Atlanta myths and legends. Legend of Atlantis

Vladimir Obruchev

THE LEGEND OF ATLANTIS

An excerpt from the story

1. Strange find

I spent my summers in a small resort on the Atlantic Ocean in Brittany. Actually, it was not a resort, but a small fishing village, to which people from big cities came in the summer, looking for complete peace and relaxation in direct contact with nature. This is not given by any resort with its crowd of people being treated or just having fun, with its kursaal, music, an exhibition of women's toilets, and if it is on the seashore, then a beach on which there are more people than grains of sand.

To give rest to the nerves, weary of city life, is possible only in a place where there is neither a kursaal, nor music, nor a city crowd.

Such truly "resorts" can be found in the most remote corners of the coast of France, known to a few nature lovers. Along with modest housing and sufficient, albeit monotonous food (milk, eggs, fish), they also have a beach, although a small one, and the sea, and picturesque rocks, clean air and complete peace. The fishermen have already adapted to summer guests: they rent out the best room in their hut [at home], moving to a barn or under some kind of shed for the summer, if they have only one room.

It is enough to move a quarter of a mile from the village - and you will find yourself completely alone on the seashore, on the sand or among the rocks, or in the expanse of fields extending inland, and you can enjoy hours of communication with nature and unperturbed peace.

I spent the summer in one of these villages: it consisted of a dozen huts [houses], half of which were occupied by the same lovers of real relaxation as I was. Knowing why each of us chose this place, we tried not to interfere with each other. Everyone had their favorite place on the seashore, which others did not occupy. Only during dinner, and especially after sunset, did we gather for an hour or two at the edge of the village to chat, exchange Parisian news before going to bed, and the fishermen, if they were not busy, took part in conversations and informed us of their "sea » news about fishing, storms and bad luck. We were often present at the unloading of fish from boats and learned to distinguish all kinds of fish that we had no idea about before, knowing them only as an integral part of the restaurant menu.

I often went several versts from the village, climbing over rocky headlands, at the foot of which the surf was noisy; rested on the sand of a small bay formed between them. The entire coast of this area consisted of such an alternation of picturesque rocky headlands protruding into the sea, and soft, more or less wide bays. In calm weather, lying on some block, you can look for hours into the neighboring transparent-green depth, follow the underwater life, watching how fish glide in groves of green and red algae, sparkling with sharp turns with silvery scales, how crabs crawl, how various shells open and close their doors; or, in a strong wind, watch the waves crashing against the rocks, weaving an ever-changing lace of foam, listening to their lulling noise. In the bays, stretching out on the sand under a receding cliff, you can bask in the sun for hours, throwing off your shy clothes, watching either the clouds floating across the blue sky or the waves crashing onto the beach. And at low tide, when the sea recedes dozens of fathoms, what a pleasure it is to wander barefoot on hard, wet sand, collecting rich curiosities left by the sea - shells, jellyfish, fish, catching crabs and then hurrying to the shore before the coming surf, flooding your feet.

On one of these long-distance excursions, I lay down on the sand of a small bay, bounded by two far-protruding capes. The eyes are tired of the glitter of the waves, the hearing is tired of the sound of the surf. I lay down with my back to the sea and sank into dreams of half-drowsiness. In the gap between the capes, the bay was bounded by a cliff three fathoms high, over which stretched a rare pine forest, battered by storms. It was possible to get into the bay only through the rocks of one or another cape, since the cliff was almost sheer, so the bay was visited very rarely. During storms, waves rolled up to the very foot of the cliff, maintaining its sheerness. Everything that accumulated during the constant destruction in the interval between storms and could eventually smooth out the cliff was carried away by the waves.

Lying facing the cliff, I first drew attention to its composition: in the lower part, the same rocks that formed the rocks of the capes came out, but at the top, on their uneven surface, a thickness of pebbles lay, one and a half to two fathoms, a product of the work of the waves of bygone times when the sea level was higher than it is now. Large and small boulders and pebbles formed irregular layers, alternating with gravel and sand; this material was connected to each other quite firmly, which is why it was held vertically.

