Travelers of Ancient Times

Gannon (505) - Herodotus (484) - Pytheas (340) - Eudoxus (146) - Strabo (63)

Gannon

Carthaginian - Happy Islands (Canary Islands), Evening Horn, South Horn, Gulf of Rio de Oro - Herodotus visits Egypt, Libya, Ethiopia, Phenicia, Arabia, Babylonia, Persia, Media, Colchis, Caspian Sea, Scythia and Thrace - Pytheas explores the shores of Iberia and Celtic, the English Channel, the island of Albion, the Orkney (Orkney) islands, the land of Thule - Nearchus travels around the Asian coast from the Indus to the Persian Gulf - Eudoxus gets acquainted with the western coast of Africa - Strabo travels through Inner Asia, Egypt, Greece and Italy

The first traveler to be mentioned in historical sources was Gannon sent by the Carthaginian 1 (numbers-see approx. at the end) Senate to colonize new territories on the west coast of Africa. The message of this expedition was written in Punic 2 and translated into Greek; it is known as "Hannon's Sea Voyage". What era did this researcher live in? Historians have different opinions. But the most reliable version is considered, according to which his visit to the African coast dates back to 505 BC 3.

Argonauts sailing map

Hannon left Carthage at the head of a fleet of sixty galleys, each with fifty oarsmen; the ships carried thirty thousand people and supplies for the long journey. The settlers - you can call them that - had to settle in new cities. The Carthaginians were going to establish new settlements on the west coast of Libya, in other words, Africa.

The fleet safely passed the Pillars of Hercules 4 - the rocks of Gibraltar and Ceuta, towering over the strait, and dared to launch south into Atlantic Ocean... Two days later, Gannon made a stop and founded the city of Fimyaterium in this place. Continuing his voyage, he then rounded Cape Solosit, entered into trade relations with local residents and headed further, to the mouth of a large African river, on the banks of which a tribe of nomadic shepherds lived. Having entered into a friendly alliance with them, the Carthaginian navigator continued to advance south, along the deserted shores of the Sahara; then he reached the island of Kerna, which, judging by the description, is at the same distance from the Pillars of Hercules as the Pillars of Hercules are from Carthage. What island was it? Without a doubt, one of the islands belonging to the Happy (now Canary) group.

Pillars of Hercules. From a medieval map

The journey continued, and soon Gannon arrived at the mouth of the Khreta 5 river, which forms a wide bay. When the Carthaginians sailed up the river, the local inhabitants - the Negroes - greeted them with a hail of stones.

Having completed their exploration, the fleet returned to the mouth of the river and, after sailing for twelve days south, reached a mountainous area teeming with fragrant trees and balsamic plants. The fleet then stopped in a vast bay with flat, low-lying shores. This land, so calm by day, was illuminated at night by columns of flame, emanating either from the fires lit by the natives, or from the spontaneous combustion of dried grass.

After another five days, Hannon and his companions rounded the cape and entered the bay, which they called the Evening Horn. There, the traveler says, he heard the sounds of flutes, the rumbling of cymbals, tambourines 6 and the rumble of countless voices. "The oracles accompanying the Carthaginian expedition advised us to flee from this terrible land." They were obeyed, and the fleet continued to sail to lower latitudes.

Then Gannon reached the bay called the South Horn. Geographers believe that this bay, apparently, was the mouth of the Riode Oro River, which flows into the Atlantic Ocean near the Tropic of Cancer 7.

In the depths of this bay was an island teeming with gorillas, which the Carthaginians mistook for hairy savages. They managed to capture three "women", but soon they were forced to kill them, since the fury of these monkeys was indomitable 8.

The South Horn was without doubt the end point reached by the Punic expedition. Some historians argue that the Carthaginian fleet did not go beyond Cape Bohador, located two degrees north of the tropic, but the first point of view seems more likely to us.

Upon reaching the South Horn, Gannon began to lack food. Then he turned north and returned to Carthage, where, by his order, a marble slab was placed in the temple of Baal Moloch with a description of the journey "around the world" carved on it.

After the Carthaginian navigator, the most famous of the ancient travelers in historical times was the Greek scientist Herodotus, nicknamed "the father of history". For our purpose, we will separate the traveler from the historian and follow him to the countries he has visited.

Greek galley. 500 BC

Herodotus was born about 484 BC 9 in the Asia Minor city of Halicarnassus. He came from a wealthy and noble family with extensive trade connections that could help develop the exploratory travel instincts that awakened in the boy.

In that era, there was no consensus regarding the shape of the Earth. The school of Pythagoras has already begun to spread the doctrine that the Earth is spherical. But Herodotus did not take any part in these disputes, which worried the scientists of his time. In his early youth, he left his homeland with the intention of carefully studying distant countries, about which very scant and contradictory information reached.

In 464, at the age of twenty, he left Halicarnassus. Apparently, Herodotus first went to Egypt, where he visited the cities of Memphis, Heliopolis and Thebes. During the trip, he managed to get a lot of valuable information about the floods of the Nile. In his notes, he gives various opinions regarding the source of this great river, which the Egyptians revered as a deity.

“When the Nile overflows,” says Herodotus, “nothing is visible except the cities; they appear to be built on top of the water and resemble the islands of the Aegean. "

Herodotus tells about the religious rites of the Egyptians, about how they make sacrifices to their gods and how solemnly they celebrate the holidays in honor of the goddess Isis in the city of Buziris, the ruins of which are still visible today. Herodotus also tells how the Egyptians revere wild and domestic animals, considering them sacred, and pay them funeral honors. With the precision of a true naturalist, he describes the Nile crocodile and its habits; describes the ways in which crocodiles are caught. We will find out what other animals are found there and what the Egyptian hippopotamus, the ibis bird, and various snakes are.

Herodotus depicts the Egyptians' domestic life, their customs, games, talks about the art of embalming the dead, which the Egyptians mastered perfectly. Further, he reports what structures were erected during the reign of Pharaoh Cheops: a labyrinth built near Lake Merisa, the remains of which were discovered in 1799; Lake Meris, created by human hands, and two pyramids that rose above the surface of its waters; Herodotus tells with surprise about the temples erected in Memphis, about the famous colossus made of a whole stone, on the transport of which from Elephantine 10 to Sais two thousand people worked for three years.

Having carefully studied Egypt, Herodotus went to other countries of Libya, that is, Africa, but at the same time the young traveler did not even imagine that Africa stretches far to the south, beyond the Tropic of Cancer; he believed that the Phoenicians could go around this mainland and return to Egypt through the Strait of Gibraltar 11.

Egyptian ship. 1600 BC

Listing the peoples living in Libya, Herodotus mentions the shepherd tribes that roam along the coast of Africa, and also names the Ammonians who live in the interior of the country, in places teeming with predatory animals. The Ammonians built the famous temple of Zeus of Ammon, the ruins of which were discovered in the northeast of the Libyan Desert, 500 kilometers from the city of Cairo 12. He also describes in detail the customs and manners of the Libyans and tells what animals are found in this country: snakes of a terrible size, lions, elephants, horned donkeys (probably rhinos), baboon monkeys - "animals without a head, with eyes on their chest", foxes , hyenas, porcupines, wild rams, panthers, etc.

According to Herodotus, Libya is inhabited by two peoples: Libyans and Ethiopians. But did he really travel to this country? Historians doubt this. Most likely, he wrote down many of the details from the words of the Egyptians. But there is no doubt that he really sailed to the city of Tire, in Phenicia, since here he gives quite accurate descriptions... In addition, Herodotus collected information on which he compiled short description Syria and Palestine.

Following this, Herodotus descends south - to Arabia, a country he calls Asian Ethiopia, that is, to that part of South Arabia, which he considers the last inhabited land. The Arabs living in the Arabian Peninsula, according to him, are strictly religious people. In their country, valuable plants grow in abundance, from which frankincense and myrrh are obtained. The traveler gives interesting details about how aromatic substances are obtained from these plants.

Then we meet Herodotus in countries that he vaguely called Assyria, now Babylonia. He begins the story of these countries with a thorough description of Babylon, in which the kings have lived since the time of destruction. ancient capital Nineveh. The ruins of Nineveh have survived to this day, in the form of mounds, scattered along both banks of the Euphrates, at a distance of 78 kilometers southeast of Baghdad. The large, fast and deep river Euphrates then divided the city of Nineveh into two parts. In one there was a fortified royal palace, in the other - the temple of Zeus. Further, Herodotus speaks of the two queens of Babylon - Semiramis and Nitokrid; then he goes on to describe the crafts and agriculture, telling how wheat, barley, millet, sesame, grapes, fig and palm trees are cultivated in this country.

Having studied Babylon, Herodotus went to Persia and, since the purpose of his journey was to collect accurate information about the long-term Greco-Persian wars, he visited the places where these wars took place in order to get all the details he needed on the spot. Herodotus begins this part of his history with a description of the customs of the Persians. They, unlike other peoples, did not give their gods a human form, did not erect temples or altars in their honor, being content with performing religious rites on the tops of the mountains.

Further, Herodotus speaks about the life and customs of the Persians. They have an aversion to meat, a love of fruit, and a fondness for wine; they show interest in foreign customs, love pleasure, value military valor, take seriously the upbringing of children, respect the right to life of everyone, even a slave; they hate lies and debts, they despise lepers. The disease of leprosy serves as proof for them that "the unfortunate man sinned against the Sun."

The marriage was accompanied by popular publicity

India of Herodotus, according to Vivien de Saint-Martin 13, is limited to the countries irrigated by the five tributaries of the present Panjnad, and the territory of Afghanistan. There the young traveler headed his way, leaving the Persian kingdom 14. Indians, in his opinion, are the most numerous of the known peoples. Some of them are sedentary, others are constantly wandering. The tribes living in the east of this country, according to Herodotus, not only kill the sick and old, but supposedly even eat them. The tribes living in the north are distinguished by their courage and skill in crafts. Their land is rich in golden sand.

Herodotus believes that India is the last inhabited country in the East. It retains the same fertile climate at all seasons of the year as in Greece, located on the opposite end of the earth.

Then the indefatigable Herodotus went to Media 15, where he compiled the history of the Medes, the first people to overthrow the yoke of the Assyrians. The Medes founded large city Ecbatana (Hamadan), which was surrounded by seven rows of walls. Having crossed the mountains separating Media from Colchis, the Greek traveler entered the country glorified by the exploits of Jason 16 and studied its manners and customs with his characteristic conscientiousness.

