The mysterious history of Atlantis, which few people know (9 photos). Atlantis: legend, history and interesting facts Atlantis city under water legend

Researchers who are confident in the authenticity of information from Plato’s dialogues believe that the destruction of the island occurred in the period from 9593 to 9583 BC. This date is indicated by some data in the dialogues Timaeus and Critias. Critias, a statesman who lived in the second half of the 5th century BC, told Plato the story he read in the notes of his grandfather, Solon, which he kept from the words of an Egyptian priest in 593-583 BC. According to Critias, Atlantis perished exactly 9,000 years before these records, so it turns out that about 11,560 years have passed since the destruction of the island. The author located Atlantis directly behind the Pillars of Hercules or Hercules, i.e. in the Atlantic behind the rocks framing the entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar. And although some place Atlantis in the Black Sea, in the Andes and even in the Caribbean Sea, this is the most exact coordinates and dates available to historians.

The death of the legendary state

According to Plato, Atlantis belonged to the ruler of the seas, Poseidon, who gave it to his sons from a mortal woman to manage. The state grew and prospered, it was incredibly rich, had big influence to neighboring states and conducted brisk trade with them. But over time, the inhabitants “corrupted” and the ancient gods decided to punish them. Plato's description of the death of Atlantis comes down to two main factors - and the subsequent tsunami. First, the earth began to shake, cracks appeared in the soil, many people died in a few hours, and then a flood began, plunging the island to the bottom.

Skeptics claim that Solon confused the Egyptian hieroglyphs for hundreds and thousands and wrote down 9000 years instead of 900.

Versions of the death of Atlantis

One of the main versions of the death of Atlantis is considered to be the eruption of an underwater volcano, which gave rise to an earthquake and tsunami. No less popular is the version about the death of the continent as a result of the shift of tectonic plates. By the way, in this version Atlantis is called the antipode of Great Britain, i.e. Atlantis sank on one side of the scale, and England on the other. The reason for this shift, according to various researchers, could be the fall of a large asteroid in the area Bermuda Triangle or off the coast of Japan, the Earth’s capture of its current satellite, the Moon, and the change of geographic poles as a result of periodic “castling.” This is indicated by the words from ancient texts that “The Earth was once again renewed” or “reborn,” i.e. ancient peoples had the knowledge that such processes are natural and periodic.

In different parts of the world, the picture of the cataclysm could differ significantly. In some places, pieces of a falling cosmic body and the consequences of destruction could be visible, in others - only roar and giant waves.

In the myths and traditions of different peoples, there are updated versions of the death of civilizations that existed before the first Egyptian pharaohs. So, for example, the book “Chilam-Balam” describes the fall of some celestial body, the ensuing earthquake and flood: “it rained fire”, “a great serpent fell from the sky”, “and its bones and skin fell to the ground”, “ and then terrible waves rushed in.” Other legends say that “the sky fell” and a short time Several times day turned to night.

Modern researchers of the Atlantis problem argue that such a catastrophe could happen again. The melting of glaciers in recent decades has become increasingly intense, this can lead to desalination of the waters of the world's oceans, the disappearance of the warm Gulf Stream current and a rise in water levels by several tens of meters. As a result, most of the coastal areas will be flooded, and many lands will repeat the fate of the legendary Atlantis.

Almost all the inhabitants of the planet know that somewhere in the vastness of the Atlantic Ocean, more than ten thousand years ago, there supposedly existed an island-continent on which representatives of the most progressive civilization at that time lived. They also know that this civilization supposedly died instantly when their island was “swallowed” by the ocean as a result of some terrible natural disaster.

First written mentions

However, not everyone knows that the “myth” of Atlantis appeared relatively “recently” - it was first mentioned in the works of the famous philosopher and political figure Ancient Greece Plato (427-347 BC). In his notes in the Eighth Tetralogy of the Republic, Timaeus and Critias were written around 470-460 BC. - for the first time in the history of mankind, it was Plato who captured the story on paper, which he allegedly gleaned from the stories of his distant relative, the famous Athenian lyricist, politician and traveler Solon (640-559 BC), about mysterious island, named after Poseidon's eldest son Atlas.

Solon's story of Atlantis

According to Plato, Solon was told about Atlantis by the Egyptian priest of the temple of Neith (Egyptian goddess of the sky, war and hunting; patroness of queens) in the city of Sais (Egypt). The priest told the Athenian an ancient legend. About 9,000 years ago, beyond the Pillars of Hercules (as the Strait of Gibraltar was called in those days), there was a large island in the ocean that occupied an area comparable to the size of Asia. On this island there was a civilization ruled by kings who originated from the sons of the powerful god Poseidon. When the Atlantean empire, to which all coastal and island states and peoples from Egypt in the south to the peoples inhabiting the Apennine Peninsula in the north, paid tribute, decided to conquer the lands of the Mediterranean, it faced the well-organized army of Ancient Greece. The Athenian army dealt a crushing blow to the Atlantean troops. And soon after this, a powerful earthquake occurred in the Atlantic Ocean and the island of Atlantis sank “within 24 hours.” Thus ended the era of the Atlanteans on Earth.