Following mechanically the individual layers of pebbles and boulders in their whimsical combination, I noticed in one place a boulder of some strange, completely quadrangular shape, as if the sea had not done any work on it to round off its sharp corners and edges. It was almost directly above the rocky part of the cliff, in the lower layer of boulders.

"I'll have to check it out sometime," I thought, and fell back into my daydreams.

A few days later, going on a regular walk along the coast, I remembered this strange boulder and grabbed my geological hammer, which at first I constantly carried with me, but then, having studied the composition of all the rocks, I left it at home as unnecessary, preferring to take a net for catching crabs . So, armed with a hammer, I reached the bay and climbed up the slope, strewn with boulders, to the foot of the cliff.

The mysterious boulder stuck out over my head at a height of two feet, and I hardly got it out with a hammer. The first light blow struck me. It sounded muffled, like I had hit a tree. I began to examine the boulder attentively, now at close range, and was even more surprised - it had the shape of a regular rectangular parallelepiped, a foot and a half long and up to one foot high, matte black in color, except for ocher-brown streaks and spots that sometimes hid its real Colour.

“Probably a fragment of a beam of some ship,” I decided; and since this was no longer of geological interest, he stepped off the cliff and lay down in his usual place on the sand, indulging in his lazy dreams.

But then the thought returned to this wooden boulder. He was buried under two fathoms of pebbles and boulders, and this circumstance made me think. Such a thickness could have accumulated over a very long time even when the sea level was much higher than now. Consequently, the fragment fell into place a very long time ago, not centuries, but many [?] millennia have passed since then. And if this is part of the ship, then some ancient Vikings, Normans, maybe the Romans of the time before the birth of Christ. And although I was not engaged in archeology, it seemed interesting to me to examine this fragment closer. But how to get to it? There were no stairs or any material for scaffolding nearby. I had to postpone the inspection until the next day.

But the next day, in the morning, a violent storm broke out, and the road along the seashore became inaccessible. Huge waves roared over the rocky headlands and burst into the bays one after another, like green monsters with a curved neck and a white mane. The rocks trembled under the blows of this frenzied attack, the spray flew up in fountains above the crest of the cliffs. Admiring from the heights various pictures of the furious surf, I completely forgot about my yesterday's find, and when I saw how high the waves poured into the bays, I thought that I would never see her again - she must have been washed out by the surf and carried away.

Only two days later the storm subsided, the sea calmed down and was only slightly agitated under the warm rays of the sun, as if tamed by someone's imperious hand during a frenzied gust. I took the usual route to a distant bay, secretly hoping that the fragment of the ancient ship had not been carried away by the water and, perhaps, even remained in its shelter, in which it had lain for so many centuries. But the hope was so weak that I did not take with me a small ladder, which I looked out for in the attic of my master's hut [house].

Descending from the rocks to the bay, I already noticed from a distance that in the place where this fragment was supposed to be, some kind of dark object protruded strongly in the cliff. I quickened my steps - and in a few minutes I was already at the foot of the cliff. What happiness! The fragment not only remained in place, but became unexpectedly easily accessible - it had already been freed by three-quarters or more from the surrounding pebbles, washed out to its full height by the impacts of the waves. It stuck out, keeping its narrow end in the cliff, and it was clear that one more such storm - and he would find himself in the waves.

I touched it with a hammer and felt it yield slightly to pressure. A few light blows to the right and left on the protruding part - and the fragment fell out, accompanied by a bunch of boulders and pebbles, to the foot of the cliff. I even had to jump back so that my leg would not be hurt by a hail of stones. I managed to notice that these stones, falling on a fragment, made dull sounds, as if they were hitting a hollow object. This, of course, increased my curiosity, and, barely waiting for the end of shedding, I rushed at the prey, like a kite at a gaping chicken. Throw away stones, shovel sand - it was a matter of a few seconds. And here lies something really strange in front of me. This, of course, is not a fragment of an ancient ship, but something incomparably more interesting. It was immediately evident that this something was sewn into a coarse, tarred cloth, the threads of which stood out clearly thanks to the light dust that had accumulated in the cells.

