Literature about Atlantis. Atlantis - the lost world, the bone of contention of the scientific community Atlantis antediluvian world

The catastrophe came to the ancient world of Atlantis in the XXX century BC. era, - a huge continent called Atlantis plunged into the waters of the ocean. Not all inhabitants died in the abyss of waters; part of the population found refuge in Central America, Crete and Egypt. Fenced off from the rest of the world, refugees have lived on the Mediterranean islands for over 1,300 years.

Later, power passed to King Minos, who created a fleet and with its help took possession of part of the Hellenic Sea and the Cyclades. After expelling the Karyans and placing his sons as rulers, Minos fought against sea robbery in order to get as much income as possible.

The islands of that time were not deserted, they were already inhabited by the Proto-Slavic peoples. The Pre-Slavs were warriors and skillful sailors. They were engaged in collecting tribute from merchants who walked in the Mediterranean.

In the XVII-XV centuries BC. the Cretans lived on many islands, but they did not even try to penetrate into Asia Minor, the ancestral lands of the Pre-Slavs.

Tribute was served by 14 children of both sexes, whom the Greeks had to give every four years "to be eaten by the Minotaur" - all this of course " scary tale". The Greek scientist Aristotle (384-322 BC) dispelled the legend that the hostage children worked in the palace of Knossos and lived there until old age.

Atlantis is the curse of the gods.

The kingdom of Minos flourished and gained strength, but as if an evil fate pursued the Atlanteans in their newfound homeland. In 1450 BC. era, a powerful earthquake destroys palaces, cities and towns. The earth did not just shake, it seemed that the giants were tearing pieces of the walls from the palaces and scattering them around the cities.

Indeed, what happened looks like the revenge of the gods, for the fact that the Atlanteans survived in spite of everything, and the angry deities set out to finally destroy the Atlanteans.

As a result, earthquakes began. The earth and even stones were on fire. A myriad of gas and ash were thrown into the atmosphere. Black clouds of ash hid the Sun for several months. A terrible disaster changed the climate of the islands forever.

It was like a real "end of the world", and it really was the end of the ancient world and the civilization of the Atlanteans. However, people survived this time too, although the Kritomino civilization was no longer able to recover from the blow of the apocalypse that befell it. Hordes of Indo-European peoples - the Achaeans - flooded from Greece to the island.

Those who came rebuilt the palaces in their own way, in their opinion - it should be impregnable fortresses... Instead of the Cretan baths and pools, granaries, workshops for the manufacture and repair of military uniforms were built. Since the Achaeans came from the city of Mycenae, the civilization was named Cretan-Mycenaean.

The warriors of the Cretan-Mycenaean culture were harsh and did not sit out in fortresses, but made daring forays against their neighbors. The Trojan War is one such foray. Achaeans were - the grandson of Minos Agamemnon, Menelaus, Palamed, Odysseus and other kings.

The "second wave" of the Aryan invasion is associated with the northern people - the Dorians. These were fair-haired and blue-eyed warriors, dressed in skins, destroying everything in their path, and no one could resist them.

The Dorians in Greece founded several states, the most famous of which is Sparta. The Greeks are the descendants of three peoples: economic Achaeans, poets and scientists - Ionians and warriors - Dorians. These peoples gave birth to a civilization called antiquity, from where the time close to us originated.

In this environment, the people of the Atlantean civilization completely "dissolved", not enduring the test of history. But perhaps this is how the revenge of the gods happened.

The inhabitants of La Venta lived under the sign of the jaguar. When researchers of American Indian history and culture ponder the customs of the amazing people of La Venta, they often speak of a true "jaguar obsession." But where did this religious obsession come from?

I try to read the answer right there, on the altars and steles left to us by the builders of La Venta. On stele I, in a niche typical of this style, I see a woman in a short skirt. Above the niche and the woman is the face of a jaguar. And on the stone monument found in Portero Nuevo, the scene, only hinted at in La Venta, is reproduced quite definitely: a meeting of a woman with a jaguar. From the connection of the divine jaguar with a mortal woman, according to legend, a powerful tribe of heroes, the sons of heaven and earth, the semi-divine builders of La Venta, arose an amazing people, unlike all the others. They were people and at the same time jaguars - "Jaguar Indians". (Stingle M., Secrets of the Indian pyramids. Transl. From Czech. M. 1982. S. 24).

Olmecs lived later as if inhabitants amazing city Chatal-Guyuk in Asia Minor, whose culture is associated with the worship of the leopard. But who knows how many centuries of Olmec history are still hidden among the jungles of America? ..

A follower of the ancient Greek philosopher Ignatius Donnelly wrote two books: Atlantis - the world before the flood and Ragnarok - the era of fire and death. Both of these books were published in 1882-1883 and for the first time aroused scientific interest in Plato's Atlantis.

In his youth, Donnelly studied law, was fond of poetry. As a Republican congressman, he, unlike many members of the American Congress, as well as members of all kinds of councils, often visited the library, doing science in earnest. For Donnelly, the glory of "the father of modern atlantology" was strengthened.

With Donnelly's light hand, it has become a tradition in Atlantological literature to consider the lost continent as a common cultural center The Old and New Worlds, the "cauldron" of all the high civilizations of antiquity. One of the first authors of the book "Atlantis - antediluvian world" drew attention to the similarity of the architecture of the Indians and Egyptians (mainly to the pyramids built in the Nile Valley, Peru, and Mexico), to the commonality of some customs, scientific knowledge, calendars and etc. These arguments are still being cited by atlantologists. Donnelly was also the first (but far from the last!) To hypothesize that it was from Atlantis that the cult of the sun god came out and embraced almost the whole world.

In Donnelly's book, the reader can find the following:

1. In the Atlantic Ocean, opposite the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea, there was a large island that was the remnant of the Atlantic continent, known to the ancient world as Atlantis. Plato's description of this island is true and is not, as others believe, fiction.

2. Atlantis was the region where civilization first emerged.

3. Over time, it became crowded; immigrants from Atlantis also settled on the shores of the Gulf of Mexico, the Mississippi, Amazon rivers, and the Pacific coast South America, Mediterranean, western coasts of Europe and Africa, coasts of the Baltic, Black and Caspian seas.

4. It was the antediluvian world - Eden in the language of mythology. The gardens of the Hesperides, the Champs Elysees, the gardens of Alcinoe, Mount Olympus, Asgard among the Vikings are nothing more than memories of a big country, of Atlantis, where humanity once lived for centuries in peace and happiness.

5. Gods and goddesses Ancient Greece, Phenicia, India and Scandinavia were simply the kings, queens and heroes of Atlantis, and the actions attributed to them are a distorted memory of historical events. For example, the god Zeus was one of the kings of Atlantis.

6. The mythology of Egypt and Peru is close to the religion of Atlantis, based on the worship of the Sun.

7. The most ancient colony of Atlantis was probably Egypt, whose civilization was, as it were, a reflection of the civilization of the island of Atlantis.

8. The Bronze Age came to Europe from Atlantis. The Atlanteans were the first to use iron.

9. The Phoenician alphabet, the ancestor of all European alphabets, is derived from the Atlantic alphabet, which was, possibly, the basis of the Mayan alphabet in Central America.

10. Atlantis was the initial place of settlement of the Aryan Indo-European family, as well as the Semitic and some other peoples.

11. Atlantis died in a terrible catastrophe. The island and almost all of its population were flooded by the waters of the ocean.

12. Those few who miraculously survived told the peoples living in the West and East about a terrible catastrophe - let us recall the legends about the flood among the peoples of the Old and New Worlds.

13. Proof of the stated hypothesis will allow to solve many problems that occupy mankind, to confirm the correctness of ancient books, to expand the field of human history, to explain the noticeable similarity between ancient civilizations on opposite shores Atlantic Ocean... There will be an opportunity to find the "progenitors" of our civilization, our fundamental knowledge; will become known Those who lived, loved and worked long before the Aryans appeared in India or the Phoenicians settled in Syria.

14. The fact that the history of Atlantis has been mistaken for a fairy tale for thousands of years does not prove anything. There is disbelief here, born of ignorance as well as skepticism. Our distant ancestors are not always better informed about the past than we are.