Who else among the ancients wrote about Atlantis?

Historians have also managed to find ancient written “confirmation” of the existence of Atlantis:

in the 4th century BC The ancient Greek philosophers Theophrastus, Cranton and Proclus mention it in their works;
in the 2nd century BC Atlantis is mentioned in the works of the Roman historian and writer Aelian Claudius.

That's all! There are no further references to Atlantis in the ancient works found by historians.

A little analysis

It is very strange, but all the records found only comment on Plato’s work and do not refer to any other sources. Why strange? Because such a legend as the legend of a disappeared powerful civilization and a sunken continent could not fail to be imprinted in the tales of some island and coastal peoples of Europe and Africa. But historians have not found anything like this.

In addition, Plato, if he used Solon's "stories" should have referred to some kind of written document (diaries and something else) written by a person who died more than 80 years before his birth. Obviously, Solon himself could not personally tell Plato anything. But why then, except for Plato, no one else refers to any of Solon’s writings about Atlantis, and while on other issues he was quoted or argued relatively much. It turns out that the myth of Atlantis was “generated” by Plato - he is the primary source of the legend. Was the legend of Atlantis and the Atlanteans really invented by an ancient Greek philosopher?

What natural disaster did Plato pass off as the destruction of Atlantis?

As you know, the imagination of ancient authors, when describing any serious tragedy, did not work as well as it does now - they usually did not invent anything, but described what they saw or what they heard about from “reliable” sources that deserved their trust . They could come up with plots of relationships between people, people and Gods - but natural disasters do not. Thus, Plato could describe in his work what he knew quite well. Around 373 BC. A strong earthquake occurred in the area of the Greek coast, which was accompanied by a destructive tsunami. The richest island of Gelika in the Gulf of Corinth at that time was completely wiped off the face of the earth. By the way, on this island there was a forest of gigantic trees, which the Greeks called the forest of Poseidon. Do you understand the relationship between Plato’s notes about the destruction of Atlantis and this earthquake and tsunami?

Why did Plato “invent” the story of Atlantis?

Historians believe that the answer to this question should be sought in the political plane. The fact is that the famous political figure Plato needed to demonstrate that the correct organization of public administration of society (Sparta) makes it possible to defeat any rich and powerful state (Atlantis). This is a simple but absolutely logical explanation.

Modern interest in Atlantis

Then humanity will “forget” about Atlantis for a long time and “remember” the island-mainland that sank hundreds of centuries ago only in the nineteenth century - we owe the “revival” of modern interest in Atlantis to the American historian, congressman and publicist Ignatius Donnelly, who published the book “Atlantis” in 1882 : The world after the flood." It was with her that the debate between historians and occultists began about the reality of the existence of Atlantis and its purpose.

Search for Atlantis

Another argument in favor of the version that the story is about a sunken island-mainland, on which there were several cities with magnificent stone buildings, is that despite even the most modern methods research depths of the sea, so far no signs of the existence of such an island have been discovered. It is clear that the expanses of the ocean are vast, but they were not looking for a small town, but huge island.

Bottom line

Despite the obvious that the story of Atlantis was most likely invented by Plato, no one forbids believing that in the distant past there was an island similar to Atlantis - there is so much unknown in the past of the Earth and humanity that nothing can be ruled out.

The “fatal” mistake of Plato (Critias or Solon), which led to confusion with the location of Atlantis, is revealed.

Atlantis has not disappeared, it exists and lies in the depths of the sea. Much has been said about Atlantis, thousands of research materials have been written. Historians, archaeologists, and searchers have proposed fifty versions of possible locations around the world (in Scandinavia, the Baltic Sea, Greenland, North and South America, in Africa, the Black, Aegean, Caspian Sea, the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, and so on), but the exact location is not named. Why so much confusion?

Starting to understand, you discover one pattern: all assumptions are initially tied to some similarity, an ancient find, a single description, to which the materials were subsequently “adjusted.” As a result, nothing worked. There is a similarity, but Atlantis cannot be found.