“Have I found some ancient treasure? I thought. - How did he get here? Who buried it and when?

Inspection of the cliff above the depression, which was left after the object fell out, showed me that there could be no question of a buried treasure. The layers of pebbles and boulders were passing normally, there was no visible disturbance of the structure, which would be revealed inevitably if people dug a hole to lower this object into it. Therefore, the only possible explanation for his presence was that he was thrown out by the waves back then...

The mystery of Atlantis is described in many works, both adventure novels and serious scientific research. To date, scientists and enthusiastic researchers have put forward more than 1,700 hypotheses about the location of this mysterious continent and the reasons for its disappearance without a trace. However, not so unimportant.

One of the most prominent scientists of Ancient Greece, Plato, in the works "Critias" and "Timaeus", mentions Atlantis, referring to 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 the Atlanteans, which fought with the Greeks as far back as 9000. 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 during the day, the mighty Atlantis disappeared forever under water.

Scientists to this day have not come to a consensus regarding Plato's story about this mysterious country. Perhaps Atlantis was just a product of one of the ancient Greek legends? This assumption is supported by the fact that not all of Plato's stories were believed even by his contemporaries. According to these scientists, in such ancient times, 9000 years before the birth of Plato, such a highly developed culture could not have existed. It could not for the simple reason that at that time the end of the ice age had just come. Many scientists agree that at one time cavemen and highly developed Atlanteans could live. And can it be that an entire country suddenly disappeared without a trace. However, most scientists argue that Atlantis could well exist in reality, because the legends had to have at least some basis, and most of the myths reflected the events that took place in reality.

After all, the ruins of the once mythical ancient Troy, which was also considered a figment of the fantasy of blind Homer, were found by archaeologists. And not so long ago, the fact was scientifically proven that the ancient Greeks could make quite long long journeys on their ships, and, like Odysseus, reach the shores of Colchis, the country of the Golden Fleece. As for the huge and destructive power of earthquakes, then, according to geologists, it is really capable of burying a vast territory in a short time.

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

It is likely that this area was once land and about 12 thousand years ago, during a geological catastrophe, it sank to the ocean floor. This period just coincides with the alleged time of the existence of Atlantis. After that, the warm Gulf Stream finally reached the shores of Northern Europe, and as a result, the ice age ended in our part of the world. This version of warming in Europe was put forward by the Russian scientist N.F. Zhirov, as well as some other researchers. It is likely that the Azores and the island of Madeira are the very remnants of the lost mainland. According to some scientists, not all the inhabitants of Atlantis died during the collapse of their mainland - some survivors reached 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 similarity in their architecture, traditions and religions, all the more surprising because the countries were far from each other.

Indeed, the inhabitants of both sides of the Atlantic equally worshiped the Sun, and believed in the myth of the global flood, which was 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 the north of Spain in the Pyrenees mountains is absolutely different from other European languages, but at the same time it is very similar to the languages of some Indian tribes. And the ancient pyramids created by our ancestors in Mexico and Egypt have a lot in common.

In addition, in both countries there is a custom of mummification of the dead, moreover, the same objects are placed in their graves. But the main thing is that in the places where the burials of the Mayan tribes are located, archaeologists find jewelry made of green jade, the deposits of which simply do not exist in America. Maybe he got there from Atlantis?

According to a legend widespread among the Indians of Peru and Mexico, which tells about the white god Quetzacoatl, he arrived on the mainland on a sailboat from the edge of the early sun - that is, from the east. God taught the Indian tribes construction and craft, revealed laws and religion to them, and then mysteriously disappeared. The Peruvians, who did not know about the existence of the Aztecs, believed in the same legend, with one amendment - their god was called Viracocha. Perhaps these people came from Atlantis? It is believed that their images are found on the walls of the cities of Chichen Itza and Tiguanacu.

