The Sunken Atlantis is the story of a lost civilization. Atlantis - exact location established

G. ALEXANDROVSKY.

In the dialogues of the ancient thinker Plato there is still a grain that speaks of the reality of the legendary island. The legend of Atlantis has lived for more than two thousand years. But only a few decades ago, people, despairing of finding traces of a once prosperous state, classified Plato’s works as utopias. And here's a sensational twist: in our days, some historians and archaeologists have recognized that Plato's dialogues still contain a grain of real fact. We present three new hypotheses suggesting where and when Atlantis perished.

Science and life // Illustrations

Science and life // Illustrations

Science and life // Illustrations

Science and life // Illustrations

Science and life // Illustrations

The legend of the Egyptian priests

In 421 BC. e. The Greek philosopher Plato, in two of his works - Timaeus and Critias - outlined the history and sad end of the island state of Atlantis. The story is told in the form of a dialogue by Plato's great-grandfather, Critias: he conveys the content of the conversation with his grandfather, who heard the story of Atlantis from his contemporary, Solon, an Athenian legislator and poet, who, in turn, learned about Atlantis from an Egyptian priest. And Plato more than once emphasizes in his texts that this is not a myth, but a true story about historical events.

Atlantis, according to Plato, is a huge island that lay in the ocean behind the Pillars of Hercules, that is, behind Gibraltar. In the center of the island there was a hill on which stood temples and a royal palace. The Acropolis - the upper city - was protected by two rows of earthen embankments and three water ring canals. The outer ring was connected to the sea by a 500-meter canal through which ships entered the inner port. The life of Atlantis appears full of prosperity.

The temple of the main deity of the islanders - Poseidon, ruler of the seas, was, says Plato, lined with gold, silver and orchilak (a recently unraveled word meaning an alloy of copper and zinc). Another temple, dedicated to Poseidon and his wife Cleito, the ancestor of all Atlanteans, is surrounded by a golden wall. There was also a golden statue of Poseidon and golden sculptures of the Nereids - the numerous daughters of the sea deity. The Atlanteans had bronze weapons and thousands of war chariots. The mineral resources provided copper and silver.

The people had fun with horse racing, and there were thermal baths at their service: there were two springs on the island - cold and hot water. The ships hurried to the harbor of Atlantis with ceramic dishes, spices, and rare ores. To supply the port fresh water The river bed was turned.

The island belonged to a powerful alliance of kings. And then the moment came when he decided to subjugate other countries, including Greece. However, Athens, showing valor and strength in the war, won. But, as Plato says, olympian gods, dissatisfied with the warring peoples, decided to punish them for greed and violence. A monstrous earthquake and flood “in one terrible day and one night” destroyed the Athenian army and all of Atlantis. The ocean waters swallowed the island.

47 years after Plato’s death, Krantor, a resident of Athens, went to Egypt to make sure whether the sources of the information used by the philosopher were really there. And he found, according to him, in the temple of Neith hieroglyphs with text about the events described.

Search

The search for Atlantis began at the very beginning of the new era - in the 50th year of Christ. Almost two thousand years since that time, many hypotheses have appeared about the location of Atlantis. Many were attracted by the wealth mentioned by Plato. Just think: take possession of golden walls and statues! Most interpreters of Critias and Timaeus pointed to the existing islands of the Atlantic Ocean. But there were other landmarks. Among the 50 points on Earth identified by enthusiasts for the search for Atlantis, there are some absolutely fantastic ones, for example Brazil or Siberia, the existence of which ancient philosopher I didn't even suspect it.

A new surge of interest in the search for the legendary island arose after the First World War. Underwater technology improved during wartime prompted adventurous businessmen to organize companies in several countries to search for the mysterious Atlantis. For example, the following note appeared in the French newspaper Le Figaro: “A society for the study and exploitation of Atlantis has been created in Paris.” The companies, of course, collapsed one after another, but the Russian writer Alexander Belyaev found in a newspaper publication the plot for his fantastic story “The Last Man from Atlantis.”

More than 50 thousand publications are devoted to the problem of the sunken island. Cinema and television also contributed to this story. More than 20 expeditions explored places where, according to their organizers, the people of Atlantis once prospered. But they all returned empty-handed.

To the two main questions - where? and when? - already in our century, objections from archaeologists were added, who considered the story of the abundance of gold and silver on the island to be fantasy. They also included a network of canals - circular and leading to the sea, an inland port and other hydraulic structures - among Plato's inventions: it was beyond their capabilities, supposedly, such large-scale projects were possible in those days. Researchers of Plato's philosophical and literary heritage believed that, by telling the story of the prosperous Atlantis, the ancient idealist thinker called on his contemporaries to build an exemplary state without dictatorship and tyranny. And in this sense, Plato is called the creator of the utopian genre. (Plato, in fact, in some of his writings called for the construction of an ideal state based on goodness and justice. He traveled from Athens to Syracuse three times, the last time as a very old man, in vain hoping to instill humane ideas in the tyrants there.) As for the time of the death of the island in ocean depths, then Plato named a date that contradicts all the data of modern science: according to his information, the catastrophe occurred 11,500 years ago to the present day, or 9,000 years, counting until the time of Plato himself. 12-10 thousand years ago, humanity was just emerging from the Paleolithic, the ancient Stone Age, and it is difficult to imagine that somewhere there lived a people whose development was many thousands of years ahead of the human race. The primary source of such an error could be incorrect determinations of the age of the Egyptian state carried out in ancient times. For example, Herodotus counted Egypt to be 11,340 years old.

Is it Atlantis?

"The Russians found Atlantis!" - with such sensational notices, many newspapers in Western Europe accompanied photographs of the seabed in 1979. In the photographs, vertical ridges were clearly visible under the layer of sand, reminiscent of the walls of a destroyed city. The impression of ancient city ruins was enhanced by the fact that other ridges ran along the bottom at right angles to the first.

The underwater images were taken by the Moscow University research vessel Akademik Petrovsky. The actions took place where Plato indicated - “behind the pillars of Hercules.” Once out into the Atlantic Ocean, the ship stopped over a sandbar to test its underwater equipment. Pure chance helped us choose a parking spot just above the underwater volcano Ampere. It was possible to establish that the Amper volcano once protruded from the water and was an island.