We'll go a different way

Let's look for Atlantis in a different way, which in this case (judging by the known proposals) has not been used by anyone before. First, let's take the method of exclusion, where Atlantis could not exist. As we narrow the circle, we will use all the “reference points” that were proposed by the ancient Greek scientist, sage (428-347 BC) Plato (Aristocles) in his works – “Timaeus” and “Critius”. These documents provide the only and fairly detailed description of Atlantis, its inhabitants and historical events related to the life of the legendary island.

“Aristotle taught me to satisfy my mind only with what reasoning convinces me of, and not just with the authority of teachers. Such is the power of truth: you try to refute it, but your very attacks elevate it and give it greater value,” said the Italian philosopher, physicist, and mathematician Galileo Galilei in the 16th century.

Below is a map of the world as it was represented in Greece during the times of Plato and Herodotus (IV - V centuries BC).

Mediterranean Sea

So, let's start cutting off the ends. Atlantis could not be located in any far corner of the world and it was not even in the Atlantic Ocean. You will ask why? Because the war (according to the history of the narrative) between Athens and Atlantis could not take place anywhere except in the Mediterranean Sea on this “patch of civilization” due to the limited development of mankind. The world is big, but the developed world is small. Near neighbors fight more often and constantly among themselves than distant neighbors. Athens simply would not have been able to reach the borders of Atlantis with its army and navy if it was located somewhere far away. Water and vast distances were an insurmountable obstacle.

“This barrier was insurmountable for people, because ships and navigation did not yet exist,” says Plato in his work Critias.

In ancient Greek mythology, which arose many thousands of years after the death of Atlantis, the only (!) hero Hercules (according to Homer in the 12th century BC) accomplished a feat, according to legend, traveling to the farthest western point of the world - to the edge of the Mediterranean Sea.

“When the Atlas Mountains appeared on Hercules’ way, he did not climb them, but cut his way through, thus creating the Strait of Gibraltar and connecting the Mediterranean Sea with the Atlantic. This point served as the border for sailors in ancient times, therefore, in a figurative sense, the “Pillars of Hercules” are the end of the world, the limit of the world. And the expression “to reach the pillars of Hercules” means “to reach the limit.”

See the picture The Strait of Gibraltar today is the place where the historical hero Hercules reached.

In the foreground is the Rock of Gibraltar on the edge of continental Europe, and in the background on the coast of Africa is Mount Jebel Musa in Morocco.

What western limit of the earth Hercules reached (“the edge of the world”) was unattainable for other mortals. Thus, Atlantis was closer to the center ancient civilization– she was in the Mediterranean Sea. But where exactly?

The Pillars of Hercules (according to Plato’s narrative, behind which lay the island of Atlantis) in the Mediterranean Sea at that time there were seven pairs (Gibraltar, Dardanelles, Bosporus, Kerch Strait, Mouth of the Nile, etc.). The pillars were located at the entrances to the straits, and all had the same names - Hercules (later the Latin name - Hercules). The pillars served as landmarks and beacons for ancient sailors.

“First of all, let us briefly recall that, according to legend, nine thousand years ago there was a war between those peoples who lived on the other side of the Pillars of Hercules, and all those who lived on this side: we have to tell about this war... How we have already mentioned, this was once an island larger in size than Libya and Asia (not their entire geographical territory, but rather the areas inhabited in ancient times), but now it has collapsed due to earthquakes and turned into impassable silt, blocking the path for sailors who would try to sail from us into the open sea, and making sailing unthinkable.” (Plato, Critias).

This information is about Atlantis, which dates back to the 6th century BC. came from the Egyptian priest Timaeus from the city of Sais, located on the coast of Africa, in the western Nile Delta. The current name of this village is Sa el-Hagar (see below picture of the Nile River delta).

When Timaeus said that the barrier from the remains of the sunken Atlantis blocked the path “from us to the open sea,” then speaking about us (about himself and about Egypt), this clearly testified to the location of Atlantis. That is, it lies in the direction of travel from the Egyptian mouth of the Nile to the wide waters of the Mediterranean Sea.

In ancient times, the entrance to the main navigable (western) mouth of the Nile, nicknamed the mouth of Hercules, that is, Hercules, where the city of Irakleum was located and there was a temple in honor of Hercules, was also called the pillars of Hercules. Over time, the silt and floating material from the sunken Atlantis were carried across the sea, and the island itself sank even deeper into the abyss.

“Since many great floods occurred in nine thousand years (and that is how many years passed from those times before Plato), the earth did not accumulate in the form of any significant shallows, as in other places, but was washed away by the waves and then disappeared into the abyss.” (Plato, Critias).

Crete

Next, we exclude other, impossible locations. Atlantis could not have been located in the Mediterranean Sea north of the island of Crete. Today in that area there are countless small islands scattered throughout the waters, which does not correspond to the story of the flooding (!), and by this very fact excludes this entire territory. But that's not even the main thing. There would not be enough area to accommodate Atlantis (according to the description of its size) in the sea north of Crete.