Athenian merchant ship. 500 BC

Herodotus, apparently, was well acquainted with the outlines of the Caspian Sea. He says that "this sea is in itself, and has no communication with the other." The Caspian Sea, he said, is bounded in the west by the Caucasus Mountains, and in the east by a vast plain inhabited by the Massagets, who probably belonged to a Scythian tribe. The Massagetae worshiped the sun and sacrificed horses to it. Herodotus also speaks of the large river Arak, which flows into the Caspian Sea.

Then the traveler gets to Scythia. The Scythians - as defined by Herodotus - are various tribes inhabiting the vast area between the Danube and the Don, that is, a significant part of European Russia. The most numerous and powerful Herodotus calls the tribe of "princely Scythians" who occupied the banks of the Tanais (Don) River. In addition, Herodotus mentions the tribes of the Scythian nomads and the Scythian grain-growers.

Although Herodotus lists various Scythian tribes, it is not known whether he personally visited the countries located north of Pontus Euxine 17. He describes in detail the customs of these tribes and is delighted with Pontus Euxine - this "hospitable sea". Herodotus determines the dimensions of the Black Sea, Bosphorus, Propontida 18 and Sea of ​​Azov, and his definitions are almost correct. He lists big rivers flowing into the Black Sea: Istra, or Danube; Borisfen, or Dnieper; Tanais, or Don.

The traveler conveys many myths about the origin of the Scythian people; in these myths, Hercules plays a large role. He ends the description of Scythia with a story about the marriages of the Scythians with warlike women from the Amazon tribe, which, in his opinion, can explain the Scythian custom that a girl cannot marry until she has killed the enemy.

From Scythia, Herodotus arrived in Thrace. There he learned about the Hittites - the most courageous people who inhabited this country 19. Then he traveled to Greece, where he wanted to collect the missing information for his history. He visited the areas in which the main events of the Greco-Persian wars took place, including the Thermopylae passage, the Marathon field and Platea. Then he returned to Asia Minor and traveled around its coast, exploring the numerous colonies established there by the Greeks.

Returning 28 years old to his homeland, in Halicarnassus, the famous traveler took part in the popular movement against the tyrant Ligdamis and contributed to his overthrow. In 444 BC, Herodotus attended the Panathenaean festivals and read passages from his travels there, provoking general enthusiasm. At the end of his life, he retired to Italy, to Turium, where he died in 426 BC, leaving behind the fame of a famous traveler and even more famous historian.

After Herodotus, we will step over a century and a half, mentioning a doctor named Ctesias, contemporary of Xenophon 20. Ctesias wrote an account of his travels in India, although there is no reliable information that he actually made it.

Adhering to the chronological order, we now turn to Pythea from Massilia - to the traveler, geographer and astronomer, one of the most learned men of his time. In 340 BC, Pytheas ventured into the Atlantic Ocean on a single ship. Instead of following the coast of Africa southward, as his Carthaginian predecessors usually did, Pytheas went north, where he began to explore the shores of the Iberian Peninsula 21 and the coast of the Celtic country, all the way to the granite Cape Finisterre. Then Pytheas entered the English Channel and landed on the island of Albion 22. He met the inhabitants of this island, who, according to him, were distinguished by good nature, honesty, moderation and ingenuity. They traded in tin, for which traders from distant countries came here.

Continuing northward, Pytheas passed the Orkney Islands, located at the northern tip of Scotland, and climbed to a latitude where "in summer the night did not exceed two hours." After sailing for six days in the North Sea, Pytheas reached the land known since then as Ultima Thule. Apparently, it was the Scandinavian peninsula. But Pytheas could no longer advance further north. "Further," he says, "there was no sea, no land, no air."

Pytheas was forced to turn back, but his journey did not end there: he sailed to the east and arrived at the mouth of the Rhine, where the Ostions lived, and even further the Germans. From there he sailed to the mouth of a large river, which he calls Thais (it was probably the Elbe), and then sailed back to Massilia and returned to his native city a year after he left.

The remarkable traveler Pytheas was no less a remarkable scientist; he was the first to prove the influence of the moon on the ebb and flow of the sea and noticed that polar Star does not occupy a point in heavenly space that is located above the earth's pole, which was subsequently confirmed by science.

A few years after Pytheas, about 326 BC, another Greek traveler became famous for his research - Nearhs islands of Crete. As commander of the fleet of Alexander the Great, he was ordered to go around the entire coast of Asia from the Indus to the Euphrates.

Nearchus sailors frighten whales

The idea of ​​such an expedition was caused by the need to establish communication between India and Egypt, in which Alexander was extremely interested, while at that time with his army 800 miles from the coast, in the upper Indus. The commander equipped a fleet for Nearchus, consisting of thirty-three double-deck galleys and a large number of transport ships, which accommodated two thousand people. While Nearchus sailed with his fleet down the Indus, Alexander's army followed him on both sides. Having reached the Indian Ocean in four months, Nearchus swam along the coast that now forms the border of Baluchistan.

Nearchus set out to sea on October 2, without waiting for a winter passing monsoon, which could have favored his navigation. Therefore, in forty days of travel, Nearchus barely managed to swim 80 miles to the west. Its first stops were made at Stura and Koreestis; These names do not correspond to any of the present villages located in those places. Then he sailed to the island of Krokala, which lies not far from the modern Karantiyskaya bay. Destroyed by storms, the fleet took refuge in a natural harbor, which Nearchus was forced to fortify "to protect against the attack of savages."

Twenty-four days later, the naval commander of Alexander the Great again set sail and set sail. Heavy storms forced him to make frequent stops in various parts of the coast and to defend against attacks by the Arabites, whom Eastern historians characterized as "a barbarian people with long hair, beards and beards looking like fauns or bears."

After many adventures and clashes with coastal tribes, Nearchus landed on the land of the Oryth, which in modern geography bears the name: Cape Moran. "In this area," Nearchus notes, describing his journey, "the sun at noon illuminated all objects vertically, and they did not cast shadows." But Nearchus seems to be mistaken, since at this time of year the daylight was in the southern hemisphere, in the Tropic of Capricorn, and not in the northern hemisphere; in addition, Nearchus' ships always sailed at a distance of several degrees from the Tropic of Cancer; therefore, even in summer in these regions the sun at noon could not illuminate objects vertically.

When the northeast monsoon settled, sailing continued in favorable conditions. Nearchus followed along the shores of the country of ichthyophages, that is, "people who eat fish" - a rather miserable tribe, which, due to lack of pasture, was forced to feed their sheep with seafood. Here Nearchus's fleet began to lack food. Having rounded Cape Posmi, Nearchus took the native helmsman to his galley. Driven by the coastal winds, Nearchus' ships moved forward successfully. The coast became less barren. There were trees here and there. Nearchus moored to the city of ichthyophages, the name of which he does not indicate, and, suddenly attacking the inhabitants, forcibly seized from them the supplies that his fleet so needed.

Then the ships arrived at Kanazida, in other words, the city of Churbar. The ruins of this city can still be seen near the bay of the same name. By that time, the Macedonians were already running out of bread. It was in vain that Nearchus stopped at Kanat, at Troy and in Dagazir - he could not get anything from these poor peoples. The seafarers had no more meat or bread, and yet they did not dare to eat the turtles with which these countries abound.

Almost at the entrance to the Persian Gulf, the fleet met a large herd of whales. Frightened sailors wanted to turn the galleys back, but Nearchus boldly went forward in his ship, towards the sea monsters, which they managed to disperse.

Having reached Karmania 23, the ships deviated to the northwest. The banks were fertile here; everywhere there were grain fields, vast pastures, fruit trees. Nearchus dropped anchor at Badis, the current Yask. Then, having rounded Cape Maseta or Moussendon, the mariners found themselves at the entrance to the Persian Gulf, which Nearchus, like the Arab geographers, gives the unusual name of the Red Sea to it.

In the harbor of Garmosia (Hormuz) Nearchus learned that Alexander's army was at a distance of five days' journey. Having landed on the shore, he hastened to join the conqueror. Alexander, having received no news of his fleet for twenty-one weeks, no longer hoped to see him. One can imagine the joy of the commander when the emaciated Nearchus appeared before him safe and sound! To celebrate his return, Alexander ordered gymnastic games and abundant sacrifices to be made to the gods. Then Nearchus again went to Harmosia, where he left his fleet in order to sail from there to the mouth of the Euphrates.

Sailing along the Persian Gulf, the Macedonian fleet moored on many islands, and then, rounding Cape Bestion, sailed to the island of Keisha, on the border of Carmania. Further, Persia already began. The ships of Nearchus, following along the Persian coast, stopped at various places to stock up on the bread that Alexander had sent here.

After several days of sailing Nearchus arrived at the mouth of the river Endiana, then reached a river flowing from a large lake teeming with fish Kataderbis, and finally dropped anchor near the Babylonian village of Degela, near the mouth of the Euphrates, thus sailing along the entire Persian coast. Here Nearchus rejoined the army of Alexander the Great, who generously rewarded him and appointed him commander over his entire fleet. Alexander also wanted to undertake exploration of the Arabian coast of the Persian Gulf, right up to the Red Sea, and establish a sea route from Persia and Babylon to Egypt, but death prevented him from carrying out this plan.

Nearchus compiled a description of his journey, which, unfortunately, has not survived. A detailed account of his voyages is contained in the book of the Greek historian Flavius ​​Arrian 24 "History of India", which has come down to us in fragments.

Nearchus is believed to have been killed at the Battle of Ipsus. He retained the fame of a skillful sailor, and his journey constitutes an important event in the history of navigation.

Now, mention should also be made of the daring undertaking of the Greek geographer Evdoks who lived in the II century BC. Having visited Egypt and the shores of India, this brave traveler had the intention of going around Africa, which in reality was only possible sixteen centuries later by the Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama.

Eudoxus hired big ship and two longboats and set off on the unfamiliar waters of the Atlantic Ocean. How far has he driven his ships? It's hard to define. Be that as it may, having made the acquaintance of the natives, whom he took for Ethiopians, he returned to Mauritania, 25 and from there crossed over to Iberia and began preparations for a new extensive journey around Africa. Was this trip made? Doubtful. It must be said that this Eudoxus, a man, of course, brave, does not deserve much trust. In any case, scientists do not take him seriously.

Roman galley. 110 BC

Among the ancient travelers, it remains for us to mention the names of Caesar and Strabo. Julius Caesar 26, born in 100 BC, was primarily a conqueror and did not set out to explore new countries. We will only recall that in 58 BC he began to conquer Gaul and ten years later brought his legions to the shores of Great Britain, which was inhabited by peoples of Germanic origin.

Concerning Strabo born in Cappadocia 27 around 63 AD, he is known more as a geographer than a traveler. However, he traveled through Asia Minor, Egypt, Greece, Italy and lived for a long time in Rome, where he died in the last years of the reign of Tiberius. Strabo left Geography, divided into seventeen books, most of which have survived to our time. This work, together with those of Ptolemy, constitutes the most important monument of ancient Greek geography.

