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The 12th Planet (Book I of the Earth Chronicles)

The 12th Planet - Zecharia Sitchin

How did civilization begin seemingly out of nowhere?  And how did humanity evolve so fast in comparison to what had happened before?  These are the questions that Zecharia Sitchin set to answer in his book, The 12th Planet, in which he purports that he found said answers in cuneiform text dating from time of Sumerians over 5000 years ago.

 

Sitchin begins by going over the spurts of cultural development that lead to the beginning of Sumerian civilization and how modern man appeared so soon in terms of evolution to even develop the civilization that we are a part of.  Sitchin then describes all the firsts that Sumer did in, many of them were not continuous since then through to our day, and then asked where the Sumerians learned this knowledge to he responded that the Sumerians learned it from the gods.  Using the Sumerian Creation myth, Enuma Elis, Sitchin details the beginnings of the solar system including how a rogue planetoid entered the developing solar system and began circling the sun in a 3,600 year long orbit.  This planet, named Nibiru, created havoc in the early solar system resulting in the asteroid belt and Earth, seeded with the building blocks of life from this planet.  Eventually humanlike beings eventually developed technology to explore the solar system and find Earth habitable and with resources they needed.  These beings, the Annunaki or Nephilim, began travelling to Earth and mining for resources but bringing with them their own politics and grudges that eventually led to the “creation” of modern humans then the Deluge in an effort to destroy them.  But in the aftermath were thankful that some survived so they could help them rebuild their operations.

 

Sitchin’s work was one of a number “ancient astronaut” books throughout 1970s and his influence within the community is immeasurable still almost a decade after his death.   Yet, this book is rife with many scientific errors related to astrophysics, celestial mechanics, cosmology, and plate tectonics to name a few and is out-of-date in human evolutionary thought.  While those are big drawbacks, Sitchin’s focus on Sumerian & Akkadian cuneiform on the reported Annunaki influence on early Earth and human history is very interesting and thought-provoking even if you disbelieve it.  This focus on Sumerian myth, or record of history, is the most important part of the book as well as it’s relation to other mythological traditions along with the Bible.

 

While many might discount this book because of the incorrect scientific propositions put forward and disagree with the “ancient astronaut” theory.  The best argument for reading Zecharia Sitchin’s The 12th Planet  is the focus on Sumerian history and myth, which is one of the oldest and little known compared to many other cultures.  Agree or disagree with Sitchin, this book is just one you have to say that you’ve read.