Scientists refer to the evidence of the existence of Atlantis and the ruins of ancient Indian cities, the remains of which are located in the Peruvian Andes and the impenetrable jungle of the Yucatan Peninsula.

In the autumn of 1970, while inspecting the coastal waters of the Bahamas in the Atlantic Ocean from a seaplane, D. Rebikov, a French archaeologist and aquanaut, noticed strange ruins of some buildings on the ocean floor near the island of North Bimini. Divers who went down under the water found giant walls more than a hundred meters long. They were built from giant blocks, each of which weighed about 25 tons. By whom were they built? Perhaps Atlanteans? True, it was soon discovered that these "walls" arose as a result of cracking of coastal rocks that had gone under water due to the gradual sinking to the bottom of the Bahamas.

They are also looking for Atlantis in the Mediterranean. The most plausible is the opinion of the Russian scientist A. S. Norov, who considered the island of Crete and many small Greek islands to the north of it to be the remnants of a continent that had sunk into oblivion. The well-known Soviet geographer L. S. Berg agreed with this opinion. Today, this theory is supported by the vast majority of scientists. This version is supported by recent studies in this area and in the Atlantic Ocean.

When studying the area of the alleged death of Atlantis at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, scientists found that the average thickness of sedimentary rocks in this zone is about 4 meters. At the same time, at the current rate of accumulation of such rocks, which is 10-15 mm per thousand years, this will require at least 300 thousand years, and certainly not 12 thousand, as argued by supporters of the Atlantean origin of the mysterious Atlantis.

In addition, according to evidence from recent oceanographic studies, the Mid-Atlantic Ridge is the result of a geological event during which the continents of Africa and South America were “torn apart”. Scientists separately noted the features of the coastline pattern: the western line of the African mainland and the eastern line of the South American.

Accordingly, in order for Atlantis to be located in the Atlantic Ocean, there is simply no place in it. But then what to do with Plato's message about where the disappeared country is located, allegedly located in front of the Pillars of Hercules, that is, the Strait of Gibraltar? Under the name "Pillars of Hercules" before Plato could mean a completely different place. What is it? Disputes of researchers do not subside until now.

Regarding the Mediterranean location of Atlantis, assumed by most scientists, they provide a number of fairly weighty evidence.

For example, it has been established that on the island of Thira (Santorini), located in the Aegean Sea, about 3.5 thousand years ago, there was a volcanic explosion of destructive power, similar to the one that was noted in 1883 on the island of Krakatoa in the southeast Asia, including the islands of Indonesia. Apparently, it was the greatest geological catastrophe in the entire history of our planet.

In terms of its strength, the explosion of the Santorin volcano was equal to the explosion of about 200 thousand atomic bombs, identical to those that were once dropped on Hiroshima.

Scientist Garun Taziyev gives the approximate date of the explosion - 1470 BC and claims that as a result, about 80 billion cubic meters rose into the air. m of crushed rock, and the waves that arose in the process reached 260 m. Danish scientists reasonably believe that the explosion took place in 1645 BC. e., - almost 150 years earlier.

Just at that time, the islands located in this part of the Aegean Sea were ruled by the Minoans, who achieved great success in science and handicrafts. As a result of a powerful volcanic explosion, as it was found, one of the developed cities on the island of Thira and the center of the civilization of the Minoans, located on Crete - Knossos, perished.

Most of the territory of the state was absorbed by the Aegean Sea. Probably, it was this event, the echo of which reached Plato through the centuries, and was reflected in his story about the country of the Atlanteans. True, in the interpretation of Plato, the size of the sunken continent is much larger, and the time of the catastrophe is shifted many thousands of years ago.