Notes (edit)

1Carthage was founded by the Phoenicians around 850 BC on the northern coast of Africa, in the Gulf of Tunis.

2 The Romans called the Carthaginians Punas; hence the name of the language - Punic.

3 The exact date of the expedition Hannona it is impossible to establish. Modern scholars date it to the 5th or 6th century BC. The description of this voyage has come down to us in the form of an "adventure novel", in which reliable facts are intertwined with fictional ones. but geographical description the western coast of Africa, the story of the steppe fires in the country leaves no doubt about the authenticity of the journey, which was later overgrown with various fables. Gannon was the first navigator to visit the west coast of Africa. He sailed along this coast from the Strait of Gibraltar to the south for about 4500 kilometers. Nineteen centuries later, it took Portuguese sailors fifty years to explore the coast that Gannon bypassed.

4 Pillars of hercules- two mountains on the European and African shores of the Strait of Gibraltar, supposedly erected by the mythical hero Hercules. According to the ancient Greeks, the Pillars of Hercules were the western edge of the known world.

5 Probably the Senegal River.

6 Cymbals- an ancient musical instrument in the form of copper cymbals. Tambourine- a percussion musical instrument resembling a tambourine.

7 South Horn- now Sherborough Bay in the state of Sierra Leone (formerly British colony), located on the shores of the Gulf of Guinea.

8 It must be assumed that these were not gorillas, but chimpanzees.

9 Biographical information about Herodotus is extremely scarce. The years of his life are not exactly known; it is believed that he was born about 484 BC and died in 424 or 426 BC. Herodotus is the author of the first large historical work that has come down to us - the famous "History", in which he included the rich geographical material he collected during his long travels. It is impossible to say exactly which countries Herodotus visited during his travels. There is no doubt that he visited Egypt and the northern Black Sea coast. In the east, it probably reached Babylon. Herodotus also speaks of a trip to India, but this description has no historical basis.

10 Island Elephantine(Ivory) is located on the Nile River, at the first rapids, on the border of Egypt and Sudan.

11 Here the author has in mind the story of Herodotus, which he heard in Egypt, about the journey Phoenician sailors around Africa, undertaken by order of the Egyptian pharaoh Necho around 600 BC. This enterprise is unmatched in the history of geographical discoveries, so we will give you the entire short story Herodotus: “Libya, it turns out, is washed all around by water, with the exception of the part where it borders on Asia; the first to prove this, as far as we know, was the Egyptian pharaoh Necho. Suspending the canal from the Nile to the Arabian Gulf [Red Sea], he dispatched the Phoenicians to sea with orders to sail back through the Pillars of Hercules [Strait of Gibraltar] until they entered the North [Mediterranean] Sea and arrived in Egypt.

The Phoenicians sailed from the Eritrean [Red] Sea and entered the South Sea [ Indian Ocean]. At the onset of autumn, they landed on the shore and, wherever they landed in Libya, they sowed the land and waited for the harvest; after harvesting the bread, we sailed on. So two years passed in the voyage, and only in the third year they rounded the Pillars of Hercules and returned to Egypt. They also said that I do not believe, and someone else, perhaps, will believe that while sailing around Libya, the Phoenicians had the sun on the right side. This is how Libya became known for the first time. "

12 Ammon(Siwa) is an oasis in the Libyan Desert.

13 Vivienne de Saint-Martin(1802-1897) - French geographer, author of the famous work "Sketch of General Geography" and other works.

14 Herodotus did not travel across Afghanistan and India; he collected information about these countries in Babylon.

15 Mussel was located south of the Caspian Sea. Under the Persian king Cyrus (c. 558-529 BC) it became part of Persia. Main city- Ecbatana.

16 Jason- in Greek mythology, the leader of the Argonauts' campaign for the golden fleece. According to one version of the myth - he died under the wreckage of the ship "Argo", according to another - he committed suicide. The myth of the Argonauts, who undertook a voyage from Greece to Colchis (the eastern coast of the Black Sea), is a reflection of the history of early Greek colonization (VIII-VII centuries BC).

17 The ancient Greeks originally called the Black Sea Pont Aksinsky(inhospitable) due to strong and frequent storms. Subsequently, when the Greeks colonized the Black Sea shores, the sea was renamed Pontus Euxine (hospitable).

18 Propontida(literally: "lying in front of Pontus") - Sea of ​​Marmara.

19 Thrace- a country located in the north of the Balkan Peninsula; its shores from the east were washed by the Black Sea, from the south - by the Aegean.

20 Xenophon- Greek historian of the late 5th - first half of the 4th century BC, author of "Greek history", "Anabasis" and other works.

21 Iberia – ancient name Spain.

22 Albion- the ancient name of the island Great Britain, which means "White Island" (the name was given by Pytheas because of the chalk rocks towering over the English Channel).

23 Karmania- an area in the south of Iran; according to the ancients, it was inhabited by nomads who eat fish (ichthyophages).

24 Arrian Flavius(about 95-175 AD) - Greek writer of the Roman period, historian and geographer. Major works: "Anabasis Alexandra" (History of the campaigns of Alexander the Great) and "History of India".

25 Mauritania- an area on the northwestern coast of Africa. At the beginning of the 1st century AD, it became a Roman province.

Julian Hungarian,"Columbus of the East" is a Dominican monk who went in search of Great Hungary, the ancestral home of the Hungarians. By 895, the Hungarians had settled in Transylvania, but they still remembered the distant lands of their ancestors, the steppe regions east of the Urals. In 1235, the Hungarian prince Bela equipped four Dominican monks on a journey. After a while, two Dominicans decided to return back, and the third companion of Julian died. The monk decided to continue on his way alone. As a result, having passed Constantinople, passing along the Kuban River, Julian reached Great Bulgaria, or Volga Bulgaria. The return path of the Dominican ran through the Mordovian lands, Nizhny Novgorod, Vladimir, Ryazan, Chernigov and Kiev. In 1237, Julian of Hungary set off on a second journey, but already on the way, reaching the eastern lands of Russia, he learned about the attack on Great Bulgaria by Mongol troops. Descriptions of the monk's travels became an important source in the study of the history of the Mongol invasion of the Volga Bulgaria.

Gunnbjorn Ulfson. You've probably heard of Eirik the Red, a Scandinavian navigator who first settled on the shores of Greenland. Thanks to this fact, many people mistakenly think that he was the discoverer of the giant ice island. But no - before him there was Gunnbjorn Ulfson, who was heading from his native Norway to Iceland, whose ship was thrown to new shores by the strongest storm. Almost a century later, Eirik the Red followed in his footsteps — his path was not accidental, Eirik knew exactly where the island discovered by Ulfson was.

Rabban Sauma, who is called the Chinese Marco Polo, was the only native of China to describe his journey through Europe. As a Nestorian monk, Rabban embarked on a long and perilous pilgrimage to Jerusalem around 1278. Moving out of the Mongolian capital of Khanbalik, that is, present-day Beijing, he crossed all of Asia, but already approaching Persia, he learned about the war in the Holy Land and changed his route. In Persia, Rabban Sauma was warmly received, and a few years later, at the request of Argun Khan, was equipped with a diplomatic mission to Rome. First, he visited Constantinople and King Andronicus II, then he visited Rome, where he established international contact with the cardinals, and eventually ended up in France, at the court of King Philip the Fair, offering an alliance with Argun Khan. On the way back, the Chinese monk received an audience with the newly elected Pope and met with the English King Edward I.

Guillaume de Rubuc, a Franciscan monk, after the end of the Seventh Crusade, was sent by King Louis of France to the southern steppes in order to establish diplomatic cooperation with the Mongols. From Jerusalem, Guillaume de Rubuc reached Constantinople, from there to Sudak and moved towards the Sea of ​​Azov. As a result, Rubuk crossed the Volga, then the Ural River and eventually ended up in the capital of the Mongol Empire, the city of Karakorum. The audience of the great khan did not give any special diplomatic results: the khan invited the king of France to swear allegiance to the Mongols, but the time spent in overseas countries, was not in vain. Guillaume de Rubuc described his travels in detail and with his usual humor, telling the inhabitants medieval Europe about distant eastern peoples and their lives. He was especially impressed by the religious tolerance of the Mongols, unusual for Europe: in the city of Karakorum, pagan and Buddhist temples, a mosque, and a Christian Nestorian church peacefully coexisted.

Afanasy Nikitin, Tver merchant, in 1466 went on a commercial voyage, which turned into incredible adventures for him. Thanks to his adventurism, Afanasy Nikitin went down in history as one of the greatest travelers, leaving behind the heartfelt notes “Voyage across the Three Seas”. As soon as they left their native Tver, the merchant ships of Afanasy Nikitin were plundered by the Astrakhan Tatars, but this did not stop the merchant, and he continued on his way - first reaching Derbent, Baku, then to Persia and from there to India. In his notes, he colorfully described the customs, manners, political and religious structure of the Indian lands. In 1472 Afanasy Nikitin went home, but never reached Tver, having died near Smolensk. Afanasy Nikitin became the first European to overcome the path to India.

Chen Chen and Li Da — Chinese travelers who made a dangerous expedition across Central Asia. Li Da was a seasoned traveler, but he did not travel notes and therefore not as famous as Chen Chen. The two eunuchs went on a diplomatic journey on behalf of Emperor Yong-le in 1414. They had to cross the desert for 50 days and climb along the Tien Shan mountains. After spending 269 days on the road, they reached the city of Herat (which is located on the territory of modern Afghanistan), presented gifts to the Sultan and returned home.

Odorico Pordenone- Franciscan monk who visited India, Sumatra and China at the beginning of the XIV century. Franciscan monks sought to increase their presence in countries East Asia for which missionaries were sent there. Odorico Pordenone, leaving his native monastery in Udine, proceeded first to Venice, then to Constantinople, and from there to Persia and India. The Franciscan monk traveled extensively in India and China, visited the territory of modern Indonesia, reached the island of Java, lived in Beijing for several years, and then returned home, passing Lhasa. He died already in a monastery in Udine, but before his death he managed to dictate rich impressions of the travels. His memoirs formed the basis of the famous book "The Adventures of Sir John Mandeville", which was read in medieval Europe.

Naddod and Gardar- the Vikings who discovered Iceland. Naddod landed off the coast of Iceland in the 9th century: he was on his way to Faroe islands but the storm brought him to a new land. After examining the surroundings and not finding signs of human life there, he went home. The next to set foot on Iceland was the Swedish Viking Gardar, who circled the island along the coast on his ship. Naddod named the island "Snow Land", and Iceland (ie "land of ice") owes its present name to the third Viking, Floki Wilgerdarson, who reached this harsh and beautiful land.