In 1982, the Soviet ship Rift lowered the Argus submersible into the ocean here. “We were presented with a panorama of the ruins of the city, since the walls very much imitated the remains of rooms, streets, squares,” the commander of the Argus, V. Bulyga, reported to the Institute of Oceanology of the Academy of Sciences. Unfortunately, the next expedition of the Vityaz, which took place in the summer of 1984, did not confirm such encouraging impressions of the aquanaut. Two stones of fairly regular shape were lifted up from one of the walls, but their analysis showed that this was not the work of human hands, but volcanic rock. The commander of the Argus crew, Doctor of Geological and Mineralogical Sciences A. Gorodnitsky, writes: “Most likely, the stone is solidified lava that once poured out through the cracks of the volcano.” Another seamount, Josephine, also an ancient volcano and formerly an island, was also examined.

A. Gorodnitsky proposed his model of a grandiose geological disaster of the distant past. It arose due to a sharp shift in the northern direction of the African tectonic plate. Colliding with her European stove caused the eruption of the Santorini volcano in the east, and the immersion of the mentioned volcanic islands into the ocean in the west. This hypothesis does not contradict the geological and geophysical data of modern science. However, once again Atlantis turned out to be not a fascinating hypothesis, but just a myth: scientists have not found any traces of the remains of the material culture of the Atlanteans.

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

Origin of the myth

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

The Narrative of the Egyptian Priests

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

The ancient and powerful kings of the mythical island formed a confederation through which they ruled it and other islands. Having started the war, the rulers sent troops to Europe and Asia. To counter this attack, the Athenians formed a Panhellenic League. At the first difficulties it fell apart, and the Athenians fought the war alone. The invasion was stopped, and then Egypt and other countries conquered by the rulers of Atlantis were liberated.

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

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

Divine redistribution

According to Solon's records, the history of the mythical island began at the beginning of time. It was then that the immortal gods divided the world among themselves and each ruled their own part. The god Poseidon inherited Atlantis. Where it was located was not specified, but it was an island whose size was larger than Libya and Asia combined. He chose the mortal woman Cleito as his wife and with her founded a dynasty of rulers of the state.

Poseidon and Cleito

Poseidon built a house on a high hill in the very center of the island. The structure rose above a fertile plain bordered by the sea. To protect his beloved wife, Poseidon, with ease and divine skill, surrounded her house with five concentric rings of water and soil. Hot and cold springs came out of the ground. With the development of the city, its residents never experienced a shortage of water.

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

Peaceful Prosperity

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

Laws of Poseidon

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

Court of the Gods

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

Fact or fiction?

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

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

Second Troy?

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

Plato's parable

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

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

Location hypotheses

There were dozens, perhaps hundreds, of suggestions about where Atlantis was located, until the name became a common noun, not referring to one specific (perhaps even genuine) location. This is reflected in the fact that many proposed sites are not located in the Atlantic Ocean at all. Most of the proposed sites share some of the features of the mythical island's history (water, catastrophic end, appropriate time period), but have never been conclusively proven to be the true Atlantis. Where is the most likely location of its location (for obvious reasons, we cannot provide a photo of it), you can find out from the given list of popular options. Some of them are scientific or archaeological hypotheses, while others were created through pseudoscientific means.

Mediterranean Atlantis

A lot of people have wondered where the legendary island is located. Most of the proposed locations were located either near the Mediterranean Sea or islands such as Sardinia, Crete, Santorini, Cyprus or Malta.

A volcanic eruption on Thera, dating back to the seventeenth or fifteenth century BC, caused a massive tsunami that experts hypothesize destroyed the Minoan civilization on the nearby island of Crete. This disaster may have inspired the myth of Atlantis. Proponents of the idea point to the fact that the Egyptians used moon calendar, based on months, and the Greeks solar, based on years. It is therefore possible that the time interpreted as nine thousand years actually corresponds to 9000 months, placing the destruction of Atlantis within approximately 7 hundred years.

Santorini

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

Spartel

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

Sardinia

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

Beyond the Mediterranean

Outside the Mediterranean, Antarctica has been deployed in every corner of the world, from Ireland and Sweden to Indonesia and Japan. Many of these theories are based on inconclusive evidence. Two of the most discussed areas are Antarctica.

Bimini Road - Sunken Atlantis?

Everyone seems to know where the Bermuda Triangle is located. Often associated with mysterious events, the Caribbean has drawn attention to an underwater structure called the Bimini Road, discovered by pilots in the 1960s. The Bimini Causeway consists of large rocks arranged in two parallel rows in shallow waters for several kilometers from the Bimini Islands. Many expeditions were sent there to try to prove or disprove the man-made origin of these formations and somehow connect them with Atlantis. Most scientists, particularly geologists, found the evidence inconclusive or concluded that it was a natural phenomenon. Others, however, strongly argue that the rock is too symmetrical and deliberate to be a simple creation of nature. In any case, no other remains were found that would confirm that the road leads to the sunken island.

Antarctica

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

Pop culture

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

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

History of Atlantis is a mystery that researchers have been trying to penetrate for thousands of years. It is rooted in ancient times, inaccessible to direct research, but interest in this problem has only become stronger over the years. Perhaps this is due to the fact that something very important for all humanity is connected with the history of Atlantis.

Lemuria and Atlantis

In ancient times, the appearance of the Earth was different from what it is now; at that time there were continents and islands that have long since disappeared. The Great Flood and other cataclysms forever changed the face of the planet. And of course, it is very difficult today to judge the ancient states that existed at that time. However, fragmentary information about them has reached us in the form of legends and traditions.

Perhaps the greatest interest among scientists is Lemuria and Atlantis, as they were once the most highly developed civilizations. Lemuria is reminiscent of the mysterious Easter Island, which is believed to have been part of a large continent. As for Atlantis, no one can definitely say about its location yet. There is no such piece of land that could be tied to Atlantis. A fairly specific indication is the prediction of the clairvoyant Edward Cayce, who claimed that Atlantis was located in the Bermuda Triangle area. This prediction later found a number of confirmations - at the bottom of the ocean in this area, as Cayce predicted, large, well-preserved pyramids were discovered that contained crystals on their tops. However, there are interesting finds in other places on the planet. Therefore, it is not yet possible to definitively answer which version of the location of Atlantis is more correct, and therefore they are looking for the mysterious country all over the face of the Earth.