Expedition famous researcher The sea depths of the French oceanographer in the area north of Crete on the periphery of the islands of Thira (Strongele), Fera, discovered the remains of an ancient sunken city, but from the above it follows that it most likely belongs to another civilization than Atlantis.

In the archipelago of the islands of the Aegean Sea, earthquakes and disasters associated with volcanic activity, which led to local subsidence of the earth and, according to new evidence, they are occurring in our time. For example, a recently sunken medieval fortress in the Aegean Sea near the city of Marmaris in a bay on the coast of Turkey.

Between Cyprus, Crete and Africa

Narrowing the search, we come to the conclusion that only one thing remains - Atlantis could only be in one place opposite the mouth of the Nile - between the islands of Crete, Cyprus and north coast Africa. She is there today at a depth and lies, having fallen into a deep basin of the sea.

The collapse of an almost oval water area with influxes from the shores, horizontal wrinkling (from sliding) of sedimentary rocks towards the center of the “funnel” is clearly visible from an online review of the seabed from space. The bottom in this place resembles a pit, sprinkled with soft sedimentary rock on top; there is no hard “crust of the continental mantle” underneath it. Only visible on the body of the Earth is a hollow inward that is not overgrown with the firmament.

The Egyptian priest Timaeus, in his story about the location of the silt from the flooded Atlantis, gives a link to the Pillars of Hercules (it was logical for him to say - those closest to him), located at the mouth of the Western Nile.

In another case (later, already in Greece), when Plato describes the power of Atlantis, we are already talking about other pillars, as mentioned above, in the Mediterranean there were then seven of them. When Plato presented the text of the work (based on the retelling of Solon and Critias), the Egyptian priest Timaeus (the primary source of the narrative) had been dead for 200 years by that time, and there was no one to clarify the information about which pillars the conversation was going on. Therefore, subsequent confusion arose with the location of Atlantis.

“After all, according to the evidence of our records, your state (Athens) put a limit on the audacity of countless military forces that set off to conquer all of Europe and Asia, and kept their path from Atlantic sea. […] On this island, called Atlantis, a kingdom of amazing size and power arose, whose power extended over the entire island, many other islands and part of the mainland, and moreover, on this side of the strait they took possession of Libya (northern Africa ) up to Egypt and Europe up to Tirrenia (west coast of Italy). (Plato, Timaeus).

The sea that washed the island of Atlantis (between Crete, Cyprus and Egypt) was called in ancient times the Atlantic; it was located in the Mediterranean Sea, as well as the modern seas: the Aegean, Tyrrhenian, Adriatic, Ionian.

Subsequently, due to an error in linking Atlantis not to the Nile, but to the Gibraltar pillars, the name “Atlantic” sea automatically spread to the ocean beyond the strait. The once inland Atlantic Sea, due to the inaccuracy of interpretation of Timaeus’ story and description (by Plato, Critias or Solon), became the Atlantic Ocean. As the Russian proverb says: “We got lost in three pines” (more precisely, in seven pairs of pillars). When Atlantis sank into the abyss of the sea, the Atlantic Sea disappeared with it.

Timaeus, narrating the history of Atlantis, noted that the victory of Athens brought freedom from slavery to all other peoples (including the Egyptians) who had not yet been enslaved by the Atlanteans - “on this side of the Pillars of Hercules,” speaking about themselves - about Egypt.

“It was then, Solon, that your state showed the whole world a brilliant proof of its valor and strength: surpassing everyone in its strength of spirit and experience in military affairs, it first stood at the head of the Hellenes, but due to the betrayal of its allies it found itself left to its own devices, and met alone with extreme dangers and yet defeated the conquerors and erected the trophies of victory. It saved those who were not yet enslaved from the threat of slavery; but all the rest, no matter how many of us lived on this side of the Pillars of Hercules, it generously made free. But later, when the time came for unprecedented earthquakes and floods, in one terrible day all your military strength was swallowed up by the opening of the earth; likewise, Atlantis disappeared, plunging into the abyss. After this, the sea in those places became, to this day, unnavigable and inaccessible due to shallowing caused by the huge amount of silt that the settled island left behind.” (Plato, Timaeus).

Description of the island

The location of Atlantis can be further clarified from the description of the island itself.

“Poseidon, having received the island of Atlantis as his inheritance..., approximately in this place: from the sea to the middle of the island a plain stretched, according to legend, more beautiful than all other plains and very fertile.” (Plato, Timaeus).

