Read legends about Atlantis. History of Atlantis: myths, speculation, riddles and real facts. Atlantis - a myth

An ideal country in which there are neither poor nor rich, there are no diseases and senile infirmities, life is carefree and happy... Each of the 6 billion people living on Earth would like to look at such a miracle at least for a minute, at least with one eye. That’s why the history and magic of Atlantis, a country steeped in mystery and mysticism, so attracts people’s attention.

Atlantis was first mentioned in Plato's treatises as a state with an ideal political system, a country of demigods and prosperity. Among ancient myths and legends, the legend of Atlantis is the most colorful and viable. Attempts are still being made to decipher the treatises in a new way and find the place where Atlantis was located in ancient times.

According to Plato's descriptions, Atlantis is an island of enormous size, located behind the Pillars of Hercules. Modern scientists in this regard determine the location of the continent in the Mediterranean Sea, beyond the Strait of Gibraltar.

Plato also mentions that Atlantis was located on a plain, and exactly in the center rose a hill on which the temples of the Gods were located. The city was surrounded by several spiraling rows of canals filled with water and earth mounds. The inhabitants of the legendary country resembled those of today - they had black hair and brown eyes, and an athletic build.

The Atlanteans lived in harmony with nature, and possessed knowledge that is lost today: telepathy, hypnosis, they could cure diseases and slow down the heartbeat. The legend of the magic of Atlantis, due to which this continent was flooded, is based on these natural abilities.

According to legend, over time, the Atlanteans became more selfish and greedy, striving for material well-being, ignoring spiritual development. The gods were angry with Atlantis and destroyed it within 24 hours. forever hid the mainland in the depths of the sea.

The death of a great civilization

Atlantis was swallowed up by the waters of the Atlantic ocean about 10-12 thousand years ago, although traces of the disappeared civilization are still being sought today. After all, all the ancient myths and legends of the world mention a global flood, as a result of which almost all of humanity died. Scientists suggest that Atlantis perished as a result of its fall to Earth, which caused a tsunami on a universal scale and caused a shift in the earth's axis, and, consequently, climate change on the planet.

Another interesting fact, which has become part of all the myths and legends of the world, is that the founders of all the civilizations that arose after the flood suddenly appeared, having sailed from some other, disappeared continent. It is believed that the Atlanteans, who survived the cataclysm, scattered all over the world and passed on their knowledge to the Egyptians, Mayans, and Aztecs... That is why the historical heritage of these great civilizations is so similar - they all built pyramids, worshiped the Gods, and the priests were the highest caste and intermediaries between Gods and people.

Even today, Atlantis attracts people and scientists like a magnet, bewitching it with mysticism and the unknown. Wherever they looked for this continent in the Atlantic Ocean - on Bahamas, in , in Mexico, in Crete, in Cuba, even in the waters of the Antarctic!

IN Bermuda Triangle deep under the ocean, a pyramid of unknown origin was discovered at the bottom - the first version has appeared.

On the island of Thera, one of the islands of the Greek archipelago, ancient ruins of temples and buildings were discovered - the second hypothesis.

On the Altiplano plateau in South America, a plateau with a hill in the middle, surrounded by rings, was discovered - a third possible hypothesis.

Off the coast of Cuba, with the help of sonar, during scientific research of the bottom, ruins were accidentally discovered, possibly of a city that sank in ancient times - hypothesis 4.

And the last hypothesis, which appeared relatively recently, is that Atlantis is Antarctica! This idea was led by the fact that on ancient maps Antarctica is indicated as ice-free, near the equator, between Africa and America. Over time, having shifted to the south, under the influence of deep processes, Antarctica ended up at the South Pole. The mysticism of this fact also lies in the fact that the outlines of Atlantis, presented on the ancient map of 1665, completely coincide with the contours of Antarctica!

For a long time, the hope will linger in people’s hearts that it is possible to find an “earthly paradise” and unravel the mystery of the fabulous Atlantis. The attractiveness and magic of Atlantis lies precisely in the fact that it is not known for certain whether a beautiful country existed at all, or is it the fruit of Plato’s fantasies about an unrealistic, but so desired world.

Vladimir Obruchev

THE TALE OF ATLANTIS

Excerpt from the story

1. Strange find

I spent the summer in small resort on the shore 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 communication with nature. This is not provided by any resort with its concentration of people undergoing treatment or simply having fun, with its Kursaal, music, 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.

You can only rest your nerves, tired of city life, in a place where there is no Kurhaus, no music, no city crowd.