The legend of Atlantis became known to modern mankind through the works of the ancient Greek thinker Plato. In his dialogues Timaeus and Critias, he describes the history of Atlantis. In the first dialogue, Plato speaks only briefly about Atlantis. As for the dialogue “Critius”, it is entirely devoted to the description of Atlantis.

Dialogue Timaeus

Dialogue Timaeus It begins with Socrates and the Pythagorean Timaeus having a conversation about the ideal state. However, after describing his ideas about the ideal state, Socrates began to complain that the picture turned out to be abstract. He wanted to see how such a state would behave in a real life situation, how it would build relations with other states, whether it would be able to go to war, and whether citizens in this case would perform feats “in accordance with their training and upbringing.”

Another participant in the conversation, the Athenian politician Critias, unexpectedly responded to Socrates’ question. He spoke of an ancient war that took place approximately 9,500 years ago (11,500 years for us) between Athens and the mysterious Atlantis. Critias himself learned about this story from his grandfather, and he learned about this war from Solon, and Solon was told about Atlantis by the Egyptian priests.

Both Athens and Atlantis were very powerful powers, while Atlantis had a very large territory under its control, conquering more and more new peoples. Conquest policy Atlantis led ultimately to war with Athens. The entire Athenian people, realizing the danger that loomed over them, rose to defend their Fatherland. Abandoned by their allies, the Athenian warriors, showing courage and valor, managed to defeat the conquerors. This victory also restored freedom to the peoples who had been enslaved by the Atlanteans. But suddenly a terrible catastrophe broke out, ending the history of Atlantis. In one day and night, the country of the powerful Atlanteans went under water. Alas, the Athenian army also perished along with Atlantis.

Dialogue Critias

Dialogue Critias- this is a direct continuation of the dialogue Timaeus. Through the lips of Critias, Plato speaks here in detail and reliably about Atlantis.

The story of Atlantis began with the relationship between Poseidon and the mortal girl Cleito, whom the ruler of the seas fell in love with. From their union came 10 sons, the eldest of whom was named Atlas. Poseidon divided the island between his sons, which later received the name Atlantis. The children of Poseidon and Cleito were considered demigods and laid the foundation for the 10 royal families of Atlantis.

Plato accurately described the legendary land and gave specific figures. The central plain of Atlantis reached 3000 stadia (which is 540 km) by 2000 stadia (360 km). In the center of the island there was a hill, which the father of the rulers of Atlantis surrounded with three water channels separated by earthen ramparts. In the center of the fortification, a city or central island was created, which had a diameter of 5 stages (slightly less than a kilometer). Here, in the heart of Atlantis, magnificent temples and a magnificent royal palace were built. The inhabitants of Atlantis built deep channels through the protective rings so that ships could sail directly to the capital.

This is what Plato says about Atlantis. The island on which the palace is located had a diameter of five stages. The rulers surrounded the island, the earthen rings, as well as the pletra-wide bridge with circular walls made of stone, and on the bridges at the exits to the sea they installed towers and gates everywhere. In the depths of the middle island, as well as the outer and inner earthen rings, the Atlanteans mined white, black and red stone. They organized anchorages for their ships in quarries. Some of their buildings were made simply, while others were skillfully decorated with stones of different colors, which gave them a natural beauty. The walls around the outer earthen ring along the entire circumference of Atlas were covered with copper by applying the metal in molten form. The inner shaft was covered with tin also by casting. The wall of the acropolis itself was decorated with orichalcum, which emitted a fiery shine.

The place where the rulers of Atlantis lived inside the acropolis was arranged like this. In the very center was the inaccessible holy temple of Cleito and Poseidon. It was surrounded by a golden wall - this was the place where the generation of ten princes came from. In honor of this event, every year they brought sacrificial firstfruits from all ten portions of Atlantis to each of them. Not far away was the temple of Poseidon, which had a length of 1 stage, a width of three plethra, and also a corresponding given size height. The outer surface of the temple, except for the acroteria, was lined with silver, while the acroteria were trimmed with gold. The ceiling of the temple was made of ivory and decorated with gold, silver and orichalcum. The walls, pillars and floors were completely covered with orichalcum. There were golden statues in the temple, one of which reached to the ceiling. It depicted a god on a chariot, who rode six winged horses, around whom were one hundred Nereids on dolphins. Many of the statues in the temple were donated by private individuals. The outside of the temple was surrounded by images made of gold of wives and those who descended from the ten kings. The altar was quite consistent in size and decoration with this wealth. The royal palace in its splendor also corresponded to both the temples and the greatness of the state.

In addition to all this, Plato described many different details from the way of life of the Atlanteans, including data on the size of the army of Atlantis.

The laws by which Atlantis lived were established by Poseidon and inscribed on the orichalcum pillar. Despite the incredible wealth of the island, the inhabitants of Atlantis, being direct descendants of the gods, did not know greed. However, marriages with mere mortals gradually led to the degeneration of the divine nature of the Atlanteans; human vices prevailed in the hearts of the Atlanteans with great force. They were filled with greed, pride and the desire for conquest. Then Zeus decided to punish the inhabitants of Atlantis so that they would “learn to be decent.” The Thunderer gathered all the gods and addressed those gathered with a speech... Plato never said what Zeus said - dialogue Critias This is where it mysteriously ends. For what reason Plato did not finish his work on Atlantis is not known.

This is the story of Atlantis from Plato's story. Many secrets would be revealed if this mysterious country could be discovered. However, the time has not yet come and the ocean reliably stores the ancient mysteries of Atlantis.

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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 completely without a trace.

One of the most prominent scientists of Ancient Greece, Plato, in his works “Critias” and “Timaeus”, mentions Atlantis, citing data from the diaries of his great-grandfather, the no less famous Athenian poet and statesman Solon. An Egyptian priest told him about the existence of a large country of Atlanteans, which fought with the Greeks for 9000 years. 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 large 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 within 24 hours, the mighty Atlantis disappeared forever under water.

Scientists to this day have not reached a consensus regarding Plato’s story about this mysterious country. Perhaps Atlantis was just the 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. She couldn’t for the simple reason that at that time the end of the Ice Age had just happened. Many scientists agree that cavemen and highly developed Atlanteans could have lived at the same time. And can it really be that an entire country disappears without a trace overnight? However, most scientists argue that Atlantis could well have existed in reality, because the legends must have had at least some basis, and most of the myths reflected events that took place in reality.