Benjamin Tudelsky- a rabbi from the city of Tudela (Kingdom of Navarre, now the Spanish province of Navarre). The path of Benjamin of Tudel was not as grandiose as that of Afanasy Nikitin, but his notes became an invaluable source of information about the history and life of Jews in Byzantium. Benjamin of Tudelsky left his hometown for Spain in 1160, passed Barcelona, ​​traveled through southern France. Then he arrived in Rome, from where, after a while, moved to Constantinople. From Byzantium, the rabbi proceeded to the Holy Land, and from there to Damascus and Baghdad, bypassed Arabia and Egypt.

Ibn Battuta famous not only for his wanderings. If his other "colleagues" set off on a journey with a trade, religious or diplomatic mission, then the muse of distant wanderings called the Berber traveler - he covered 120,700 km solely for the love of tourism. Ibn Battuta was born in 1304 in the Moroccan city of Tangier in the family of a sheikh. The first point on the personal map of Ibn Battuta was Mecca, where he got, moving by land along the coast of Africa. Instead of returning home, he continued his journey through the Middle East and East Africa. Having reached Tanzania and finding himself without funds, he ventured on a trip to India: it was rumored that the Sultan in Delhi was incredibly generous. Rumors did not fail - the sultan supplied Ibn Battuta with generous gifts and sent him to China for diplomatic purposes. However, on the way he was plundered and, fearing the Sultan's wrath and not daring to return to Delhi, Ibn Battuta was forced to hide in the Maldives, visiting Sri Lanka, Bengal and Sumatra along the way. He reached China only in 1345, from where he headed towards the house. But, of course, he could not sit at home - Ibn Battuta made a short trip to Spain (then the territory of modern Andalusia belonged to the Moors and was called Al-Andalus), then went to Mali, for which he needed to cross the Sahara, and in 1354 he settled in the city Fez, where he dictated all the details of his incredible adventures.

Ancient travelers

Official science claims that man descended from a monkey and the first humanoid creatures were about 130 centimeters tall. A kind of Sharikovs: with a fallen off tail, but already on their hind legs. However, recent finds of archaeologists refute this seemingly unshakable fact. There is every reason to believe that ancient man, on the contrary, had gigantic proportions and an extremely developed intellect.

Famous Russian medical scientist Ernst Muldashev I got serious about this problem when I received a photograph of a giant human footprint from my colleagues in Syria. Going on an expedition to the village of Ain-Dara, he examined the amazing find, and it turned out that the length of the discovered foot of an ancient man was 90 centimeters. This is three times more than we have with you. And the imprint in its authenticity did not raise any doubts.

Ernst Muldashev, Doctor of Medical Sciences, states: “It was not carved in stone, it was not manual work, because as a doctor I understand what skin patterns and everything else are, all the nuances of the foot structure loomed on this finely dispersed, figuratively speaking, cement. Yes, this giant was more flat-footed, that is, the instep of the foot was less, but nevertheless it was a human leg. "

Scientists have calculated that the growth of the giant from Syria, the owner of the found foot, should have reached at least ten meters, and the weight should have been three and a half tons. And this imprint was not the only one. At the same place - on the territory of the ancient temple - several more similar traces were found. Moreover, scientists were also asked no less questions. ancient temple... It was built on the very top of the mountain from huge slabs carved from black basalt. But the nearest deposits of this rock were located at a distance of more than 600 kilometers. The first question asked by scientists: how were these giant slabs delivered here, to Ain Dara?

And this is the so-called dead city... In the IV century, the population, for some unknown reason, left the city overnight. However, the colonnade in Apamia has survived to this day. It is not easy to create such complex patterns on the stone with the help of state-of-the-art laser equipment. What can we say about the ancient man. It is believed that these cities were built during the reign of Alexander the Great. Is it possible? After all, the commander lived only 35 years. And in those days, there were no giant cutters, no devices with a carrying capacity of tens of tons, which would allow to drag huge blocks so quickly over many kilometers distances.

It is difficult to answer the question of how another truly cyclopean structure was erected - the Baalbek sanctuary in Lebanon. At its base are monolithic stone blocks - each weighing more than eight hundred tons! When archaeologists come here, you will have to wonder how an ancient man turned these multi-ton blocks of skillfully worked stone with the help of ropes woven from branches and wooden rollers.

Ernst Muldashev reflects: “The Baalbek temple was built of blocks, about two thousand tons each. Well, let's imagine that KamAZ lifts 15 tons, no more. How could ancient people build all this? "

The city has been in ruins for many centuries. Only six of the gigantic columns of the temple have survived. Their height is 22 meters. These are the tallest columns on Earth. Scientists say that they can only be lifted with modern lifting equipment. But who could provide it? According to the Swiss archaeologist Erik von Daniken, these structures could have been built by representatives of an alien civilization. But what if aliens have nothing to do with it? Could an ancient man himself, without alien help, roll these heavy cubes? He could, some scientists say. But on one condition - if the ancient man himself was a mountain man.

Alexander Voronin, historian, president of the ROIPA: “People, the ancient population that lived there, mainly Indians, Incas, said:“ Before us, giants lived here, and they, through some magical manipulation, to the sound of trumpets, seemed to lift these stones into the air and erect gigantic architectural buildings ".

Surprisingly, evidence that before us the Earth was inhabited by a race of giants is not only in the legends of the illiterate Indians, but also in the biblical texts. According to the chroniclers, when Moses led the Jews from Egypt to ancient Palestine, they were greeted by gigantic beings. Here is an almost diary entry of this meeting from the Book of Genesis:

“There we saw giants, sons of Innakov from a gigantic family. And we were like locusts in our eyes before them. "

The attitude of official science to this quote is curious. Considering Moses a real historical character, science does not question all the events described in the sacred texts. And for some reason historians consider only the meeting of Moses with the giants to be a fantasy of ancient authors. Meanwhile, the analysis of the sacred texts gives amazing results.

This is how the creation of man is laid out in holy book of muslims the quran: "Allah created Adam 60 cubits in height ... Everyone who enters paradise will be like Adam, but people on Earth will shrink in size."

Before you is also a direct quote from the Islamic hadith, that is, the utterance of the Prophet Muhammad, recorded by his disciples.

What an amazing coincidence! Koran. Legends of the Aztec and Maya Indians. And the Bible. All unanimously affirm that the ancient man was a gigantic, highly developed creature. Moreover, modern man is their direct descendant.

Colonnade in Apamia

Alexey Maslov, Doctor of Historical Sciences, orientalist: “We meet one of the most important episodes that there were contacts. This is the Book of Genesis, which says that between the giants (but it does not say that these are giant people, just "giants") and the daughters (daughters) of men. And a certain offspring was born. And if we take a close look at the Bible, immediately after this comes the famous episode about the Universal Flood. "

If we assume that the sacred texts do not lie, then they surprisingly confirm the latest findings of archaeologists and paint a completely different picture. the ancient world.

Alexander Koltypin tells: "The legends of many peoples say that there lived some mythical dragons, serpent people, who were giants, their height reached 10-15 meters."

And then it really turns out that the Egyptian pyramids were built 12-14 thousand years ago, even before the Flood, that is, before the global catastrophe. And they were not built by slaves with the help of ropes and logs, but by our distant ancestors - giants who could not survive the Flood because they were too big and clumsy. And there is also direct evidence of this in ancient texts.

Alexander Belov, paleontologist: “The Qur'an says that the giants died during the flood. They said to Noah when he was building the ark: "We will not perish, we are big." In fact, everyone died. "

Official Science for a long time considered the existence of antediluvian giant people just a fantasy. However, the situation was changed by a sensational find made in Hong Kong in 1935. Dutch anthropologist Ralph von Kennigswald discovered an ancient tooth during excavations. Yes, not simple, but six times more than usual. It was a real sensation. Later, other fragments of the remains of giant anthropoid creatures were found. The scientist called the open view gigantopithecus.

Alexander Belov: "Giganto" is a giant form, and "Pithek" is a monkey. In fact, he sent his findings to the famous paleoanthropologist Franz Weidenreich, who began to assert that we are not dealing with great apes, but with big people. "

Perhaps these finds became the first material evidence that giants really once lived on Earth. But paleontologist Franz Weidenreich went even further. It was he who first put forward the scientific hypothesis that prehistoric giants are the direct ancestors of homo sapiens. Official science did not support this theory and persistently continues to search for evidence that man descended from a monkey, although the transitional link from monkey to man has not yet been found. But there is more and more evidence of the existence of a giant man on earth. Especially many remains of giant-like people have been found today in China.

Alexey Maslov: “I saw in Henan - in the central province of China - the tibia and fibula, vertebrae, which suggest that the creature was very tall. I also had to observe molars, which clearly have a pattern of Dryopithecus, that is, this is what is called a human tooth ".

Anthropologists consider the descendants of Chinese giants to be the megantropes living in a later period - according to paleontologist Alexander Belov, about one and a half million years ago. Their remains were found on the island of Java, Burma, Vietnam, Polynesia.

Alexander Belov: “The renowned anthropologist Yakimov, the former director of the Institute of Anthropology, generally believed that these gigantic forms reached five meters and weighed half a ton. That is, you understand that the existence of such huge people on the planet, in general, was news for anthropologists and for all modern science. "

But why did the ancient people, if they really existed, suffer from gigantomania? Why were they so huge? Perhaps this is an exaggeration of the ancient authors? The answer to this question, oddly enough, is easily given by paleontologists. It turns out that the ancient man not only could, but even had to be a giant! For the same reason that all prehistoric animals were gigantic in size. The fact is that our planet was completely different many millennia ago. The climate was much milder and the water ancient planet was incredibly rich in calcium. It was the excess calcium that we use today to strengthen bones that determined the similar dimensions of the skeleton of an ancient dinosaur and a person.

Alexander Koltypin continues: “The Earth, apparently, was rotating very quickly then. The length of a day at the end of the Cretaceous period could be on the order of 8–9 hours. That is, day and night alternated literally in 4–4.5 hours. I think we observed about the same thing in the Paleogene period. And look, to what this led to an interesting effect: due to the rapid rotation of the Earth, there was a very strong centrifugal force, which acted maximally perpendicular to the Earth - at the equator, and it neutralized the force of gravity. Due to this, due to the "summation" of centripetal and centrifugal forces, the force of gravity was small. This led to the fact that at that time giants could exist on Earth. The pressure on Earth at that time, according to various estimates, for example Dillo, was about two atmospheres near the Earth's surface. This is a very important issue, by the way, for the existence of giants. "

But that's not all. Plant food on ancient Earth, it turns out, was also completely different. An interesting confirmation of this theory came from the study of ordinary amber. A huge amount of oxygen has been found in ancient deposits of this mineral. This means that in the era of giants and prehistoric dinosaurs, oxygen in the earth's atmosphere was many times greater. This means that the plants that served as food were oversaturated with it. They were incredibly nutritious, which allowed our giant ancestors to gain enormous weight.

