Myths and scientific hypotheses about Atlantis. The death of Atlantis These Atlantis are in the sky where exactly
About 1,000,000 years after the Golden Age, the great Atlantean Race began to decline. During the time of the Third Race, the animal-likeness of the "mindless" manifested itself in the generation of huge humanoid monsters - the offspring of human and animal parents. As time passed, the offspring of these creatures changed due to external conditions, until, finally, these generations decreased in size and culminated in the lower apes of the Miocene period.
With these monkeys, the later Atlanteans resumed the sin of the "mindless" - this time with full responsibility. The result of their crime was the apes known as anthropoids. The moral fall was followed by the spiritual fall. Selfishness took over, and wars ended the Golden Age. People, instead of working for the common good under the guidance of the Great Instructors in cooperation with the cosmic forces of nature, fell into a frenzy of self-destruction. Taking an example from their owners, the animals also rushed to torment each other. This immoral influence of man on animals extends to the present day.
An example of this circumstance is the breed of big cats trained by the Atlanteans and adapted by them for hunting, which over time turned into bloodthirsty leopards and jaguars. Each person then began to fight only for himself, to utilize his knowledge for purely egoistic purposes, and began to believe that in the universe there is nothing higher than man. Everyone was for himself his law, his god. Then the cult celebrated in the temples no longer belonged to an inexpressible ideal, but became the cult of man, such as he is, as he was understood.
The Atlanteans began to create their images - according to their own example and likeness - and worshiped them. The statues were carved from eruptive lava, from the white marble of the mountains and from black underground stone, and were also cast from silver and gold. Niches containing such statues were carved from wood and stone and built into the walls of temples. These niches were built quite extensive, so that the procession of clergy during the celebrations in honor of a given person could go around his image. So people worshiped themselves. The richest maintained a whole staff of priests to serve this cult and take care of the altar in which the statues were located. They were sacrificed as gods. The apotheosis of self-worship could not be greater.
The kings, the majority of the clergy, and a significant part of the people began to use the secret forces, ignoring the laws prescribed by the Initiates, frivolously neglecting their advice and instructions. Communication with the Hierarchy was interrupted. Personal interests, the thirst for wealth and power, the ruin and destruction of enemies in order to enrich themselves more and more captured the consciousness of the masses. Secret knowledge, directed in the direction opposite to the goals of evolution, in the direction of selfishness and malevolence, turned into black magic and witchcraft. Luxury, brutality and barbarism increased even more, until the bestial instincts began to operate completely. Sorcerers and adepts of the dark forces widely disseminated black magic and the number of people who comprehended and applied it was constantly increasing.
The death of Atlantis
When the perversion of evolutionary laws reached its climax and the city of the Golden Gate became a hell of its cruelty, the first terrible catastrophe shook the entire continent. The capital was swept away by the waves of the ocean, millions of people were destroyed. Both the emperor and the clergy who had fallen away from the Higher Hierarchy were repeatedly warned about this catastrophe. Under the influence of the Light Forces, who foresaw the catastrophe, the best part people emigrated from this area before the disaster. These were the most developed members of the Race, who did not succumb to the general madness, who knew the law of the world, retained a correct understanding of responsibility and control over psychic forces.
This first catastrophe occurred during the Miocene epoch, approximately 800,000 years ago. It significantly changed the distribution of land on the globe. Large Atlantic Ocean lost its polar regions, and the middle part of it decreased and fragmented. The American continent in this era was separated by a strait from the Atlantis that gave birth to it; the latter extended even across the Atlantic Ocean, occupying a space from 50 degrees north latitude to a few degrees south of the equator. There have been such significant subsidence and uplift of the mainland in other parts of the world. So, from the detached and in other parts of the world.
Thus, a huge area was formed from the detached north-eastern part of Atlantis; the islands of Great Britain formed part of a huge island, covering Scandinavia, the north of France, and all the nearest seas surrounding them. The remnants of Lemuria were still shrinking, while the future territories of Europe, America and Africa were expanding significantly.
The second, less significant, catastrophe occurred about 200,000 years ago. The mainland of Atlantis was divided into two islands: the northern, large, called Ruta, and the southern, smaller, called Laithia. The island of Scandinavia then joined the European mainland. There were also some changes on the continent of America, as well as the flooding of Egypt.
After the catastrophe, the efforts of the Light Forces, acting under the leadership of the Hierarchy, gave good results for some time and influenced the abstinence of the saved population from practicing black magic, but the Toltec subrace could never achieve its former brilliance. Later, the descendants of the Toltecs on the island of Ruta repeated in miniature the history of their ancestors. The rulers and their dynasty again reached a certain power and reigned over most of the island. Subsequently, this dynasty also fell under the influence of black magic, which spread more and more and led again to a cosmically inevitable catastrophe that cleansed the world for its further evolutionary development. About 80,000 years ago, the third catastrophe occurred, exceeding all the others in strength and brightness.
Laitia has almost completely disappeared, while insignificant remnants of the island of Ruta have survived - the island of Poseidonis. In this era and until the disappearance of Father Poseidonis, nevertheless, in some part of the continent, an emperor from a bright dynasty always reigned. He acted under the leadership of the Hierarchy and resisted the spread of dark forces, led a minority that observed a pure and sublime life.