Such truly “resorts” can be found in the most remote corners of the French coast, known to few nature lovers. Along with modest housing and sufficient, albeit monotonous, food (milk, eggs, fish), they also have a beach, albeit a small one, the sea, picturesque rocks, clean air and complete peace. The fishermen have already adapted to summer guests: they rent out the best room of their hut [house] to them, moving for the summer to a barn or under some kind of shed if they only have 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 vastness of fields stretching inland, and you can enjoy hours of communion with nature and undisturbed 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, like me. Knowing why each of us chose this place, we tried not to disturb each other. Everyone had their own favorite place on the seashore, which others did not occupy. Only during lunch, and especially after sunset, would 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 the conversations and told us their “sea » news about fishing, storms and failures. We were often present when the catch was unloaded from boats and learned to distinguish all sorts of fish that we had no idea about before, knowing them only as component restaurant menus.

I often went several miles from the village, climbing over rocky capes, at the foot of which the surf roared; he was resting on the sand of the small bay that formed between them. The entire coast of this area consisted of an alternation of picturesque rocky capes extending into the sea and soft, more or less wide bays. In calm weather, lying on some boulder, you can spend hours looking into the neighboring transparent green depths, watching the underwater life, watching how fish glide through the groves of green and red algae, sparkling with silvery scales at sharp turns, 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, listen to their soothing noise. In the bays, stretched out on the sand under a retreating cliff, you can bask in the sun for hours, taking off your tight clothes, watching either the clouds floating across the blue sky or the waves rolling onto the beach. And at low tide, when the sea recedes dozens of fathoms, what a pleasure it is to wander barefoot on the hard wet sand, collecting rich curiosities left by the sea - shells, jellyfish, fish, catching crabs and then rushing to the shore before the advancing surf, which floods your feet.

On one of these long excursions I lay down on the sand of a small bay bordered by two far-protruding capes. My eyes are tired from the shine of the waves, my ears are tired from the sound of the surf. I lay down with my back to the sea and plunged into half-asleep dreams. In the interval between the capes, the bay was limited by a cliff three fathoms high, over which stretched a sparse 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 vertical, so the bay was visited very rarely. During storms, the waves rolled up to the very foot of the cliff, maintaining its verticality. Everything that accumulated during 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 noticed its composition: in the lower part there were the same rocks that made up the rocks of the capes, but at the top, on their uneven surface, lay a layer of pebbles, one and a half to two fathoms thick, the product of the work of waves of a bygone time when 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 tightly, which is why it held vertically.

While mechanically following 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 located 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 dreams.

A few days later, getting ready for a regular walk along the coast, I remembered this strange boulder and grabbed my geological hammer, which at first I always 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 a slope strewn with boulders to the foot of the cliff.

The mysterious boulder stuck out two feet above my head, and I had difficulty getting it out with a hammer. The first light blow struck me. It sounded dull, as if I had struck wood. I began to examine the boulder carefully, now from a close distance, 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 the ocher-brown streaks and spots that in some places hid its real appearance. color.

“Probably a fragment of a beam from some ship,” I decided; and since this was no longer of geological interest, he walked 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 a thickness of pebbles and boulders two fathoms deep, and this circumstance made me think. Such a thickness could have accumulated over a very long time and at a time when sea level was much higher than it is now. Consequently, the fragment fell into its place a very long time ago, not centuries, but many [?] millennia have passed since then. And if this is part of a ship, then some ancient Vikings, Normans, maybe Romans from before the birth of Christ. And although I was not involved in archeology, I thought it was interesting to take a closer look at this fragment. But how to get to it? There were no stairs or any kind of scaffolding material nearby. We had to postpone the inspection until the next day.

But the next day, a strong storm broke out in the morning, and the road along the seashore became inaccessible. Huge waves thundered 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 frantic attack, the spray flew up in fountains above the crest of the cliffs. Admiring from above the various pictures of the crazy surf, I completely forgot about my discovery yesterday, and when I saw how high the waves were pouring into the bays, I thought that I would never see it again - it had probably been washed up 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 powerful hand during a mad rush. I went the usual way to the 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 hope was so weak that I did not take with me a small ladder, which I spotted in the attic of my owner’s hut [house].

Descending from the rocks to the bay, I already noticed from a distance that in the place where this fragment should have been located, some dark object protruded strongly from 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 - three-quarters or more of it was already freed from the surrounding pebbles, washed away to its entire height by wave impacts. He stuck out, keeping his 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 give in slightly under pressure. A few light blows from the right and left on the protruding part - and the fragment fell out, accompanied by a heap of boulders and pebbles, to the foot of the cliff. I was even forced to jump away so that my leg would not be hurt by the hail of stones. I managed to notice that these stones, falling on the fragment, made dull sounds, as if they were hitting a hollow object. This, of course, increased my curiosity, and I, barely waiting for the end of the shedding, rushed at the prey, like a kite at a gaping chicken. Throwing away the stones and shoveling away the sand was a matter of a few seconds. And now something really strange lies in front of me. This, of course, is not a fragment of an ancient ship, but something incomparably more interesting. It was immediately clear that this something was sewn into coarse tarred fabric, the threads of which stood out clearly thanks to the light dust that had accumulated in the cells.