Alexander Koltypin: “The Aztec codes explicitly state that they were all giants. They were so big that they could pull up trees by the roots and ate only plant food, which is also explained by the existence of other conditions on Earth: a different gravity, a different atmosphere - then the body could not consume meat. "

It is hard to believe that peace-loving giant people could live at the same time as dinosaurs. Indeed, all history textbooks claim that these prehistoric animals became extinct long before the ancient monkey appeared on Earth. How, then, can science explain these incredible findings? In 1984, German archaeologist Waldemar Julier Oud in the vicinity of the Mexican city of Acambo excavated an ancient burial site. Here he unexpectedly came across ceramic figurines depicting prehistoric animals, known to us only from reconstructions and science fiction films. Among them were dinosaurs, brachiosaurs, iguanodons, and even tyrannosaurs. At first, the archelogue decided that these figurines had ended up in the burial by accident. However, when an examination was carried out, the incredible turned out - they are at least several thousand years old.

Alexander Koltypin: “It is believed that people at that time, even 6,000 years ago, who knew nothing about paleontology, could not make casts of dinosaurs. And there are also clay figurines of tyrannosaurs, stegosaurs, iguanodons and brontosaurs. That is, how modern paleontologists represent them. Either they have survived to our time, or the ancients who lived at that time used some knowledge that cannot be a modern fake, as paleontologists are trying to write off. "

But how could the ancient man who made these figures know what dinosaurs looked like if they had never seen them? After all, scientists have learned to restore the appearance of an animal from a skeleton relatively recently?

Image of a stegosaurus in temple complex Angkor

Alexander Koltypin: “For example, in Cambodia, in the Angkor temple complex, I saw an image of a stegosaurus on the wall, which seemed to be taken from a paleontology textbook. And it was built approximately in the XII or XIII century AD. But then we believe that the people did not know paleontology. There is an image of a Tyrannosaurus in Colorado, there are images of other animals, and in different places. That is, they were already being painted relatively in our time. "

But the scientist was forced to make an even more shocking conclusion when he extracted from the burial ancient figures that depicted a dinosaur and a man together. It turns out that dinosaur hunters are not fiction. But is ancient man really that old?

Matthew Corrano, Doctor of Paleontology, shares his thoughts: “When in some places of the planet Valdemar Oud made his sensational finds - figurines depicting dinosaurs and people, he put forward a bold version that a person could really live in the same era with dinosaurs. You understand that such a revolutionary hypothesis could not find a response among scientists. After all, this would undermine all fundamental principles. Historical science preferred to go its own way. "

The fate of the German archaeologist, who announced his sensational find, turned out to be unenviable. He was accused of rigging historical artifacts and scientific fraud. However, the scandal quickly faded away. The repeated examination, which, in theory, was supposed to destroy the scientist, turned into his triumph, because it unexpectedly confirmed the ancient age of the found figurines. It would seem that after that, world science should have pounced on these figures and, in search of the truth, erase them into clay powder. However, this did not happen. The conspiracy of silence of world science has surrounded this sensational find for almost thirty years.

Alexander Koltypin: “The conclusion suggests itself that after all these stones are so ancient that they prove the existence of man in those days. That is, he himself appeared much earlier: not 200 thousand years ago, but 13 thousand or 16 thousand years ago. And until that time, animals known to paleontologists have survived. Scientists do not admit that the figurines are genuine, because this will revolutionize the whole of paleontology, in the whole theory of the evolution of life. Because we must admit that the dinosaurs have lived, well, if not to our time - 5000 years ago - then they have lived to clearly some time, which was closer than 60 million years ago. "

Clay dinosaurs, and they, by the way, were not taken from an ancient burial two or three pieces, but about one and a half thousand, are gathering dust in the boxes of the museum of a provincial Mexican town. Science cannot prove that clay dinosaurs are a modern fake. But he is also unable to admit the fact that man could exist in the era of dinosaurs.

Sergey Dudin, historian: “Official science assumes a lot of things, but has, in principle, much more. Because the mass of any facts, and even artifacts available, let's say, at the disposal of science, are simply ignored. That is, they do not pay attention. "

There is more and more evidence that ancient man lived in that distant era and could compete with the dinosaurs themselves! An unusual exhibit is kept in one of the museums. It is called the "Giant's Finger". Rather, it is not even a finger, but a phalanx of a finger.

Alexander Voronin: “You can imagine, almost 40 centimeters - a phalanx of a finger. Does this mean what a giant giant should be? That is, you can imagine what kind of people they were. Here are some specific facts for you. "

However, the facts do not end there. In Egypt, archaeologists have discovered a sarcophagus containing a four-meter mummy of a red-haired woman and a baby. Surprisingly, in another part of the world, a little later, the remains of red-haired giants were also found. V North America in a cave near Lovelock, Nevada, several huge mummies have been discovered. Official science is trying to explain these findings by the fact that some ancient people had a disrupted growth gene, which is why they turned out to be so large. The explanation is too helpless, but there is no other one today.

Alexander Koltypin: “Concerning the fossil remains of giants, some have probably survived almost to modern times. But this was no longer a population of giants, not some kind of people, but separate isolated individuals for whom it was rather difficult to live. Which were destroyed first by the heroes, and then by the people. "

Meanwhile, legends about giant people are found in various parts of our planet. Few people know, but numerous legends about giants - mammoth hunters - were brought back by Yermak's Cossacks after the conquest of Siberia. Historian and geographer Vasily Tatishchev, an associate of Peter I, wrote about mysterious semi-wild creatures of gigantic stature. Legends about giants were also recorded by Russian scientists during the Great Kamchatka expedition.

Vadim Burlak tells: "The inhabitants of Kamchatka - the Itelmens, the Koryaks said that they existed, including in Kamchatka, and in Alaska, these giants."

But what did the giant people know how to do? Is it really just to hunt mammoths and devour tons of green spaces of the ancient planet?

Amazing finds made by archaeologists are increasingly shaking our understanding of what ancient man really was.

A strange object found by archaeologists in 1936 is stored in Baghdad history museum... According to scientists, this is nothing more than the oldest electric battery in the world. But is this possible from the point of view of classical science?

After all, the find dates back to about 250 BC. The battery is a 13-centimeter vessel with a copper cylinder with an iron rod inside.

Sergey Dudin: “Absolutely primitive, like our salt battery, an ordinary galvanic battery. It has exactly the same structure. Only it is larger, its body is like an earthen pot. It was mainly used for electroplating purposes. "

By its design, this vessel almost completely copies the chemical device for generating electric current, created at the beginning of the 19th century by the discoverer of electricity, Alessandro Volta. In 1947, this was confirmed by the American physicist Willard Gray, who made an exact copy of the artifact found in Baghdad. He used copper sulfate as an electrolyte, and he managed to get an electric current! It turns out that even in the 3rd century BC, ancient man knew electricity? Is it possible?

Michael Shermer, science historian, believes: “Technologies such as the Baghdad battery are not the only world-famous archaeological find, the origin of which science cannot explain. There are many artifacts that convince us that Homo sapiens appeared on Earth, perhaps much earlier than we can imagine. "

Balls several centimeters in size, with the same longitudinal notches, were found for the first time in South Africa. According to researchers who have studied the structure and alloy of Klerksdorp balls, they are cast from complex metal alloys ... That is, they could not be formed in nature on their own, they had to be made by intelligent beings. But, if this is true, the whole theory of evolution can simply be forgotten. After all, the age of the deposits in which the balls were found is about three million years.

Sergey Dudin: “We sawed one ball. There was a foam structure inside. That is, the metal is foamed inside. What is metal foaming? Under terrestrial conditions, it is impossible to foam metal - well, it does not foam. During the Soviet era, our people carried out an experiment on foaming aluminum at the Mir station. Yes, in zero gravity it foams beautifully. Any metal can also be foamed. Whether they fell or did not fall is another question, but they were made, let's say, in space conditions. Or, somehow, conditions on Earth have been created similar to cosmic conditions. ".

But that's not all! As we have already said, many experts studying ancient culture are sure: our distant ancestors were so advanced that they could move through the air. They, according to some researchers, had vehicles similar to our planes and helicopters ... In the 19th century in the Egyptian city of Abydos, archaeologists discovered an engraving. For a long time, scientists could not understand what is depicted on it. And only in the XX century, researchers put forward the assumption: helicopters and submarines!

Sergey Dudin explains: “The perfect helicopter, with a cut like this on its belly. Obviously, this helicopter was used so that some object, such as a chest, or a stone, or some other object, had to be suspended under it, and the helicopter dragged it. Obviously for the carriage of goods. "

But how could an artist who lived several millennia before us depict devices that were invented only in the 20th century?

Perhaps, what we consider to be the newest inventions, we count among the breakthroughs in engineering thought of the 20th and 21st centuries, is it just a well-forgotten old thing? And in fact, this technique was invented long before us?

Here's another famous example. French scientist Henri Lot discovered a strange rock painting during an expedition to the Sahara. Examination found that the image appeared on the cave wall around 6000 BC. Archaeologists have named the drawing of this six-meter creature "Great God Mars". The most surprising thing was that the image is very similar to modern astronauts. It is easy to guess in this picture something that looks like a helmet and a spacesuit. And in the background is an object that resembles the images of UFOs known to us.

Sergey Dudin: “The creature is anthropomorphic, that is, humanlike. It could have been depicted by some of our ancestors, for example, in a space suit or in a protective suit. "

It is difficult to assume that this ancient drawing is exclusively the fruit of the exuberant imagination of a person who lived 8000 years ago. Otherwise, it turns out that he painted what he saw. That is, a real astronaut. By the way, this case is far from being an isolated one.

Almost every nation has legends with descriptions of aircraft, heroes soaring in the clouds, making instant travels over incredible distances. Historical science claims that such legends are nothing more than a fantastic reflection of the real life of ancient people. So they embellished their reality: heroes controlling flying dragons, magic swords and other miracles.

However, anthropological science claims: a person in the early stages of the development of his consciousness is simply not capable of such fantasies. He could invent something and compose fairy tales, only using real facts from the life around him. But what are these facts?