Before the catastrophes, there was always an emigration of the best minority. These emigrations were led by spiritual leaders who foresaw the disaster that threatened the country. Initiated kings and teachers who followed the "good law" were warned in advance of impending disasters. They were, as it were, the center of prophetic warnings and saved the faithful chosen tribes. Such migrations took place secretly, under cover of the night.
In 9567 B.C. powerful earthquakes destroyed the island of Poseidonis and the island plunged into the sea, creating a huge wave that flooded the lowlands, leaving behind a memory in the minds of people as a huge destructive "flood". Here is one of the stories about last days o.Poseidonis. … And the Great King of the Shining Face, the Head of all the yellow-faced, was sad, seeing the sins of the black-faced. And he sent his airships (vimana) with pious people in them to all the Brothers-Rulers, the heads of other peoples and tribes, saying: “Get ready. Arise, you people of the Good Law, and cross the earth while it is still dry. The storm lords are coming. Their chariots are approaching the Earth. Only one night and two days will the Lords of the dark face (sorcerers) live on this patient land. She is condemned, and they must fall with her. The Lords of the Fires of the Core - gnomes and elemental Spirits of Fire - make their magical fire armor. But the lords of the evil eye are stronger than the elemental Spirits, and they are the slaves of the powerful. They are omniscient in Astra Vidia, in the magical arts. Rise up and use your magical powers to resist the powers of the sorcerers. Let Every Lord of the Brilliant Face (Adept of White Magic) force the vimana of every Lord of the Dark Face to fall into his domain, so that none of the sorcerers can, thanks to him, be saved from the waters, escape the rod of the Four Karmic Deities and save their evil followers. May every yellow-faced man dream upon every black-faced man. May even sorcerers avoid pain and suffering. Let every person faithful to the Solar Gods paralyze every person faithful to the moon gods so that he does not suffer and avoid his fate. And let every one of the yellow face give his water of life (blood) to the talking animals belonging to the black face, so that they do not wake their master.
(The talking animal is an amazingly crafted beast, in some ways similar to the creation of Frankenstein, which spoke and warned the owner of every approaching danger. The owner was a "warlock", and the mechanical creature was animated by a genie, an element. Only blood pure man could destroy it.)
The hour has struck, the Black Night is ready ... “May their fate come true. We are servants of the Great Four Karmic Gods. May the Kings of Light return." The Great King fell on his Shining Face and wept… When the Kings gathered, the waters were already moving. But the nations have already crossed the dry lands. They were already above the water level. The kings overtook them in their vimanas and led them to the Lands of Fire and Metal (East and North). Meteors rained down on the lands of the blackfaces, but they slept.
The talking beasts (magical guardians) were calm. The lords of the depths waited for orders, but they did not come, for their lords were asleep. The waters rose and covered the valleys from one end of the earth to the other. The plateaus remained dry and the bosom of the Earth (land of antelopes) too. Those who were saved lived there: people of a yellow face and a straight eye (open and sincere people). When the Lords of the dark face woke up and remembered their vimanas in order to save themselves from the rising waters, they disappeared. The peoples being taken away were as numerous as the Stars of the Milky Way. Just as the Dragon Serpent slowly unfolds its body, so the Sons of Men, led away by the Sons of Wisdom, unfolded their ranks and spread like a rushing stream of fresh water. Many who feared among them died on the way. But most were saved. Some of the most powerful magicians, "dark faces", woke up earlier than others, began to pursue those who "robbed" them and who were in the last ranks.
Main location options
Many of the atlantologists believe that Atlantis was located in the Atlantic Ocean. Since the Strait of Gibraltar was always called the Pillars of Hercules in antiquity, Plato places Atlantis directly beyond the Strait of Gibraltar, not far from the coast of Spain and present-day Morocco [Appendix 1]. The most consistent of the supporters of the real existence of Atlantis join these considerations, pointing out that according to Plato, it could only be in the Atlantic Ocean and nowhere else. In particular, they noted that only in the Atlantic Ocean could land of the size described by Plato - central island 530x350 km and several large associated islands. Therefore, it is necessary to look for remains as a sign of evidence of its existence either at the bottom of the ocean or near the existing islands, which 11,500 years ago were high mountain peaks.
In Plato's story, Atlantis died as a result of a natural disaster (earthquake, flood or some other cataclysm), such historical event may act as a volcanic eruption on the island of Santorini in the Mediterranean Sea. Based on these data, another theory of the location of Atlantis appeared. In this case, the area of Atlantis given by Plato and the 9,000-year-old age of the event 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 collapse of the caldera.
These are the two most popular and best known concepts about the location of Atlantis. But there are also many other assumptions. For example, Francis Bacon referred to South America. And Jurgen Spanut spoke about the North Sea. At the beginning of the 19th century, the legendary search for Atlantis was going on, during which the location of Atlantis was attributed to Brazil, Scandinavia, Palestine, the Pas de Calais, etc. But in recent times the views of researchers are increasingly turning to the islands of Crete and Thira.
Dating the existence and death of Atlantis.