For a thousand years it was believed that the destroyed cities of Herculaneum and Pompeii were a fairy tale - they were called fabulous cities... For a thousand years, the educated world did not believe Herodotus, who told about the wonders of ancient civilization on the Nile and in Chaldea.

15. There was a time when it was doubtful that Pharaoh Necho had sent an expedition around Africa. After all, the travelers reported that after part of the way the sun was in their north. It is now abundantly clear that Egyptian sailors did indeed cross the equator and discovered the cape 2,100 years before Vasco da Gama. Good Hope... (Donnelly I., Atlantis - the world before the flood. Transl. From English., Samara, 1998).

Soviet atlantologist N.F. Zhirov placed the "island of the blessed" in the same place as Plato, and behind him Donnelly, that is, opposite the Pillars of Hercules in the Strait of Gibraltar, in the middle of the Atlantic, but backed up his opinion with evidence of geology, oceanology, geotectonics and other sciences of the 20th century. Here are his words: "The data of modern science indicate that among the Atlantic Ocean there is an underwater North Atlantic Ridge, which could exist subaerially (above the surface of the water) at times close to those indicated by Plato in his legend. It is possible that some of these land areas have existed until historical time. "

N.F. Zhirov suggested looking for traces of Atlantis on the islands located near Europe or Africa - the Azores, Canary Islands, etc. Plato writes that the walls of the capital of Atlantis, Poseidonis, were built of stones of red, black and white colors. But after all, these colors are the main ones for the rocks of the Azores, it is from such stones that the ancient buildings of the islanders are built! Canary Islands give evidence of a different kind. The indigenous, now extinct population of the islands - the Guanches - is considered by many experts to be the direct descendants of the Atlanteans. Already by 1500, the Guanches were completely exterminated by the Spanish conquerors, but the drawings and descriptions that have come down to us have retained their appearance. The Guanches of Gran Canaria were tall, fair-haired and blue-eyed. Their customs showed similarities with the customs of the ancient peoples. The Guanches had a caste of priests who wore robes and hats similar to those of Babylon. They embalmed the dead, like the Egyptians, and buried them in domed tombs, like the Greeks at Mycenae. The Guanches left rock inscriptions similar to the writing of Crete, but still not deciphered. The Polish atlantologist L. Seidler quotes the words of one of the last Guanches, recorded by a Spanish chronicler: “Our fathers said that God, having settled us on this island, then forgot about us. But one day he will return with the Sun, which he ordered to be born every morning and which also gave birth to us "(L. Seidler, Atlantis. Transl. from Polish. M., 1966. S. 241). These words indicate two circumstances. First, that the Guanches considered themselves aliens in the Canaries, and forced aliens - "God forgot about us." Secondly, the white-skinned and blue-eyed islanders were sun worshipers, like the Egyptians or Peruvians ...

Violent disputes, measured discussions, assumptions, myths and versions - all of this has agitated humanity for many centuries. A mysterious land called Atlantis, haunts neither pundits, nor researchers who love to dream up. Atlantis did not pass by, lost World, and a common man in the street. It seems that today every second person has heard a lot about this mysterious island, about the fact that in ancient times there was a lost Atlantis, a civilization that had no equal in terms of technological and scientific development, for the culture of life. It was inhabited by the Atlanteans, a free people, but not devoid of human vices, which, in the end, ruined the mysterious empire. It is believed that the secrets of Atlantis rest somewhere at the bottom of the world's oceans. Let's try to figure out whether this is so or not.

Atlantes and their appearance on the pages of history.

In 428 BC, in a rich and noble family, in the city-state of Athens, a seemingly ordinary boy was born, named Plato. The child's father was Ariston. His family originates from the legendary king Codru. Mother - Periktion, great-great-granddaughter of no less great Solon. Not Atlanteans, of course, but very revered and important people, both by the standards of Athens and by historical canons.

The child grew up alive in every sense; he was sociable, cheerful and inquisitive. Surrounded by all sorts of benefits, he did not know what hard work and need was, spending most of his time on physical exercise and education. Having matured, the young man wished to give development not only to his body, but also to his mind. You and I know that the result of this decision will be the Atlanteans and many other discoveries no less important for history, philosophy and other sciences. However, the guy still had to figure out his own thoughts, ideas and designs. At the age of 20, fate gave the young Plato a chance to answer many questions tormenting him, among whom were the Atlanteans: at this time, Plato meets Socrates, the greatest philosopher of antiquity, falls under the influence of his ideas and becomes his faithful disciple and follower.

All these events, which later gave birth to the Atlanteans, take place against the backdrop of the Peloponnesian War, which shakes the ancient world, starting in 431 BC. The last battle of this long war took place already in 404, when the troops of Sparta entered Athens. Power in the city is seized by thirty tyrants; freedom of speech, democracy and the right to choose are disappearing from the lives of local residents. But only a year has passed, and the hated tyranny regime collapses. The invaders are driven out of the city in disgrace, restoring its independence. Having defended its freedom and independence, Athens, the city where they first talked about the Atlanteans, are regaining strength and influence among other Greek settlements.

Victory is given to Athens, the city where the Atlanteans were “born”, with heavy losses: many famous, noble and courageous men die. Among the dead were many friends of Plato, the "father" of the Atlanteans, a future leader, thinker and activist. The young man is hardly experiencing the loss, and promises himself to change this cruel world. To come to his senses and escape from the darkness of days alone, Plato, who opened the "Atlanteans" to the whole world, goes to long journey... He travels to Syracuse, then he visits the colorful villages and cities of the Mediterranean. At the end of his journey, our hero, who opened the Atlanteans to the world, finds himself in Egypt. Plato has a special interest in this country and its people - his great ancestor, Solon, studied here for many years.

The excellent upbringing, manners and education of young Plato, a man to whom the Atlanteans owe their fame, impress the local elite. After some time, the young man is introduced to the representatives of the highest priestly caste of Egypt. It is difficult to say exactly how this acquaintance influenced the views of the future great philosopher, to whom the Atlanteans owe their place in history, but Plato returns to Athens as a completely different person. It is quite possible that it was in Egypt that Plato learned who the Atlanteans were and how human civilization actually developed. By the way, the priests of Ancient Egypt were revered not only by the local people, but also by the entire ancient world, as custodians of the most valuable information about the distant past and the peoples who inhabited the Earth. Who knows, maybe the Egyptians really knew who the Atlanteans were, how they lived, and how their story ended.

Long decades pass, but Plato did not tell in any of his works what the great priests of the pyramids told him, whether they told about the Atlanteans or discovered some other secrets of the ancient world. Plato's teacher, Socrates, has long gone to another world, and the philosopher himself has grown old, covered with gray hair and became much wiser than in his youth. During this period, he already introduced his own philosophy and opened a corresponding school, which eventually turned into an academy. However, the Atlanteans are still not open to the scientific world. Plato's influence on the minds of young men and even elders is invaluable, he is revered as one of the greatest minds who ever lived in Athens and Greece. But the philosopher is tormented by internal conflicts. He fights the urge to tell the whole world what it is ancient atlantis, discover the true history of the human race. And now, half a century after visiting Egypt, Plato writes two most important dialogues in his life - Critias and Timaeus. A similar unique genre of philosophical treatises was introduced by Plato himself. In it, he asks questions and himself answers them. This method, in which the Atlanteans will be revealed to the world, best reveals the whole essence of doubts tormenting a person and contradictory judgments.

Atlanta is finally becoming a world famous phenomenon. It is in Critias and Timaeus that Plato talks about a mysterious land that existed about 9 thousand years ago, about the land inhabited by the Atlanteans, about the land that does not exist now. It is a huge island with mountainous terrain. The mountains encircled the perimeter that was once inhabited by the Atlantean people, their land smoothly turned into gentle foothills, and those, in turn, into the widest plain. It was here that the Atlanteans lived, it was here that they built their life, science and civilization.

Atlantis is a land of great minds and no less great wonders.

