As time passed, Plato's Atlantean fantasies gave food for thought to a huge army of followers. For two thousand years, many different hypotheses have arisen, which are regularly updated with new options. So Atlantis became a mystery that haunts the lovers of secrets. But did it really exist?
Today the mystery of Atlantis is described in many works, both adventure novels and serious scientific research. Scientists and enthusiastic researchers have put forward several thousand hypotheses about the location of this mysterious continent and the reasons for its disappearance without a trace.
Atlantis in the Atlantic Ocean
The Strait of Gibraltar (the rocks of Gibraltar and Ceuta) was always called the Pillars of Hercules (tracing of the Phoenician "pillars of Melqart") in antiquity. Thus, Plato places Atlantis directly behind the Strait of Gibraltar, near the coast of Spain and present-day Morocco. Morocco among the Greeks, as a country in the Far West, is the seat of the titan Atlas (Atlas), to whose name the name of the ocean and the Atlas ridge goes back; undoubtedly, the name of Atlantis - "the country of Atlanta" also goes back to him (in a later dialogue "Critias" Plato calls Atlas the first king of the country and deduces the name from him; but initially, apparently, the name meant simply "a country lying in the extreme West").
The most consistent supporters of the real existence of Atlantis pointed out that according to Plato, it could only be in the Atlantic Ocean and nowhere else. They noted that only the Atlantic Ocean can accommodate the land of the sizes described by Plato - the central island 3000 × 2000 stades (530 × 350 km), and several large accompanying islands. NF Zhirov was an ardent apologist for this version. From his point of view, Atlantis was located in the region of the Azores, and was once the surface part of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The large area of the island at that time was explained either by a lower level of the world ocean, or by the consequences of an earthquake, or by a combination of factors. Michael Baigent adheres to a similar version.
Many explorers have looked for Atlantis in the Balearic and Canary Islands. Vyacheslav Kudryavtsev in the magazine "Around the World" suggested, based on the texts of Plato and data on the last glacial maximum (which ended 10 thousand years ago, which corresponds to the time indicated in "Critias"), that Atlantis was located on the site of the present British Isles, Ireland, north -western France and the Celtic shelf south of the British Isles, with the capital on the current underwater hill of Little Sol with a top of 57 meters from the surface and 150-180 meters in depth, and drowned as a result of melting glaciers.
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Atlantis in the Mediterranean
The story of Atlantis by Plato can be considered as a myth based on real historical events, during which, as a result of a natural disaster (earthquake, flood, or some other cataclysm), a previously prosperous civilization perished or fell into decay. Such a historical event may be the eruption of a volcano on the island of Santorini and the subsequent decline of the highly developed (by the standards of that time) Minoan civilization in the Mediterranean Sea.
In this case, the area of Atlantis given by Plato and the 9-thousand-year-old events are considered as an exaggeration, and the prototype of Atlantis is the island of Crete and the island of Santorini, partially destroyed by a volcanic explosion and the collapse of the caldera (another name is Fira, in antiquity - Strongila). The ancient Minoan civilization that existed in Crete and neighboring islands really fell into decay after the eruption of a volcano and its explosion on Strongila Island in the 17th century BC. e., that is, not 9000, but 900 years before Plato. A catastrophic volcanic eruption "in one day and a disastrous night" led to the destruction of the island, the formation of a huge tsunami that struck the northern coast of Crete (the largest part of the island metropolis) and other islands in this part of the Mediterranean Sea, and was accompanied by earthquakes. Volcanic ash covered fields on the islands and the coast of the mainland within a radius of hundreds of kilometers, which, with a layer thickness of more than 10 cm, makes them unsuitable for cultivation for a year or more, thereby causing famine. Given the local wind rose, most of the ash should have fallen east-southeast, without affecting Greece and Egypt. At the same time, the Minoans, like the Atlanteans described by Plato, really had military clashes with the Achaeans who inhabited mainland Greece (as they were actively engaged in piracy). And the Minoans were really defeated by the Achaeans, though not before the natural cataclysm, but only after it.the bulk of the ash was to fall east-southeast, without affecting Greece and Egypt. At the same time, the Minoans, like the Atlanteans described by Plato, really had military clashes with the Achaeans who inhabited mainland Greece (as they were actively engaged in piracy). And the Minoans were really defeated by the Achaeans, though not before the natural cataclysm, but only after it.the bulk of the ash was to fall east-southeast, without affecting Greece and Egypt. At the same time, the Minoans, like the Atlanteans described by Plato, really had military clashes with the Achaeans who inhabited mainland Greece (as they were actively engaged in piracy). And the Minoans were really defeated by the Achaeans, though not before the natural cataclysm, but only after it.