As with the location of the island, opinions differ. Numerous disputes and discussions among atlantologists have led to the fact that opinions about the existence, including the death of Atlantis, are divided. Let's look at the most basic of them.
The first opinion is that Atlantis existed in 9500 BC.
The second opinion - Atlantis existed in the period from 1550 BC. to 1226 BC
The third opinion - according to Plato, the death of Atlantis occurred at a time of about 12 thousand years ago (between 9750 and 8570 BC). She plunged into the depths of the ocean "in one day and a disastrous night" as a result of a grandiose natural disaster.
Thus, we see that opinions are very much divided. But the above opinions are the most basic. And do not forget that along with them there is a large number of other dates and each has its own evidence.
Causes of death
All researchers, including atlantologists, who adhere to the concept of the existence of Atlantis, are similar only in one thing - the death occurred as a result of a global catastrophe. But here, too, we do not observe a unanimous opinion about what kind of global catastrophe the death of the mythical archipelago occurred.
Many atlantologists believe that the natural disaster that lowered Atlantis to the bottom of the ocean could be an earthquake. In accordance with the new concept of the block structure of the earth's crust and the movement of lithospheric plates, the strongest earthquakes occur at the boundaries of these plates.
Around 1500 B.C. e. in the Mediterranean Sea, not far from one of the possible locations of Atlantis, something similar to a tsunami happened. Which is another concept about the death of Atlantis.
The concept of an asteroid colliding with the Earth has been destroyed by modern scientists, based on the fact that such a collision would destroy all life on Earth. This point of view was held by the Polish astronomer L. Seidler, astronomer O. Muk and others.
Plato himself, in his dialogue Critias, speaks of the death of Atlantis as follows: good looks. Therefore, he called all the gods ... and addressed the audience with these words ... ". On which the text inexorably ends, referring to the fact that the continuation was lost for centuries.
Hans Schindler Bellamy suggested that Atlantis was wiped off the face of the Earth giant waves, resulting from the impact of the Moon in the gravitational field of the Earth.
V.A. Polyakov tells us that the death of Atlantis took place in several stages. “... the first terrible catastrophe shook the entire continent about 800 thousand years ago. The capital was washed away by the waves of the ocean, millions of people died. The second catastrophe, which occurred about 200 thousand years ago, is not described, referring to the fact that it was not so significant and only divided Atlantis into two islands. It is not difficult to guess that most likely it was an earthquake. The catastrophe that occurred 12 thousand years ago, according to the description, was similar to a tsunami. And as he believes, this left in the minds of people the memory of the great flood.
According to Plato, "in one day and in one disastrous night ... all Atlantis went under water ...". However, there is a certain distrust of these words of the ancient Greek thinker, if you seriously think about possible reason destruction of an entire country. And therefore, a completely natural conclusion was made: Atlantis could not exist only because it could not simply disappear.
As we can see from this, opinions are very much divided. As the saying goes: "how many people, so many opinions."
Already 130 centuries have passed since the time when our planet was inhabited by the ancient highly developed civilization of Atlantes. So where was she really and under what circumstances did she die or simply disappear? These questions to this day excite our imagination, because so far, there is no unambiguous answer to them. Movie directors, science fiction writers, and scientists feed our minds with different scenarios. According to their versions, our galaxy is replete with various types of civilizations and a variety of types of life. But real story The existence of our planet is no less interesting to any science fiction. The Earth holds many secrets and mysteries that we are unlikely to find the answer to someday.
Let's imagine that we could go back to the time when Atlantis still existed. Most likely, we would not even recognize our home planet! This is due to the fact that most scientists believe that in those days the Earth's atmosphere was abundant with moisture, the climate was more moderate, the air was thicker, gravity was less, and the planet itself rotated in a different orbit. And on the site of the Atlantic Ocean there was a highly developed civilization, traces of which can be traced in philosophical tracts, myths and legends. It is believed that the Atlanteans were already the 4th! terrestrial civilization, quite possibly not of terrestrial origin. Therefore, scientists believe modern humanity is already the fifth! civilization, which apparently went on a completely different, perhaps not the right path of development of science and technology.
Civilization of telepaths and psychics
Atlantes, in their development, exceeded us in everything. They knew how to manage their own biofield, understood each other and could communicate in long distance, i.e. telepathically, could easily levitate. Having mastered the enormous internal energy, the Atlanteans could move exorbitant monoliths with the power of thought alone. Evidence of this civilization is found all over the world: in the Pyrenees, Morocco, China, Yucatan, Europe and America. They say that the central part of the deceased continent was located in the Bermuda Triangle. It was there, not so long ago, that “energy crystals” were discovered, as well as pyramids, like those in Egypt. For a long time, the Bermuda Triangle has been considered anomalous zone, and perhaps all the disappearances of ships and aircraft are associated with these finds. Given the opinion of professors from the Minnesota Institute, the Atlanteans were aliens who had telepathy and levitation as the only way to communicate.
Atlanteans were immortal?