In other words, according to the opinion of the fans of this hypothesis, in the descriptions of Plato we are talking about the state of the Minoans. Indeed, 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 fat herds of sacred bulls grazed on the island of Atlantis, of which the Minoans had a lot, and they were also considered sacred. A ditch was discovered on the seabed near Tyra, similar to the one that, according to Plato, protected the fortress in the capital of Atlantis. Now the island of Thira is a fragment left after the explosion of a giant volcano. Excavated in 1967, the ruins of the Minoan city lay under a thick layer of volcanic ash and, like Pompeii, are perfectly preserved. Archaeologists have found many colored frescoes and even wooden objects here.

In 1976, the famous French scientist and aquanaut Jacques Yves Cousteau discovered the remains of an ancient Minoan civilization at the bottom of the Aegean Sea near the island of Crete. According to his calculations, it was destroyed during the crushing eruption of the Santorin volcano, which occurred in 1450 BC. e. Nevertheless, Cousteau always considered Atlantis a beautiful fairy tale by Plato.

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

Pictures taken by a researcher at the Institute of Oceanology of the USSR Academy of Sciences in 1973 became a sensation. At that time, he took part in an expedition on the vessel "Akademik Kurchatov". Looking at eight underwater photographs taken by him, you can see the ruins of the fortress wall and other buildings on top of one of the seamounts.

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

This means that the unsuccessful search for Atlantis in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean only confirms the conclusions of scientists looking for traces of her presence in the Aegean Sea. True, some disagreements arose in their orderly ranks. The reason for this in 1987 was the Russian scientist I. Mashnikov. He logically rethought the works of Plato and put forward a new hypothesis.

First of all, he disputes the time of the death of Atlantis, as well as some other data of Plato. For example, the number of land and sea forces of the Atlanteans. Judging by the words of Plato, the Atlanteans had a huge armada - 1200 ships, as well as an army, according to experts, amounting to more than a million soldiers. Accordingly, the Greek army that defeated the Atlanteans should have been no less numerous. According to Mashnikov’s completely logical reasoning, during the Ice Age such a huge army simply had nowhere to come from, given that at that time the number of inhabitants of the entire planet was no more than 3-4 million people, while being at a fairly low level of development.

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

Considering that Solon "stayed" in Egypt (560 BC) 900 years after the death of Atlantis, the approximate date of the disaster is 1460 BC. e. plus a possible error of 100-150 years.

Scientists, looking for Atlantis in the Atlantic, according to Mashnikov, took a false trail, because they did not doubt that the Platonic Pillars of Hercules, behind which this land was located, is the Strait of Gibraltar. But, under the Pillars of Hercules, apparently, some other place was meant. However, Plato has direct indications that allow you to determine the location of Atlantis. Plato says that along the Pillars of Hercules the maritime border between the country of Atlantis and the Athenian state was laid. And this means that these pillars could only be in the Aegean Sea. In another place of his story, Plato directly indicates that Athens opposed the state of the Atlanteans, which can be interpreted not only as a war, but also as a geographical one, that is, they were on the other side - on the peninsula of Asia Minor. At that time there was the land of the Hittites. In addition, according to the author, only here the cities were built according to a circular plan, creating canals, as if outlined by a compass.

But after all, Plato spoke of Atlantis as a large island that sank to the bottom of the sea. It can be assumed that part of this state was indeed located on an island, though not as large as Plato claimed. Probably, it was this island, and by no means the whole country, that perished as a result of a volcanic eruption or an earthquake, as a result of which only a chain of islands remained, which is now called the Sporades. It turns out that Atlantis is actually Hittia or its island part. In addition, Plato, in his retelling of Solon, claimed that Atlantis was at war with Athens. And from the sources it is known that in the XIV century. BC e. Egypt waged war with the Hittites, and after a while Athens entered the war, according to the historian Herodotus, inflicted a heavy defeat on the Hittites and captured 13 of their cities. Subsequently, the Hittite empire collapsed.

According to I. Mashnikov, the war between the Hittites and Athens is the key to unraveling another mystery. Obviously, "Atlanteans" is not a nationality, but a contemptuous name for an enslaved people. The sculpture of the enemy, who became a slave and propped up the cornice, was a symbol of the courage of the winners and the humility of the vanquished. The defeated Hittites were turned into slaves and became Atlanteans, their fallen state began to be called Atlantis. "Perhaps these arguments are not far from the truth.