According to the well-known description of Plato, the island of Atlantis inside had a concentric channel through which ships could sail, with outlets to the open sea. This corresponds in shape to an island volcanic caldera with an annular ridge and a central island. Geological investigations of the Santorini islands and bottom sediments in the eastern Mediterranean show that an older caldera existed in the place of the present caldera, which was formed as a result of a similar eruption about 20,000 years ago. However, all known calderas are much smaller in size, according to Plato, "Libya (the ancient Greek name for Africa) and Asia combined." This discrepancy can be explained, firstly, by exaggeration and distortions accumulated over hundreds of years of oral transmission of legends about real events (all the more,that the real dimensions of Asia and Africa were not known to the Greeks at that time), and secondly, the indicated dimensions can be comparable with the actual dimensions of the Minoan sea power, which extended not only to the Cyclades Islands, Crete and Cyprus, but also to the coastal regions of Greece, Asia Minor and North Africa (as in the subsequent Phoenician and Greek colonies).
A fairly detailed presentation of this version, with a comparative analysis of Plato's texts and factual materials obtained by the end of the 20th century by history, archeology, geology and related sciences, is available in the book by Doctor of Geological and Mineralogical Sciences, I. A. Rezanov "Atlantis: Fantasy or Reality? ". This version of the essence and death of the so-called Atlantis is not particularly popular, largely because in this case the aura of mystery is lost, enveloping the very concept of Atlantis for centuries. For most people close to this topic, it is much more interesting and exciting to fantasize about perfect Atlanteans, a mysterious orichalcum, a huge country with a highly developed civilization that suddenly disappeared, etc. One of the clear evidence of this is the size and content of this article.as well as an abundance of pseudo-scientific opuses and works of art of various genres on this topic.
Black sea flood
The catastrophic rise in the level of the Black Sea, which may have occurred in the sixth millennium BC, could serve as a prototype for the events of the legend of Atlantis. It is estimated that during this Black Sea flood in less than a year, sea level rose by 60 meters (other estimates are from 10 to 80 meters) due to the breakthrough of the Bosphorus by Mediterranean waters.
The flooding of large areas of the northern Black Sea coast could, in turn, give an impetus to the spread of various cultural and technological innovations from this region to Europe and Asia.
Indo-European expansion
Events such as the formation and disintegration of the Indo-European community, which led to the beginning of a large-scale Indo-European expansion at the end of the 4th millennium BC, may also be associated with the legend of a prosperous Atlantis and its death. e. Geographically, these events are tied to the regions adjacent to the Black Sea.
The Danube (North Balkan) region includes one of the hypotheses of the location of the homeland of the native-speakers of the Proto-Indo-European language, proposed by V. A. Safronov. The hypothesis also assumes that this community is linked to the emergence of writing, fortified cities, division of labor, centralized government, the emergence of social classes and the emergence of the first civilization based on the Vinca culture. When comparing the Platonic legend with the events of the IV millennium BC. e. coincidence in time is achieved by the interpretation proposed by A. Ya. Anoprienko of the period of 9000 years indicated by Plato as 9000 seasons of 121-122 days.
Other region bindings
Romanian researcher Nikolai Densushianu in his work "Prehistoric Dacia" (1913) identified the Atlas Mountains with the southern Carpathians in the Oltenia region, and Atlantis as a whole with Romania, noting the correspondence of the size and location of the Lower Danube Plain to the description of the central plain of Atlantis and introducing the assumption that Plato mixed the terms " river "-" sea "-" ocean "on the one hand, and" island "-" country "on the other.
With such a link, it becomes difficult to find a match for the capital of Atlantis, which, according to Plato, was 9-10 km from the coast and there was a low mountain in the center of the city. There are no seamounts in the Danube Delta, and the only island is about. Serpentine, has no signs of human presence until the 7th century BC. e., although the ancient Greeks built a temple on the island dedicated to Achilles and in written sources it is sometimes referred to as the Island of the Blessed.
Antarctic hypothesis
One of the hypotheses claims that Antarctica is the lost Atlantis. It is based on cartographic artifacts (the Piri Reis map, etc.), which were allegedly created on the basis of dozens of ancient maps attributed to civilizations with advanced navigation that existed 6-15 thousand years ago. This hypothesis is described in detail in the book of the writer Graham Hancock "Traces of the Gods". According to the author, Antarctica was shifted to the South Pole as a result of the lithospheric shift. And before that, it was closer to the equator and was not covered with ice. However, this assumption contradicts modern scientific ideas about the geological movement of continents.
