, especially in the field of making dishes. More than 4,000 pieces of Lapita pottery have been found on the Samoan Islands.

Archaeologists believe that the settlement of Mulifanua was founded 3000 years ago, during the period of the great island migration in the Pacific Ocean. It is a confirmation of the existence of lapita. At that time the island was sandy and wide. It is not known how many other settlements were located here, since over the centuries water and sand have hidden material evidence, except for potsherds that are found on the coast.

In 2002, the ruins of an ancient city were found in the Indian Gulf. Since they are located at a depth of 40 m, they were found quite by accident by a team that investigated the level of pollution in the water area. This discovery forced archaeologists to reconsider the time frame for the existence of civilization in this region. The city was founded 5,000 years ago. Initially, the 4000-year-old Harappa was considered the oldest city, which was considered the cradle of civilization. The Mesopotamian city was famous for its sewage and water collection systems, well-planned streets, ports, and fortifications. Rumor has it that it was founded by direct descendants who survived after their first city sank.

Shards, beads, sculptures and human bones were found at the site of the newly found sunken city. According to the results of carbon analysis, the remains of people are 9,500 years old. At that time, the ocean level was much lower. The city was on the very shore and was swallowed up by a wave of rising water, as a result of the melting of glaciers. The remains of the settlement were built along the riverbed.

There are many legends around Lake Titicaca. Even today, the locals consider it sacred. The depth of the lake and poor visibility complicate the study of the bottom, and ignorance breeds legends. Recently, a team of research divers from the Akakor Geographical Exploring Society made 200 dives to the ruins of the sunken city. At the bottom, the ruins of temples, fragments of roads, walls and terraces were found, on which agricultural plants were once grown. For a long time, among the locals, one could hear talk about the sunken city, but only thanks to the development of technology, diving became possible. Remains temple complex were found at a depth of 20 meters when divers followed the road found at the bottom, which led them to the find.

From the mythology of the Incas, it is known that the lake is the cradle of the birth of their civilization. Here was the city of Wanaku and the burial place of the golden statues of the gods, which were hidden from the conquerors and then lost. At the bottom of the lake, the researchers found many artifacts, among which were fragments of gold items, ceramic statues, stone statues, boats, bones of people and animals and containers with incense.

Atlit-Yam is the name given to several buildings from the Neolithic period that have been discovered on the banks of the Carmel. These buildings were stone walls, foundations of houses and other buildings, round foundations and ancient roads. It was estimated that the structures were built 7,550 and 8,000 years ago, and were destroyed as a result of a tsunami caused by volcanic activity. In the center of the settlement there was a structure in the form of stones laid out in a circle, reminiscent of a place of sacrifice, there was also a source of water. Some stones stood upright, while others lay, most likely they played the role of a table for sacrifices.

Human remains have also been found here, including the skeletons of 65 men, women and children. A detailed examination of the finds led to the fact that traces of tuberculosis were revealed, as a result of which people died. This is the world's first manifestation of a deadly disease, dating back 7000-8000 years. They also found stone, flint and bone tools. In addition, seeds of local plants were found: flax and barley. The finds indicate that people not only fished, but also bred livestock and cultivated crops.

Bailly is an ancient Roman city whose lifestyle was similar to that of Sodom and Gomorrah. Here was going to know for games and recreation. It was visited by Julius Caesar and Nero. The city had many hot springs, as it stood in the zone of active geological processes, which contributed to the development of the bath business and spa treatments. In the 8th century, the Saracens captured the city, after which the former glory never returned to it, and around 1500 the inhabitants left it. After some time, the city gradually sank into the waters of the bay.

Today these places are valuable from an archaeological point of view. Many tourists come here by boat to dive in search of artifacts. A statue of Odysseus, villas, arcades and the ruins of artificial ponds for breeding oysters and fish were found here. The researchers also found the famous villa of Nero, which was built in the 1st century BC. Divers "walk" along the underwater city streets and swim in the once famous Roman baths. Although it should be recognized that there are many more sunken ships, so the chance of finding is much higher than finding the lost Atlantis.

Modern researchers have not yet been able to fully reveal all the hidden secrets of the existence of Atlantis. However, thanks to the many studies carried out in this area, there are still a number of assumptions and hypotheses regarding the existence of the described ancient civilization.

Official science, of course, does not recognize the existence of this mysterious - perhaps really only mythical - civilization in the past.

The achievements of the Atlantean civilization are impressive.

There is an opinion among scientists that the Atlanteans have reached a very high level of progress in all spheres of life. They could plan their life in completely different ways. For example, it was not alien to the people who once inhabited this sunken continent, telepathic communication with family and friends. They also liked to have long conversations about their role in the universe.