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

An examination of the cliff above the depression that remained after the object fell out showed me that there could be no question of buried treasure. The layers of pebbles and boulders passed through normally, there was no visible disturbance of the structure, which would inevitably have been revealed if people had dug a hole to lower this object into it. Therefore, the only possible explanation for its presence was that it was thrown out by the waves back then...

Atlantis is the mirror of the sun. Never knew a more beautiful country. Babylon and Egypt marveled at the wealth of the Atlanteans. In the cities of Atlantis, strong with green jade and black basalt, chambers and temples glowed like heat. Lords, priests and men, in gold-woven clothes, sparkled in precious stones. Light fabrics, bracelets and rings, and earrings and necklaces adorned the wives, but better than stones were open faces.

Strangers sailed to the Atlanteans. Everyone willingly praised their wisdom. They bowed before the ruler of the country.

But the oracle's prediction happened. The sacred ship brought the great prophetic word to the Atlanteans:

The waves will rise like mountains. The sea will cover the country of Atlantis. The sea will take revenge for rejected love.

From that day on, love was not rejected in Atlantis. The sailors were greeted with love and affection. The Atlanteans smiled joyfully at each other. And the ruler’s smile was reflected in the precious, shining walls of the palace chambers. And a hand reached out to greet you, and the tears of the people were replaced by a quiet smile. And the people forgot to hate the authorities. And the authorities forgot the forged sword and armor.

But the boy, the bishop’s son, especially surprised everyone. The sun itself, the gods of the sea themselves, seemed to have sent him to save the great country.

He was kind! And friendly! And caring about everyone! He had brothers great and small. A kind word lived in him for everyone. He remembered everyone's best deed. He didn't remember a single mistake. He definitely couldn’t see the anger and rudeness. And everything evil hid before him, and the recent villains wanted to become good forever, just like him.

A crowd of people followed him. Everywhere his gaze met only faces full of joy, waiting for his smile and a kind, wise word. That was a boy! And when the lord-father died in this life, and the youth, foggy with quiet sadness, went out to the people; everyone, like madmen, forgot about death and sang a hymn of praise to the desired ruler. And Atlantis bloomed brighter. And the Egyptians called it the land of love.

The bright ruler reigned for many quiet years. And the rays of his happiness shone to the people. Instead of the temple, the people strove for the ruler. Sang:

He loves us. Without him we are nothing. He is our ray, our sun, our warmth, our eyes, our smile. Glory to you, our beloved!

In awe of the delight of the people, the ruler reached last day. And the last day began, and the ruler lay powerless, and his eyes closed.

As one man, the Atlanteans stood up, and the steps of the chambers were filled with a sea of ​​crowds. They carried away the doctors and bed attendants. They leaned to the deathbed and, crying, screamed:

Master, look! Give us at least your glance. We came to defend you. May our desire, the Atlanteans, strengthen you. Look, all of Atlantis has gathered to your palace. We formed a tight wall from the palace to the sea, from the palace to the cliffs. We, beloved one, have come to hold you. We will not let you be taken away, leave us all behind. All of us, the whole country, all husbands and wives and children. Master, look!

The lord beckoned the priest with his hand and wanted to say his last wish, and asked everyone to leave, at least for a short time.

But the Atlanteans remained. They rallied and grew into the steps of the bed. Frozen, dumb and deaf. They didn't leave.

Then the ruler rose up on his bed and, turning his gaze to the people, asked to be left alone and allowed to tell the priest his last will. Vladyka asked. And once again the bishop asked in vain. And once again they were deaf. They didn't leave. And then it happened. The lord stood up on his bed and wanted to move everyone away with his hand. But the crowd was silent and caught the gaze of the beloved ruler.

Then the ruler said:

Haven't you left? Don't you want to leave? Are you here now? Now I found out. Well, I'll tell you. I'll say one word. I hate you. I reject your love. You took everything from me. You took the laughter of childhood. You rejoiced when for your sake I remained alone. You filled the silence of your mature years with noise and screaming. You despised your deathbed... Only I knew your happiness and your pain. Only your speeches were carried to me by the wind. You took away my sun! I didn’t see the sun; I only saw your shadows. Dali, blue ones! You didn’t let me go to them... I can’t return to the sacred greenery of the forest... I can no longer walk on the fragrant herbs... I can no longer climb the mountain ridge... I can no longer see the bends of rivers and green meadows... I can no longer rush across the waves... I can no longer fly with my eyes behind the fast gyrfalcon... I can no longer look at the stars... You won... I could no longer hear the voices of the night... The commands of God were no longer available to me... But I could recognize them... I could sense the light, the sun and the will... You won... You are all from I was overshadowed... You took everything from me... I hate you... I rejected your love...