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 and was described by Homer in the XII century. BC e. as fallen under the onslaught of the Greeks, was considered a myth. But, in 1871, the ruins of Troy were found by the German scientist G. Schliemann. At the same time, Zangger provides quite a lot of weighty evidence for this hypothesis, especially if we take into account the coincidences in the descriptions of Homer and Plato of the area in which Troy was located.

But what about the fact that Plato does not speak of a plain, but of a large island? Zanger believes that Solon is to blame for this. When reading hieroglyphic inscriptions on a pillar when visiting the main temple in the residence of the Egyptian pharaohs, located in Saisi, he made a mistake. Allegedly, these hieroglyphs denoted a sandy strip or coast. A serious mistake was also made in the designation of the place where Atlantis was located on the other side of the Pillars of Hercules. It is possible that this name was borne by the Dardanelles.

According to the author of this version, another serious mistake crept into Plato's story, which consisted in incorrectly determining the time of the catastrophe. After all, on the column of the Egyptian temple, a story is written that nine thousand years ago the Greeks overthrew a powerful state - Atlantis. This hypothesis also has a weak side - inconsistencies, which the author explains by the mistakes of the ancient sages. In addition, the justification for determining the date of the war is rather unconvincing.

In general, each of the hypotheses has a certain rational grain, and which of them will eventually turn out to be true, only time will tell. Or a new hypothesis - after all, the mystery of Atlantis has not been solved so far.

G. ALEKSANDROVSKY.

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 been alive for more than two thousand years. But only a few decades ago, people, desperate to find traces of a once prosperous state, ranked Plato's writings as utopias. And here is a sensational twist: in our days, some historians and archaeologists have recognized that Plato's dialogues do contain a grain of real facts. We present three newest hypotheses suggesting where and when Atlantis died.

Science and life // Illustrations

Tradition of the Egyptian priests

In 421 BC. e. Greek philosopher Plato in two of his writings - Timaeus and Critias - outlined the history and sad end of the island nation of Atlantis. The story in the form of a dialogue is conducted by Plato's great-grandfather, Critias: he conveys the content of the conversation with his grandfather, who heard the story about Atlantis from a contemporary, Solon, an Athenian legislator and poet, who, in turn, learned about Atlantis from an Egyptian priest. And Plato in his texts repeatedly emphasizes that this is not a myth, but a true story of 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 temples and the royal palace stood. The Acropolis - the upper city - was protected by two rows of earth embankments and three water ring channels. 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 to be full of prosperity.

The temple of the main deity of the islanders - Poseidon, the ruler of the seas, was, Plato narrates, lined with gold, silver and orchilac (a recently unraveled word means an alloy of copper and zinc). Another temple dedicated to Poseidon and his wife Kleito, the progenitor of all Atlanteans, is surrounded by a golden wall. There were also a golden statue of Poseidon and golden statues of Nereids - numerous daughters of the sea deity. The Atlanteans had bronze weapons and thousands of war chariots. The bowels gave copper and silver.

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

The island belonged to a powerful union of kings. And then the moment came when he decided to subjugate other countries, including Greece. However, Athens, having shown valor and strength in the war, won. But, as Plato says, the Olympic gods, dissatisfied with the warring peoples, decided to punish them for their 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 the death of Plato, an Athenian citizen, Krantor, went to Egypt to see if the origins of the information used by the philosopher were really there. And he found, according to him, in the temple of Neith hieroglyphs with a text about the events described.

Search

The search for Atlantis began already at the very beginning of a new era - in the 50th year from the birth of Christ. Almost two thousand years since that time, there have been many hypotheses about the location of Atlantis. Many were attracted by the wealth mentioned by Plato. Just think: take possession of the golden walls and statues! Most of the interpreters of Critias and Timaeus pointed to the present-day islands of the Atlantic Ocean. But there were other guidelines as well. Among the 50 points on Earth identified by enthusiasts for the search for Atlantis, there are also quite fantastic ones, for example, Brazil or Siberia, the existence of which the ancient philosopher did not suspect.