Erik von Daniken, archaeologist, researcher of ancient artifacts: “If aliens visited us, then this should have been reflected in sculptures, in building structures. People should have seen flying creatures descend from heaven. That is, my first step towards information was literature, and then - travel, travel, travel ... Everywhere. I have never written about something that I myself have not smelled, felt, or photographed. Of course, I looked at everything with a different perspective than archaeologists. I was looking for traces of creatures that came down to us from the sky, possessing technical devices. And I found more and more ... "

That is why many researchers argue that ancient legends and tales are nothing more than memories of some unknown stages in the life of mankind. As proof, scientists cite a unique structure, the so-called "Adam's Bridge", laid between India and Sri Lanka, dilapidated, covered with water, but no less majestic from this. The locals call this stone chain, which connects the two countries, the Rama Bridge. By the way, up to the 15th century one could walk along the Rama Bridge.

When and who built this bridge, science cannot answer. However, its construction is described in the ancient Indian epic "Ramayana". The action, according to this ancient source, took place about 1200 thousand years ago. The epic was recorded around the 4th century BC. So in the "Ramayana" it is written - the bridge was built by the gods. The construction was supervised by Nal, the son of the divine architect, and the builders were people and an army of monkeys ...

Tells Peter Palutikoff, architect: “The construction of such a bridge could take centuries. He, like a high stone ridge, protruded from the water, was superimposed on the bottom of the ocean. For such a construction, almost the entire population of the then India could be required. Maybe that's why legends indicate that monkeys helped people? According to fairy tales, they could build, fight, obey all orders of gods and people. "

The length of this bridge is 30 kilometers. And today it is a real labor feat to build such a structure. And then, in those immemorial times, and at all ... Traveling on this bridge is a long matter.

It is curious that in the ancient legends of various nationalities there is not a single mention of any magical self-propelled carts, although it would seem that this is the easiest way to come up with. Look at the cart pulled by a horse, and fantasize as much as the ancient soul wants. But the descriptions of flying chariots are more than enough! And they were ruled exclusively by the gods.

Eric von Daniken is talking: “Religion claims that we humans are the crown of creation. And science - that we are - is the pinnacle of evolutionary development. We imagine ourselves to be the most beautiful, the greatest in the entire universe. We are, as it were, ousting the aliens. But by doing so, we create a psychological problem for ourselves. And we are not ready to meet them. But someday this meeting will happen. I titled one of my books - "Shock because of the Gods." Someday humanity will be shocked because it refuses to believe what has been proven long ago. "

By the way, the flying gods are mentioned not only in the ancient Indian epic. Ancient African myths describe fire-breathing dragons. Other African legends describe a winged lightning bird that landed on the ground, releasing fire from under its raised wings. In Slavic and ancient European myths, the gods fly in the sky in fiery chariots. And the description of these chariots is strangely reminiscent of modern eyewitness accounts of UFO sightings.

Auguste Meessen, physicist, professor at the University of Antwerp: “The first evidence of the appearance of a UFO on our planet, and this is proven historically, appeared in Egypt about one and a half thousand years before the birth of Christ. This is written in the papyrus of Pharaoh Thutmose. He stood surrounded by his soldiers when an amazing bird flew over them several times. Precisely a bird, because then they knew that only birds can fly. "

Another archaeological find is irrefutable proof that the ancient people had a real ancient aviation. This is the famous "Sabu disc". Egyptologist Walter Emeray found it during excavations of tombs in an ancient Egyptian village in 1936. The Sabu disc is a round stone plate with a diameter of 70 centimeters, with three curved blades. This plate has a sleeve in the middle. It was this fastener that allowed the researchers to make the assumption that this disk is an integral part of some large and complex mechanism. But which one? Why did the Egyptians need this strange round object? Many researchers are convinced that the stone disc is nothing more than a propeller with hydraulic fins.

If we assume that this is really so, it turns out that the Egyptians for three thousand years BC knew how to build real airplanes and fly them. This find could become a worldwide sensation. But she didn't. This plane, even if it ever existed, was made of stone. And stone planes don't fly. And this means that all hypotheses about the great technologies of antiquity are nothing more than a fantasy. Meanwhile, the world-renowned archaeologist and expert on ancient texts, Swiss explorer Erik von Daniken believes that a stone plane should not fly.

However, in his opinion, this does not deny that in antiquity, over the Egyptian pyramids, over Easter Island, over the ancient cities of the Incas, planes could really fly, and space ships could land. And the ancient man knew what electric batteries and computers are.

Eric von Daniken reflects: “I’ll give you a very famous example. During World War II, US troops created military base in Papua New Guinea. They flew there american planes, from the "belly" of which were withdrawn all kinds of cargo: weapons, ammunition. The natives saw this, but did not understand what was happening. And when the Americans left at the end of the war, the Aborigines continued to look after the runways. Moreover, they themselves began to make airplanes - from wood and straw. Of course, not real airplanes, but their imitation. They began to make wristwatches - from wood and leather. They made microphones out of wood and spoke some phrases in them, made wooden antennas. I myself have seen these straw planes and wooden clocks. That is, a technologically progressive society came into contact with a technologically backward society, which is not able to understand more advanced technology, therefore it imitates only the appearance. Today we see many objects that have come down to us since ancient times, and we do not understand how they could have appeared. And the answer is very simple - it's just an imitation. I am convinced that this is how, for example, objects made of gold that resemble airplanes appeared, that is how sculptures appeared on churches in Central America, where on the chest of a sculpture depicting a priest there is a rectangular box with a keyboard - buttons for ten fingers ... And that's all the situation is not at all the same as in one of the recent television programs. They showed an ancient figurine - a replica of an airplane made of gold and said: "She is not able to fly." And they added: "Contrary to von Daniken's claims." But von Daniken never said such nonsense! I was credited with stupid statements. Nonsense! Gold model airplanes shouldn't fly! Solid wood clocks should not show the time. Because this is nothing more than an imitation. "

According to his hypothesis, all these stone propellers, golden figurines of planes, drawings of strange creatures in spacesuits are the result of contacts of ancient people with aliens, who, according to his calculations, visited the Earth 14 thousand years ago. Ancient man saw all this, and then, like modern aborigines, reproduced at the level at which he could.

The version, of course, is fantastic, but you must admit that science still cannot offer a more logical explanation for all these strange artifacts. By the way, about the figurines of golden birds, similar to modern aircraft found in an ancient Inca burial ... German engineers have recently made an exact copy of this golden bird from modern materials and equipped it with an engine. And, imagine, she flew! Moreover, its aerodynamic qualities were no worse than modern aircraft models.

Peter Belting, model aircraft designer, major in the German Air Force: “Like real airplanes, they have all the classic elements: delta-shaped hulls, wings, side wings - that is, all the elements necessary for aerodynamic flight. I have tested in the most incredible places, between trees and other obstacles. Problems never arose, it is easy to control and develops a speed of 40 to 120 km per hour. It flies at any height within sight, but not as an ordinary aircraft model, but as a full-fledged aircraft that needs to be constantly controlled, adjust the flight depending on the direction of the wind, and so on. But it flies absolutely without any problems. "

The fact that in distant antiquity people inhabiting the Earth knew what aviation is, today researchers of ancient civilizations are talking absolutely seriously. And that's why.

In America, archaeologists recently discovered the oldest road. They initially assumed that it was built by the ancient Indians. The archaeologists had something to be surprised, because if you evaluate the road by modern parameters, the width of this highway is about 18 lanes! But then a simple question arose: why did the wild tribes need to build this road? After all, according to science, they did not even know the wheel. Where and on what were the Indians to travel on this freeway? It was then that the version was put forward that, firstly, no Indians built it, but someone built it long before the appearance of the Indian civilization. And secondly, this is not a road at all, but, possibly, a runway.

Jonathan Young, Chief Curator of the Archives of Mythological Literature. Joseph Campbell, reflects: “It’s impossible to say for sure. I am of the opinion that this is an ancient airfield for airplanes. "

Yundum airfield

Experts say the same about Yundum airfield. It is one of the largest operating airports in Africa. In 1987, NASA even designated this airport as a backup landing site for space shuttles. This port is the real pride of the people of The Gambia. But no one knows who built this runway. Locals say: she has always been here. In 1977, it was just asphalted and marked. The result is a runway with a length of 3600 meters. And before it was asphalted, it was laid out in perfectly flat blocks. Moreover, the joints of the ancient slabs are such that grass hardly sprouted through them. At first, the researchers suggested that this site was built by the Germans during the Second World War. However, it is known that they paved military airfields not with massive stone slabs, but with small metal sheets. To find out exactly where this runway came from, a few years ago, British scientists took several stone samples for research. After the examinations, it turned out that the basalt rock from which the slabs were made is more than 15 thousand years old! Chips appeared on it about 10 thousand years ago. So long before the new era, this site was used as an airfield. But by whom? Who could have created planes and runways on Earth many thousands of years ago?

Matthew Corrano, Doctor of Paleontology: “According to one of the versions, these runways were built by ancient peoples under the control of aliens who visited Earth and helped people by transferring construction technologies and engineering calculations. But there is also another version. All these works were carried out by the earthlings themselves, without any aliens. Because, according to some researchers, many millennia ago, our planet was inhabited by a highly developed civilization of people who already had everything: aviation, electricity, and even the energy of an atomic nucleus. As a result of a global catastrophe, civilization perished. Everyone agrees that this happened about 14 thousand years ago. Only a few artifacts have come down to us, the origin of which cannot be explained from the point of view of traditional science, legends that we mistake for the fantasy and inventions of ancient authors. "

Having deciphered this document, the scientists simply did not believe their eyes, for the ancient Indian authors, it turns out, knew more about aviation than our modern engineers.

The mysterious treatise contains eight chapters. Each of them reveals one of the secrets of creating an aircraft and its use. What are the titles of these chapters alone?

The first is "The secret of the structure of the aircraft." The second is "The secret of making aircraft that can be stationary." In it, ancient authors write about machines that can hover without moving at the same height. Judging by the description, this is the prototype of a modern helicopter. But further - more. The next chapter is called "The Secret of Making an Invisible Aircraft." Compared to the description of the ancient flying stealth, our stealth aircraft are the first timid attempt. Here, the treatise describes how to listen to the enemy's conversations, how to get images of enemy positions. It is amazing that everything written in this ancient document is relevant for our modern science.

It is impossible to believe that in ancient times a person could think about the most complex problems of aerodynamics. And not only to think, but also to propose such ways of solving them, which seem unattainable even for our engineers.

Alexander Koltypin: “Indian legends say that there were two great architects. The demons - the daiti - had Maya Danava, who himself possessed great knowledge, possessed the powers of the Maya - an illusion, so such vimanas could change their form, turn into some kind of illusory forms. The gods had Vishmakarma, as they called him, - the architect. So they were building vimanas. "

This cryptic document describes four types of aircraft. The first is tripura-vimana. It had three tiers and could move on land, water and sky. Most likely, this is the prototype of the modern amphibian. Moreover, solar energy should serve as fuel. It is separately described that this type of apparatus can only be made of metal, which is called "trinetra" in the document. But what kind of metal is this? Science does not yet know such a chemical element.