There is an opinion that in the ethereal project the Atlanteans were immortal, because physical bodies lived up to 1000 years. The legends say that these are just extraterrestrial beings that have inhabited the human form, the stay in which did not pass without a trace. Over time, the Atlanteans became more and more human. They experimented with weather conditions on the continent, which could lead to the death of the continent. They understood that with such powers and capabilities, their civilization was doomed to death, therefore, for future generations, they left encrypted information about the crystals, with which they could draw a little of their strength. Apparently, their ancient libraries and scientific laboratories may well be located on the Giza plateau. For this reason, the controversy about the pyramids of Egypt does not subside to this day. Their real role in the life of our humanity still cannot be revealed by modern scientists, or at least they do not disclose this information.
With the help of seismographic studies, American scientists discovered the ruins of settlements, in the Bermuda Triangle. Their research showed that the death of Atlantis was terrible. The rapid disappearance of the mainland was so global and crushing that it led to a change in the axis of rotation of the planet. Apparently, our civilization has come to a similar step. A distinct climate change has been observed for several decades, global cataclysms such as tsunamis, earthquakes and hurricanes are shaking the population of the earth more and more often. Our planet, riddled with underground bunkers and mines, makes it look like a layer cake.
If our civilization does not stop the destructive activity on Earth, perhaps in the near future we may suffer the same fate that befell the Atlanteans. And to replace our era, the 6th civilization will come, which will have to start its development from the beginning. And maybe at least she will be able to follow the right path of development and find harmony between man and nature.
The legend of Atlantis, born in Ancient Greece, has been of interest for more than two millennia. A variety of sources - historical, ethnic, zoogeographical, astronomical, etc. - have been analyzed, disassembled and compared. The successes achieved as a result of archaeological excavations and geological study of the seabed have provided such rich material that now we can look at the problem of Atlantis in a different way . What used to be based only on conjectures and assumptions has received real confirmation thanks to new facts. Now one can even imagine the cultural level of the Atlanteans and describe the nature of the geological catastrophe that led to their death.
In order to answer the question of why Atlantis died, you need to know where it was. Most atlantologists, including our leading specialist in this field, N.F. Zhirov, placed the drowned country in the northern part of the Atlantic Ocean.
In the last decade, the bathymetric, geological, and geophysical knowledge of the Atlantic Ocean has moved far ahead. Now we can definitely say that at the bottom of the central part of the Atlantic Ocean, in particular on the mid-ocean underwater ridge, there is no submerged Atlantis.
Science is accumulating facts in favor of the fact that the oceans, in particular the Atlantic, are relatively young formations (100-50 million years), earlier there were continents in their place. It is quite possible that individual sections of the Atlantic Ocean were included in the troughs later - at the beginning or middle of the Tertiary period, i.e., 25–10 million years ago. But we have no grounds to assume that the subsidence of any land areas in the central part of the Atlantic Ocean has occurred over the past 12 thousand years.
In recent years, geological and geophysical research in the Atlantic Ocean has developed very intensively. With the help of automatic echo sounders, the topography of the ocean floor was studied in detail. Seismic and magnetic methods were used to study in detail the structure of the Earth's crust in the Central and North Atlantic. The soil-bearing pipes lowered to the bottom gave abundant material on the composition and age of sediments on the ocean floor. Finally, in the 1970s, deep drilling of the ocean floor was carried out at many points in the Atlantic from the research vessel Glomar Challenger, specially equipped for this purpose. Drilling has shown that in the central part of the Atlantic, near the mid-ocean ridge, exclusively carbonate sediments are developed, the thickness of which reaches many tens of meters. towards the European and American coasts carbonate oozes are gradually replaced by clayey silts, and interlayers of fine-grained sands appear only near the continental slope. These new data indicate that not only in the last 10-20 thousand years, but also 5-10 million years ago, there was no land within the central part of the Atlantic Ocean. The drift of fine-grained material into the ocean came only from the ocean margins. Sea currents did not carry even the smallest clay particles to the central part of the Atlantic Ocean, and only carbonate sediments accumulated there, formed as a result of the death of organisms living in the water. If land existed in the central part of the Atlantic Ocean at least temporarily, then the detrital material removed from it would certainly be found in the sediments of this part of the ocean.
Modern ideas about geological processes taking place now or happened in the recent geological past allow us to narrow the number natural phenomena, which are capable of causing a catastrophe somewhat close to Plato's descriptions.
It would seem that one of the most natural causes of the death of Atlantis was the rise in the level of the ocean or the lowering of the land where Atlantis was located. A huge number of examples are known when the ruins of buildings and entire cities are found at the bottom of lakes, seas and oceans, which a thousand years ago were located on land or even far from the sea. The ups and downs of the ocean floor cover vast areas. So, a significant part of the Netherlands is constantly sinking. To prevent sea water from penetrating into inhabited areas and flooding pastures, fields and cities, the Dutch constantly have to build up dams that protect their country from the intrusion of the waters of the North Sea.
No matter how tempting is the explanation of the death of Atlantis by the general sinking of the island, it cannot be accepted: there is nothing catastrophic in the sinking of the land. Ups and downs on the earth's surface, due to geological reasons, occur everywhere. Maximum speeds uplifts and subsidences of the earth's crust are measured by several millimeters per year. In order for a flat country to sink even a few meters, time is needed, measured in millennia. If we recall that, according to Plato's description, Atlantis abounded mountain ranges, then it is obvious that this reason will have to be abandoned.