“This entire region lay very high and fell steeply to the sea, but the entire plain surrounding the city (capital) and itself surrounded by mountains that stretched all the way to the sea, was a smooth surface, three thousand stadia in length (580 km), and in the direction from the sea to the middle - two thousand (390 km.). This entire part of the island was facing the south wind, and was closed from the north by mountains. These mountains are praised by legend because they were superior in number, size and beauty to all those present today. The plain... was an oblong quadrangle, mostly rectilinear.” (Plato, Critias).

So, following the description, a rectangular plain measuring 580 by 390 kilometers stretched approximately to the middle of the island of Atlantis, open to the south and closed from the north by large and high mountains. Fitting these dimensions into a geographical map north of the mouth of the Nile, we obtain that southern part Atlantis could very well be adjacent to Africa (near the Libyan cities of Tobruk, Derna and Egyptian cities on the coast west of Alexandria), and its northern mountainous part could be (but not a fact) the islands of Crete (in the west) and Cyprus (in the east).

The story about the fauna of the island speaks in favor of the fact that Atlantis was connected to Africa in earlier times (than its mention in ancient Egyptian papyri), namely tens of thousands of years ago.

“There were even a great many elephants on the island, for there was enough food not only for all other living creatures inhabiting swamps, lakes and rivers, mountains or plains, but also for this beast, the largest and most voracious of all animals.” (Plato, Critias).

It should also be taken into account that with the end of the Ice Age and the beginning of the melting of the northern glaciers, the level of the world's oceans rose by 100-150 meters and probably the part of the land that once connected Atlantis and the mainland was gradually flooded. Elephants and the inhabitants of the island of Atlantis (named after their king Atlas), who came here earlier from the depths of Africa, remained on big island surrounded by the sea.

The Atlanteans were ordinary modern people, and not four-meter giants, otherwise the Hellenes from Athens would not have been able to defeat them. The island, isolated position of the inhabitants prompted civilization to develop separately and actively, ahead of the external warring barbarians (fortunately, everything necessary was on the island).

On Atlantis (in its capital, which looks like a hill extinct volcano) hot springs flowed from underground mineral water. This indicates high seismic activity in the territory located on the “thin” mantle of the earth’s crust... “a spring of cold and a spring of hot water, which provided water in abundance, and, moreover, amazing both in taste and in healing power.” (Plato, Critias).

Diving underwater

I will not speculate now what caused the internal “hiccups” of the Earth, as a result of which Atlantis sank into the basin of the Mediterranean Sea within a day, and then even deeper. But we must pay attention that exactly in that place along the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea there is a fault boundary between the African and European continental tectonic plates.

The depth of the sea there is very large - about 3000-4000 meters. It is possible that a powerful impact of a giant meteorite in North America in Mexico, which, according to the US National Academy of Sciences, occurred 13 thousand years ago (around the same time) and caused an inertial wave and plate movement in the Mediterranean.

Just as continental plates, creeping over each other, breaking the edges, rear up mountains - the same process, but in reverse side when diverging, it forms subsidence and deep depressions. The African plate moved slightly away from the European plate, and this was quite enough to lower Atlantis into the abyss of the sea.

The fact that Africa has previously moved away from Europe and Asia in the history of the Earth is clearly evidenced by the huge intercontinental rift running through the Mediterranean Sea. The fault is clearly visible on geographical map along the lines (seas) of rift in the earth's crust, which go in the directions of the Dead Sea, Gulf of Aqaba, Red Sea, Aden, Persian and Oman gulfs.

See the picture below of how the continent of Africa moves away from Asia, forming the above-mentioned seas and bays at the break points.

Crete - Atlantis

It is possible that the present island of Crete was previously that very northern, high mountainous part of Atlantis, which did not fall into the abyss of the sea, but, having broken away, remained on the “European continental cornice”. On the other hand, if you look at Crete on a geographical map, it does not stand on the very cliff of the mantle of the European continent, but about 100 kilometers from the basin of the Mediterranean (Atlantic) Sea. This means that the catastrophic rift of Atlantis according to the current coastline there was no island of Crete.

But here we must take into account the fact that since those times the sea level has risen by 100-150 meters (or more) due to the melting of glaciers. It is possible that Crete and Cyprus, as independent units, were part of the archipelago of the island Atlantis.

Historians and archaeologists write: “Excavations on Crete show that even four to five millennia after the supposed destruction of Atlantis, the inhabitants of this Mediterranean island sought to settle further from the coast. (Memory of ancestors?). An unknown fear drove them to the mountains. The first centers of agriculture and culture are also located at some distance from the sea."

The former proximity of Atlantis to Africa and the mouth of the Nile is indirectly evidenced by the extensive Qattara depression in North Africa in the Libyan desert 50 km from the Mediterranean coast, west of the Egyptian city of Alexandria. The Qattara Depression is minus 133 meters deep below sea level.