According to the Theosophists, the Atlanteans were the fourth race on earth. They appeared after the death of the Lemurian civilization, having absorbed some of its achievements, and existed before the appearance of the fifth, Aryan race. The Atlanteans were much more god-like than the Lemurians. Beautiful, smart and ambitious.

They worshiped the sun and developed their technology rapidly, just as we do today.

Description of Atlantis by Plato

In the year 421 BC, Plato spoke in his writings about the vanished civilization of the Atlanteans.

According to him, it was a large island, located in the middle of the ocean, beyond Gibraltar. In the center of the city there was a hill with temples and the palace of the kings. The upper city was protected by two mounds of earth and three water ring canals. The outer ring was connected by a 500-meter canal to the sea. Ships sailed along the canal.

Copper and silver were mined in Atlantis. Sailing ships delivered ceramic dishes, spices, and rare ores.

The temple of Poseidon, the lord of the seas, was built of gold, silver, orchilak (an alloy of copper and zinc). His second temple was protected by a golden wall. There were also statues of Poseidon and his daughters.

After forty years, after the death of the philosopher, the Athenian resident Krantor went to Egypt to find Atlantis. In the temple of Neith, he found hieroglyphs with texts about the events that had taken place.

Scientific and technological progress in Atlantis

Due to their high level of mental and mental development, the inhabitants of Atlantis managed to establish contact with extraterrestrial beings. Some researchers give information that the Atlanteans were able to create ultra-fast and practical aircraft. Their very deep knowledge in the field of physics, mathematics and mechanics made it possible to produce equipment of the highest quality with unusual properties. And it was these devices that easily helped them travel through space!

The progress in technology was so stunning that today mankind has not yet been able to develop analogues to those flying devices, even taking into account the fact that science is constantly striding by leaps and bounds forward in all spheres of life without exception.

All this suggests that the inhabitants of Atlantis were outstanding people, possessed of great intellect and knowledge. At the same time, the Atlanteans willingly shared the acquired skills and experience with the younger generation. Therefore, progress in technical development was gradually improved and reached unprecedented heights.

The first pyramids were built just on the territory of Atlantis. This unusual phenomenon still causes bewilderment among researchers, due to what improvised means and equipment it was possible to build such unusual structures!

Also economically, their country was prosperous. The work of any person in it was paid at its true worth. According to legend, Atlantis was an ideal country, there were no beggars and rich people who boasted of their wealth.

In this regard, the social situation in this country was always stable, no one was worried about food.

The appearance and morality of the Atlanteans

Due to the fact that the body of the Atlantean had remarkable physical strength compared to modern man, they significantly more work could perform than our contemporaries.

The body of the Atlanteans was staggering in size. According to the evidence, it reached 6 meters in height. Their shoulders were very wide, the torso was elongated. There were 6 fingers on the hands, and 7 on the feet!

The facial features of people who once lived on Atlantis are also unusual. Their lips were very wide, their nose had a slightly flattened shape, while they also had huge expressive eyes.

According to their physiological data, the average life span of an average Atlantean was about 1000 years. At the same time, each of them tried to look beautiful in the eyes of others. Often, a variety of jewelry made of silver or gold, as well as precious stones, were used as decorations.

The Atlanteans were highly moral people. Therefore, they were alien to bad habits and an immoral image Everyday life. In any situation, they tried to act honestly with others, no one tried to deceive and set anyone up. In family relationships, marriage once in a lifetime was the norm. And the relationship itself was built solely on mutual trust, support and love for each other.

The political system in Atlantis was built in a democratic field. In many ways, it is similar to the one that prevails in the modern successful states of Europe with freedom of speech and the right to choose. The ruler of the Atlanteans was chosen by voting. At the same time, he ruled for a very long period - from 200 to 400 years! But whoever rules Atlantis, each of its leaders has always sought to create such a social environment within the state, thanks to which any person could always feel protected and cared for.

Causes of the death of Atlantis

One of the assumptions why Atlantis disappeared is based on the fact that the kings and population this continent began to abuse the knowledge with which they carried out their aggressive intentions.

For example, the pyramids they built created portals to other worlds. All this contributed to the fact that the energy coming from the parallel reality could be negative and at a certain moment could adversely affect the entire continent, completely destroying it in an instant.

In their daily lives, magic has increasingly been used exclusively with malicious intent.

Too much knowledge creates a temptation to use it for selfish interests. And no matter how morally pure the inhabitants of Atlantis were at first, in the end, negative tendencies began to grow in their society over time. The predatory attitude towards nature, the growth of social inequality, the abuse of power by the small elite that ruled the Atlanteans ultimately led to tragic consequences associated with the incitement of a long-term war. And it was she who became the main reason that one day the entire continent was swallowed up by the waters of the ocean.