The unusual slowness of geological ups and downs confused many atlantologists, and some of them, in search of reasons that sharply accelerate the sinking of the land, turned to the so-called eustatic fluctuations in the level of the World Ocean. What it is?
As you know, in the recent geological past, our planet has experienced several epochs of glaciation. During the glaciation, a huge amount of water was turned into continental ice, covering large areas in the north of Europe, Asia and America with a thousand-meter shell. So much moisture accumulated in the ice sheet that the water level in the World Ocean dropped by 100 m. When the ice began to melt, the level of the World Ocean began to rise again and eventually rose by the same 100 m. Raising the ocean level to a similar height is enough, to take over many countries. However, no matter how tempting such a reason for explaining the death of Atlantis, it is also unrealistic.
The warming at the end of the last ice age was not catastrophic. Radiocarbon studies of organic remains found in late and post-glacial deposits and paleobotanical materials indicate that the rise in sea level at the end of the Ice Age was gradual. At the first stages of ice melting, the level in the ocean increased by 12–7 mm/year, and then (about 6 thousand years ago) by only 2–1 mm/year.
It is not possible to drown Atlantis as a result of "ordinary", i.e., constantly and everywhere occurring, geological processes. In this case, the cause of the death of the legendary continent should be sought in accidental, catastrophic phenomena. Events of this kind can be divided into two groups: a) cosmic events, b) geological catastrophes.
Greater attention of atlantologists is attracted by the cosmic causes of the death of Atlantis. The famous Polish astronomer L. Seidler brought them to the fore. He proposed several different options for cosmic catastrophes, namely, the meeting of the Earth with an asteroid, the fall of a comet, etc. Let us consider how competent this hypothesis is.
The death of a large region as a result of a meteorite fall is a real thing. It should be emphasized that until recent years the role of such catastrophes in the historical past of our planet was underestimated, since the surface of the Earth was still insufficiently explored and most of the known meteorite craters were not discovered. Reassessment of ideas about the scale of such meteorite catastrophes has occurred in recent years in connection with the success of the study of the Moon, Mars, Mercury and other planets.
And yet such a cause of the death of Atlantis, although in principle possible, is unlikely. And the point is not only that the fall of large meteorites is an unusually rare phenomenon (for the historical period of the life of mankind, we do not know reliable cases of such a fall). No matter how large the meteorite that fell to Earth was, it could not form an oceanic depression at the site of its fall. Even in such a meteorite crater as the Popigai Basin in Siberia, the surface of the crater is only a few tens (maximum hundreds) of meters below the space outside the explosion. Thus, if the legendary Atlantis was overtaken by a giant meteorite, then, of course, it would be destroyed, but it would by no means sink to the ocean floor. Such a large meteorite crater, measured in tens of kilometers, would be discovered, and especially in the last decade, when the entire globe is covered with photography from aircraft and satellites.
Is the death of Atlantis possible as a result of the meeting of the Earth with a comet? Judging by the strength of the explosion and the size of the affected area, then undoubtedly. However, the comet could only destroy and burn the legendary country, but not destroy it, much less lower it below sea level. If such a catastrophe had occurred, then the ruins of the destroyed state of the Atlanteans would have been preserved. Cosmic reasons, no matter how tempting they seem at first glance, must be abandoned upon careful analysis.
Let us turn to the geological processes of a catastrophic nature. Here, three phenomena that serve as a constant source of human disasters should attract attention: earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis.
During the historical era, hundreds of devastating earthquakes occurred, as a result of which giant cracks formed on the body of the Earth, large landslides of rock masses occurred, cities collapsed, thousands of people died. The cataclysms of the last two centuries have been most fully studied.
An earthquake, especially on the coast of the ocean, is much closer in character to Plato's descriptions than space disasters. It is also significant that even the strongest seismic paroxysms occur a thousand times more often than the fall of large meteorites.
We wrote that such earthquakes as the Chilean one can be considered close to the maximum possible. Studying them allows us to assess the probable consequences of the maximum possible seismic cataclysm. Since a catastrophic earthquake occurs along an extended fault, the zone of greatest destruction extends into a relatively narrow strip, which is at most 20–50 km wide and up to 300–500 km long. Outside this zone, an underground strike no longer has a catastrophic force. Due to the limited width of the zone of destruction, the whole country, including Atlantis, would not be completely destroyed by one push, no matter how strong it was.
During catastrophic earthquakes, there is a subsidence (or rise) of significant areas, measured in tens of thousands of square kilometers. If the zone subjected to earthquakes is located near the sea, then such a phenomenon can lead to the subsidence of a vast territory under the sea level, as during the Baikal earthquake of 1861. Then, in the delta of the Selenga River, the so-called Gypsy steppe with an area of more than 200 km2 went under water.
Such a phenomenon seems to resemble the situation conveyed by Plato - Atlantis went under water. However, it is impossible to drown Atlantis with the help of an earthquake. The fact is that one catastrophic earthquake will lower the zone adjacent to the epicentral line by only a few meters, no more. Consequently, the ruins of Atlantis on the coastal bottom could be discovered not only by a scuba diver, but also by any swimmer.