After all, archaeologists found the ruins of the once mythical ancient Troy, which was also considered a figment of the imagination of blind Homer. 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 land of the Golden Fleece. As for the enormous and destructive power of earthquakes, then, according to geologists, it is really capable of a short time bury a huge area.

True, if we assume that Atlantis really existed, another quite important question. Where should researchers go, where should they look for this mythical land? Scientists from different times and countries could never come to a common opinion. Some of them believed that the 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 a strait called the Pillars of Hercules (framed by the rocks Abilik and Kalpa), which was located at the Strait of Gibraltar. In addition, these lands are home to many of the same species of animals and plants. In addition, not so long ago the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, located in the depths of the Atlantic Ocean, was discovered. Adjacent to the ridge is a vast plateau with a number of ridges, the peaks of which form the Azores.

It is likely that this area was once dry land and sank to the ocean floor about 12 thousand years ago during a geological disaster. This period exactly coincides with the estimated time of the existence of Atlantis. After this, 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 Madeira Islands are the very remnants of the lost continent. According to some scientists, not all the inhabitants of Atlantis died during the collapse of their continent - some survivors reached the shores of America, while others reached 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 similarities in their architecture, traditions and religions, all the more surprising because the countries were far from each other.

Indeed, the inhabitants of both shores of the Atlantic equally worshiped the Sun, and believed in the myth of the global flood, widespread both in Mesopotamia and among the Indian tribes that inhabited South and North America. It is amazing that the language of the Basques living in northern Spain in the Pyrenees Mountains is completely different from other European languages, but at the same time 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 mummifying the dead, moreover, the same objects are placed in their graves. But the main thing is that in places where Mayan burials are located, archaeologists find jewelry made from 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 crafts, 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, except 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 Tiguanaku.

Scientists include the ruins of ancient Indian cities, the remains of which are located in the Peruvian Andes and the impenetrable jungles of the Yucatan Peninsula, as evidence of the existence of Atlantis.

In the fall 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 underwater discovered giant walls more than a hundred meters long. They were made of giant blocks, each of which weighed about 25 tons. Who were they built by? Perhaps Atlanteans? True, it was soon discovered that these “walls” arose as a result of cracking of coastal rocks that went under water due to the gradual sinking of the Bahamas to the bottom.

They are also looking for Atlantis in the Mediterranean Sea. 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 famous Soviet geographer L. S. Berg agreed with this opinion. Today, the vast majority of scientists adhere to this theory. This version is supported by recent studies in this area and in the Atlantic Ocean.

When studying the area of ​​the supposed 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. Moreover, at the current rate of accumulation of such rocks, amounting to 10-15 mm per thousand years, this will require at least 300 thousand years, and certainly not 12 thousand, as claimed by supporters of the Atlantean origin of the mysterious Atlantis.

In addition, according to evidence from recent oceanographic research, the Mid-Atlantic Ridge is the result of a geological event, during which the continents of Africa and South America “teared apart” to form. Scientists separately noted the features of the drawing coastlines: the western line of the African continent and the eastern line of the South American continent.

Accordingly, there is simply no room for Atlantis to be located in the Atlantic Ocean. But what then to do with Plato’s message about the location of the disappeared country, supposedly located in front of the Pillars of Hercules, that is, the Strait of Gibraltar? Before Plato, the name “Pillars of Hercules” could have meant a completely different place. Which one? The debate among researchers has not subsided to this day.

Regarding the Mediterranean location of Atlantis, assumed by most scientists, they provide a number of quite significant 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 Krakatoa in the southeastern Asia, among the islands of Indonesia. Apparently, this was the greatest geological disaster in the entire history of our planet.

The force of the explosion of the Santorini volcano was equal to an explosion of about 200 thousand. atomic bombs, identical to those that were dropped on Hiroshima at one time.

Scientist Harun Taziev 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 enormous success in science and craftsmanship. As a result of a powerful volcanic explosion, it was established that one of the developed cities on the island of Thira and the center of Minoan civilization, located on Crete - Knossos, perished.

Most of the state's territory was absorbed by the Aegean Sea. It was probably 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 Plato’s interpretation, the size of the sunken continent is much larger, and the time of the catastrophe has been shifted many thousands of years ago.

In other words, according to fans of this hypothesis, in Plato's descriptions we're talking about just about the state of the Minoans. After all, according to his data, Atlantis was a developed maritime power, and the same could be said about the country of the Minoans, which had an impressive navy. Plato said that on the island of the Atlanteans, fat herds of sacred bulls grazed, of which the Minoans had a lot, and they were also considered sacred. On the seabed near Thira, a ditch was discovered similar to the one with which, according to Plato, the fortress in the capital of Atlantis was protected. Now the island of Thira is a fragment left after the explosion of a giant volcano. The ruins of the Minoan city, excavated in 1967, 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 Cousteau discovered the remains of the ancient Minoan civilization at the bottom of the Aegean Sea near the island of Crete. According to his calculations, it was destroyed during the devastating eruption of the Santorini volcano that occurred in 1450 BC. e. However, Cousteau always considered Atlantis a beautiful fairy tale by Plato.

The authority of Cousteau's opinion forced many scientists to “return” to the hypothesis of the Atlantean Atlantis. The impetus for this decision was the discovery west of Gibraltar of a group of seamounts with table-like peaks located only 100-200 meters below ocean level. Many scientists consider these mountains to be the remains of a vast archipelago that sank in ancient times.

The photographs 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 ship "Akademik Kurchatov". Looking at the eight underwater photographs he took, you can see the ruins of a fortress wall and other buildings on top of one of the seamounts.

As a result of those carried out in 1983-1984. research, scientists from the research vessels "Akademik Vernadsky" and "Vityaz" with the help of the underwater vehicles "Pysis" and "Argus", confirmed that Mount Amper is an extinct volcano that once sank to the ocean floor. Well, the notorious ruins are far from being the creations of human hands, but ordinary natural formations.