A new surge of interest in the search for the legendary island arose after the First World War. Underwater technology, improved in wartime, prompted adventurous businessmen to organize companies in several countries to search for the mysterious Atlantis. For example, in the French newspaper "Figaro" there was such a note: "A society for the study and exploitation of Atlantis has been created in Paris." Companies, of course, burst 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. Movies and television have also contributed to this story. Over 20 expeditions explored the places where, according to their organizers, the people of Atlantis once prospered. But they all returned empty-handed.

To two main questions - where? and when? - already in our century, the objections of archaeologists were added, who considered the story of the abundance of gold and silver on the island a fantasy. They attributed the network of canals - circular and leading to the sea, the inner port and other hydraulic structures to Plato's inventions: such large-scale cases were beyond their strength in those days. Researchers of the philosophical and literary heritage of Plato considered that, telling about 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, indeed, 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, hoping in vain to inspire humane ideas in the tyrants there.) As for the time of the death of the island in deep ocean, 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 up to 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 a people lived somewhere, in its development ahead of the human race by many thousands of years. 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 11340 years.

Is it Atlantis?

"The Russians have found Atlantis!" - with such sensational full houses, many newspapers of Western Europe accompanied in 1979 photographs of the seabed. In the photographs, vertical ridges were clearly visible under a 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 ones.

Underwater images were taken by the research vessel of the Moscow University "Akademik Petrovsky". Actions unfolded where Plato pointed out - "behind the Pillars of Hercules." Out in the Atlantic Ocean, the ship stopped over the shallows to test its underwater equipment. Pure chance helped to choose a parking spot just above the underwater volcano Ampère. 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 underwater vehicle "Argus" into the ocean. "The panorama of the ruins of the city opened up to us, since the walls very similarly imitated the remains of rooms, streets, squares," commander of the "Argus" V. Bulyga reported to the Institute of Oceanology of the Academy of Sciences. Unfortunately, the next Vityaz expedition, which took place in the summer of 1984, did not confirm such encouraging impressions of the aquanaut. From one of the walls, two stones of a fairly regular shape were raised up, but their analysis showed that this was not a creation of human hands, but a volcanic rock. The commander of the Argus crew, Doctor of Geological and Mineralogical Sciences A. Gorodnitsky, writes: "Most likely, the stone is a frozen lava that once poured out through the cracks of the volcano." Another seamount, Josephine, was also surveyed, also an ancient volcano, and in the past an island.

A. Gorodnitsky proposed his own model of a grandiose geological catastrophe of the distant past. It arose due to a sharp shift in the northern direction of the African tectonic plate. Its collision with the European plate caused the eruption of the Santorin volcano in the east, and the sinking 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 only a myth: scientists did not find any traces of the remains of the material culture of the Atlanteans.

The legend of Atlantis - a sunken island on which a highly developed civilization once existed, a strong, enlightened and happy people - Atlantis - has been worrying mankind for more than two thousand years. The only source of information about Atlantis is the writings of the ancient Greek scientist Plato, who lived in the 4th century BC. AD, written in the form of conversations-dialogues. In two such dialogues - Timaeus and Critias - Plato cites the story of his contemporary, writer and politician Critias about Atlantis - "a legend, although very strange, but completely reliable", which Critias heard in childhood from his grandfather, he - from the "wisest of the seven wise" Athenian legislator Solon, and Solon from the Egyptian priests. The Egyptian priests, based on ancient records, said that once in the "Atlantic Sea" (as the ocean was then called) lay a huge island - "larger than Libya (then is Africa) and Asia taken together." On this island "a great and formidable power of kings developed, whose power extended to the whole island and many other islands (...). In addition, they (...) owned Libya to Egypt and Europe to Tirrenia" (so at that time called Italy) The legend of Atlantis tells that in the original times, when the gods divided the earth among themselves, this island fell into the possession of Poseidon, the god of the seas. Poseidon settled there his ten sons, born of an earthly woman, Clito.

