A comparison has been made of two points of view on the existence in the distant past of a highly developed civilization - Atlantis, which perished as a result of a natural disaster. A third version is proposed, based on an analysis of the dates and areas of origin of ancient civilizations - Sumer, Egypt and others, which proves that Atlantis was an artificial “island” built in 3760 BC. and, which could move freely throughout the oceans. Based on the trajectory of the “island” of Atlantis and comparing it with the modern distribution of natural resources, it is shown that the main goal of the Atlanteans was the extraction of rare and rare earth metals - tantalum, niobium, lanthanides, as well as gold. The relationship between Atlantis and ancient civilizations has been established.