Stephen Greer, Ph.D. in Biology, reflects: “Today we are trying to figure out what it is. Surely I mean some kind of alloy. Perhaps then it was widespread in India, so the ancient engineers did not even talk about its composition. Or it was a secret alloy for defense production. "

The second type of ancient Indian aircraft is the rukma-vimana. Judging by the description, it should be a golden cone that moves due to electrical energy. And again, the ancient authors point out, such an aircraft can be made only from a special material, called in the work "the king of metals". What did the compilers mean? Another rare alloy that we don't know yet?

Another type of aircraft is described as a multi-articulated bird equipped with pistons. There is an indication of the special fuel that makes the car maneuverable. Because of all these mysteries in the text, no one has yet succeeded in checking how possible the creation of such devices is.

Stephen Greer: “If you follow science: we know that aviation fuel cannot make a car more maneuverable, the same with atomic energy. And even more so with the sun. Or our level of engineering does not allow us to invent such a fuel that maneuverability does not depend on it. "

Flight vehicle "tripura-vimana"

But perhaps the most main riddle of this treatise - a description of the aircraft, which was called by the ancient authors "sundara-vimanu". This device could protect the ancient pilot from intense heat - fire from inside and outside. To make this apparatus, or "vimana", as the authors call it, was prescribed from a special alloy of the sixth type. What is this alloy? The treatise does not write about this. Moreover, this "vimaana" has a mechanism, as stated in the document, "air diffusion". That is, most likely, it was possible to travel on it outside the atmosphere! Was it possible that in ancient times man was able to fly into space?

Michael Cremo, archaeologist: “It looks like we have to look for new explanations for how man came about. How it developed on our planet. Maybe we're not from Earth at all? After all, many finds say: man not only flew through the sky, but also traveled across the Universe. "

It is difficult, almost impossible to believe that a man in ancient times could create flying vehicles and even fly into space. However, in the ancient Indian epic we find confirmation of this fantastic version. In the world-famous poem "Ramayana", for example, a journey to the moon is described in detail. On the very aircraft described in the ancient treatise. There is in the poem a description of the air battles that the warring royal clans fought among themselves. There is also a speech about the air war, which the ancient inhabitants of the Indian land waged with the Atlanteans, whose planes are called in the epic "as-vina".

All this seems fantastic. But even if there were no space flights in ancient times, as well as air battles with the Atlanteans, and there were no these ancient mysterious air "vimanas". Even if these treatises are nothing more than a simple fantasy of ancient authors, it is worth a lot. To fantasize THIS, a man of the ancient world had to have colossal knowledge. Indeed, only Tsiolkovsky managed to think of many things described in this ancient Indian manuscript, and then after many, many centuries.

Aircraft "Rukma-Vimana"

Now imagine that all this was invented, written down, and maybe even designed by that very ancient man from our history textbooks, for whom hollowing out coconut pulp with a sharp stick was the limit of intellectual tension. Agree, something in our understanding of history is still arranged incorrectly.

Many archaeological finds such as the Baghdad battery, ancient airfields, golden airplane birds and even more ancient treatises cannot serve as irrefutable proof that some highly developed civilization inhabited the Earth before modern man.

After all, it is always quite difficult to establish the exact age of a find. This means that those who believe that functions unusual for them are often attributed to all these objects may turn out to be quite right. That is, the Baghdad battery may turn out to be an ordinary vessel for storing poisonous liquids, an ancient mechanical computer - a later invention of the Greek astronomer Hipparchus of Nicaea, and the "Adam's Bridge" itself was accidentally formed from boulders over the centuries ... This is the position on which official science stands. There were no pre-civilizations on the planet!

Modern man, that is, we are the crown of evolution. And it is our society, having gone all the way from a Neanderthal man to a city dweller of the XXI century, is the only and most developed on the planet Earth for all the time of its existence. Maybe that's how it is. But why do archaeologists now and then come across such facts that do not fit into the official theory?

For example, the mummy of an ancient Greek priestess named Hentavi. In 1992, the staff of the Munich Museum decided to analyze one of the Egyptian mummies. Its age was about 3000 years. The experiment was aimed at identifying those chemicals that do not degrade in tissues for a long time. The study recruited a toxicologist specializing in forensic medicine. Conducting a standard study of the tissues of an ancient priestess from Egypt, the toxicologist received shocking results - the analysis indicated the presence of traces of nicotine in Hentavi's hair.

Maxim Lebedev, Researcher, Institute of Oriental Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences: “The discovery of nicotine in Egyptian mummies was not new in the 90s, because for the first time nicotine was discovered in small amounts in the mummy of Ramses II, when he was in France, on such a kind of restoration. Then they did not pay special attention to this. They considered it to be an accident. But then nicotine began to be discovered already in mummies, which were found directly on the territory of Egypt, this is the newest excavations. "

But is that possible? In order for nicotine to remain in the hair, a person during his lifetime had to smoke tobacco regularly, that is, be a heavy smoker. And this fact would not mean anything if the official science did not insist that they began to smoke tobacco outside America only after the journey of Columbus. Before the discovery of America by Europeans, no one in the world, except, perhaps, the Indians, knew this bad habit. In Asia, it is true, they smoked opium, but that, as they say, is a different story.

Maxim Lebedev reasoning: “Whether the Egyptians knew about tobacco, on this score it is quite possible to say in the affirmative - no. Because the flora available to the Egyptians is very well studied, well, relatively well. If nicotine-containing plants were used, then they were used exclusively in the mummification process. The Egyptians knew the antiseptic effect of nicotine. The fact is that if they were used at some kind of festivities, as entertainment, then most likely it would have been depicted. The Egyptians were very fond of life and portrayed such things as, for example, a mandrake or a lily. But none of this is there. "

So the "Munich mummies" became a real triumph for toxicologists - and a big headache for historians. After all, if the Egyptian priests smoked tobacco, it means that someone discovered America long before Christopher Columbus ...

the author Dreykopf Marseille

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From Masterweb

26.06.2018 14:00

The study of our planet took place over several centuries, and many people distinguished themselves, whose names and merits are captured in many historical books. All great travelers sought to escape from routine existence and look at the world with different eyes. The thirst for new knowledge, curiosity, the desire to expand certain horizons - all these qualities were inherent in each of them.

About history and about travelers

The history of mankind should be understood as the history of travel. It is impossible to understand what it would be modern world if previous civilizations did not send travelers to the borders of the then unknown world. The thirst for travel is inherent in human DNA, because he has always sought to explore something and expand his own world.

The first humans began colonizing the world 100,000 years ago, migrating from Africa to Asia and Europe. In the era of the Middle Ages and modern times, travelers went to unknown countries in search of gold, fame, new lands, or they simply fled from their miserable existence and poverty. However, all great travelers possessed an impulse of power of the same nature, an endless fuel of researchers - curiosity. It is enough just something that a person does not know or does not understand how an alluring and irresistible force arises, which cannot be resisted. Further in the article, the exploits of the great travelers and their discoveries are given, which had a huge impact on the process of the formation of mankind. The following personalities are noted:

• Herodotus;
• Ibn Battuta;
• Marco Polo;
• Christopher Columbus;
• Fernand Magellan and Juan Sebastian Elcano;
• James Cook;
• Charles Darwin;
• researchers of Africa and Antarctica;
• famous Russian travelers.

Father of modern history - Herodotus

The famous Greek philosopher, Herodotus, lived in the 5th century BC. His first journey was exile, as Herodotus was accused of conspiring against the tyrant of Halicarnassus, Ligdamis. During this exile, the great traveler travels around the entire Middle East. He describes all his discoveries and knowledge gained in 9 books, thanks to which Herodotus received the nickname of the father of history. It is interesting to note that another famous historian of ancient Greece, Plutarch, gave Herodotus the nickname "Father of Lies". In his books, Herodotus talks about distant countries and about the cultures of many peoples, information about which the philosopher collected during his travels.

The stories of the great traveler are filled with political, philosophical and geographical reflections. They also contain sexual stories, myths, and crime stories. Herodotus' writing style is semi-artistic. Modern historians view the work of Herodotus as a paradigm of curiosity. Historical and geographical knowledge brought by Herodotus had a great influence on the development of Greek culture. Geographic map, which was compiled by Herodotus, and which included the limits from the Danube to the Nile, and from Iberia to India, for the next 1000 years determined the horizons of the world known at that time. Note that the scientist was very worried that the knowledge gained by him would not be lost by humanity over time, therefore he presented them in detail in his 9 books.

Ibn Battuta (1302-1368)

Like every Muslim, twenty-year-old Battuta began his pilgrimage from Tangier to Mecca on the back of a donkey. He could not even imagine that he would return to his hometown only 25 years later, with immense riches and a whole harem of wives after traveling through most of the world. If you wonder what great travelers first explored the Muslim world, then you can safely call Ibn Battuta. He traveled to all countries, from the Kingdom of Granada in Spain to China, and from Caucasus mountains to the city of Timbuktu, which is located in the Republic of Mali. This great traveler traveled 120,000 kilometers, met more than 40 sultans and emperors, was an ambassador to various sultans and survived a number of disasters. Ibn Battuta always traveled with a large retinue, and in each new place he was treated like an important person.

Modern historians note that in the first half of the XIV century, when Ibn Battuta was making his travels, the Islamic world was at the apogee of its existence, which allowed the traveler to move quickly and easily across many territories.

Like Marco Polo, Battuta did not write his book ("Travels"), but dictated his stories to the Granada scholar Ibn Khuzai. This piece reflects Battuta's thirst for enjoying life, which includes stories of sex and blood.

Marco Polo (1254-1324)

Marco Polo is one of the important names of great travelers. The book of the Venetian merchant Marco Polo, which tells in detail about his travels, began to enjoy immense popularity 2 centuries before the invention of printing. Marco Polo has traveled the world for 24 years. Upon returning to his homeland, he was imprisoned during the war between the Mediterranean trading powers: Genoa and Venice. In prison, he dictated stories of his travels to one of his unfortunate neighbors. As a result, in 1298, a book appeared called "Description of the World Dictated by Marco".

Marco Polo, together with his father and uncle, who were famous traders in jewelry and silk, went on a journey to the Far East at the age of 17. During his trip, the great geographic traveler visited such forgotten places as Hormuz Island, the Gobi Desert, the coasts of Vietnam and India. Marko knew 5 foreign languages, was the representative of the great Mongolian khan Kublai for 17 years.