The secret city, once opened only for Egyptian priests and young Plato, was called Atlantis... The people who inhabited it descended from the very god of the seas and oceans - Poseidon. It is believed that the progenitor of Atlantis, Poseidon, allegedly once turned to Zeus for help, he asked the supreme god to give him a place on earth. The king of all gods reacted favorably to the request of the god of waters and allowed him to settle on a huge island, Atlantis, with a fertile climate, but to a greater extent with stony and infertile soil for crops.

Here Poseidon met local people, Atlanteans. First, he met a small people who inhabited the great and mountainous Atlantis, and then, in peace and tranquility, he engaged in sheep breeding. At first he suffered from loneliness, but soon one of the neighboring families of Atlantis had a daughter. She turned out to be a girl of extraordinary beauty and intelligence, her name was Kleito. God took her to wife, and after a while they had five twins each, all boys, beautiful, intelligent and healthy, like gods. What else could be expected from the girl for whom Atlantis was her home, and from the almighty god of the seas, oceans and waters.

When the children grew up, the island, Atlantis, was already divided into ten parts. Each son got a small piece of land, on which he became the ruler. The best piece of land went to the eldest son and at the same time the wisest one, Atlan. It was in his honor that the ocean surrounding Atlantis from all sides was named Atlantic.

Very soon the island, or rather its seventh and largest part, lost city, Atlantis, has become a densely populated state, an empire. The people who inhabited this state, Atlanta, built huge cities with amazing architecture, created magnificent examples of sculpture, and embodied luxurious temples in reality. The most magnificent of these was the Temple of Kleito, dedicated to the father of Atlantis, Poseidon. It was located in the center of the island, on a hill, and was surrounded by a wall made of gold.

To protect themselves from external enemies, the Atlanteans have built a serious defense system. The plain was surrounded by two rings of water and three rings of earth. Throughout the island, Atlantis, numerous canals were dug, connecting the ocean waters with the central part of the land. The main, widest channel ended near the marble steps of Atlantis, which led to the top of the hill, that is, to the temple of Poseidon.

Having strengthened and strengthened, the population of Atlantis created the strongest army in the history of mankind. This army consisted of 1200 ships with crews of 240 thousand people, whose homeland was Atlantis, and a land force of 700 thousand people. For comparison, this is twice as much as the world average today. All these people Atlantis had to somehow feed, dress and shoe. In most cases, funds were sought on the side: the Atlanteans built their economy and politics on the conduct of constant and bloody wars that could bring profit.

Successful conquests further strengthened the city-state; Atlantis is stronger than ever. It seems that not a single enemy could be found who could offer worthy resistance to the aggressor. But the universe does not like the proud, it has not forgiven pride and Atlantis: proud Athens stood in the way of the island people.

Plato wrote that 9 thousand years ago, Athens was a powerful state, which could not be compared with the current state of affairs. But, Civilization-Atlantis was strong and it was impossible to defeat such a large army alone. The philosopher's long-standing ancestors turned for help to the neighboring states that inhabited the Balkan Peninsula at that time. An unprecedented military alliance was created, the main task of which was the destruction of Atlantis, or at least weakening its military power, in order to conclude a peace treaty.

On the decisive day of the battle, the allies opposed by Atlantis were afraid to join the battle, betraying their neighboring alliance. The Athenians were left alone with a million-strong Atlantean army, the number of which continued to grow and grow. Courageous Greeks, without fear and looking back, rushed into battle and, in an unequal struggle, nevertheless yielded to the aggressor. It seems that everything, here it is a victory, Atlantis prevailed, and the time has come to triumphantly blow the horn, but then the gods intervened in human affairs. The great and immortals did not want Atlantis to become higher than the land of Greece under their control and patronage.

Zeus and his closest associates have been closely watching Atlantis and the people who inhabited this land for centuries. If at the beginning the local population did not cause negative emotions among the inhabitants of heaven, then centuries later, the situation has changed radically. Atlanteans from noble, highly spiritual and moral people gradually turn into selfish, greedy, greedy for power and gold, depraved individuals, brazenly and shamelessly ignoring basic human laws and values. The lifestyle and in general the situation in which Atlantis found itself, thousands of years after its settlement, caused a sharp negative among those who, according to their status, were supposed to monitor the purity and morality of human civilization.

Atlantis is on the edge of the abyss. Today, in our humane and progressive 21st century, the fallen and base individuals are quite tolerant, for many of us this behavior has become the norm, but in those distant times the mentality was completely different. The pantheon of supreme gods and demigods decided to destroy the whole continent, Atlantis had to be wiped off the face of the Earth. What was done by the inhabitants of heaven - quickly and imperceptibly for most people.

Atlantis was drowning, both in its own greed and in the literal sense. The earth opened up, the stormy ocean waters poured onto the land. The mysterious island plunged into an eternal abyss. Proud Athens was not lucky either. The anger of the gods, who did not forgive their wards for the loss, was no less cruel than the fate to which Atlantis, the once mighty and beautiful civilization, was doomed. The gods brought a catastrophe to Greece and the neighboring Lands, the state of Athens was just as wiped off the map as Atlantis. , mired in her own sins. There were no Athenians left who could celebrate the fall of the aggressor, Atlantis, all fell, all perished.

Secrets of Atlantis, a civilization that disappeared in the pages of history.

This information can be gleaned from two extensive dialogues, revealing the secrets of Atlantis, and written by Plato at the very end of his life path. It seems nothing special - there is no direct evidence based on serious scientific research, no references to any ancient manuscripts or authoritative sources. At first sight mysteries of Atlantis like herself ancient civilization- a funny myth, a fairy tale. However, in spite of everything, the secrets of Atlantis and the legends about this civilization survived not only the philosopher himself, they survived centuries, millennia, giving rise to a huge number of discussions, theories and assumptions.

The main enemy opposing the existence of this nation and dispelling the secrets of Atlantis was Aristotle, who lived from 384 to 322 BC. Aristotle was the teacher and mentor of Alexander the Great. He was one of the main students of Plato, who began teaching the Academy in 366 BC, and graduated in 347.

For almost 20 years, this venerable man, who fluttered the secrets of Atlantis in every possible way, listened to the speeches of philosophers, he himself preached the theory of eternal good, treated with great respect both the works and the statements of his mentor. As a result, Aristotle expressed disagreement with Plato's dialogues, calling them the delirium of an old man. Allegedly, the secrets of Atlantis are not secrets at all, but a rebellion of the fantasy and imagination of an honorary old man.

This negative reaction continued. V Western Europe in the middle of the centuries, Aristotle had an undeniable authority. His judgments and theories were taken as the ultimate truth. Therefore, one can imagine that until the end of the 8th century, the beginning of the 9th century, although they spoke about the mysterious land, the secrets of Atlantis, they spoke reluctantly, with an eye on the representative adherents of the philosophical concepts of Aristotle, one of the greatest, if not the most important philosopher of ancient Greece.

What is the reason for such an attitude to the mystery of Atlantis, to the existence of this civilization? Why did the honorary student of Plato, Aristotle, categorically rejected the possibility that Atlantis city existed and flourished for several millennia? Maybe he had irrefutable evidence at his disposal that did not leave a trace of the secret of Atlantis? But in the writings of the venerable husband there is nothing that would indicate this evidence. On the other hand, it is also impossible to dismiss Aristotle's judgments. As a man and a philosopher, he was too authoritative to close his eyes to what he said and wrote.

To understand everything, you need to imagine the learned men of the past, shrouded in dreams and not clouded eyes directed to the future, as mere mortals, people who are characterized by envy, greed, selfishness and other things that do not fit with philosophers and such respectable men.

Who was Plato, who gave birth to the secrets of Atlantis, exciting the minds of even modern scientists? Plato was the darling of fate, the darling of fortune. He was born into a wealthy family, since childhood he did not know worries, lack of attention and need for money. Due to his origin, he received all the benefits of life easily, with a wave of his hand. Without any difficulty, he created the Academy, surrounded himself with fans and people who sincerely worship him. All doors were open for him in Athens. He could shout at the top of his lungs that a sunken city, Atlantis, existed, and they would believe him. Today, it is customary to call such people the masters of life, the golden youth and the oligarchs, earlier, such concepts did not exist, however, a prejudice against the rich and wealthy of this world was traced even before our era.