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, unprecedented weapons, the mysterious magic of priests, nobility and ambition - all this could have become the reality of our history, if not...

Lost civilization

Atlantis - reality or dream?

Everything that is hidden now will someday be revealed by time.

Quintus Horace Flaccus, “Epistle”, 6:20

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

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

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

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

A surge of interest in the problem of Atlantis occurred at the end of the 19th century. In 1882, the American Ignatius Donnelly published the book “Atlantis - the Antediluvian World,” where he argued that this legendary land is the ancestral home of all humanity. To prove the theory, he used data from archaeology, biology and mythology, and compared legends, languages ​​and customs of peoples on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. Donnelly's work marked the beginning of 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 we see, atlantology is based on a shaky foundation.

You are especially convinced of this when you soberly analyze Plato’s texts. The philosopher learned about Atlantis from hearsay, and the whole story resembles a children's game of “broken telephone.”

If we assume that Plato did not invent anything, there is still plenty of room for error. Critias the Younger claimed that the story of Atlantis shocked him, so he remembered it in detail. However, there are direct contradictions in the dialogue. For example, in one place Critias says that: “... the story was indelibly imprinted on my memory,” and in another - that: “... after such a long time, I did not remember enough the contents of the story.” Then it turns out that he had some notes.

Memorable notes from grandfather or Solon? And Critias’s grandfather, in his 90s, could well have mixed up a lot of things, not to mention the fact that many details of the legend about the sunken land may be the fruit of senile boasting.

“And I’ll tell you, grandson, a great-a-wonderful fairy tale!”

So perhaps Aristotle was completely or partially right. Plato could indeed have invented the story of Atlantis to illustrate his views (remember Thomas More's Utopia). Or, with all his honesty, the philosopher compiled dialogues from some other sources about Atlantis that have not reached us, historical and geographical works of various authors, legends, myths and his own speculations. Well, Plato could simply have invented a chain of storytellers for greater reliability.

True, the ending of Critias is most likely lost. Perhaps the “lost files” contained all the answers?

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 cult 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 is reminiscent of the very real statue of Poseidon by Scopas (4th century BC). Random coincidences or fraud?

Where is this street, where is this house?

Atlantologists also argue about the location of the legendary land, although from Plato’s dialogues it would seem to be 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 one could easily cross over other islands to the “opposite continent” (America?).

Therefore, many atlantologists believe that traces of Atlantis should be looked for somewhere at the bottom of the ocean of the same name. Possibly near existing islands that may have been high mountain peaks sunken land.

At the same time, atlantologists stubbornly ignore the simplest fact - if an asteroid capable of flooding a hefty island crashed onto Earth, it 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

The “father” of Atlantology, Donnelly, and his followers consider mythology, or more precisely, several legends that coincide among many peoples, to be the key evidence for the existence of Atlantis.

Firstly, these are legends about the flood, which are found among almost all of humanity. The gods, tired of human dirty tricks, flood the entire earth with water, adding a number of other weighty means of re-educating sinners - in the form of fiery rain, for example.

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

Thirdly, legends about cosmic cataclysms. Something huge falls from the sky - a stone, the Moon, the Sun, a Dragon. Nothing good things to people it doesn't bring. The people left out of business are scattering in all directions...

Atlantis in the Mediterranean?

In addition to the Atlantic Ocean, the sunken island is also placed in other parts of the world.

Upon closer examination, this theory does not look crazy at all. Plato wrote that after Atlantis sank, “the sea in those places became... unnavigable and inaccessible due to 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 shallows would serve as a serious obstacle to shipping. But in the Mediterranean there are plenty of such places.

And the nature of Atlantis can easily be correlated with almost any Mediterranean island.

The god of the seas, Poseidon, fell in love with a simple girl, Cleito, who bore him 5 pairs of twins, who laid the foundation for the Atlantean people. The Atlantean state was similar to Ursula Le Guin's Earthsea - an archipelago of several islands, the length of the main one was 1110 km, width - 400 km. The climate is presumably tropical, as there were elephants on the island.