See the picture above - the huge Qattara Depression near the Mediterranean coast of Egypt.

There is also another lowland on the tectonic fault line - this is the Dead Sea (minus 395 meters) in Israel. They testify to a once-common territorial catastrophe associated with the subsidence of large areas of land from the divergence of the European and African continental plates in different directions.

What does it mean to establish the exact location of Atlantis?

The Mediterranean basin where Atlantis once stood is too deep. At first, the silt that rose and then settled to the bottom and subsequent sedimentary deposits somewhat covered Atlantis. The golden capital with its countless treasures in the temple of Poseidon turned out to be at great depth.

The search for the capital of Atlantis in the southern part of the Mediterranean Sea in the “triangle” between the islands of Crete, Cyprus, and the mouth of the Nile will bring useful results to the “treasury” of the world history of mankind, but this requires research by deep-sea vehicles.

To find the capital, the attentive reader has guidelines... In Russia there are two Mir underwater stations that could survey and study the bottom.

For example, Italian oceanographers in the summer of 2015, on the shelf of the island of Pantelleria, located approximately in the middle between Sicily and Africa, at a depth of 40 meters on the seabed, discovered a giant man-made column 12 meters long, weighing 15 tons, broken in half. The column shows traces of drilling holes. Its age is estimated to be about 10 thousand years (comparable to the Atlantean era). The divers also found the remains of a pier - a ridge of stones half a meter in size, laid out in a straight line, protecting the entrance to the ancient ship harbor.
These finds indicate that the search for the capital of Atlantis is not hopeless.

Another encouraging thing is that the confusion with the “Pillars of Hercules” has been successfully resolved, and the location of Atlantis has finally been established.

Today, for the sake of historical truth, the Mediterranean basin, at the bottom of which lies the legendary island in memory of Atlantis and its inhabitants, can and should return its ancient name - the Atlantic Sea. This will be the first important world event in the search and discovery of Atlantis.

Research vessel and bathyscaphe "Triton"

A public expedition is being organized to search for Atlantis

There are many wealthy people and organizations in the world who are thinking about how they can invest their capital profitably and profitably. There is for them good offer. A public expedition is being organized to discover the remains of the Atlantean civilization in the Atlantic (Mediterranean) Sea (not to be confused with the Atlantic Ocean). For humanity, for modern science, for history, the discovery of the ancient Atlantean civilization is an important subject of research.

The 21st Century Columbus position is available. An investor who finds an opportunity to finance an expedition will have the opportunity to immortalize his name in history. Just as Columbus, having gone at his own risk across the ocean to an unknown world, found America, similarly the name of the investor will go down in the history of Atlantis. If artifacts of Atlantis are discovered, any respected museum in the world will gladly accept them, and the investor can profitably compensate for the financial costs of the expedition. But the main thing is that all material costs are worth nothing compared to the fact that Atlantis and its subsequent study will remain in the treasury of human achievements for all subsequent centuries.

In Russia, the Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences has the appropriate equipment for the expedition (ship, MIR bathyscaphes), and interested researchers and specialists could carry out search work. But according to the head of the laboratory of underwater vehicles of this institute, Anatoly Sagalevich, the MIR bathyscaphes have not been in demand since 2011, their repairs require 10-12 million dollars, and it is necessary to change the attachments. Russia has lost its primacy in this area. Today, the leaders in underwater exploration are the Americans. Businessman, explorer of the world's deep oceans Victor Vescovo from Texas, USA, sank to the bottom on the Triton bathyscaphe in 2019 Mariana Trench to a depth of 10928 meters in Pacific Ocean. He intends to explore other most deep points planets.

Discoveries always bring dividends in everything else. Only “failure is an orphan, but victory has many parents.” Everyone is invited to take part in a project on the scale of the entire civilization and invest their capital profitably and profitably. I will give more precise landmarks and coordinates for the search for the capital of Atlantis to the one who takes up this matter.

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

Ancient authors about the sunken island of Atlantis

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

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

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

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

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

To defeat the Atlanteans, the Athenians created a military alliance with the nations Balkan Peninsula. But on the day of the battle, the allies refused to fight, and the Athenians were left alone with the enemy. Fearless, courageous Greeks defeated the aggressor and freed the peoples previously enslaved by him.

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

This is what Plato writes about Atlantis in his two works. At first glance, this is just a beautiful legend, an interesting fairy tale. There is neither direct evidence of the existence of Atlantis in ancient times, nor any references to authoritative sources.

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

Plato’s student Aristotle, who listened to the speeches of Platonist philosophers for about 20 years, eventually categorically rejected the existence of Atlantis, declaring that the dialogues “Timaeus” and “Critius” were simply fiction, the ravings of an old man.