And who was Aristotle, who did everything possible to dispel the secrets of Atlantis, introduced by his mentor? The son of an ordinary doctor at the court of the Macedonian ruler, already by birth doomed to miserable living in poverty and social helplessness. From childhood he learned, if not need, then at least the need for money and livelihood. Each new step up was given to him with great difficulty. Only thanks to his perseverance, willpower, dedication and efficiency, which the Atlanteans themselves would have envied, this man achieved everything he deserved: money, fame, respect.

Carefully concealed hostility and envy for a wealthy and caressing mentor, in the end, played with Aristotle the worst joke that the human mind and fate are capable of. Atlantis, a lost civilization, became his Achilles' heel. He forgot all the good and good that the mentor did for him, if he did not betray Plato, then he certainly defiled him eternal memory with their doubts and distrust. Indeed, in the end, the secrets of Atlantis might not interest Aristotle at all, however, he not only turned his attention to them, he considered it his duty and duty to refute the last works of Plato. God is his judge, but the truth is that for all his striving, Aristotle did not have more than one fact that could refute the mentor's statements. Atlanteans remained not proven, but also not refuted, no matter how hard the envious student tried.

Lost Atlantis and the mystery of its existence.

For two millennia, the question of the mysterious continent either revived in the minds of individual researchers, or faded away under the influence of the belligerent antagonists of Plato's teachings. For a long time, the church was the most serious opponent that parried any evidence of the presence of the mystical and lost Atlantis on earth. The Lord's servants considered the official date of the creation of the world in 5508 BC. Plato, in his theories, climbed into the darkness of centuries, indicating a time interval of 9 thousand years, when, according to the church, neither the Earth, nor people, nor the universe, nor even more so some lost Atlantis physically could not exist.

Only in the second half of the 9th century, when the church split and its influence began to wane, that lost atlantis may exist, they spoke again and then in a whisper. The first who again began to argue loudly about the possibility that the lost Atlantis took place in the history of human civilization was Blavatsky Helena Petrovna (1831-1891) - theosophist, researcher, writer and famous traveler. Being a gifted nature, talented, if you look at a bright and outstanding personality, this amazing woman categorically asserted that the lost Atlantis existed, and Plato was not mistaken in reasoning about this mysterious island... True, there were differences in her theories with the Platonic version of Atlantis, the researcher assigned her two continents at once - one in the Pacific, and the other, located in the Atlantic Ocean. Remains of the once great and ancient empire turned out to be in her understanding the islands of Madagascar, Ceylon, Sumatra, the individual islands of Polynesia and the famous Easter Island.

Many other researchers followed Blavatsky, fiercely arguing about where the lost Atlantis is, and about the very fact of its existence on the map of antiquity. However, the researchers could not present anything concrete, evidentiary and definite to the scientific community.

Beautiful, but as many thought a mythical legend, the world of Atlantis came to life and developed rapidly only at the very end of the 19th century. This is the period of the beginning of powerful progress, both scientific and technical. It is not surprising that it was in this era, when more and more resources appeared at the disposal of people, in the minds of many, an interest in adventure arose again. And the lost Atlantis in their eyes was just that adventure. In fact, humanity has just entered a new phase of its existence. Heavy and light industry developed by leaps and bounds, science, which showed a tremendous interest in what this lost Atlantis really is, technology, finance - all this required more and more perfect means of communication not only between individual cities and countries, but also between whole continents.

In 1898, a landmark event took place in history around the lost Atlantis and research aimed at finding it. This year a telegraph cable was pulled from Europe to America under water. And suddenly, for some unclear technical reason, it broke off; as a result of which one of the ends sank to the very bottom of the ocean. They lifted him up as is customary with steel crampons. Surprisingly, along with the cable, an unexpected surprise was taken out of the water, presumably related to the lost Atlantis: These were small pieces of glassy lava stuck between the legs of the mechanisms used to lift the cable.

Luck or not, but at that moment there was a geologist on the ship, and, moreover, a very, very experienced specialist. Moreover, he was familiar with what it is underwater city Atlantis knew firsthand about the hype around him. He took pieces of a strange rock, the origin of which was almost immediately associated with such a phenomenon as the lost Atlantis, and took them to Paris to his colleague, the French geologist Termier. He carefully examined the samples presented, and soon made a detailed report at the Oceanographic Society in the capital of France.

As you might guess, his speech was truly sensational and the main topic of this speech was the lost Atlantis, which at that time was the main bone of contention in the research world. In fact, Termier declared with full responsibility that lava takes such a form only when it solidifies in air. In an underwater eruption, it was completely different and would not have a glassy, ​​but rather a crystalline structure. Thus, the conclusion that once upon a time, in the boundless waters of the Atlantic, somewhere between Iceland and the Azores, there was land, suggested itself, it is obvious that we are not talking about some unknown island, but about such a phenomenon as the lost Atlantis that vanished in the depths of the world's oceans.

It seemed that the question of the presence and location of the mysterious continent should be resolved by itself. It would be time to open a bottle of expensive champagne and celebrate such a serious and important discovery for science as the lost Atlantis, but that was not the case. To make it clearer what exactly the snag is, you should go from afar and tell about everything in order.

Atlantis is a lost world, a bone of contention for the scientific community.

The status of a pioneer in that era was almost the main, cherished dream of the whole life of every respectable man of science. So, in 1900, an English archaeologist named Evans conducts excavations in the Cretan city of Knossos and surprisingly finds traces of the most ancient civilization in the entire Mediterranean. He calls her Minoan, but at the same time claims that Atlantis, the lost world, famous in scientific circles, and his Minois are one and the same.

In his research, the archaeologist refers to a layer of ash discovered in the sea soil, the age of which is more than three thousand years. Santorini Island is located 120 kilometers from Crete. It was here, according to the assurances of Arthur Evans, that Atlantis was located, a lost world famous in scientific circles. In 1400 BC, the Santorini volcano exploded. The entire middle of the island sank to the bottom of the sea, destroying Atlantis, a lost world that haunts the minds of scientists. But what about the fact that the writings of Plato say about the age of Atlantis, a lost world, which is at least 5 thousand years older than the age of the remains of civilization discovered by Evans. It's simple, according to Evans, Plato was simply mistaken, indicating 9 thousand years instead of 900 years.

Throughout the century, the most different countries tried to seize the palm from each other, competing in their inventions, ingenuity of mind, and pseudo knowledge of the ancient world. Wherever they were not led by the tireless search. Mysterious Atlantis, the lost world, famous in scientific circles, was found in the Canary Islands, and off the coast of Iceland, and predictably in the central waters of the Atlantic Ocean. But all to no avail. No one was able to point out a specific place of the mysterious ancient continent. Atlantis, the lost world, was not discovered, and what is there, the researchers were not able to find even one single evidence or clue that could indicate the location of the mysterious island.

Disputes about the mysterious Earth, about what is the lost city - Atlantis, do not subside even today. Theories appear and disappear, legends are born and die, and together with them they climb the research Olympus, and then more and more scientists, archaeologists and historians fall from it. Some of their assumptions about them are very similar to the truth, others resemble rather a fantastic story or a solid invention of a sick mind. One of these is this story: the basis of the whole Atlantis, the lost world, was a huge crystal that accumulates and transforms the energy of the universe into a more familiar earthly one. Was this crystal of artificial or natural origin - it is unknown, but it may be deliberately silent. This source of endless energy was kept in the central temple of Poseidon under the watchful eye of the best, chosen warriors.

The crystal fully satisfied all everyday and not only the needs of people whose homeland was Atlantis, the lost world, but they did not want to be content with little. Aggressive and warlike in nature, the inhabitants of the ancient empire used it as a powerful weapon, destroying and burning the lands of their enemies.

Nowhere and no one around had such a means of protection that could protect them from the power of the crystal, and very soon all neighboring states were enslaved by the power-hungry invaders. The mysterious Atlantis, the lost world, turned into a dignified empire, its borders expanded and expanded until they hit the endless steppes, beyond which lay no less endless China.

Atlantis is the homeland of the conquerors.