On the southern 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 with a diameter of 965 meters, penetrated by canals, with a palace Acropolis complex, surrounded by two earthen ramparts. The outer shaft was covered with copper, the inner one with tin, the walls of the acropolis were lined with orichalcum (a metal unknown to us). The Acropolis included the joint temple of Cleito 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.

State system

- monarchy: 10 king-archons, the highest of whom bore the title “Atlas” and lived in Poseidonis. Every 5-6 years, council meetings were held - “courts” of the kings, before which “bull sacrifices” were organized (a similar custom existed in Crete).

Recently, due to the lack of virgin places, they have turned to our endless expanses - the Azov, Black and Caspian Seas have also been honored to receive 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... the sunken city of Kitezh! True, after the stories that Adam and Eve were from somewhere in the Moscow region, 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 a modern man, whose mind has moved into the body of an Atlantean prince (an obvious remake of Hamilton’s “Star Kings”).

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

Sometimes Atlanteans became aliens from outer space (A. Shalimov, “Return of the Last Atlantean”), or were the first earthlings to come into contact with alien intelligence (V. Kernbach, “Boat over Atlantis”; G. Martynov, “Time Spiral”) . Perhaps it was vile aliens who destroyed Atlantis? Here is the hero of the "Atlantis" series by G. Donnegan, the tough special forces soldier Eric, together with his comrades from the Navy Seal squad, is trying to stop the insidious shadow aliens who once treacherously sank the unfortunate Atlanteans.

Many books tell about the adventures of outcasts who survived the disaster. Some have preserved the remains of civilization under water (“Atlantis under water” by R. Kadu, “The Abyss of Marakot” by A. Conan Doyle, “The End of Atlantis” by K. Bulychev). Others ran away. To America (“The Temple. A Manuscript Found on the Coast of Yucatan” by H. P. 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. Gemmell). For some Atlanteans, the shock from the death of their homeland turned out to be so strong that other planets seemed to them to be the best refuge (A. Tolstoy, “Aelita”; A. Shcherbakov, “Chalice of Storms”). In V. Panov’s recent novel “The Pulpit of Wanderers,” the catalyst for powerful forces turns out to be ancient artifact

Atlanteans Throne of Poseidon.

Even Batman ("The Black Egg of Atlantis" by N. Barrett) joins the battle for the Atlantean legacy when the Penguin Man tries to take possession of an ancient object that gives dark power.

In addition to the basic, albeit completely unrealistic version of the fall of a giant meteorite, the hypothesis of a powerful earthquake is very popular. In history, there are known cases of sudden 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 sank 15 meters into the sea.

Large earthquakes, especially those with their epicenter on the seabed, can cause a tsunami.

A typical example of such a disaster is the tsunami resulting from the eruption of the Krakatoa volcano in Indonesia in 1883, when the wave height was about 40 meters. Such a wave is quite capable of burying the coastal zone of the mainland or even an entire island. In addition to more or less scientific explanations, there are also occult and fantastic theories about Atlantis, sometimes very specific. For example, members of the Rising Atlanteans 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 the terribly popular ophthalmologist Ernst Muldashev among some Russians also contain amazing discoveries. It turns out that the Atlanteans had extrasensory perception, and 75,000 years ago, with the help of psychokinetic energy, they built

Egyptian pyramids

. A number of great personalities - Krishna, Buddha, Christ - were also Atlanteans. And somewhere in the depths of Tibet, in caves, the surviving Atlanteans are still sleeping in a special type of suspended animation - samadhi.

Is Atlantis a myth? Despite all the numerous disagreements, the only thing that cements the discordant ranks of atlantologists is the idea that Atlantis really existed. However, there are many who declare: Atlantis is a myth! Their main arguments are as follows. Firstly, apart from Plato’s dialogues, there are no other reliable references to Atlantis. Secondly, the island had to be too large, and it would not be easy to fit it somewhere in terms of geography. Thirdly, modern geological and oceanographic research

do not confirm the sinking of a large part of land to the ocean floor. Fourthly, 10 thousand years ago there was no developed

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

Remnants of former luxury

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

The main building materials of antiquity were marble, granite, basalt and sandstones. Over thousands of years, most buildings will completely dissolve in sea water, except for some marble structures. In addition, certain types of shellfish and the presence of strong underwater currents can have a destructive effect on sunken buildings.

In salty sea water, metals undergo accelerated corrosion.

Iron oxidizes after 200 years in the 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, which can protect the object.

But high-grade gold can lie in water for a very long time.

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

Most theories about the existence of Atlantis are based on biblical legends and the works of the ancient Greek philosopher Plato. In his dialogues Timaeus and Critias, he refers to the impressions of the Athenian legislator Solon, who visited the ancient Egyptian city of Sais. During a meeting with Egyptian priests, he was shown written monuments of Atlantis and told the story of its existence, which he later told to Plato’s great-grandfather.