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

So why was Aristotle so sure that Atlantis was a fiction, because he had no irrefutable evidence of this? Why was he so harsh in his judgments? Some sources claim that the philosopher simply did not like his mentor, so he decided in this way to spoil Plato’s authority in the eyes of his fans and admirers.

Mentions of the Atlanteans in the works of other ancient authors

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

Proclus in his writings talks about one follower of the ancient thinker: a resident of Athens, Krantor.

Allegedly, he specially went to 47 years after the death of the philosopher to find evidence in favor of the existence of the island state; Having returned from his trip, Krantor said that in one of the ancient temples he saw columns with inscriptions retelling the historical events described by Plato.

Search for Atlantis

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

Plato wrote that a huge island was once located in the ocean beyond the Pillars of Hercules (i.e., beyond Gibraltar). But his searches in the area of the Canary, Balearic, Azores and British Islands led to nothing.

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

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

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

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

Did the Russians find Atlantis?

In 1979, a Soviet expedition, while testing a diving bell, accidentally discovered in the Atlantic Ocean some objects similar to the ruins of an ancient city.

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

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

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

The opinion of modern scientists about Atlantis

Atlantis is a fiction

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

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

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

Many scientists are convinced that Plato, when writing his works, took as a basis some events that occurred during his life: for example, the defeat of the Greeks during their attempt to conquer the island of Sicily and the flooding of the town of Gelica as a result of an earthquake followed by flooding.

Other researchers believe that the basis for the philosopher’s works was the volcanic eruption on the island of Santorini with a tsunami that subsequently hit the coast of Crete and other islands of the Mediterranean Sea - this catastrophe led to the decline of the developed Minoan civilization.

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

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

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

Plato doesn't lie

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

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

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

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

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

On top of that, Plato, who belongs to a highly revered family in Ancient Greece, refers in his dialogues to his ancestor: the wisest of the “seven wise men,” the legislator Solon. And the ancient Greeks were very sensitive to their roots and tried to preserve the sacred memory of their relatives. Would Plato, given his moral qualities, have referred to Solon in his works, because if this whole story with Atlantis was just a fiction, he would have tarnished the name of the wisest representative of the family?

Afterword

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

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

Disputes about whether there once existed mysterious land or the ancient Greek thinker simply made it up, continues to this day. Various theories are born and die, guesses appear and disappear. Some of them are supported by science, while others are more like a beautiful fairy tale.

Perhaps our children or grandchildren will solve the riddle of Atlantis. But it may happen that another two thousand years will pass, and the mystery lost island it will remain unsolved, and our descendants, just like us today, will be tormented by guesses and assumptions.

ARTICLE IN VIDEO FORMAT

Atlantis! One word is enough to evoke images of mermaids, underwater cities, sunken ruins. But that's not all: the main image that this word evokes is an ancient, technologically advanced civilization that perished at the whim of unkind gods or due to its own carelessness.

Where did the idea of Atlantis come from? Was this a real place, or just an old fairy tale?

The story of Atlantis begins with ancient Greek philosophy, then finds its way into a literary movement inspired by Christopher Columbus, before its popularity soars again when a Minnesota congressman decides to try his hand at science and linguistics. Add to this considerable interest on the part of the leaders of the Third Reich and countless pseudoscientific theories. And yet, today there is great amount people who are still hunting for the lost continent.

Prepare for a deep dive into the history of the sunken city of Atlantis.

To understand the origins of Atlantis, you need to know a little about the Greek philosopher Plato. He lived in Greece in the 5th century BC, and it was on his work that Socrates built his philosophy. He is without a doubt the most famous and influential philosopher of all time.

Plato introduced the idea of a lost continent called Atlantis in his writings. Plato describes Atlantis as a large continent. According to him, Atlantis was originally a rather bizarre place that Poseidon himself loved.

The state was headed by kings who worked in alliance with each other, making the state a powerful formation. However, 9000 years before the time of Plato, the Atlanteans became too warlike, which angered the gods. And they, as Plato assures, sent the state to the bottom.

Etymology and mythology

According to the myth presented by Plato, the Greek gods at the dawn of time divided the lands among themselves, and Poseidon got Atlantis. There he fell in love with the girl Clito, whom he “protected” by taking her to a cave surrounded by ring-shaped mountains and the sea.

Presumably, this “care” protected Clito from escaping. And she, it is worth noting, had something to run from: she gave birth to Poseidon 5 pairs of twins, and they were just huge children. The eldest of them, Atlas, was appointed the rightful king of this place. The entire island nation was named after him. Plato claims that Atlantic Ocean received a name in honor of this ancient king (however, modern science has a different version and connects the name of the ocean with the Atlas Mountains).