The process of capturing a new, unknown country and race was slow, and ancient atlantes made the decision to send a powerful beam of energy across the planet. Choking with impatience and greed, people who believed that Atlantis was their home, in a hurry went to the crystal and the main guardian activated energy weapons.

A pillar of hellfire struck the rocky ground. But instead of piercing the ground like a butter knife, he split Atlantis itself into several pieces. The foaming ocean waters swiftly poured onto the island, sweeping away everything living and inanimate in its path. The ancient city, Atlantis, sank to the bottom of the ocean in the blink of an eye. All the Atlanteans perished with her, taking into oblivion the greatness and heritage of their civilization. Here's a legend, a colorful legend. It is clear that it is based on real facts. All this, most likely, is an invention of some researcher tired of fruitless searches.

Centuries and millennia have passed, and the question of whether the ancient civilization of Atlantis existed or not is still unanswered? Perhaps the most serious and conclusive theory was put forward by Thor Heyerdahl, the famous Norwegian traveler. He turned his attention and the attention of the scientific world to the similarity of the ancient cultures of Asia Minor, Egypt, Crete and the ancient civilizations that inhabited Central America. Indeed, if you reject skepticism and look at all this from the outside, these cultures have many similarities. Atlanta or rather their empire was a state where the cult of the sun occupied no less important position in society than the cult of Poseidon, who was the father of the inhabitants of this city. We can observe the same in Central America, Asia Minor and Crete. The sun god was also worshiped there, and marriages between family members were practiced to preserve the purity of the clan. We do not know what the ancient language of Atlantis was, but we can notice that the writing of the cultures of Crete, Central America and Egypt is similar, like two drops of water.

An important similar factor is the pyramids, sarcophagi, mummification, masks. These pagan symbols and examples of art, unusual for European states, were often found in Egyptian, Asian and American settlements. Again, we do not know if Atlantis was a proud pyramid, we only find similarities between seemingly different ancient empires. In addition, it has long been proven that there was once a connection between the American and European continents. We all once lived on one large continent, why shouldn't it be the very Atlantis that researchers have been unsuccessfully looking for for two thousand years ?!

Could it be that Atlantis was not destroyed, but simply revived in the Egyptian pyramids and in American counterparts? Who knows?! Perhaps we will get an answer to this question in the very near future. Now we, like the entire scientific world, can only assume that Atlantis existed, and was not an invention of the old mind of one philosopher from Athens.