Note that Marco Polo was not the first European to visit Asia, however, he was the first to compose a detailed geographical description of it. His book is a mixture of truth and fiction, which is why many historians question most of its facts. On his deathbed, a priest asked Marco Polo, who was 70 years old, to confess to his lies, to which the great traveler replied that he did not say half of what he saw.

Christopher Columbus (1451 - 1506)

Speaking about the travelers of the great era of discoveries, first of all, we should name Christopher Columbus, who shifted the spine of the human economy to the west and marked the beginning of a new era in history. Historians note that when Columbus sailed to the discovery of the New World, the word "gold" is most often found in the entries of his logbook, and not the word "land".

Christopher Columbus, taking into account the information provided by Marco Polo, believed that he could achieve Of the Far East full of gold and riches, sailing west. As a result, on August 2, 1492, he sails from Spain on three ships and heads west. The voyage across the Atlantic Ocean lasted more than 2 months, and on October 11, Rodrigo Triana saw land from the La Pinta ship. This day radically changed the lives of Europeans and Americans.

Like many great travelers of the era of great discoveries, Columbus died in 1506 in poverty in the city of Valladolid. Columbus did not know that he had discovered a new continent, but thought that he had managed to swim to India through the west.

Fernand Magellan and Juan Sebastian Elcano (16th century)

One of the amazing routes of the great travelers of the era of the Great Geographical Discoveries is the route of Fernand Magellan, when he was able to get through a narrow strait from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean, which Magellan named after its calm waters.

In the 16th century, there was a serious race for dominion on the seas and oceans between Portugal and Spain, historians compare this race to the race for space exploration between the United States and the USSR. As Portugal dominated the African coastline, Spain sought ways to reach the Spice Islands (modern day Indonesia) and India via the west. Fernand Magellan became just a navigator who had to find a new route to the East through the West.

In September 1519, 5 ships with a total of 237 sailors set off for the West, led by Fernand Magellan. Three years later, only one ship returned with 18 sailors on board, led by Juan Sebastian Elcano. This was the first time that a person swam around the entire globe. The great traveler Fernand Magellan himself died in the Philippine Islands.

James Cook (1728-1779)

This great British traveler is considered the most famous explorer of the Pacific. He left his parents' farm and became a great captain of the Royal Navy of Great Britain. He made three great voyages from 1768 to 1779, which filled in many blank spots on the maps of the Pacific Ocean. All of Cook's travels were conducted by the United Kingdom to achieve a range of geographic and botanical destinations in Oceania, Australia and New Zealand.

Charles Darwin (1809 - 1882)

Few people know that the story of the great travelers and their discoveries must include the name of Charles Darwin, who at the age of 22 set off on a journey on the Beagle Brigantine in 1831 to explore the east coast of South America. On this journey, Charles Darwin sailed around the world for 5 years, collecting a huge amount of information about the flora and fauna of our planet, which turned out to be key for the advancement of Darwin's theory of the evolution of living organisms.

After this long journey, the scientist locked himself in his home in Kent in order to carefully study the collected material and make the right conclusions. In 1859, that is, 23 years after traveling around the world, Charles Darwin published his work "On the Origin of Species through Natural Selection", the main thesis of which was that not the strongest living organisms survive, but the most adapted to environmental conditions ...

African exploration

The great travelers who have distinguished themselves in their exploration of Africa are mostly British. One of the famous explorers of the black continent is Dr. Livingston, who excelled in research central regions Africa. Livingston owns the discovery of Victoria Falls. This man is a national hero of Great Britain.

Other famous Britons who excelled in their exploration of Africa are John Speke and Richard Francis Barton, who traveled extensively across the African continent in the second half of the 19th century. Their most famous journey is the search for the source of the Nile.

Exploration of Antarctica

Exploration of the icy southern continent - Antarctica marked a new stage in the history of mankind. Briton Robert Scott and Norwegian Roald Amundsen distinguished themselves in the conquest of the South Pole. Scott was an explorer and officer of the British Royal Navy, he led 2 expeditions to Antarctica, and on January 17, 1912, he, along with five members of his team, reached the South Pole, however, the Norwegian Amundsen was several weeks ahead of him. The entire expedition of Robert Scott died, freezing in the icy desert of Antarctica. Amundsen, in turn, having visited the South Pole on December 14, 1911, was able to return to his homeland alive.

First woman traveler

The thirst for travel and new discoveries was characteristic not only of men, but also of women. So, the first woman traveler about whom there is reliable evidence was the Galician (northwestern part of Spain) Echeria in the 4th century AD. Her travels were associated with the holy lands and pilgrimage. So, it is known that for 3 years she visited Constantinople, Jerusalem, Sinai, Mesopotamia and Egypt. It is not known whether Echeria returned to her homeland.

Great Russian travelers who expanded the borders of Russia

Russia is the largest country in the world in terms of area. Much of this glory of her is due to Russian travelers and researchers. Great travelers in the table below are given.

Russian travelers - explorers of the planet

Among them, Ivan Kruzenshtern should be noted, who was the first Russian to travel around the globe. We will also mention Nikolai Miklouho-Maclay, who was a famous navigator and explorer of Oceania and South-East Asia... We also note Nikolai Przhevalsky, who was one of the most famous researchers of Central Asia in the world.

Kievyan street, 16 0016 Armenia, Yerevan +374 11 233 255

3. Updating knowledge

Conclusion: to travel - to explore the world, expand knowledge, explore the oceans, continents, planet Earth

Working with banner words

Phoenicians

Mediterranean Sea

Herodotus

Pytheus

North Sea

Atlantic Ocean

strait of Gibraltar

British islands

Find out if Libya is great?

interactively

• Working with a map of Africa
• Working with the map of Herodotus

"Travelers of Antiquity"

Questions

Travelers

Phoenicians

Herodotus

Pytheus

Who were you?

Scientist, navigator

When did you travel?

Purpose of Travel?

Is the camp of Libya great?

Knowledge of the world

Travel Result

Around Africa

Explored Scythia, Egypt

6. Primary anchoring:

1) Test execution

7. Homework

8. Lesson summary

9. Reflection

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"Summary of the lesson" Travelers of Antiquity ""

Lesson summary "Travelers of Antiquity"

Target: create conditions for the formation of ideas among students about the role of travelers in the study of the Earth

Planned results (tasks):

Personal:

1) formation of understanding of the role of travel in the accumulation of knowledge about the Earth;

2) respect for history, way of life of other peoples;

3) the ability to work with the map

Metasubject:

1) the ability to work with various sources of information, highlight the main thing in the text, structure the material;

2) convert text to tabular form;

Subject:

1) explain the results of outstanding geographical discoveries, the impact of travel on the development of geographical knowledge;

2) define and show travel routes on the map;

3) formulate conclusions about the role of ancient travelers in the exploration of the Earth

Teaching methods: partial search, research

Forms of organizing the cognitive activity of students: collective, steam room, group, individual

Means of education: world map, map of northeastern Europe; map of Libya, Africa (according to Herodotus); textbook, atlas, workbook with a printed base, training presentation

1. Organizational moment of the lesson

“The bell rang - the lesson begins!

If you want to know a lot - work hard!

Everything will turn out to be "5", if there is a desire! "

Good day! It is very pleasant to see respected fifth-graders, dear colleagues, everyone who loves to learn new things at today's lesson! I really want to continue the conversation started in the last lesson about distant countries, ancient navigators, unexplored islands, their fabulous riches, about everything that excites the imagination of people, arouses the desire to learn something unknown, go to the world of travel and discoveries.

Now, I want to introduce you to anthem of geographers, biologists, and environmentalists, people who love travel. Listen!

We will also mark the places of travel on the world map.

So, let's start the lesson?

2. Setting the goal and objectives of the lesson

1) reading the words - banners on the chalkboard

Libya, Tuamotu, Herodotus, Norway, British Isles, Strait of Gibraltar, Pytheas, amber, Egypt, Scythia, Red Sea, South America, Africa, Pacific Ocean, Kon-Tiki, Thor Heyerdahl, Eratosthenes, Balsa, Phoenicians

What can you say about these words?

What do all these words have in common?

What kind of travel did people make in ancient times?

Could people in ancient times travel around the world?

Would you like to know more about the voyages of ancient seafarers?

2) determining the topic of the lesson, writing the topic "Travelers of Antiquity" in a notebook

3. Updating knowledge

1) organization of knowledge testing on the topic "In the footsteps of travelers of the Stone Age"

Working with words - banners at the blackboard. Choose the words to compose the story of Thor Heyerdahl's journey.

Thor Heyerdahl's team proved the possibility of Stone Age settlement on the islands by their journey across the Pacific on a balsa raft.

2) Have a wall card show South America, Pacific Ocean, Norway

3) Frontal work with the class

The name of the traveler who proved the possibility of settling the islands of the Pacific Ocean?

What was the name of the travelers' floating facility?

Why couldn't the explorers complete their journey? (p. 38, 1 paragraph below)

Why are some islands in the Pacific not inhabited to this day?

4) listening to the story about T. Heyerdahl, showing on the map

Conclusion: to travel - to explore the world, expand knowledge, explore the oceans, continents, planet Earth

4. Primary assimilation of new knowledge

Could people in ancient times travel around the world?

1) Organization of work on the study of a new topic

Working with words - banners

Phoenicians Mediterranean Sea	Herodotus	Pytheus North Sea Atlantic Ocean strait of Gibraltar British islands
Find out if Libya is great?

2) the formation of ideas about the earth's surface, about the research of ancient travelers

3) practical work "Drawing on a contour map geographic sites» interactively

Working with a map of Africa

Working with the map of Herodotus

Working with a map of Northwest Europe (independently)

5. Initial check of understanding of new material

1) filling in the table when using the tutorial

"Travelers of Antiquity"

Questions	Travelers
	Phoenicians	Herodotus	Pytheus
Who were you?			Scientist, navigator
When did you travel?
Purpose of Travel?	Is the camp of Libya great?	Knowledge of the world	Find the trade route to the sunstone
Travel Result	Around Africa	Explored Scythia, Egypt	Found a way out Mediterranean Sea to the North

Conclusion: in ancient times, people could make long journeys; technical capabilities (sailing ships, ships at oars) differed from the technical capabilities of people of the Stone Age

6. Primary anchoring:

1) Test execution

2) mutual verification, marking according to criteria

7. Homework

§ eight; compose a crossword puzzle "Ancient travelers"

Participate in the All-Russian Geographical Dictation

8. Lesson summary

Working with words with banners

Can words be combined into groups?

Is it possible to make sentences with words?

9. Reflection

Reflection of the activity "Ladder of success"