This means that the fruitless search for Atlantis in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean only confirms the conclusions of scientists looking for traces of its presence in the Aegean Sea. True, some disagreements arose within 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 destruction of Atlantis, as well as some other data of Plato. For example, the number of Atlantean ground and naval forces. Judging by Plato's words, the Atlanteans had a huge armada - 1200 ships, as well as an army, which, according to experts, amounted to more than a million soldiers. Accordingly, the army of the Greeks that defeated the Atlanteans should have been no less numerous. According to Mashnikov’s quite logical reasoning, during the Ice Age there was simply nowhere for such a huge army 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, and at the same time they were at a fairly low level of development.

Accordingly, we are most likely talking about another, much later time. Mashnikov says that ancient people wrote down nine thousand as ten thousand minus a thousand, and, accordingly, nine hundred as a thousand minus one hundred. In the Egyptian number system, a thousand was denoted by the sign "M", and in the ancient Greek system, "M" meant ten thousand. Apparently, Solon simply rewrote Egyptian signs from ancient Egyptian documents, and Plato understood them in ancient Greek. This is how 9000 appeared instead of 900."

If we take into account the fact 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 had no doubt that Plato’s Pillars of Hercules, behind which this land was located, was the Strait of Gibraltar. But, under the Pillars of Hercules, apparently, some other place was meant. At the same time, Plato has direct instructions that allow us to determine the location of Atlantis. Plato says that the sea border between the country of the Atlanteans and the Athenian state was laid along the Pillars of Hercules. This means that these pillars could only be located in the Aegean Sea. In another place in his story, Plato directly points out 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 this time, the land of the Hittites was there. In addition, according to the author, only here cities were built on a circular plan, creating canals as if outlined by a compass.

But Plato spoke about Atlantis as big island that sank to the bottom of the sea. It can be assumed that part of this state was indeed located on an island, although not as large as Plato claimed. Probably, it was this island, and not the whole country, that perished as a result of a volcanic eruption or 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 Hettia or its island part. In addition, Plato, when retelling Solon, argued that Atlantis was at war with Athens. And from sources it is known that in the XIV century. BC e. Egypt waged war with Hettia, and after some time 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 Hettia and Athens is the key to solving 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 victors 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.

An unusual version of 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 Strait and was described by Homer in the 12th century. BC e. as having 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 significant evidence of 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 speaks not about the plain, but about the large island? Zangger believes that Solon is to blame for this. When reading the hieroglyphic inscriptions on the pillar while visiting the main temple in the residence of the Egyptian pharaohs, located in Saisi, he made a mistake. Allegedly, these hieroglyphs denoted a sandy strip or coast. A serious mistake was made in the designation of the place where Atlantis was located on the other side of the Pillars of Hercules. It is possible that the Dardanelles bore this name.

According to the author of this version, another serious mistake crept into Plato’s story, which was the incorrect determination of the time of the disaster. After all, on the column of an Egyptian temple is written the story that nine thousand years ago the Greeks overthrew a powerful power - Atlantis. This hypothesis also has a weak side - discrepancies, which the author explains by the mistakes of the ancient sages. In addition, the rationale 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 ultimately turn out to be true, only time will tell. Or a new hypothesis - after all, the mystery of Atlantis has not yet been solved.

Humanity's knowledge of its history is bound by time and space. We are locked in the present and have no way to go back even a minute, let alone hundreds and thousands of years. Scientists are trying to restore the picture of the past based on indirect data: from the study of geological rocks, from the results of archaeological excavations, from information glorified by people of distant eras. The reliability of this information remains a big question.

The point here is not at all about the malicious intent of scientists or a global political conspiracy. It’s just that time is merciless to the monuments of the past: material and intangible.
Eyewitness accounts are full of inaccuracies, emotional distortions, exaggerations, and sincere misconceptions. The artifacts that have come down to us are often so damaged that even the most experienced experts just shrug their shoulders: it is impossible to reliably determine either the time of creation of the artifact or the chemical composition of the material from which it was created.
The historical picture of the world created by scientists is largely arbitrary. It is based on hypotheses that are recognized by the world scientific community as the most plausible. However, who can guarantee that this plausibility is not an illusion?
To recreate a more or less complete history of mankind, we need to find absolutely all the books, buildings, household items, in a word, everything that can tell us about the lives of people of the distant past. Moreover, archaeological excavations should be carried out throughout our planet. Truly, it would be a huge undertaking.
U different nations one can find a myth about an unknown person speaking an incomprehensible language who taught them various crafts. In the myths of the Old World, the alien comes from the West, and in the myths of the New World - from the East. It is possible that these were surviving Atlanteans.
But, alas, archaeological activities of such a scale are impossible. At least for now. Firstly, over hundreds and thousands of years, many artifacts simply disappeared due to natural physical and chemical processes. And secondly, most of the Earth’s surface is simply inaccessible for full-fledged archaeological research.
Thousands of years ago, the globe would have looked different, and we would not have recognized our Earth, thinking that we were seeing a model of some other planet. What was once dry land is now hidden under many kilometers of the World Ocean.
What do its depths hide? Science is silent on this matter.
Is it possible to assume that somewhere in the ocean lie the remains of a civilization much more developed and ancient than any known to us today?

Will you say that this is impossible? So, you have explored every centimeter of the ocean floor, cleaned and tested every underwater rock, every coral, looked into every geological layer across the entire surface of the planet...
But if not, you not only do not have the right to assert with certainty that the existence ancient civilization impossible.
The world's oceans are full of secrets. It is there, under the water column, that one of the most famous, powerful and mysterious civilizations of the past may be hiding - the Atlantean civilization, which once flourished in Atlantis.
Atlantis is a legendary land, a haven for the descendants of ancient gods, the cradle of a civilization that reached imaginable and unimaginable heights of development and fell in just one day.
Atlantis is sometimes called an island, an archipelago, or a continent. Its exact location is unknown, so the land of the Atlanteans is “placed” in the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, South America, Africa, and Scandinavia. The legendary Atlantis “travels” around the world. The time of its existence and death remains unclear. The reasons for the fall of the powerful Atlantean civilization are a subject of much controversy.
A whole scientific (or pseudo-scientific) direction is studying Atlantis - atlantology. It took shape in 1959, and its creator was the Soviet chemist Nikolai Fedorovich Zhirov. The merit of atlantologists is that they try to find a rational grain in the numerous myths about Atlantis and apply a scientific approach.
Today, “orthodox” science does not recognize Atlantis’s right to exist. Atlantis is officially considered a myth, fiction, literary and philosophical fantasy. To engage seriously with the Atlantean civilization means to abandon the reputation of a “serious scientist.” There are also less plausible, but very interesting.