An earthquake is capable of destroying part of the state of Atlantis, turning its capital into ruins, but it could not plunge Atlantis into the depths of the ocean without a trace.
Could a giant tsunami have caused the death of Atlantis? As you know, tsunamis occur when an underground shock or volcanic explosion occurs near the sea.
Tsunamis from underwater earthquakes are practically non-existent in the Atlantic Ocean. No, because tsunamigenic earthquakes do not occur under the bottom of these oceans.
Let us dwell on the possibility of tsunami waves in the Mediterranean Sea. The Greek seismologist A. Galanopoulos devoted a special article to this issue. The information he collected showed that tsunamis that occur near the coast of the sea are caused by two reasons: underwater earthquakes, volcanic eruptions under water and near water. It turned out that the height of tsunami waves from earthquakes is small, which means that there can be no catastrophic destruction on the coast.
In the previous chapter, it was shown that volcanic explosions have no equal in terms of the energy released, the size of the area subject to devastation. Their danger to humans also lies in the fact that they are accompanied by a number of catastrophic phenomena: shock wave, ashfall, tsunami.
Finding out the maximum possible force of a geological catastrophe is of exceptional importance for solving the problem of Atlantis. First, if we literally follow the text of Plato, which says that Atlantis was larger than Libya (Africa) and Asia (Asia Minor) combined, then it is obvious that for the complete destruction of such a huge country, a geological catastrophe is needed thousands of times greater than known to us. Secondly, for our further conclusions it is extremely important that the eruption of Santorin in the XIV century. BC e., which we associate with the death of the Minoan maritime power, is one of the maximum possible geological cataclysms, which means that if we want to explain the destruction of Atlantis by a geological catastrophe, then the Santorini eruption, judging by the force of the explosion and the area of devastation, is more suitable for this purpose than or otherwise.
On the existence of 4-5 thousand years ago on the islands Aegean Sea a large maritime state with a high culture until the beginning of our century, almost nothing was known. In March 1900, the English archaeologist A. Evans began excavations on the island of Crete. Already the first months of work gave amazing results. The ruins of a huge palace with magnificent frescoes were discovered, which, with many rooms, passages and courtyards, strikingly resembled the Labyrinth known from ancient Greek myth about Theseus.
Thanks to archaeological excavations in Knossos, as well as on the site of other ancient settlements of Crete and the Cyclades, the world learned about the existence of a new Cretan-Mycenaean culture, about a powerful sea power that dominated the Mediterranean in the III-II millennium BC. e. Evans's discovery also illuminated the problem of Atlantis in a completely new way.
There have been reports in the press that excavations are underway in the Aegean Sea, on the island of Thira in the Santorini archipelago, 120 km north of Crete. ancient city covered with volcanic ash. The discovered works of art and crafts belong to the heyday of the Cretan-Mycenaean culture. In the southern part of the island of Thira, under a multi-meter thickness of volcanic ash, entire blocks of houses, including multi-storey ones, were found covered with ash.
Some with small loggias, others with vestibules and stone benches. High stucco corridors lead to interior rooms with numerous niches and ledges. Fireplaces have been built in the main rooms. The walls are colorfully painted.
The frescoes found on the walls of houses captured the blueness of the sky, the greenery of trees, flowering lilies, crocuses, myrtle, climbing ivy. There are many images of lilies on ceramics, even the whole room is painted with lilies. A large number of ritual vessels, figurines of sacrificial animals and small altars have been found. Frescoes are open, which show a life-size procession of women with sacred gifts. I saw the light and another beautiful fresco, with half-naked female figures.
Excavations allow us to imagine the original size of the prehistoric city. It is assumed that ancient city once stretched across the entire island. In those days, up to 30 thousand people lived on the edge of the crater. With the explosion of Santorin and the sinking of the caldera, the northern part of the city perished. The southern one was partly filled up, and partly went under water.
In 1939, an article by S. Marinatos appeared on the pages of the English magazine Antiquity, outlining the hypothesis that the colossal eruption of Santorini was the root cause of the death of the Minoan civilization. Then Crete was destroyed. Attention was also drawn to the fact that the civilization described by Plato, in which bronze was intensively used, resembled the Minoan, destroyed 900 years before the era of Solon.
Not for 9000 years, as Plato wrote, but for 900. The Greek seismologist A. Galanopoulos drew attention to the fact that the numbers differ exactly 10 times, and suggested that Solon, who did not know the Egyptian language and spoke with the Egyptian priests through an interpreter, I made a mistake and took the Egyptian designation of the number 100 for 1000. But in this case, the other numbers given in Plato's description of Atlantis should be more than 10 times? Galanopoulos checked all the measurements given by Plato and came to the conclusion that the size of the country, the canals, the ditches around the castles, the number of ships and all other items mentioned in the legend were exaggerated 10 times. Knowing geography well, Plato understood what big kingdom could not be in the Mediterranean. Therefore, according to Galanopoulos, he moved the pillars of Hercules from the Peloponnese to Gibraltar, and the island of Atlantis to the ocean located beyond the Iberian Peninsula.