Some scientists also assert with certainty that the death of Atlantis occurred approximately 10-15 thousand years ago. And this large-scale event provoked a huge meteorite that fell on our planet. The fall of a meteorite could change the earth's axis, which caused a tsunami of an unprecedented scale.

What did Helena Blavatsky say about the causes of the death of Atlantis

According to Helena Blavatsky, the fall of Atlantis happened because the Atlanteans played God. It turns out that from high morality the Atlanteans rolled down to indulgence of passions.

The technology of the Atlanteans, which surpassed their spiritual qualities, allowed them to create chimeras - a cross between man and animals, to use them as sex slaves and physical workers. The Atlanteans were masters of genetic modification and cloning technology at a high level. This is similar to what people are doing now, in the 21st century.

Being telepathically warned that the continent would sink, many of the inhabitants of Atlantis fled, having managed to board ships before the final sinking of the mainland in 9564 BC. by a series of earthquakes.

The American mystic Edgar Cayce, who looked into the so-called astral akashic records in a trance state, claimed that many of the souls who once lived in Atlantis now live as representatives of modern Western civilization in order to fulfill their destiny.

The search for a lost civilization

Over the past two thousand years, there have been multiple speculations about the location of Atlantis. Interpreters of Plato's works pointed to modern islands Atlantic. Some argue that Atlantis was located in present-day Brazil and even in Siberia.

Modern archaeologists consider the thinker's story about the Atlanteans a fiction. Circular networks of canals, hydraulic structures in those days were still beyond the strength of mankind. Researchers of Plato's philosophy and literature believe that he wanted to call for the creation of an ideal state. As for the period of disappearance, Plato names information that this happened eleven and a half thousand years ago. But during this period, man was only emerging from the Paleolithic, the Stone Age. Those people were not yet sufficiently developed mind. Perhaps these data of Plato about the time of the death of Atlantis are incorrectly interpreted.

There is one assumption why the figure of the death of Atlantis by Plato appears 9 thousand years ago. The fact is that in Egyptian reckoning "nine thousand" was depicted by nine lotus flowers, and "nine hundred" - by nine knots of rope. Outwardly, in writing, they were similar, and therefore there was confusion.

Modern research

In one thousand nine hundred and seventy-nine, all European newspapers were full of headlines "The Russians found an island." Photographs were presented in which vertical ridges, similar to walls, peeked out of the sand. Search operations unfolded exactly where Plato indicated - behind the Pillars of Hercules, above underwater volcano Ampere. It was reliably established that it stood out from the water, was an island.

In 1982, another Russian ship, having sank under water, discovered the ruins of the city: walls, squares, rooms. These findings were refuted by another expedition, which found nothing. In addition to frozen volcanic rocks.

There are suggestions that the disaster occurred due to a sudden shift in the African tectonic plate. Its collision with the European caused the eruption of Santorin - and the western islands sank.

Of course, it is now impossible to say with accuracy what exactly happened once to Atlantis and what contributed to its death. And many of the hypotheses set forth by the researchers can only come close to the truth.

Whether Atlantis was simply a figment of the imagination of Plato and other thinkers, or a reality reflected in ancient legends, miraculously preserved to this day, remains a mystery ...

Perhaps our civilization is moving towards the same finale, when we will become for our distant descendants the same mythical event that Atlantis is for us. And our continents will also unsuccessfully search for days of deep oceans.

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 the once existing big island in the Atlantic Ocean, which was swallowed up by the abyss of waters.

But what does Plato say? An ancient legend or your own fiction 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 a beautiful city illuminated by an underwater volcanic eruption. Before him is the dead Atlantis...
• From the golden top giant pyramid take off like huge cosmic eggs 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 to do 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 a 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 springs feeding Plato's Atlantis - hot and cold water - could really be on an 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 outburst of the warm Gulf Stream into the cold 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 a breakthrough warm waters 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 the 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. Special attention gives the poet-scientist 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 our oldest civilizations the planet is dedicated to the book of A. A. Gorbovsky “Riddles ancient history". 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 divided 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 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 reality there is no such ancient people who would not have this legend.

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 the Stone Age to the Bronze Age. There is nothing contradictory in Plato's story about the gigantic size of the 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, there was nothing like a large complex expedition that would conduct thorough archaeological excavations, record everyday rituals and legends, study flora and fauna in detail, etc., 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.
• Population canary islands some experts consider the 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 mountain range located in the center of the Atlantic Ocean 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 then shook 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 another was taken great depth- 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.