There is also a version associated not with the movement of continents, but with the displacement of the earth's axis as a result of a planetary cataclysm 10-15 thousand years ago (for example, "collision of the Earth with a cosmic body of huge mass"), before which Antarctica was not at the south pole, had The warm climate, rich flora and fauna, was inhabited by people and built up with cities, some of which are supposedly visible on satellite photographs. This version also contradicts scientific ideas about the consequences of various celestial bodies falling to the Earth, about the impossibility of a rapid catastrophic shift of the earth's axis, about the dating of the Antarctic glaciation, etc.
Atlantis in the Andes
In 1553, for the first time in literature - in the book "Chronicle of Peru" by Pedro Cieza de Leon - an Indian story is given that the "white people" penetrated the territory of the province of Guamanga (Peru) long before the Spaniards, and even ruled there before the Incas:
The largest river from the local area is called Vignake, there are large, very ancient structures, noticeably dilapidated with time and turned into ruins, they must have survived for many centuries. Asking the local Indians about who built this antiquity, they answer that other white and bearded people, like us, who ruled long before the Incas; they say that they came to these lands and made themselves a home here. These and other ancient buildings that exist in this kingdom, it seems to me, do not look like those that the Incas built or ordered to build. Because this structure was square, and the buildings of the Incas were long and narrow. There is also a rumor that there were some letters on one stone slab of this building. I do not assert and do not believe that in the past some people arrived here, so intelligent and intelligent that they built these and other things,which we do not see.
Later, this story became known to many other historians and chroniclers of Peru, as well as missionaries from the Catholic orders, who spread their own story about the European origin of the supreme god Viracocha, which was reflected in numerous myths of the Indians. In particular, Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa was engaged in the most detailed hypothesis about the placement of Atlantis in the Andes in the book "History of the Incas".
In 1555, Plato's Atlantis directly compares with the kingdoms of Peru - the lands of the Inca Empire - the secretary of the Royal Council of Castile, chronicler Agustin de Zarate in his book "History of the Discovery and Conquest of the Province of Peru", citing various historians' opinions on where people came from in America. To justify his position, Zarate cites the fact that Plato's 9000 years from the flood are the Egyptians' counting of years not according to the sun, but according to the moons, that is, months, which means that they should be considered as 750 years. And the customs of the Peruvian Indians, their cult and imperial architecture, sheathed with plates of gold, exactly, according to Zarate, correspond to the description of Plato.
In Atlantis: The Andes Solution, Jim Allen presented a theory that equates Atlantis with the Altiplano Plateau in South America. The theory is based on several reasons:
- high accuracy of coincidence between satellite photographs of the area and ancient descriptions, on the assumption that the dimensions indicated by Plato are given not in the Greek stages, but in the “Atlantean” ones, which are different due to the latitude of the location of the area.
- the presence of geological formations on the plateau, which may be traces of human activity and correspond to the descriptions of the capital of Atlantis.
- developed culture, scientific and technological achievements of the peoples of South America are explained through the existence of a previous more developed civilization
- the presence of an artificial, according to some scientists, based on the ternary logic of the Aymara language.
Atlantis in Brazil
In 1624 the English scientist and politician Francis Bacon Verulamskiy in the book "New Atlantis" identified Brazil with Atlantis. Soon a new atlas with a map of America was published, compiled by the French geographer Nicolas Sanson, in which the provinces of the sons of Poseidon were indicated on the territory of Brazil. The same atlas was published in 1762 by Robert Vogudy.
The most consistent supporter of the localization of Atlantis (or its colonies) in Brazil was the famous British scientist and traveler Colonel Percy Garrison Fawcett (1867-1925?). The main indication for the existence of the remains of the prehistoric cities of Atlantis in the unexplored regions of Brazil was the so-called. Manuscript 512 is an 18th century document describing the discovery by Portuguese treasure seekers (Bandeirants) in 1753 of the ruins of an unknown dead city deep in the province of Bahia.
Fawcett called the "main target" of his searches "Z" - a mysterious, possibly inhabited city on the territory of Mato Grosso, only supposedly identical to the city of the Bandeirants in 1753. The source of information about "Z" remained unknown; esoteric traditions from the time of Fawcett to the present day connect this mythical city with the theory of the Hollow Earth.
Fawcett considered a figurine of black basalt to be material evidence of the existence of an unknown prehistoric civilization in Brazil. According to Fawcett, experts from the British Museum could not explain to him the origin of the figurine, and for this purpose he turned to a psychometrist for help, who described, upon contact with this artifact, "a large, irregularly shaped continent extending from the northern coast of Africa to South America," which then a natural disaster struck. The name of the mainland was Atladta.
On his 1921 expedition, Fawcett said he was able to gather further evidence of the remains of ancient cities by visiting the Gongoji River region in the Brazilian state of Bahia. In 1925, Fawcett and his companions did not return from the search for lost cities in the upper reaches of the Xingu River; the circumstances of the death of the expedition remained unknown.