South America turns out to be the home of many cultures and even civilizations, rooted in the depths of centuries.
Later finds clearly proved that the builders of La Venta, the inhabitants of Tres Zapotes, the creators of the "birdman" figurine were the bearers of the very first, most ancient high culture of America. Thus, the "Jaguar Indians", as I would like to call them (since we do not know and will probably never know what they called themselves), were the predecessors and even teachers of those who proudly considered themselves the first and only in the world , that is, the brilliant Maya.
After all, it was they, the "Jaguar Indians", who were the first in America to observe the stars, created a calendar, arranged dots and dashes in various combinations, until the Mayan numeral system arose from them. "Jaguar Indians", in all likelihood, invented the first, most ancient Indian writing. Likewise, the original Mayan history date is 0.0.0.0.0. (or 4 Ahab 8 Kumhu), corresponding to 3113 BC, apparently dates back to the Laventian or even Pre-Lavent period of American history. The Maya proper first appeared on the stage of Indian history only in the 3rd century AD. And the "Jaguar Indians" - not less than a thousand years earlier. They were discovered and presented to the world by M. Stirling ".
DONELLI AND OTHERS
The follower of the ancient Greek philosopher Ignatius Donnelly wrote two books: "Atlantis - the antediluvian world" and "Ragnarok - the era of fire and death". Both of these books were published in 1882-1883 and for the first time aroused serious interest in Plato's Atlantis.
In his youth, Donnelly studied law, was fond of poetry. As a Republican congressman, unlike many members of the American Congress, he often visited the library of Congress, doing science in earnest. For Donnelly the glory of the father of modern atlantology was strengthened.
With Donnelly's light hand, it has become a tradition in Atlantological literature to consider the lost continent as a common cultural center for the Old and New Worlds, the "cauldron" of all high civilizations of antiquity. One of the first authors of the book "Atlantis - Antediluvian World" drew attention to the similarity of the architecture of the Indians and Egyptians (mainly to the pyramids built in the Nile Valley, Peru, and Mexico), to the commonality of some customs, scientific knowledge, calendars and etc. These arguments are still cited by zealous Atlantologists. Donnelly was also the first (but far from the last!) To hypothesize that it was from Atlantis that the cult of the sun god came out and embraced almost the whole world.
In Donnelly's book, the reader can find the following:
1. Once existed in the Atlantic Ocean, opposite the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea, a large island that was a remnant of the Atlantic continent known to the ancient world as Atlantis.
2. Plato's description of this island is true and is not, as it was assumed for a long time, an invention.
3. Atlantis was the area where civilization first arose.
4. Over time, it became crowded; immigrants from Atlantis also settled on the shores of the Gulf of Mexico, the Mississippi and Amazon rivers, the Pacific coast of South America, the Mediterranean, the western shores of Europe and Africa, the coast of the Baltic, Black and Caspian Seas.
5. It was the antediluvian world - Eden in the language of mythology. The Garden of the Hesperides, the Champs Elysees, the gardens of Alcinoe, Mount Olympus, Asgard among the Vikings - nothing more than a memory of a big country, of Atlantis, where humanity once lived for centuries in peace and happiness.
6. The gods and goddesses of ancient Greece, Phenicia, India and Scandinavia were simply the kings, queens and heroes of Atlantis, and the actions attributed to them are a distorted memory of historical events. For example, the god Zeus was one of the kings of Atlantis.
7. The mythology of Egypt and Peru is the original religion of Atlantis of sun worship.
8. The most ancient colony of Atlantis was probably Egypt, whose civilization was a reflection of the civilization of the island of Atlantis.
9. The Bronze Age came to Europe from Atlantis. The Atlanteans were the first to use iron.
10. The Phoenician alphabet, the ancestor of all European alphabets, is derived from the Atlantic alphabet, which was, possibly, the basis of the Mayan alphabet in Central America.
11. Atlantis was the initial place of settlement of the Aryan Indo-European family, as well as the Semitic and some other peoples.
12. Atlantis died in a terrible catastrophe. The island and almost all of its population were flooded by the waters of the ocean.
13. Those few who miraculously survived told the peoples living in the West and East about a terrible catastrophe - let us recall the legends about the flood among the peoples of the Old and New Worlds.
14. Proof of the stated hypothesis will allow solving many problems that occupy mankind, confirming the correctness of ancient books, expanding the field of human history, explaining the noticeable similarity between ancient civilizations on the opposite shores of the Atlantic Ocean. There will be an opportunity to find the "progenitors" of our civilization, our fundamental knowledge; those who lived, loved and worked long before the Aryans appeared in India or the Phoenicians settled in Syria will become known.
15. The fact that the history of Atlantis has been mistaken for a fairy tale for thousands of years does not prove anything. There is disbelief here, born of ignorance, as well as skepticism inherent in the intellect. Our distant ancestors are not always better informed about the past than we are.
For a thousand years, the destroyed cities of Herculaneum and Pompeii were believed to be a fairy tale - they were called "fairy cities". For a thousand years, the educated world did not believe Herodotus, who told about the wonders of civilization on the Nile and in Chaldea.
16. There was a time when it was doubtful that Pharaoh Necho had sent an expedition around Africa. After all, the travelers reported that after part of the way the sun was in their north. It is now clear that Egyptian sailors did indeed cross the equator and discovered the Cape of Good Hope 2,100 years before Vasco to Gama.
A literal translation of one of the lines of the first song of "The Odyssey" tells us that "Atlas ... holds large pillars separating earth and sky." This line reflects reality, according to atlantologists. Even Herodotus described the northwestern tip of Africa, and to this day the mountain range is called the High Atlas there. But the name Atlas stuck to this massif from the time of Polybius (204-122 BC), somewhere there Hercules found the gardens of the Hesperides.
If you agree with the opinion of Strabo, the locals used to call the highest mountain of the Atlas Diris (or Daran). Most likely, the name of the ocean passed to the mountain range in Africa. The name of the ocean and the island came from the mountain that towered over the island and produced, obviously, a quantitative spectacle. One of the mountains on the Pico Island in the Azores archipelago is 2351 meters high. Prior to the sinking of the entire Atlantic massif to the bottom of the ocean, the peak of this mountain peak reached an altitude of 5300 meters, which exceeds all European peaks.
... Such a mountain giant, visible above the green island and the expanse of water, went into the clouds and, as it were, was constantly in the heavenly abode and was identified with God. And there are still many active volcanoes in the Azores. And in those days, the clouds covering the top of the Atlas - the Atlantis Islands, resembled fabulous castles... Three elements were mixed - water, sky and earth. They united together, and therefore Homer's imagery is understandable in the words about the great Atlas, who knows the depths of the dark sea and himself holds the large pillars separating the earth and the sky. The fire-breathing mountain, rising from the coastal surf to the very sky, gave the name to the island and the ocean, according to the atlantologist O. Muk.
In Aztec languages ​​"atl" means "water", "anti" means "high mountain". If we compare these names, then hypothetically we can conclude that Atlantis is "a mountain from water" or "a mountain among water". If we recall that one of the last perishing islands on which the famous city described by Plato was located is Poseidonis, it becomes clear that the mountain and the entire island country bear a mythological name in honor of the firstborn of the god of the seas, Poseidon.
The Prince Atlas, the titan-sky, became the hero of the myth, and, apparently, Mount Atlas was the prototype of the pyramids and all kinds of religious buildings to the east and west of Atlantis. Even the "belt of pyramids" can be traced - from China with its multi-storey pagodas to the pyramids of Egypt, the Tower of Babel and temples of eastern India. Their less well-known "copies" are located in Libya, megalithic structures are found in Europe. Pyramids of the Maya, Toltec, Aztec, Inca and other ancient American peoples complete this ring of monuments. All of them are a symbol of a great, multistage mountain with a sky-high peak, a temple, a home for the gods and a place of sacrifices and subsequent burials and worship.
And on both sides of the ocean dividing the Old and New World, all kings, pharaohs, kings were buried under mounds and pyramids. Symbols in the form of obelisks and menhirs are an expression of a now forgotten religion.
The top of the great Azores volcano constantly smoked and lit up with inner fire, the voice of God rumbled from its depths. Following these natural manifestations of the deity, religious buildings had golden domes, roofs, pointed crowns and helmets. Atlas - the top of the island of Atlantis - was like a lighthouse visible to sailors from afar when they sailed to the divine island thousands of years ago. The smoke, smoking over the summit, became the prototype of cult rites.
This cult was most clearly reflected in the religious rites of the Aztecs, who had an altar at the top of the pyramid where sacrifices were made to the gods. In Phenicia and Carthage, the "fiery mountain" turned into the "fiery" god Moloch, to whom the firstborn were sacrificed. In the Old Testament, it is reported that fat and meat were burned on the altar. Christian altars also accepted symbolic sacrifices, and the censer symbolized a godly cloud. Ancient Hellas, Egypt and Rome brought bloody and symbolic sacrifices on the altars of the gods.
The tree of life is an unusual symbol: it arose in very ancient times, when Cro-Magnons inhabited the virgin forests of Europe. The tree of life, the tree of the world among the pre-Germanic Europeans is a tree up to the sky that holds stars in its branches. Perhaps the "heavenly mountain" of Atlantis is a prototype of this tree?
The winged serpent - the deity Quetzalcoatl among the Mayans and Aztecs, Cucumac in Guatemala, Kukulcan in Yucatan - embodies the idea of ​​an all-powerful and reborn deity, and, according to legend, he appeared from an island east of America.
This god was the god of fire above all. Thunder was his terrible weapon, and at first he was identified not with lightning, but rather with a stone falling from the sky, causing fires and destruction. Such stones could be meteorites and stones thrown out by active volcanoes. From time to time during the eruption of the volcano, obviously, many people died. Therefore, on the legendary island, a terrible form of the cult of mass murder arose, which among the Aztecs in the west claimed thousands of lives in annual sacrifices. In Carthage, Rome, Hellas, Israel, Nineveh and Babylon, and before Buddhism, also in India, human lives were sacrificed to the gods.
Atlantis had a meridional length of 1100 kilometers, it blocked the path of the Gulf Stream to the north. Its northern coast is mountainous, with ten peaks. Greatest mountain Atlas was over 5000 meters high. In the south, a vast fertile plain with an area of ​​about 20,000 square kilometers was washed by a warm current and therefore was ideal place for the growth of subtropical and tropical plants. The climate was subtropical in the north with an average annual temperature of + 10 ° - and tropical in the south - an average annual temperature of + 25 °. High mountains in the north, the islands protected it from the penetration of cold winds.
The entire mountain range of Atlantis was a zone of active volcanoes. And, like other zones, the dense cover of the plain had a magnificent soil rich in mineral salts, similar to loess soils, famous for their high yields and not requiring any fertilizers. Plants cultivated by humans such as coconut palms and banana bushes grew in Atlantis. Bananas grew well in Atlantis, and a tree suitable for "drinking, eating and anointing", that is, the coconut tree, also thrived in the humid and hot climate of the southern part of the island. Apparently, the beauty and richness of the flora and fauna of this island paradise made it possible for many peoples on both sides of the Atlantic to remember paradise islands bliss.
Mook believes that the long-legged and muscular hunters depicted in the caves of Spain and Western France correspond to Atlantean hunters rather than Cro-Magnons proper. He admits that a man of the Cro-Magnon type also appeared from the west, from the side of the ocean. The Cro-Magnons and Atlanteans differed sharply from the ancient European people - the Neanderthals.
O. Mook, referring to the research of anthropologists, notes that a certain type of Pro-American has been found on the American continent - with the features of a Cro-Magnon and an Indian at the same time. The age of the human skeleton of this type using radiocarbon and fluorescence analysis was determined at about 12 thousand years. These American Proto-Americans, found in America, complete the hypothetical circle of races that inhabited the continents of the Old and New Worlds, which were within the reach of the Atlanteans. For Indians - cheerful, mobile, strong people - the red skin color was and remains a characteristic racial sign. Note that the red color still remains a symbolic sign of power and religious worship, especially during sacrificial rites. Maybe this is a memory of the ancient red-skinned rulers of Atlantis? Were the "first people" red-skinned, according to O. Muk? There is no answer to this question yet.
The old legends of giants and dwarfs are grounded in the hypothesis of Atlanteans and Atlantis. Not only Neanderthals (who lived 50-100 thousand years ago and earlier) were distinguished by small stature, but also all ancient races. The only exceptions were the Cro-Magnons and the Aurignacian people related to them. An unusually high growth was, as it were, an indicator of the degeneration of civilization, says O. Muk, and dwarf growth is a sign of its initial phase. This seemingly paradox is reflected in mythical legends.
At the end of their existence, the Atlanteans, considering themselves the sons of the god Poseidon, began to threaten the power of the gods of Olympus. But the Volcanoes and Cyclops, with whom they are identified, have lost their greatness, become cannibals and squandered their divine power as a result of incest with the "daughters of the earth." That is why the gods decided to punish them and sent down fire and water on them.
* * *
Of particular interest are the problems of the linguistic relics of Atlantis. Is it possible that in modern idioms various remnants of the late Paleolithic language, which was once universal, were preserved? Of course, etymologists will answer in the negative. But maybe they can be found among those languages ​​that do not fall within the framework of conventional language schemes?
Among European languages, this is Basque. One of the largest authorities in the field of comparative linguistics, F. Fink, believes that the Basque language can be attributed to ancient Iberian, it belongs to the same group with the extinct languages ​​of the Nossera, Chaldeans, Hittites, Isorgians, Lycians, Cappadocians and Etruscans.