By placing the vanished country of Plato in the Aegean region and linking its death with the eruption of Santorin, we can quite fully restore the dimensions of the legendary Atlantis, imagine the flowering of culture and art that existed there, and describe its tragedy.
Let's try to imagine the scale of the catastrophe that occurred in 1400 BC. e. in the Aegean Sea and which caused the death of the Minoan kingdom. Some idea of this can be given by comparing the Minoan eruption of Santorini with the disaster in the Sunda archipelago, when the Krakatau volcano exploded. Studies by many geologists have shown that the mechanism for the formation of the calderas of both volcanoes was similar. But the Krakatoa caldera is significantly inferior to the Santorini caldera in its size. Three or four times big square calderas, as well as a layer of tephra up to 30 m thick, preserved on the islands of Thira, Thirassia and Aspronisi, suggest that the Minoan eruption of Santorini was more catastrophic than the paroxysm of Krakatoa.
One must think that this event, as in 1883 in the Sunda Archipelago, was not instantaneous, but lasted several hours, and maybe even days. "In one day and a disastrous night ..." - says Plato.
The Minoan eruption of Santorini was preceded by a long period of calm. Volcanic ash lies on rocks that were on the surface of the earth for a long time before the eruption and were heavily weathered. But in such a geologically active area, peace is not eternal. Excavations on Tire give evidence that the giant eruption was preceded by earthquakes that destroyed some buildings. Happened and volcanic eruptions, which, however, did not become destructive - on the layers of ash and pumice that covered the debris from earthquakes, traces of life are visible, which continued after the onset of natural disasters.
A striking feature of the volcanic disaster is that, unlike Pompeii, no human remains were found in the ashes. We must conclude that even before the main eruption, the inhabitants of Atlantis managed to escape from the city. Grabbing the most valuable, they rushed to the shore. They managed to collect and carry clay vessels to the shore, but they were no longer able to take them with them. This is evidenced by excavations on Tyre. During the eruption of the Bezymyanny volcano, an ash cloud rose to a height of up to 40 km. In Ust-Kamchatsk, located 120 km from the volcano, that is, at the same distance as Crete from Santorin, a cloud obscured the entire horizon, and soon it became as dark as night there. Apparently, a similar phenomenon was also observed at the beginning of the Santorini eruption. The roar and the black cloud that rose above the volcano confused the inhabitants of the Minoan state, forced them to get out of their houses, to run further from the raging elements. Undoubtedly, Crete suffered less from the volcanic disaster than the island of Atlantis, but one should not underestimate the disastrous consequences for Crete of the eruption in Santorini. Most likely, in Crete, as well as in the Cyclades, the influence of all the consequences of the volcanic catastrophe simultaneously affected.
The first consequence of the Santorini disaster is the blast wave. During the eruption of Krakatoa, the roar was heard in an area equal to 1/13 the globe. Air shock waves shattered glass in houses and at a distance of 150 km, and in some cases old houses were damaged at a distance of 800 km from Krakatau. The Santorini caldera with an area of 83 km2 and a layer of ash of 30 m on its fragments - the islands of Thira, Thirasia, Aspronisi, suggest that the Minoan eruption was stronger than the eruption of Krakatoa. This means that in the Cyclades and Crete, located 100–150 km from Santorin, the blast wave should have caused significant damage.
Tremors almost always accompany volcanic eruptions. Such a grandiose geological event as the eruption of Santorini was almost certainly accompanied by underground shocks. Earthquakes, even of medium strength, can destroy or damage stone buildings. The destruction of cities in Crete and the Cyclades from an earthquake is the second consequence of a volcanic catastrophe.
Following the roar of volcanic explosions, an earthquake, an ashfall began from a rising black cloud, covering the settlements of ancient Santorin. Ashfall contributed to the partial preservation of Minoan buildings, as one and a half thousand years later, the ashes of Vesuvius fell asleep and preserved the city of Pompeii to this day. When, following the eruption and explosions, the collapse of the Santorin caldera began, only those buildings on Atlantis that were located within the settled caldera were destroyed. Buildings on the island of Thira, covered with a 30-meter layer of ash, have survived to this day.
Ashfall, as we now know, occurred during three successive eruptions of Santorin, of which the first was the most powerful and ash-rich. On Atlantis, the ash layer was measured in tens of meters, that is, it was more than enough to cover everything.
On the basis of Iceland - one of the most active volcanic regions of the world - the disastrous effect of ashfalls on agriculture has been studied. After analyzing historical materials, scientists found that the local population left the villages in cases where the layer of freshly fallen ash reached 10 cm or more, and did not return until the water and wind carried away the ashes. It took several decades, if not more.
After the Minoan eruption, the central and eastern parts of Crete and all the Cyclades were covered with a layer of ash more than 10 cm thick. Consequently, not only the entire crop died there, but a lifeless desert was formed, which, of course, people left.