In Plato’s Dialogues it is said that “...in Atlantis there was a large and wonderful empire that ruled almost the entire island and several others (islands in the Atlantic Ocean), as well as part of the continent. They owned wealth that kings and rulers had never had before and that they probably never would have.

They lined their temples with silver, and their belvederes with gold... The roofs were made of ivory, decorated with gold, silver and origalcum (maybe an alloy of bronze). Everything around was densely populated, the canals and the most major ports were full of ships and traders sailing from all parts of the world... In addition, there were many elephants on the island.”

According to Plato, the end of the beautiful empire came suddenly: “... After this, terrible earthquakes and floods appeared, in one single day and night of rain... the island of Atlantis disappeared and sank into the sea...”

Where was Atlantis and when did it disappear? Plato writes: “...in these days (9000 years before Plato), i.e. 11,500 years ago, ships sailed in the Atlantic Ocean because there was an island located opposite the strait, which you call the Pillars of Hercules. The island was larger than Libya ( North Africa) and Asia ( Asia Minor), taken together, and served as a path to other islands, and from the islands it was possible to cross the entire opposite continent, which was surrounded by a real ocean, since the sea that is between the Strait of Hercules (Mediterranean Sea) is only a bay with a narrow passage, but one or the other is a real sea and the land surrounding it can confidently be called a continent...”

It is unclear from Plato's writings whether some of the inhabitants of Atlantis survived and what their further fate. Does the disappearance of Atlantis have something in common with the global flood or, perhaps, biblical legends about Noah's Ark, stories of the Mahabharata and Babylonian legends - different versions of stories about the same cataclysm? And if we ask this question on the pages of our book, it is because modern interpreters of the problems of Atlantis associate the “mysterious” disappearance of ships and planes in the Bermuda Triangle with the return of the descendants of the mythical Atlanteans to their native places.

But let's go back to the geological history of our planet. Is it possible that the cases described by ancient legends, myths, biblical traditions and Plato were valid? Is it possible that an ancient continent existed in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean? These questions also affect the history of the formation of the oceans.

Modern geophysical research makes it possible to detect significant differences in the structure of the earth's crust of continents and oceans. Using seismic methods, geophysicists have proven that the thickness of the continental type of the earth's crust is about 30–40 km under high mountain ranges. And the thickness of the oceanic crust is only 5-15 km. The boundary between the two types of earth's crust passes around the 2000 m isobath, where some significant differences arise in their structure.

These data confirm initial assumptions that the coastal areas of the sea were once vast plains. Sound locating, a powerful means of measuring sea depth, offers us an excellent opportunity to map the topography of the seabed. Such maps clearly show the mouths and canyons of ancient rivers that have sunk under water, the coastline that existed tens of thousands of years ago, former terraces, as well as other features of modern coastal areas. Using data like this, we can now reconstruct the position of the ocean surface over a period of tens of thousands of years.

Deviation of sea level from the present one in meters. On the abscissa is time in millennia. 1 - according to Fairbridge - 1961; 2 - according to Currey - 1968

It is generally accepted that in the last 12 thousand years, after the end of the Würm Ice Age, the contours of the continents have not undergone significant changes. This means that changes in sea level can be a consequence of the own internal oscillations of the ocean-atmosphere system. As a result of warming that began 15 thousand years ago, the sea level, which was then 110 m lower than today, began to rise at a rate of 2 cm per year. This increase continued until 5–6 millennia ago, after which the rate of increase dropped to 1–2 mm per year.

Such processes apparently led to the inundation of vast coastal areas and many island systems. But is it possible to refer to them in the case of Atlantis? Obviously not, because Plato believes, and the same follows from other legends, that this happened suddenly, and the speed of climatic processes is extremely low. Then we will have to look for an explanation in the tectonic activity of the Earth.

Today, there are two main theories about the formation of the ocean - the theory of neomobilism (global plate tectonics) and the theory of oceanization of the continental crust. The first theory is based on the hypothesis of the German geophysicist Alfred Wegener about continental drift. Wegener suggested that about 230 million years ago there was only one continent on Earth - Pangea and one ocean - Panthalas. The rotation of the Earth led to the fragmentation of the macrocontinent and the horizontal movement of continents. As a result, the Atlantic and Indian oceans were formed.

Estimated configurations of Pangea and Panthalas 200 million years ago.

The location of the continents at the end of the Triassic - 180 million years ago.