Among the Basques, no one betrays his family, everyone speaks their own language, the most ancient language in the world, as the Basques themselves believe. In the book "Boschi in France" by E. Salomon, it is reported that in 1930 in the town of Saint-Jean-de-Luz, the author met the Basque - the king of smugglers. "Basques," said the man, "are the last remnants of the best, freest and most proud of the worlds, which once disappeared into the depths along with the island of Atlantis. It stretched from the Pyrenees to the Moroccan mountains."
It is curious that it is possible to trace the "linguistic ring" by analogy with the "ring of pyramids" - similar linguistic features in various modern peoples of America, Europe and Asia. O. Muk thinks so. However, it is difficult to agree with many of his hypotheses, and some of them cannot be verified even using the methods of modern atlantology.
* * *
A. Wegener, the author of the theory of continental drift, did not allow the seemingly unreasonable disappearance of a huge piece of land in the ocean, especially since, according to his data, the continents of America, Africa and Europe are easily reconstructed into a single continent Pangea, which was divided only in the early Tertiary period.
The assumption that the Old and New Worlds once parted and an ocean formed between them is now confirmed. This happened much earlier than the disaster. The seam between the continents ran exactly along the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, where the Mid-Atlantic Ridge is currently located. Similarity coastlines west coast Africa and eastern South America confirms Wegener's theory, but between Africa (its northern and northwestern parts) and Europe, on the one hand, and Canada, on the other, there is a seemingly "empty" space - to the northeast of the Gulf of Mexico ... This circumstance does not refute Wegener's theory, but, according to O. Muck, it can serve as a confirmation of the existence of an island in this place and its subsequent sinking into the ocean.
What, then, is the Atlantic submarine ridge of a sunken mountain range or a place where continental plates break?
Now this question can be answered with complete certainty. Yes, the continents are diverging, moving away from each other, the ocean floor is sort of moving apart. The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is a jagged, protruding seam at the bottom of the Atlantic. It is here that magma erupts, from which ultimately the material of the oceanic crust is formed. Coming from the depths, the straightened substance freezes at the bottom, forming a semblance of giant icicles sticking up - their ridge is the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. This figurative and necessarily simplified representation, consistent with the theory of mobilism, makes it possible to harmonize the data of science with the assumption of the existence of Atlantis. Indeed, if islands are formed in the area of ​​active volcanoes of the underwater ridge in our time, then this process took place in the past. The Azores archipelago serves as a kind of geological monument.
* * *
Many encyclopedic minds in Europe have turned to the riddle proposed by Plato. L. Seidler writes: “It can be assumed that Columbus believed in the existence of the remains of the sunken Atlantis ... Spanish king on the equipment of the campaign "to India", Columbus studied ancient literature, where he could not help but come across references to Atlantis and the mythical islands. "Later, in the first half of the 17th century, the famous English philosopher and politician Francis Bacon wrote the book" New Atlantis "- a talented a scientific and technical utopia, where in a somewhat allegorical form he indicated the coordinates of a mysterious land ... in the region of Brazil. Half a century later, Atlantis-Brazil appeared on the map compiled by the French geographer Sanson. Sanson even indicated the South American territory ... the borders of the kingdoms, belonging to the sons of Poseidon!
In his work "Teachers of Teachers" the famous poet Valery Bryusov defends the idea of ​​the complete reliability of Plato's "Dialogues", that is, the hypothesis of Atlantis. According to Bryusov, such a country really existed. “If we assume,” he wrote, that Plato’s description is fiction, it will be necessary to recognize that Plato is a superhuman genius, who was able to predict the development of science for millennia ahead, to foresee that someday scientists-historians will discover the world of Aegea and establish its relations with Egypt, that Columbus will discover America, and archaeologists will restore the civilization of the ancient Mayans, etc. Needless to say that, with all our respect for the genius of the great Greek philosopher, such insight in him seems impossible to us and that we consider another explanation simpler and more plausible: at the disposal of Plato were materials (Egyptian) that came from ancient times. "
Bryusov came to the conclusion that most of the information contained in the Dialogues, Plato could only get from people who knew about the existence of Atlantis: “Plato, like all Greeks, did not know anything about the Aegean kingdoms that preceded the Hellenic ".
"The ancient philosopher writes that Atlantis was located behind the Strait of Gibraltar and from it it was possible, sailing further to the west, to get to another continent. But the ancient Greeks did not know anything about America!" Having thus established that on the very first pages of his dialogues, Plato makes two discoveries - in history and in geography, Bryusov is convinced that even in smaller details the ancient author is surprisingly close to the truth.
The opinions of modern scientists on the question of the reality of Atlantis are often sharply divided. The numerous camp of defenders of the Platonic hypothesis is opposed by an equally numerous and armed with serious arguments camp of anti-Atlantologists.
Among Soviet scientists, supporters of the existence of Atlantis were such remarkable thinkers as N. Roerich and Academician V. Obruchev. The sunken earth, the ancestral home of ancient cultures, is described in the works of N. Zhirov.
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Some knowledge of ancient peoples, too unexpected for its time, and most importantly, without roots, as if brought in from the outside, cause surprise. This applies to astronomy and mechanics, metallurgy and medicine, agricultural engineering and stone architecture. The mathematical "code", supposedly laid down in the proportions of the Great egyptian pyramid... (By the way, the hypotheses of recent years have called into question the fact that the pyramid with a height of 147 meters was built during the reign of Pharaoh Khufu, or Cheops. There is reason to believe that the grandiose structure is older!) Even during the Napoleonic wars in Egypt, it was discovered that the pyramid was oriented exactly along the polar axis of the Earth. The pyramid could be used as an observatory, calendar, or a giant sundial. Egyptologist P. Tomkins wrote: “The one who built the Khufu pyramid knew how to make excellent maps of the starry sky and use the stars to correctly calculate longitude, build maps of the planet and, therefore, freely move around the Earth - across its continents and oceans. There is a definite connection between the initial knowledge of those who commanded to build The great pyramid, and those who created ancient maps of the seas, more accurate and detailed than those that have survived to this day. "
Many researchers associate the maps that Tomkins writes about with Atlantis. One of them was found in 1929 in Turkey, we will talk about it later.
Some atlantologists, relying on myths and folk epics, frescoes and rock paintings, claim that the inhabitants of the disappeared continent knew television and aviation, electric light, X-rays, antibiotics and even nuclear energy, which, alas, manifested itself in the form of destructive explosions. Nicholas Roerich wrote about Atlantis:
Air ships flew.
Liquid fire poured down. Sparkled
The spark of life and death.
By the power of the spirit they ascended
boulders. Forged
wonderful blade. Cherished
writing wise secrets,
and again everything is clear. Everything is new.
The tale-legend became life ...
Of course, not all atlantologists are so romantic. Most believe that a Bronze Age culture flourished in the vanished country. Certain phrases of Plato also seem to indicate the development of metallurgy. Bryusov also became interested in the description of the Atlanteans' favorite metal - orichalcum. He suggested that Plato was referring to aluminum. Modern scholars believe that orichalcum was most likely a certain type of bronze or brass. Many researchers associate the onset of the Bronze Age on the entire Earth with the influence of Atlantis. Indeed, a wonderful alloy appears almost simultaneously in the Mediterranean and Mesopotamia, in Asia and South America.
Other models of Atlantean civilization are even more modest. After all, Plato never speaks directly of bronze anywhere. He mentions orichalcum, gold, silver, lead and iron. But all these are native metals (except for the mysterious orichalcum). Their abundance in the capital of Atlantis does not yet speak of a developed metallurgy. The tools of labor may have been stone, and the metals may have been used for jewelry, for wall cladding, or for decorating temples. Ancient world knows such paradoxes.
Nowhere does Plato mention brick, lime, cement. Metal rods could be used to fasten the wall blocks (as in some buildings of ancient Peru). This also corresponds to the time of the transition from the Stone Age to the Bronze Age. The gigantic size of canals, palaces and temples, which the philosopher speaks of, also does not testify (in and of itself) to a highly developed civilization. Slave labor made any absurdly grandiose projects possible with the most primitive technology. It is in the early stages of culture that many peoples gravitate towards gigantism in architecture. This is caused by the desire to exalt the leaders and gods.
A number of authors of Atlantological works associate the truly mysterious pan-European culture of megalithic buildings with "pracivilization". Huge structures of rough hewn blocks are found on the coasts from Scandinavia to Africa. They are also in the USSR, for example on Black sea coast Caucasus. Megaliths are very similar to each other. These are rows or concentric circles of stones. Sometimes the blocks are laid one on top of the other in the form of the letter "P".
Defenders of the Atlantis hypothesis suggest that the colossal and apparently almost meaningless structures were left as memorials to a people who came from the sea, possibly on rafts. Of course, such an Atlantis could only be the homeland of the Stone Age tribes. However, there are "optimists" among atlantologists who believe that even in the Paleolithic or Mesolithic, astronomical knowledge could have developed, as well as art... The first assumption is supported by the famous megalithic structure in England - Stonehenge. Some even see in the proportions of the British megalith ... the distances between the planets of the solar system. Cave frescoes made many thousands of years ago, for example, hunting scenes in the caves of Lascaux or Altamira, speak of the aesthetic talents of "sea aliens". The painting is extraordinarily perfect. It is believed that the Cro-Magnons - draftsmen of primitive Europe - achieved in their works such realism, which the world did not know later until the Renaissance. But the Cro-Magnons are sometimes called the "sea people" who have landed on the Atlantic shores ...
However, whatever the hypotheses put forward by modern atlantologists, whatever level of civilization they ascribe to the country of their dreams - atomic, bronze or stone, all the same Atlantology as a whole remains true to some of the provisions formulated more than 100 years ago by Ignatius Donnelly. That is, it was from Atlantis that the bronze and iron technology came; from there came various knowledge, including the Phoenician writing, the progenitor of all European alphabets; many peoples came out of Atlantis, then settled around the world.
You can talk a lot about strange coincidences between the customs of tribes separated by oceans, say about the mummification of the dead, adopted in Egypt and in the early civilizations of South America. About the coincidence of words in the languages ​​of the Old and New World. About the same pyramids that were built on the banks of the Nile, in the cities of pre-Columbian Mexico and in ancient Cambodia... The Atlantological literature is extensive. However, we will confine ourselves to only a brief analysis of hypotheses that answer the question: did Atlantis exist and, if so, where exactly was it located?
The most substantiated theory in this regard was built by the already mentioned Doctor of Chemical Sciences N.F. Fat. He placed the "island of the blessed" in the same place where Plato and Donnelly behind him, that is, opposite the "Pillars of Hercules" of the Strait of Gibraltar, in the middle of the Atlantic, but backed up his opinion with evidence of geology, oceanology, geotectonics and other sciences of the 20th century. Here are his words: "The data of modern science indicate that among the Atlantic Ocean there is an underwater North Atlantic Ridge, which could exist subaerially (above the surface of the water) at times close to those indicated by Plato in his legend. It is possible that some of these land areas have existed until historical time. " Zhirov suggested looking for traces of Atlantis on the islands located near Europe or Africa, Azores, Canary Islands, etc. Plato writes that the walls of the capital of Atlantis, Poseidonis, were built of stones of red, black and white colors. But after all, these colors are the main ones for the hard rocks of the Azores, it is from such stones that the ancient buildings of the islanders are built! The Canary Islands provide evidence of a different kind. The indigenous, now extinct population of the Guanches is considered by many experts to be the direct descendants of the Atlanteans. By 1500, the Guanches were completely exterminated by the Spanish conquerors, but the drawings and descriptions retained their appearance. The Guanches were tall, fair-haired and blue-eyed. Their customs showed a strange resemblance to the customs of the highly cultured ancient peoples. The Guanches had a caste of priests who wore robes and hats similar to those of Babylon. They embalmed the dead, like the Egyptians, and buried them in domed tombs, like the Greeks at Mycenae. The Guanches left rock inscriptions; they are similar to the hieroglyphs of Crete, but have not yet been deciphered. L. Seidler quotes the words of one of the last Guanches, recorded by a Spanish chronicler: “Our fathers said that God, having settled us on this island, then forgot about us. gave birth to us. " These words indicate at least two circumstances. First, that the Guanches considered themselves aliens in the Canaries, and forced aliens - "God forgot about us." Secondly, the white-skinned and blue-eyed islanders were sun worshipers, like the Egyptians or Peruvians ...
N.F. Zhirov, not without reason, believed that the most amazing thing that we know about Atlantis and the Atlantic is the existence in the place indicated by Plato (to the west of Gibraltar) of a huge underwater mountainous country of the Mid-Atlantic ridge with the Azores plateau adjoining it from the east ( located also below the ocean level). Back in 1945, the Dane Frandsen pointed out that the bottom relief in the Azores plateau area corresponds to Plato's description of Atlantis. Recent work by the Swedish scientist Malaise confirmed that Frandsen's calculations were consistent with bathymetric maps of the area.