There is some evidence that the tremors, explosions and collapse of the caldera that accompanied the eruption of Santorini in the XIV century. BC e., caused a very strong tsunami. On the island of Anafi, located 25 km east of Santorini, a layer of tephra 5 m thick was found, located in the upper reaches of one of the valleys at an altitude of 250 m above sea level. It consisted mainly of pumice, which is usually formed in water. According to the researchers, this pumice was deposited in the sea during the Minoan eruption of Santorini, and then brought to land by a tsunami wave. Undoubtedly, the tsunami from the Santorini disaster was one of the strongest. The northern coast of Crete is the most open to the raging elements. After the collapse of the island of Atlantis, the entire northern coast of Crete was supposed to be flooded within 20–30 minutes.
Signs of the destructive action of the Santorini tsunami found on east coast mediterranean sea during archaeological excavations in Syria. The port and half of the ancient city of Ugarit is destroyed by a sea wave around 1400 BC. e. A Phoenician poem found in the library of Ugarit tells of the destruction caused by a hurricane and a tsunami.
The Santorini catastrophe not only caused colossal destruction in the Cyclades and Crete, but also killed many people. There were also casualties on other islands in the Aegean. Undoubtedly, the tsunami brought the greatest number of victims. Coastal settlements and the population of coastal cities were destroyed by the surging sea waves. Unlike Crete and the Cyclades, mainland Greece suffered less from the disaster. Ashfall under the influence of the wind spread from Santorin mainly to the southeast. Tsunami waves were also mainland Greece less dangerous, since most of the Greek population of that time was engaged in cattle breeding and lived in the mountains. Most of the cities were located beyond the reach of the waves. This can be seen in the example of the cities of Tiryns or Mycenae, located on the hills. They suffered little from the Santorini catastrophe and after the death of the Cretan state remained the largest centers of the Aegean culture.
Everyone knows that the mysterious island civilization of Atlantis was first mentioned by Plato. According to him, Atlantis existed nine thousand years before the time when the philosopher himself lived, that is, it was incredible ancient history. The utopian island kingdom, which had enormous sea power, disappeared underwater in just one day. For many centuries, various writers, historians, scientists and researchers have argued about whether Atlantis existed, and if so, where it could be.
Atlantis - The mid-Atlantic continent that suddenly sank
Until the end of the nineteenth century, the idea that Atlantis could be real historical place, and not a legend invented by Plato, practically did not rise. In 1882, the writer Ignatius Donnelly, in his book Atlantis: The World Before the Flood, theorized that the scientists of the time were not advanced enough to create all the inventions, so they were most likely handed down by the more advanced civilization of Atlantis. Assuming that the Atlantic Ocean was only a couple of hundred feet deep, Donnelly wrote that Atlantis was flooded exactly where Plato described it. However, modern oceanography has already refuted such a theory, largely due to knowledge about the movement of tectonic plates, but many still believe exactly what Donnelly thought about this.
Atlantis was swallowed up by the Bermuda Triangle
Encouraged by Donnelly's work, many writers began to create their own theories about what might have happened to Atlantis. One of them was Charles Berlitz, who in the seventies of the twentieth century stated that Atlantis was a real continent, which was located near Bahamas. And he suggested that the reason for the disappearance of the continent was the famous Bermuda Triangle, which became the site of the mystical disappearance of a large number of ships.
Atlantis is Antarctica
In his 1958 book, another author, Charles Hapgood, proposed the idea that Atlantis was just a much more impressive version of what is now Antarctica. According to this theory, about 12 thousand years ago there was a massive shift in the earth's crust, which led to the fact that Atlantis was in a completely different position. And a prosperous civilization was doomed to death, as it was buried under a thick layer of ice. This theory appeared a little earlier than the moment when mankind learned the whole truth about the movement of tectonic plates - and this truth completely defeated Hapgood's theory.
Atlantis is a mythical retelling of the Black Sea Flood
This theory suggests that the very existence of Atlantis is a myth, but the story of its sinking was based on real events: a breakthrough of the waters of the Mediterranean Sea into the previously closed Black Sea around 5600 BC. Then the Black Sea was a freshwater lake two times smaller than it is now. This event led to the fact that the peoples who flourished along the shores of the Black Sea were forced to leave their place of residence, spreading news of a terrifying flood, which could become the basis for Plato's later narrative of Atlantis.
Atlantis is the history of the Minoan civilization
One of the more recent theories is that the Minoan civilization, named after the famous king Minos, flourished between about 2500 and 1600 BC. Greek islands Crete and Thira. It is believed that the Minoan civilization was the first great European civilization, whose inhabitants built palaces, paved roads and used writing. And in the heyday of its greatness, this civilization suddenly disappeared from the annals, which made it possible to admit its connection with the famous Atlantis. Historians believe that around 1600 BC, a massive earthquake shook volcanic island Tira, causing an eruption of incredible power. The eruption was followed by a tsunami that was powerful enough to wipe out a large number of Minoan cities, rendering them virtually powerless against incursions from the continent.
Atlantis did not exist - Plato invented it
Most historians and scholars have for many years concluded that Plato's story of lost civilization Atlantis is a fabrication. The philosopher created Atlantis as his own version of an ideal civilization and made its disappearance look like a cautionary tale about how the gods punished people for their arrogance. There is no written evidence for the existence of Atlantis other than Plato's records - even among the many surviving texts found in Ancient Greece during Plato's time. Moreover, despite the huge progress in oceanography and mapping of the ocean floor, no traces of a sunken civilization have been found.