One of Wegener's strongest arguments in favor of his proposed mechanism for the formation of continents and oceans was the similarity coastlines on opposite shores of the Atlantic and other oceans. His theory, however, experienced a crisis until the sixties of our century, when it was revived again, this time as the theory of neomobilism. Proponents of this theory argue that the Earth is covered with solid plates that move under the influence of convective movements that occur at a depth of more than a hundred kilometers below the earth's surface. The boundaries between the two plates, according to this theory, coincide with seismically active zones, and not with the boundaries between continents and oceans, as Wegener argued.

According to the theory of neomobilism, by the end of the Triassic period (about 180 million years ago), the formation of the basins of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans began. The Tethys Sea divided Pangea into two continents - Gondwana and Laurasia. During the same period they separated South America and Africa, as well as Hindustan, which begins to rapidly move north. Today this is evidenced by the traces left by the drift of Hindustan at the bottom Indian Ocean. Later, as a result of Africa moving counterclockwise and Asia moving in the opposite direction, the Tethys Sea disappeared.

Based on information about the geological evolution of the Earth, it is possible to make assumptions about its future structure. Geologists expect that the Atlantic Ocean will continue to expand, especially in its southern part, and the territory Pacific Ocean- shrink. Australia will move north and join the Eurasian plate, and Asia and North America will connect in the area of ​​the Aleutian Islands.

There is reason to believe that the Red Sea, one of the most active seismic zones, will continue to expand, Africa will shift to the north, and a future ocean will emerge in place of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. This is also evidenced by geophysical measurement data showing that today the African and Indian plates are moving away from each other at a speed of about 2 cm per year. In addition, the temperature and salinity in the deep waters of the Red Sea reach extraordinary values ​​- 64.8 °C and 313%o, i.e. ten times higher than normal. This anomaly is explained by the rise of molten earth masses through cracks in the earth's crust.

But enough about the geological future of the Earth. Let's go back to her past again. Obviously, the theory of neomobilism does not allow us to prove the existence of Atlantis, because the movement of plates is extremely slow. It remains to turn to the theory of oceanization of the earth's crust.

The location of the continents at the end of the Cretaceous period - 65 million years ago.

Unlike the neomobilism theory, the oceanization theory assumes that the oceans were formed due to the vertical movement of the earth's crust. The continents themselves are horizontally motionless, and the thick continental crust can, under certain conditions, sink into the liquid asthenosphere. This is due to local overheating of the asthenosphere, a decrease in its density and an increase in its mobility. Moreover, after the continental crust subsides, part of it melts in the asthenosphere and it thins, forming the oceanic type of the earth’s crust.

And yet, when did the subsidence of the earth's crust occur? By answering this question, we can find the answer to the disappearance of Atlantis and many other surface areas of the Earth. Today it is generally accepted that the formation of the oceans proceeded quite quickly, and over large areas. But the last stage of the formation of the oceans took place for tens of millions of years during the last phase of the geological history of the Earth - in the Cenozoic era. And Plato wrote about a catastrophe that happened about 10 thousand years ago (?).

Today, many experts on Atlantis believe that it was located in the interior of the Atlantic Ocean, and some even argue that its location coincides with the so-called Bermuda Triangle. Let's then look at part of the shelf strip in the area of ​​​​the Florida Peninsula and the underwater Blake Terrace, located at a depth of 800-1000 m under water. Data from seismic studies and soundings carried out by the Glomar Challenger confirm that the subsidence of the continental shelf began in the Cretaceous period about 100 million years ago and proceeded very slowly. Later, about 30–50 million years ago, the rate of subsidence began to increase.

All these are processes of the distant geological past. As for the “relatively recent” sinking of Atlantis, this could have happened as a result of a late stage in the process of ocean formation. And yet, if Atlantis existed, then it was large island, not a continent. Today there is strong tectonic activity on the ocean floor. For example, it is assumed that the rupture of the transatlantic cable in 1898 occurred precisely as a result of underwater earthquakes. During its repair, rocks were removed, the formation of which, according to some scientists, is possible only when cooling on the surface of the earth. In this case, these rocks were once above the surface of the sea.

The attention of atlantologists was also attracted by the results obtained by measuring ocean levels using artificial Earth satellites. The first radar altimeter was installed on board the American space laboratory Skylab. During the flight, more than one hundred and fifty series of measurements were carried out from an orbit of 440 km. The results were unexpected. It turned out that in the area of ​​the Blake Plateau there is a decrease in sea level by almost 4 m, and over the Puerto Rican Trench the sea level drops to 15 m. The width of the denivelation in the Puerto Rico region is about 100 km. The most interesting thing, however, is that these measurements of the ocean surface topography are closely related to measurements of the bottom topography.