Atlantic Ocean

It is completely logical that, first of all, Atlantis is sought where Plato indicated - in the Atlantic Ocean. Egyptian priests, retelling the story of the Athenian-Atlantean wars, mentioned that the Atlantean army “headed from the Atlantic Sea.” According to the priests, Atlantis was located opposite the Pillars of Hercules. In ancient times, this was the name given to the Strait of Gibraltar and the rocks of Gibraltar and Ceuta located in it.
Atlantis, therefore, was located beyond the Strait of Gibraltar, near the coast of Spain and modern Morocco. The Greeks believed that the territory now belonging to Morocco is the country of the far West, that is, the edge of the world, where the titan Atlas (Atlas) lives, holding the Earth on his shoulders. Presumably, the names of the ocean, the Atlas ridge and the island of Atlantis go back to the name of this titan. Plato named the first-born son of Poseidon and Cleito Atlas and said that the legendary island was named after him. Perhaps the name “Atlantis” originally meant something like “a country lying in the far West,” “the country of the titan Atlanta.”

According to the stories of the Egyptian priests, Atlantis was an island larger in size than total area Libya and Asia. From there it was possible to cross other islands to the “opposite continent” (most likely to America).
Supporters of this hypothesis believe that traces of the sunken Atlantis should be looked for at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean or near the islands located at the indicated coordinates. Atlantologists suggest that several thousand years ago these islands were the mountain peaks of Atlantis. There is enough free space in the modern Atlantic Ocean for an island the size of Atlantis to fit there.
It was this hypothesis that was always defended by the founder of cynology N.F. Zhurov.
Many Atlantologists placed Atlantis in the region of the Kshear and Canary Islands.
Vyacheslav Kudryavtsev, an employee of the famous magazine "Around the World", agreed that the sunken island was located in the Atlantic Ocean, but believed that Atlantis should be looked for somewhat closer to the north pole - in the place of modern Ireland and Britain.
The cause of the death of Atlantis, according to Kudryavtsev, was the melting of glaciers during the Ice Age, which ended just about 10,000 years ago.

Bermuda Triangle: legacy of the Atlanteans?

The mystery of Atlantis is often associated with another equally famous mystery of the Atlantic Ocean - the formidable and deadly Bermuda Triangle. This anomalous zone is located near the southeastern coast of the United States. The “vertices” of the “triangle” lie on the islands of Bermuda, Miami (Florida) and San Juan (Puerto Rico). In the area of ​​the Bermuda Triangle, more than one hundred ships and aircraft have disappeared without a trace. People who were lucky enough to return from the mysterious Kivami triangle talk about strange visions, about fog appearing out of nowhere, about gaps in time.
What is the Bermuda Triangle? Some atlantologists are inclined to believe that unwitting (or
free?) the Atlanteans were responsible for the appearance of this anomalous region.
The famous American clairvoyant Edward Cayce (1877-1945) observed pictures of the life of the Atlanteans in his visions. Cayce said that the Atlanteans had special energy crystals that they used “for worldly and spiritual purposes.”

Before Casey's mind's eye appeared a hall in the Temple of Poseidon, called the Hall of Light. The main crystal of the Atlanteans, Tuaoi, or “Fire Stone,” was kept here. The cylindrical crystal absorbed solar energy and accumulated it at its center.
The first crystal was a gift presented to the Atlanteans by representatives of alien civilizations. The aliens warned that the crystal contained enormous destructive power, so it must be handled with extreme caution.
Crystals were powerful energy generators. They accumulated radiation from the Sun and stars and accumulated the energy of the Earth. The rays emanating from the crystals could burn through the thickest wall.
It was thanks to crystals that the Atlanteans erected their grandiose palaces and temples. Alien stones also helped develop the psychic abilities of the inhabitants of Atlantis.
Some confirmation of Cayce’s words can be found in the myths and traditions of different peoples.
For example, Julius Caesar in “Notes on the Gallic War” cited the story of a Druid priest that the ancestors of the Gauls came to Europe from the “Island of Crystal Towers.” They talked about how, somewhere in the center of the Atlantic Ocean, there was a glass palace. If any ship dared to get too close to it, it disappeared forever. The reason for this was unknown forces emanating from the magical palace. In the Celtic sagas (and the Gauls are representatives of one of the Celtic tribes), the destructive power of the Crystal Tower is called a “magic web.”
One of the heroes of the sagas turned out to be a prisoner of the House of Glass, but managed to escape from there and return home. It seemed to the hero that he spent only three days in the palace, but it turned out that thirty years had actually passed. Today we would call this phenomenon a distortion of the space-time continuum.
In 1675, the Swedish atlantologist Olaus Rudbeck stated that Atlantis was located in Sweden, and its capital was the city of Uppsala. Rudbeck argued that he was right should be obvious to everyone who has ever read the Bible.

According to some legends, some of the Atlanteans managed to escape death when their homeland fell into fashion. They moved to Tibet. Local peoples have preserved legends about huge pyramids, on top of which rock crystal crystals shone, which, like antennas, attracted the energy of the Cosmos.
Edgar Cayce repeatedly warned about the dangers fraught with the Bermuda Triangle. The clairvoyant was sure: at the bottom of the ocean, resting a pyramid crowned with an alien crystal - a powerful energy complex of the Atlanteans. Crystals still operate today, causing distortions of space and time, causing objects passing by to disappear, having a detrimental effect on the psyche of people.
Casey named the exact location of the power plant: on the ocean floor east of Andros Island at a depth of 1500 m.
In 1970, Dr. Ray Brown, a big fan of underground diving, went on vacation to the island of Bahrie near the Bahamas. During one of the underwater excursions, he discovered a mysterious pyramid at the bottom. At its top, secured by unknown mechanisms, rested a crystal. Despite the alarming premonitions, Dr. Brown took the stone. For 5 years he hid his discovery and only in 1975 he decided to demonstrate it at a congress of psychiatrists in the USA. A participant in the congress, New York psychologist Elizabeth Bacon, claimed that she received a message from the crystal. The stone announced that it belonged to the Egyptian god Thoth.
Later, the press received reports that high-energy crystals were found at the bottom of the Sargasso Sea, the origin of which was unknown. The power of these crystals supposedly caused people and ships to disappear into nothingness.
In 1991, an American hydrological vessel discovered a giant pyramid at the bottom of the Bermuda Triangle, larger in size than even the Cheops pyramid.
According to echograms, the mysterious object was made of a smooth material similar to glass or polished ceramic. The edges of the pyramid were perfectly smooth!

