Everyone has heard of these structures. They can be found on all continents of our planet. Some of them are grandiose structures, others look like unusual figures, laid out of stones right on the ground.
These are ancient labyrinths. What is it, why did our ancestors build them? Such questions have been heard for a long time, and there is no single answer.
Riddles of labyrinths - the legacy of the ancients
Man began to create the first labyrinths in the Stone Age. Some of them are rock carvings, others are patterns laid out of stone. They usually look like lines swirling around the center. This is the so-called classical form. Modern scientists believe that these labyrinths served as a kind of amulets for our ancestors.
One of the most famous labyrinths, built in 2200 BC. e., is located in Egypt, near the lake Birket-Karun. This majestic structure, according to many scientists, served as the burial place of the pharaoh and the sacred crocodiles.
This building covers an area of over 70 thousand square meters. m. and includes several thousand passages and halls. Herodotus, describing this labyrinth, says that much more money was spent on its creation than on all other structures of the Egyptians.
The most famous labyrinth in history is the Cretan labyrinth. According to legend, it was sharpened by master Daedalus by order of King Minos. The Cretan labyrinth is similar in structure to the Egyptian one, but much smaller.
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According to legend, Minos placed the Minotaur, the bull-man, in the labyrinth. And when Crete won the war with Athens, Minos demanded that every nine years the Athenians should send seven young men and seven girls to be devoured by the monster.
This continued until the moment when Theseus was in the labyrinth, who killed the Minotaur and, with the help of Ariadne, got out of the labyrinth. The labyrinth was destroyed over 3 thousand years ago. But interest in him does not subside.
Scientists still argue today: was it there at all? Some consider the palace of Minos itself a labyrinth, others, relying on the latest finds of archaeologists, believe that this structure really existed.
Ancient labyrinths are also found on the territory of our country. Only on the Solovetsky Islands there are about a thousand of them.
According to scientists, the labyrinths of the ancients could perform several functions. They could be built as impassable obstacles for enemies. The labyrinth could serve as a testing ground for humans.
Perhaps the ancients considered labyrinths to be the gateway to the afterlife. In our time, these functions have long been lost, labyrinths are used only as decoration or entertainment.