Atlantis has been written about from antiquity to the present day, that is, for 2000 years. But in ancient times, little was written on this topic, and in general only two dozen pages of Plato's dialogues "Timaeus" and "Critias" have survived. Plato's dialogues Timaeus and Critias were written by Plato (427 - 347 BC) around 360 BC. NS.

Supporters of the existence of Atlantis found many lines in Plato's texts that correspond to the latest achievements of modern science. And opponents of its existence, in response, point to many contradictions in the texts of the dialogues. However, before moving on to the actual facts stated in the dialogues, it is necessary to consider the question of who is responsible for the mistakes and contradictions. Plato writes that he learned this story from his great-grandfather Cretius, who at the age of ten heard this story from his grandfather, also Cretius, who at that time was ninety years old. He, in turn, learned about this from a great friend and relative of his father, Dropidas, Solon, "the first of the seven wise men." Solon himself, heard this story from the Egyptian priests from the temple of the goddess Neith in Sais, who from time immemorial kept records of all events and knew about Atlantis. Kritiy Jr. says that he read his grandfather's notes, that he was deeply moved by this story, and therefore he remembered it firmly. However, since he did not keep his notes, he might well have forgotten some details or numbers. If Solon was recording this story directly from the columns of an Egyptian temple, then he could well have made some mistakes, not knowing the Egyptian language perfectly. And, finally, Plato could well have made some changes in the description of Atlantis and the war with it by the Pre-Athenians for his own purposes, for example, to propagate his political views. And, finally, it is possible that Plato compiled these dialogues from some other source, including the historical and geographical works of various authors, his own knowledge and guesses, as well as myths and tales of the Greeks or other peoples. Then the task of researchers becomes more complicated, since it is necessary to decide the question of these sources, and then regarding the truth of each of them. Plato realized that one cannot rely in a story with a mass of numbers and names in memory of a 90-year-old man and a 10-year-old boy.

Middle Ages

In the Middle Ages, Europe was dominated by the Catholic Church, and the "official" science of the Church was the science of Aristotle, so no one believed Plato. True, in the Middle Ages, the island of Atlantis appeared on some geographical maps, but most likely no serious knowledge was hidden behind this.

New time

The main surge of interest in the problem of Atlantis occurs at the end of the 19th - 20th centuries. During this period, more than 5,000 books were written on Atlantis.

Scientific literature

N.F. Fat. The main problems of the anthology.

G. Luce. End of Atlantis.

K. Krestev. Atlantis.

J. Imbellone and A. Vivante. The fate of Atlantis.

A. Immortal. Atlantis.

This includes most of the books on Atlantis. Among them is the “bible” of atlantologists - the book by I. Donnelly “Atlantis. Antediluvian world. " Also worth

mark books:

J. Bramwell. Lost Atlantis.

P. Lecure. Atlantis. Homeland of civilizations

R. Malese. Atlantis and the Ice Age.

Fiction

Atlantis has become the subject of countless films and books in the adventure, science fiction and fantasy genres.

In these books, Atlantis is at the bottom of the sea, in the depths of the desert, in the orbit of the Earth. The Atlanteans in these books could survive to this day, possess telepathy, are descendants of aliens, aliens, possess modern technology, adapted to life under water, etc., etc.

Mystical literature

The most famous book by H. P. Blavatsky "The Secret Doctrine", where, without directly naming Atlantis, H. P. Blavatsky describes it. Less well known is the book of R. Steiner, who allegedly learned to read records in layers of objects that record human history. W. Scott-Elliott wrote a book about Atlantis with a lot of precise details.