Research into the Bermuda Triangle and the mysterious objects resting at its bottom has still not been completed. There is no accurate information, reliable facts, reliable material evidence. There are many more questions than answers.
Perhaps anomalous forces are really to blame for the disappearance of ships in the Bermuda Triangle area. Maybe there, in the dark ocean depths, stands a lonely pyramid. Abandoned and forgotten by everyone, it continues to do what it was created for - to generate powerful flows of energy for the benefit of people, not suspecting that its owners, the Atlanteans, have been resting there for several millennia, in the dark waters of the world's oceans. And the people who now dominate the surface curse the mysterious and destructive force coming from no one knows where.
Mediterranean Sea: Minoan Civilization
The legend of Atlantis is a story about a once powerful and highly developed civilization that perished or fell into decline as a result of a terrible natural disaster. Perhaps Atlantis, as Plato described it, never existed. The Greek philosopher created this myth based on real historical events, which he creatively reinterpreted. In this case, both the area of ​​Atlantis and the time of its existence are just artistic exaggerations. The prototype of Atlantis was the Minoan civilization on the island of Crete (2600-1450 AD).
The hypothesis about the Mediterranean origin of Atlantis was expressed in 1854 by the Russian statesman, scientist, traveler and writer Abraham Sergeevich Norov.
In his book, A Study of Atlantis, he cites the words of the Roman writer Pliny the Elder (23 AD-79 AD) that Cyprus and Syria were once one. However, after the earthquake, Cyprus broke away and became an island. This information is supported by the Arab geographer Ibn Yakut, who talked about how one day the sea rose and flooded vast inhabited territories, and the disaster even reached Greece and Syria.
Norov makes some adjustments to the translation of Plato's dialogues and to the interpretation of geographical terms. The scientist draws attention to the fact that the text uses the word “pelagos” and not “okeanos”, i.e. what is meant is not the Atlantic Ocean, but a certain Atlantic Sea.” Norov suggests that this is what the ancient Egyptian priests called the Mediterranean Sea.
In ancient times there were no unified names geographical objects. If Plato’s contemporaries called Gibraltar the Pillars of Hercules, then the Egyptians and Proto-Athenians could call any strait that way, for example, the Messianic Strait, the Kerch Strait, the Strait of Bonifacio, Cape Malea in the Peloponnese and the island of Kythira, the islands of Kythira and Antikythera, the Canary Islands, the walls of the temple near the Gulf of Gabes , Nile Delta. Mountains named after Atlas were located in Europe, Asia, and Africa. Norov himself was inclined to believe that the Pillars of Hercules meant the Bosporus.
This hypothesis also has a purely logical basis. In the treatise “Timaeus,” Plato describes the catastrophe that led to the death of the armies of the Athenians and Atlanteans: “But later, when the time came for unprecedented earthquakes and floods, in one terrible day all your (pre-Athenian - ed.) military strength was swallowed up by the opening earth; “In the same way, Atlantis disappeared, plunging into the abyss.” Judging by this description, at the time of the disaster the Athenian army was not far from Atlantis. Athens is located at a decent distance from the shores of the Atlantic Ocean. To get to Gibraltar, the Athenians, who, as we remember, were betrayed by all their allies, would have to single-handedly conquer all the lands from Tyrrhenia to Egypt from the Atlanteans, defeat the mighty fleet of Atlantis and sail to the shores of the legendary island. For a myth that idealizes the ancestors of the Athenians, this situation is quite acceptable. However, in reality this was hardly possible.
It is more logical to assume that the Greek army did not go too far from its native shores, and, therefore, Atlantis was located somewhere near Greece, most likely in the Mediterranean Sea.
In this case, a natural disaster could cover both Atlantis and the nearby Athenian army.
In Plato's texts one can find a number of other facts confirming the Mediterranean hypothesis.
The philosopher, for example, describes the consequences of a destructive natural disaster: “After this, the sea in those places became unnavigable and inaccessible until this day due to shallowing caused by a huge amount silt, which left behind a settled island.” Silty shallow waters do not fit at all with the Atlantic Ocean, but in the Mediterranean Sea such a change in the bottom topography looks quite plausible.
Even the famous French explorer Jacques-Yves Cousteau made his contribution to Atlantology. He explored the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea in search of traces of the Minoan civilization. Thanks to Cousteau, a lot of new information was obtained about the lost civilization.
Nature, the topography of the island, minerals, metals, hot springs, the color of the stones (white, black and red) as a result of volcanic and post-volcanic processes - all this corresponds to the conditions of the Mediterranean coast.

In 1897, Doctor of Mineralogy and Geognosy Alexander Nikolaevich Karnozhitsky published an article “Atlantis”, where he suggested that Atlantis was located between Asia Minor, Syria, Libya and Hellas, near the main western mouth of the Nile (“Pillars of Hercules”).
Shortly thereafter, British archaeologist Arthur John Evans discovered the remains of the ancient Minoan civilization on the island of Crete. In March 1900, during excavations in the city of Knossos, the capital of Crete, the legendary Labyrinth of King Minos was found, in which, according to myths, the half-man, half-bull Minotaur lived. The area of ​​the palace of Minos was 16,000 m2.
In 1909, an anonymous article “The Lost Continent” appeared in the Times newspaper, which, as it later turned out, belonged to the pen of the English scientist J. Frost. The note expressed the idea that the Minoan state was the lost Atlantis. Frost's opinion was supported by the Englishman E. Bailey ("The Sea Lords of Crete"), the Scottish archaeologist Duncan Mackenzie, the American geographer E. S. Balch, and the literary critic A. Rivo. Not everyone supported the idea of ​​Minoan Atlantis. In particular, the Russian and Soviet zoologist and geographer Lev Semenovich Berg believed that the Minoans were just the heirs of the Atlanteans, and the legendary island itself sank in the Aegean Sea.
Of course, the Minoan civilization did not die 9,500 years ago (from the time of Plato’s life), the territory of the Minoan state was much more modest than that of the Atlantis described by Plato, and it was not in the Atlantic Ocean, but in the Mediterranean Sea. However, if we agree that these inconsistencies are the result of artistic processing of real historical data, then the hypothesis becomes quite plausible. The main argument is the circumstances of the death of the Minoan civilization. About 3,000 years ago, on the island of Strongyla (modern Thira, or Santorini), an unprecedented eruption of the Santorini volcano occurred (according to some estimates, 7 out of 8 on the volcanic eruption scale). Volcanic activity was accompanied by earthquakes, which led to the formation of a giant tsunami that covered the northern coast of Crete. In a short time, only memories remained of the former power of the Minoan civilization.
The history of the Athenian-Atlantean wars, as outlined by Plato, is reminiscent of the clashes between the Achaeans and the Minoans. The Minoan power conducted active maritime trade with many countries and did not disdain to engage in piracy. This led to periodic military clashes with the population of mainland Greece. The Achaeans actually defeated my opponents, but not before the natural disaster, but after it.

