One of the most renowned authors of ancient Mesopotamian history is Zecharia Sitchin. Sitchin was born 11 July 1920 in Baku, which was then still a part of the Soviet Union. He is a graduate of the University of London and worked as a journalist and editor in Israel for many years before moving to New York City in the United States. Zecharia Sitchen is also an eminent Orientalist and Biblical scholar.
Zecharia Sitchin, Author of the Earth Chronicles
Sitchen’s claim to fame is his distinguished ability to read and translate ancient Sumerian texts, which were recorded on clay tablets. His first book, The 12th Planet, published in 1976, outlined the possibility of another planet beyond the orbits of Neptune and Pluto, which was called Nibiru by the ancient Sumerians. This claim sparked many a debate, which only intensify as the years progress towards 2012, the infamous end-of-the-world year.
Scientists have put much time and effort into snubbing or discounting his claims. Sitchen has written a total of thirteen books categorized as the Earth Chronicle volumes and the Companion volumes. So why is there so much debate on Sitchin’s work as well as ridicule from other writers?
Ancient Mesopotamia
Between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers lay the ancient land of Mesopotamia. It contained the early urban cities of Uruk, Babylon, Nippur, Ur, Edin, Akkad, Kish and Nineveh. Mesopotamia is also known as one of the four complex areas where writing was invented along with the Nile River of Egypt, the Indus Valley and the Yellow River Valley in China.
The first written language of ancient Mesopotamia was Sumerian, though it was not alone as other Semitic dialects emerged. Akkadian was the language that eventually became dominant in the area. Sumerian was reserved for religious and administrative purposes until it fell away to the Aramaic language. Sumerian, however, remained in the temples for a few centuries.
These ancient cultures were also adept within the business of medicine, astronomy, mathematics and technology. They developed agriculture, politics and religion. The religion of these ancient Mesopotamian cultures is a particularly fascinating topic today as mythology meets apparently actual events and entities.
The pantheon of deities includes a long list of male and female characters. Some of them all belonged to the same royal family of Nibiru while others were simply great emissaries from Nibiru. These ancient people revered their deities, some of which were known as the Anunnaki, for teaching them all the knowledge that they possessed. The word Anunnaki translates to “Those who from the heavens descended”. This would imply that their gods came from their home world, Nibiru.
Nibiru, Home of the Anunnaki
As mentioned in the second paragraph, Sitchin brought to light the planet Nibiru. According to his translations of the Mesopotamian iconography and symbology, Nibiru is in fact part of our solar system and is on a long, elliptical orbit around the Sun and appears in our corner of the solar system every 3,600 years, disrupting the harmonious orbital patterns of our planets and asteroid belt, and thus causing cosmic anarchy.
This was well recorded by the ancient Sumerians because the name “Nibiru” translates to “planet of the crossing”. Some scientists and astronomers don’t support the existence of Nibiru, saying that if it were really out there they would have discovered it and would have begun tracking it.
The most interesting claim about Nibiru is that it was teeming with life; ancient Mesopotamian and Mayan mythology supports this as the planet that was home to their gods and goddesses. While it is accepted largely by religious groups and other professionals that the concept of Nibiru and the Anunnaki is mythology, Zecharia Sitchin proposes a different approach to the interpretation of these ancient accounts.
The Sitchin translations suggest that the Anunnaki were in fact very real physical beings who indeed emerged and developed on a planet much larger than the earth. His translations also highlight the fact that these ancient astronauts had discovered and touched down on the earth long before the emergence of mankind, for which the Anunnaki were responsible.
The translations now available in a book by Zecharia Sitchen, The Lost Book of Enki, tells a tale of the Anunnaki landing on the earth in search of gold. It describes the incredible journey in their “celestial birds” and clearly describes Pluto through to Mars with all their physical attributes. This particular book is said to be told in the exact words of this extraterrestrial god, Enki (also known as Ea) and scribed by his master scribe, Endubsar.
The Anunnaki, True Creators of Mankind?
According to the translations of Zecharia Sitchin, the Anunnaki created the human species through a complex genetic manipulation process whereby the genes of the Anunnaki were mixed with a primitive hominid species that roamed the earth at the time. The reason for the creation of mankind is a rather dismal matter because the Anunnaki needed them as slaves to toil in the gold mines, relieving the Anunnaki from the task.
The ancient Sumerian texts call this the admixture. Horrible failures met the Anunnaki in their attempt at creating their “primitive worker” until finally they were successful in creating a male creature that looked like them and also sounded as they do. This male being was then called Adamu and was given birth to by an Anunnaki female after she had been artificially inseminated with Enki’s admixture.
A female companion was also created the same way with only an adjustment to the admixture. She was called Tiamat, after the primordial planet that was said to have been devastated by Nibiru, its remains forming the earth and asteroid belt. This might be confused with the Biblical Adam and Eve because Adamu and Tiamat were the first created primitive workers.
The Sumerian translations also tell the story of the first “civilized man”. The civilized man would be different to primitive worker because he was conceived between the god Enki and a female “Earthling”. This now meant that the Earthling or human now had the same brain capacity as the Anunnaki.
This of course wasn’t received well by other gods, especially Enki’s brother, Enlil. The first civilized man’s name was Adapa and his female companion Titi. These correspond to the Biblical Adam and Eve. This would mean that the Bible only starts with the story of the first civilized humans but not their predecessors.
Adapa and Titi had two sons, Ka-in and Abael, the Biblical Cain and Abel. Their talents are also highlighted in the Sumerian text with regards to the sacrifices they offer to Enlil. At first glance these claims seem absurd because the reader has been made to believe something entirely different either supported by their own religion or the evolution theory supported by the scientific community.
Accepting Sitchin’s claims would require abandoning everything that had been taught in school and church. However, consider the descriptions of the planets in our solar system. These ancient descriptions of the rings of Anshar (Saturn), the great swirling storms of the giant Kishar (Jupiter) or the blue hue of Anu (Uranus) wouldn’t be possible to the ancient human civilization who had not seen the planets for themselves, he asserts. It would only be possible if the information was handed down to them by someone who has witnessed the planets. In The Lost Book of Enki the gravitational pull of Jupiter is described.
The understanding of the gravitational pull of planets is something that modern society would never expect from the ancients, yet, according to Sitchin, the proof is in the pudding – or the clay in this case. Still, to the religious person it would seem as though they would have to surrender their beliefs for something that sounds truly science-fiction in nature.
Readers of the Bible might be surprised to see that many of the stories found in Genesis and Exodus are also found in the ancient Sumerian texts, of course with variation. A very good example of this would be Ziusudra and the Great Deluge. In the Bible the exact same account is known as Noah and the ark. This ancient event was said to have been caused by the passing of Nibiru, whereas in the Bible it is said to have been caused by the wrath of God. It would be important now to outline the fact that the Anunnaki and ancient Sumerians referred to planets as celestial gods.
At the time of the Great Deluge there was one god who was particularly enraged with the numbers of humanity; Enlil again, who was more than willing to allow the devastation caused by Nibiru to wipe out the human race.
There will continue to be debate of about the Bible, Sitchin and evolution until such time as humanity finds the absolute truth one day.
Sources:
- 10th Planet Discovered – NASA Science.Ancient Mesopotamia by History Link.Church of Critical Thinking – Presenting 2012.
- Slave Species of God by Michael Tellinger.
- The Lost Book of Enki by Zecharia Sitchin.
- The Official Website of Zecharia Sitchen.
- Washington Post, Thomas O’Toole, 30 December 1983; Page A1.