Allegory

The story of Atlantis is an allegory, a kind of extended metaphor, whose hidden meaning reveals a deeper philosophical point. Plato uses this move quite often, and perhaps his most famous example is the "Myth of the Cave", which he uses to explain his theory of forms.

In this case, Plato's allegory is associated with the idea of an ideal state. Atlantis appears as the anti-Athena. Her ambitious war plans end in failure.

Utopian literature

Plato's works had a great influence on medieval philosophy, but scientists sometimes find it difficult to understand where the ancient thinker is serious and where he uses artistic techniques.

The discovery by Europeans of land west of Gibraltar opened up completely new world, expanded the boundaries of what was possible. Utopian literature established the existence of previously unknown worlds whose cultures and morals were presented as different from "normal" European ones. The idea of Atlantis received a new twist.

One such work, Francis Bacon's New Atlantis, revived interest in the lost continent. At the time, European settlers were trying to learn more about the origins and mysteries of the Indian peoples, and Bacon's work helped spark the idea that the Mayans were descendants of the Atlanteans.

Proposed locations

The next significant event is the 1882 book “Atlantis: The Antediluvian World” by Ignatius Donnelly.

Donnelly uses some really sophisticated linguistics combined with the racist theories of Mayanism to suggest that not only was Atlantis real, it was also the ancestral home of all humanity.

His ideas became extremely popular and people soon began searching for the real location of Atlantis. Even real-life islands – Sardinia and Crete – were included in the list of “suspects”. Plato left a too vague definition: “west of Gibraltar.” Therefore, the geography of the search was quite extensive.

In art and literature

Since Donnelly's book, Atlantis has been referenced throughout popular culture and art. At that time, science fiction was beginning to emerge as a genre. Thanks to this, we got Captain Nemo, who found a sunken continent 20,000 leagues under the sea. The plot was addressed in their works by Edgar Burroughs (“The Lost Continent”), Alexey Tolstoy (“Aelita”), Arthur Conan Doyle (“Marakot’s Abyss”), Kir Bulychev (“The End of Atlantis”), Andrea Norton (“Operation Search in time"") and many others.

Dozens of films have depicted life on the mysterious continent, including Disney's 2001 Atlantis: The Lost Empire.

The most chilling example is the opera "Emperor of Atlantis", which alludes to Hitler, and was written by a prisoner in a concentration camp.

Occultism

One of the main works of Theosophy is the “Secret Doctrine” of H. P. Blavatsky, which, according to Helena herself, was dictated to her in Atlantis.

Blavatsky's Atlantis differs from Plato's. To her, the Atlanteans were heroic figures who existed a million years ago and were destroyed for their careless use of magic.

Nazis

The 1985 book The Occult Roots of Nazism describes how Nazi philosophy had connections to Ariosophy, a white nationalist occult philosophy. According to The Independent, SS chief Heinrich Himmler sought the Holy Grail to prove Christ's Aryan origins.

The seminal works of Nazi philosophy include Alfred Rosenberg's Myth of the Twentieth Century, based on a racial theory that posits that modern white Europeans are descended from Hyperboreans who emerged from Atlantis.

Reliable data on research into the Third Reich is extremely scarce. But it is reliably known that they were carried out.

Other Lost and Sunken Lands

Atlantis is called the most famous lost continent. But she is not the only one of her kind. In fact, there are some pretty shocking facts about other landmass. To paraphrase Oscar Wilde, we can say that the loss of one continent is a misfortune; and the loss of a dozen is just a statistic.

One of the most famous continents that was lost is Lemuria. This version was first put forward by British zoologist Philip Lutley Sclater to explain why the ranges of lemur-like animals are separated by oceans. This idea never received any real scientific treatment, but thanks to the mention of Blavatsky, it became firmly entrenched in popular culture.

The Lost Continent of Mu was an attempt to explain the similarities between distant cultures (such as the pyramids in Egypt and Central America) before aliens were brought into the story.

An ancient legend said that off the coast of Ireland there was an island called Hy-Brasil, which mysteriously appeared once every seven years before one day sank into the abyss forever. Note that, despite the similarity in names, this is not at all connected with real Brazil.

Bad news

Let's remember the fact that there is no historical evidence of the existence of the mysterious continent. And thousands of researchers returned from expeditions with nothing. In truth, scientists more facts, refuting the myth rather than proving it. Modern science has absolutely no reliable facts that could reassure those who are fascinated by Atlantis.

But this is not enough. Man continues to believe that one day the secret of the depths will be revealed, and the ancient continent will appear in all its glory.

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