Black Sea

In 1996, American geologists William Ryan and Walter Pitman put forward the theory of the Black Sea flood, according to which around 5600 BC. e. There was a catastrophic rise in the level of the Black Sea. Over the year, the water level increased by 60 m (according to other estimates - from 10 to 80 m and even up to 140 m).
Having examined the bottom of the Black Sea, scientists came to the conclusion that this sea was originally freshwater. About 7,500 years ago, as a result of some natural disaster, ocean sea water poured into the Black Sea basin. Many lands were flooded, and the peoples who inhabited them, fleeing the flood, moved deeper into the continent. Along with them, various cultural and technological innovations could come to Europe and Asia.
The catastrophic rise in the level of the Black Sea could serve as the basis for numerous legends about the Flood (for example, biblical legend about Noah's Ark).
Atlantologists saw in the theory of Ryan and Pitman another confirmation of the existence of Atlantis and a hint where to look for the treasured island.

Andes

In 1553, the Spanish priest, geographer, and historian Pedro Cieza de Leon, in his book “Chronicle of Peru,” first cited the legends of the Indians of South America that it is true that the dating of events in this case diverges from that proposed by Plato. But this is only at first glance. An ingenious solution to this contradiction was proposed by a Russian specialist in the field of computer systems, network information technologies and computer modeling, Alexander Yakovlevich Anoprienko. He suggested that, speaking of 9000 years (the time of the death of Atlantis), 1 Plato did not mean the years familiar to us, but seasons of 121 - 122 days. This means that the legendary civilization sank into oblivion 9000 seasons of 121-122 days ago, i.e. approximately in the 4th millennium BC. e. - during the period of Indo-European expansion.

Atlantis - Antarctica

In the book of the British writer and journalist Graham Hancock, “Traces of the Gods,” the hypothesis is put forward that Antarctica is the lost Atlantis. Based on numerous ancient maps and artifacts of unknown origin found in Antarctica, Hancock puts forward the version that Atlantis was once located closer to the equator and was a flourishing, green land. However, as a result of the movement of lithospheric plates, it moved to the South Pole and now stands, bound by ice. Unfortunately, this curious hypothesis contradicts modern scientific ideas about the geological movement of continents.

HOW ATLANTIS DIED

Not only the location of Atlantis, but also the reasons for its destruction cause a lot of controversy.
True, atlantologists were not so inventive in this matter. Three main hypotheses for the death of Atlantis deserve attention.
Earthquake and tsunami
This is the main, “canonical” version of the death of the Atlantean civilization. Modern concepts the block structure of the earth's crust and the movement of lithospheric plates argue that the most powerful earthquakes occur precisely at the boundaries of these plates. The main shock lasts only a few seconds, but its echo, an earthquake, can last up to several hours. It turns out that Plato’s story is not fantastic at all: strong earthquake could really destroy a huge land area in just one day.
Science also knows of cases where an earthquake caused a sharp subsidence of the earth. For example, in Japan, subsidence of 10 meters was recorded, and in 1692, the pirate city of Port Royal (Jamaica) sank 15 meters, resulting in large parts of Gnala Island being submerged. The earthquake that led to the destruction of Atlantis could have been several times stronger. It is likely that it sank a huge island or archipelago to the bottom of the ocean. Until now, the Azores, Iceland and the Aegean Sea in Greece remain areas of increased seismic activity. Who knows what violent tectonic processes took place in these areas several thousand years ago.
An earthquake goes hand in hand with a tsunami - gigantic waves reaching several tens and even hundreds of meters in height and moving at tremendous speed, sweeping away everything in its path. (at first the sea retreats by several meters, its level drops sharply. And then several waves rush in one after another, one higher than the other. In a few hours, a tsunami can destroy an entire island. Such cases have also been recorded by seismologists.
Even if Atlantis managed to survive the earthquake, it was “finished off” by a gigantic tsunami, throwing the legendary island into the abyss of water.

All these data confirm that the Tulean land extended between the northern part of the Atlantic and the Arctic Ocean. Perhaps it was cut through by a mid-ocean ridge in the Iceland area.
The Soviet expedition on the ship "Akademik Kurchatov", led by oceanologist and geomorphologist Gleb Borisovich Udintsev, examined bottom sediments around Iceland. Poros of continental origin were found in the samples.
Summing up the results of the expedition, Udintsev said: “It can be argued that land of quite extensive size actually once existed in the North Atlantic. It may have connected the shores of Europe and Greenland. Gradually the land broke apart, not even blocks. Some of them sank slowly and gradually, turning into the ocean floor. The immersion of others was accompanied by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and tsunamis. And now, “in memory” of the old days, we only have Iceland left...”
However, scientists were unable to put an end to the study of Hyperborea. A comparative geochemical analysis of the earth's crust of Iceland on the one hand, and Kamchatka and the Kuril Islands on the other, showed a fundamental difference in their chemical composition. The food of Iceland was predominantly basaltic, i.e., oceanic, while the crust of Kamchatka and the Kuril Islands was granitic, continental. It turned out that Iceland is not a surviving part of Hyperborea, but only the top of the middle ridge.
Meanwhile, the Arctic Ocean is giving scientists new surprises. Research has shown that soups also once existed in the polar zones and, unlike Hyperborea, they went under water relatively recently, several thousand years ago, which means that humanity has already found this mysterious continent. Scientists have suggested that this is the lunchtime Arctida.