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Available
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Series
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Publication
Avon
Description
Over the years, startling evidence has been unearthed, challenging established notions of the origins of Earth and life on it and suggesting the existence of a superior race of beings who once inhabited our world. The product of thirty years of intensive research, The 12th Planet is the first book in Zecharia Sitchin's prophetic Earth Chronicles series-a revolutionary body of work that offers indisputable documentary proof of humanity's extraterrestrial forefathers. Travelers from the stars, they arrived eons ago, and planted the genetic seed that would ultimately blossom into a remarkable species . . . called Man. The 12th Planet brings to life the Sumerian civilization, presenting millennia-old evidence of the existence of Nibiru, the home planet of the Anunnaki and of the landings of the Anunnaki on Earth every 3,600 years, and reveals a complete history of the solar system as told by these early visitors from another planet.… (more)
Media reviews
knjigainfo.com
Nakon trideset godina intenzivnog naučnog istra-živanja, ovaj istaknuti profesor klasičnih nauka iznosi i dokazuju revolucionarnu teoriju po kojoj su naši preci vanzemaljskog porekla! Svoju teoriju o vanzemaljskoj rasi Nefilima, koji nas posećuju sva-kih 3600 godina kada se njihova matična
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planeta Nibiru dovoljno približi Zemlji... Show Less
knjigainfo.com
Nakon trideset godina intenzivnog naučnog istra-živanja, ovaj istaknuti profesor klasičnih nauka iznosi i dokazuju revolucionarnu teoriju po kojoj su naši preci vanzemaljskog porekla! Svoju teoriju o vanzemaljskoj rasi Nefilima, koji nas posećuju sva-kih 3600 godina kada se njihova matična
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planeta Nibiru dovoljno približi Zemlji... Show Less
User reviews
LibraryThing member jsabrina
I've been intrigued by "ancient astronaut" theories for a long time and finally decided to read this book just to learn about what its adherents were talking about and believing. I didn't expect to find it as engaging and interesting as it was.
I had expected the entry point to be questions about
Sitchin also discusses the timing of modern humanity - homo sapiens - with the timing of primitive humanity, and although he never uses the once popular term "missing link" that idea is part of his foundation. He asserts that homo sapiens appeared in Sumer long before they had any right to, given the incredibly long process of evolution.
How could such a highly developed civilization spring up essentially out of nowhere? Sitchin's answer is, of course, that it's because of aliens, specifically the Nephilim of Genesis 6. And then he goes into an incredibly detailed analysis of language, astronomy, and the creation and deluge stories of the Ancient Near East (including Genesis), to provide evidence supporting his claim.
I strongly suspect that someone who read this book without having any emotional attachment to Judaism or Christianity, and who lacked scepticism about interaction with aliens of any kind, would find Sitchin's hypothesis worthy of consideration. Which is also not something I expected.
The challenge for anyone who would like to take him seriously is the analysis of his source material. There are relatively few people who have made a serious study of the languages of Sumer, Akkad, and etc. The surviving texts on clay tablets are often fragmentary, and although many of these tablets contain synonym lists, the process of translation is subject to a great deal of personal subjectivity. The ambiguity of the translation process gives Sitchin the opportunity to make some extrordinary claims, but a lay reader has little opportunity to compare his translations with current scholarship. Likewise, most of the illustrations are drawing of ancient carvings, not photographs of actual pieces. And the photographs are often hard to make decipher because of the low contrast of the carvings. Do they show what Sitchin says they do? He also makes frequent references to the academic work of others, often written in non-English languages, but without providing specific citations. There is no way to check his interpretation of those sources without being in command of several modern languages and having access to those works. (Although an academic library could probably locate them, if desired.) In the end, anyone but a professional Sumerologist would have to take his word for the quality of his translations and interpretations.
Given the incredible amount of work Sitchin put into this and other books on the same topic, I suspect that he truly believed his hypothesis. His arguments are laid out rationally, in great detail, and with reference to a wide range of disciplines. It doesn't come across like a scam or money-making project. He could have done a lot less and still been convincing to a wide range of people.
The question comes down to this: does Sitchin see the presence of aliens in the surviving relics of the ancient world because he wanted to, or is he the first one to have seen clearly, and all the academics of the past century and more not seen aliens because they refused to acknowledge the remote possibility that such a thing could have happened.
The other strong argument against this theory is the lived experience of modern Pagans who have personal experience, personal and collective gnosis, of the gods of these civilizations Who are still alive and active today -- Who Sitchin claims are aliens. I realize that some find that claim as fantastical as the claim of aliens, but as someone who has had such experience, it's a counter argument which I take seriously.
I'm giving this book a "4" not based on whether or not I believe the claims, but because the author did such a good job laying them out, and it was actually fun and interesting to read.
One caveat: it will be much easier to read this book if you have some familiarity with the religions, cultures, and texts of the Ancient Near East. Otherwise it's going to be difficult to keep track of the names of the Nephilim and the various sagas referred to. I did some (non-specialist) graduate work in this area and it made a big difference for me. At the very least you will want to be familiar with Genesis, the Enuma Elish, and the Epic of Gilgamesh.