The surface of the ocean, although we are accustomed to considering it horizontal, has its own topography. For example, the difference between sea levels on both sides of the Gulf Stream is about 1 m per 100 km and persists along most of the North American coast. A direct consequence of this tilt are the speeds at which the flow moves... A simple arithmetic calculation shows that a denivelation of 15 m per 100 km will lead to the formation of currents that will be 15 times faster than the Gulf Stream! With a Gulf Stream speed of 1 m/s, this would mean that in the Puerto Rican anomaly the current speed would be 15 m/s! But only the wind blows at such a speed in the atmosphere; in the ocean it is ten times less.

The sea surface reaches its lowest point in the Puerto Rican Trench.

Projection of the Skylab trajectory on June 4, 1973 (a); sea ​​level measured using the satellite's altimeter (6); relief of the seabed under the satellite trajectory (c).

Soon after this discovery, some of the interpreters of the riddles of the Bermuda Triangle were inclined to explain the disappearance of ships by falling into “holes” in which the water rotates at a terrible speed and “sucks” them into the depths of the sea. Such an interpretation is completely untenable, since all these effects may not be associated with sea currents. According to many scientists, in areas with a sharp increase in ocean depth, significant amounts of compacted earth masses lie. As a result, gravity in them is stronger, the water is compressed more, and therefore the sea level is lower. Calculations show that in the Puerto Rico area the sea surface should not be horizontal at all. If it were horizontal, then in this case one would expect the emergence of giant whirlpools.

But let's still listen to the assumption of gravitational anomalies, say some modern researchers of the Bermuda Triangle. Then the conclusion inevitably arises that the Bermuda Triangle and Atlantis are two sides of the same problem. An ancient civilization, for reasons unknown to us, disappeared under water, and its “high-energy” sources led to this compaction, or they still function to this day and are the cause of gravitational and electromagnetic phenomena in the area.

However, ocean surface anomalies are not an isolated phenomenon, characteristic only of the Puerto Rican Basin. Altimetry measurements show that east of Brazil, in southern parts Atlantic Ocean, similar anomalies are also noted that are associated with underwater peaks existing in these areas. Moreover, a close connection between underwater peaks and the position of the ocean level has also been discovered over the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, the Cape Verde Islands and in a number of other places in the World Ocean.

At the end of July 1979, in the Soviet weekly “Abroad,” I came across a headline: “A new expedition in the Bermuda Triangle area is looking for traces of ancient civilization" The message was reprinted from the Brussels Pöpl. This information, among other things, said: “A joint Franco-Italian-American scientific expedition went to the area of ​​the notorious Bermuda Triangle. The purpose of a new journey to this part of the World Ocean, which rumor has called the “Enchanted Sea,” is an attempt to discover the remains of an ancient civilization that existed before the civilization of the Mayans and Ancient Egypt.”

It was also said that some of the most popular researchers of the mysteries of the Bermuda Triangle took part in the expedition: Americans Manson Valentine - biologist, paleontologist and archaeologist from Miami, Charles Berlitz - one of the largest propagandists of sensations about the Bermuda Triangle and unidentified flying objects, French archaeologist Jacques Mayol and others.

In his book “Without a Trace,” C. Berlitz included an image of a pyramid allegedly discovered at the bottom of the ocean.

Jacques Mayol believes that this area of ​​the Atlantic Ocean was once dry land that sank as a result of melting glaciers. Flying by plane over the Bahama Bank, Maillol saw “artificial changes in the topography” of the bottom, similar to those observed in Peru. Therefore, the main focus of the expedition will be on searching artificial structures at the bottom of the ocean.

Recently, many reports have appeared about the walls of ancient buildings discovered on the ocean floor, former roads covered with huge stone blocks, and various other structures - “the work of human hands.” Their origin and essence are still unclear, so most archaeologists have so far refrained from making any conclusions.

At the beginning of 1977, the echo sounders of a fishing vessel registered on the ocean floor, somewhat away from Bermuda, an irregularity resembling a pyramid. This was the reason for Charles Berlitz to organize a special expedition. In his best-selling book Without a Trace, he describes this pyramid as being about 400 m below the surface of the ocean, claiming that the height of the pyramid is almost 150 m, the base is about 200 m, and the slope is the same as the Cheops pyramid. One of its sides is longer than the others, but Berlitz believes that this is a consequence of uneven deposition of sedimentary material. If underwater research shows that the pyramid was built from stone blocks, this will dispel doubts about its geometric correctness. And from here, according to the author, a bridge will be built connecting Ancient Egypt with the lands of Maya...

But for now, this is all just another guess...

Pangea (gr.) - the whole Earth, Pantalas - the whole ocean.

Altimeter is a device for measuring height.

 

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