The eldest of them was called Atlantis, after his name the island was called Atlantis, and the sea - Atlantic. From Atlanta came a powerful and noble family of kings of Atlantis. This family "gathered such enormous wealth that had not yet happened in the possession of kings, and later on it is not easy to form such a thing." Earth fruits grew in abundance on the island, various animals were found - "both tame and wild", in minerals were mined, including "one breed, which is now known only by name, (...) - the orichalcum breed, which was extracted from the earth in many places on the island and, after gold, was of the greatest value among people of that time." The inhabitants of Atlantis erected on their island, beautiful cities with fortress walls, temples and palaces built harbors and shipyards. The main city of Atlantis was surrounded by several rows of earthen ramparts - "rings of the sea". The city walls were covered with copper, tin and orichalcum, "which emitted a fiery sheen", and the houses were built of red, white and black stone. A temple to Poseidon and Clito was erected in the center of the city. The walls of the temple were lined with silver, the roof was covered with gold, and inside "there was an ivory ceiling, colored with gold, silver and orichalcum. They also erected golden idols inside the temple - a god who, standing in a chariot, ruled with six winged horses, and himself, according to hugeness, touched the ceiling with the crown of the head. Atlantis conducted a brisk trade, the harbors of Atlantis "swarmed with ships and merchants staying from everywhere, which in their mass day and night deafened the area with screams, knocks and mixed noise." Atlantis had a strong army and fleet, consisting of a thousand two hundred warships. The code of laws that Poseidon himself gave to the Atlanteans was inscribed on a high orichalcum pillar installed in the middle of the island. Atlantis was ruled by ten kings, each with his own part of the island.

Once every five or six years, they gathered in front of this pillar and "conferred about common affairs, or they sorted out whether anyone had committed any misconduct, and they held judgment." The Atlanteans were distinguished by their nobility and lofty way of thinking, “looking at everything except virtue with disdain, they valued little that they had a lot of gold and other possessions, were indifferent to wealth as a burden, and did not fall to the ground in the intoxication of luxury, losing power over oneself." But time passed - and the Atlanteans changed, filled with "the wrong spirit of self-interest and power." They began to use their knowledge and the achievements of their culture for evil. In the end, Zeus became angry with them and "in one day and a disastrous night (...) the island of Atlantis disappeared, plunging into the sea." According to Plato, this happened in the 10th millennium BC. Modern scientists are of the opinion that the death of the island was caused by a catastrophe caused by some of the man-made achievements of the ancient Atlanteans. Disputes about whether Atlantis really existed or was invented by Plato began in ancient times. The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle, a friend and student of Plato, argued that Atlantis was completely fictional (according to legend, it was on this occasion that Aristotle uttered the famous saying: "Plato is my friend, but the truth is dearer") Nevertheless, many believed that Atlantis really existed and could find its traces. Interest in Atlantis over the next centuries faded, then awakened again, but never completely disappeared. It is estimated that about 3,600 scientific works have been written about Atlantis to date (not to mention numerous works of fiction).

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

Lost Civilization

Atlantis - reality or dream?

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

Quintus Horace Flaccus, Epistles, 6:20

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

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

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

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

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

Broken phone

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

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

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

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

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

"Pros and cons"

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

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

Where is this street, where is this house?

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

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

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

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

Myths of the peoples of the world

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

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

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

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

Atlantis in the Mediterranean?

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

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

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

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

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

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

Atlantes - the ancestors of the Russians?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Why did Atlantis die?

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

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

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

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

Atlantis - a myth?

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

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

The most impartial scholars nevertheless admit that Plato's dialogues contain a rational grain and they describe real natural disasters that have befallen the Mediterranean - the same Crete.

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

Remains of former luxury

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

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

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

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

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