I had expected the entry point to be questions about
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how some of the great architectural wonders of the ancient world had been raised, or the similarities between many of them, but Sitchin goes much further back in time than that. He looks at the oldest known civilization on Earth - Sumer - and then introduces the reader to "the Sumerian Problem," a question of significant interest to experts in archeology, biology, and etc. Without going into too much detail, the Sumerian Problem is that the oldest known texts and archeological record which we have is not of primitive people, but startlingly advanced ones, complete with a writing system which was the standard for the Ancient Near East for thousands of years, a complex calendar, highly developed religion, and etc. Sitchin also discusses the timing of modern humanity - homo sapiens - with the timing of primitive humanity, and although he never uses the once popular term "missing link" that idea is part of his foundation. He asserts that homo sapiens appeared in Sumer long before they had any right to, given the incredibly long process of evolution.
How could such a highly developed civilization spring up essentially out of nowhere? Sitchin's answer is, of course, that it's because of aliens, specifically the Nephilim of Genesis 6. And then he goes into an incredibly detailed analysis of language, astronomy, and the creation and deluge stories of the Ancient Near East (including Genesis), to provide evidence supporting his claim.
I strongly suspect that someone who read this book without having any emotional attachment to Judaism or Christianity, and who lacked scepticism about interaction with aliens of any kind, would find Sitchin's hypothesis worthy of consideration. Which is also not something I expected.
The challenge for anyone who would like to take him seriously is the analysis of his source material. There are relatively few people who have made a serious study of the languages of Sumer, Akkad, and etc. The surviving texts on clay tablets are often fragmentary, and although many of these tablets contain synonym lists, the process of translation is subject to a great deal of personal subjectivity. The ambiguity of the translation process gives Sitchin the opportunity to make some extrordinary claims, but a lay reader has little opportunity to compare his translations with current scholarship. Likewise, most of the illustrations are drawing of ancient carvings, not photographs of actual pieces. And the photographs are often hard to make decipher because of the low contrast of the carvings. Do they show what Sitchin says they do? He also makes frequent references to the academic work of others, often written in non-English languages, but without providing specific citations. There is no way to check his interpretation of those sources without being in command of several modern languages and having access to those works. (Although an academic library could probably locate them, if desired.) In the end, anyone but a professional Sumerologist would have to take his word for the quality of his translations and interpretations.
Given the incredible amount of work Sitchin put into this and other books on the same topic, I suspect that he truly believed his hypothesis. His arguments are laid out rationally, in great detail, and with reference to a wide range of disciplines. It doesn't come across like a scam or money-making project. He could have done a lot less and still been convincing to a wide range of people.
The question comes down to this: does Sitchin see the presence of aliens in the surviving relics of the ancient world because he wanted to, or is he the first one to have seen clearly, and all the academics of the past century and more not seen aliens because they refused to acknowledge the remote possibility that such a thing could have happened.
The other strong argument against this theory is the lived experience of modern Pagans who have personal experience, personal and collective gnosis, of the gods of these civilizations Who are still alive and active today -- Who Sitchin claims are aliens. I realize that some find that claim as fantastical as the claim of aliens, but as someone who has had such experience, it's a counter argument which I take seriously.
I'm giving this book a "4" not based on whether or not I believe the claims, but because the author did such a good job laying them out, and it was actually fun and interesting to read.
One caveat: it will be much easier to read this book if you have some familiarity with the religions, cultures, and texts of the Ancient Near East. Otherwise it's going to be difficult to keep track of the names of the Nephilim and the various sagas referred to. I did some (non-specialist) graduate work in this area and it made a big difference for me. At the very least you will want to be familiar with Genesis, the Enuma Elish, and the Epic of Gilgamesh.
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LibraryThing member RedRaspus
Whether you have religious beliefs of any kind or are a strict scientific thinker, this book has the potential to change your way of thinking. At the very least, it will you show you a very thorough and lengthy research process into the earliest civilizations and our planet's earliest history.
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While the conclusions made in this book may be controversial -- insert "aliens" reference here -- the logic and progression of this book makes it hard not to at least agree with his thinking along the way. While the book is a little slow going in the first third, you really get paid off with the "big picture" concepts after that. Enjoy! Show Less
LibraryThing member teepeegee
This would make the greatest movie ever. From the creation of Mars, Earth and the Asteroid Belt to the global symmetry of ancient civilizations, this entire series is astounding and far more believable than any religious version of human generation.
LibraryThing member tuckerresearch
Excellent insights on many things, new ways to look at information. But a "12th planet"? Gold for their atmosphere? 3,600-year orbit? Good enough for Gardner to copy though. Like all of his works, the bibliography is full of scholarly and conventional sources, but since the work lacks footnotes,
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you can hardly prove or disprove his assertions. Let us hope that one day there are footnoted editions. Show Less
LibraryThing member myabut
First of a series of how the gods of the ancient are from a large planet that revolves around the sun every 3,600 years and created the civilization of the ancients. Makes a lot of assumptions about ancient clay tablets, but hey, who knows, right.
LibraryThing member Coyote111
This is true history, read it!
LibraryThing member dannyp777
This is a fascinating read, presenting some very enchanting ideas. However, that's all they will ever be unless Nibiru show's up to prove Sitchin right.
LibraryThing member mattries37315
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
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.
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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.
Show Less
LibraryThing member devendradave
After reading this book I feel that few of things might have happen in past but for some it is hard believe. Still Recommend one time read though.
Original publication date
1976
Other editions
The 12th Planet by Zecharia Sitchin (Paperback)
The 12th Planet by Zecharia Sitchin (Paperback)
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