The Twelfth Planet : Book I of the Earth Chronicles

Rating:
Summary: LIKE A DRINK OF COLD WATER ON A HOT DAY!!
Review: This book will definitely slake the thirst for knowledge of all true seekers! I stress the term "TRUE SEEKERS" because there is a group of "pseudo seekers" who have 1 foot in the church and 1 foot in history... and they like to pick and choose to believe only what suits them; even if they can't explain it and it doesn't make one bit of sense.. even to THEM. But the 12th Planet is NOT for those people, the info within is wasted on those simply seeking to reconcile their weak religious beliefs with known history carved in stone... it just doesn't match up.

Although, bible thumpers say - "Well, history is so flawed that is can't be rigidly followed anymore than the bible" - the major difference is that ...as reflected in this book, you can look at the 4000 year old carvings on the temple walls and get PROOF that the ancients knew something we didn't, but those who follow the bible do so based on 100% "blind faith". Sure, locations mentioned in the bible have been found buried in the sand, but locating the cities mentioned doesn't mean that "God picked up a lump of dirt, breathed on it and boom - man walked the Earth, then he ripped out a rib and boom - there was woman".

Now, in reading this book, you can either believe that - or you can believe that the story in Genesis is a METAPHOR pointing to a group of higher-beings from another planet, who through genetic manipulation.. created man, guided man, taught and civilized man - and when necessary... destroyed man. Or does your frail Eurocentric ego not allow you to believe that there could possible be others in this near infinite universe that might be greater than you? Think about it....

Or do you subscribe to the philosophy that there was a BIG BANG and after a few million years, little tadpoles climbed out of some slime, evolved and millions of years later - those tadpoles are building super computers, highways, cities and launching rockets into space... calling themselves "humans"... yet all by accident.

As the fictional and so-called "greatest detective of all time" said - "when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth!". So, you choose - Big accidental explosion and humans and planets pop into existence - A big spirit living in castles in the clouds breathes into dirt and makes a man, then rips out a rib bone and there's the woman. - Or Advanced beings engage in genetic experiments and create humans... before you decide, keep in mind the phrase "like father like son" and Humans are doing the exact same genetic experiments themselves now. Think about it.

So this is why reading this book is such a great experience, because it answers questions that had previously been thought "unanswerable" when dealing strictly with "biblical text". And in closing, I put this question to the bible thumpers - What subject on God's green Earth can even moderately be learned and understood by reading only ONE book, or others that seek to EXPLAIN that one book? You can't even learn SPANISH in ONE book, so what kind of dingbat thanks they can understand "GOD" AND CREATION in one book?

THINK ABOUT IT!!! Peace.

ps - 1 minor drawback - Sitchin doesn't give footnotes at the page bottoms which explain certain terms and phrases. But they ARE in the back - a minor inconvience though.

Rating:
Summary: Absolute Must-Read
Review: I have always been skeptical of religion, because it never made sense to me. I could never force myself to believe in something that made absolutely no scientific or logical sense. I would question the events in the bible and ask for a logical explanation, and would not hear anything except that there was no explanation. Either the events were myths intended to teach moral values, or they occured, but it was God's way and there was no use in trying to understand it. I could never accept that. But I still had a lot of unexplained questions, and figured billions of people believing in some sort of god couldn't be completely wrong. So I had to consider myself agnostic.

First I started with Erik Von Daniken's Chariots of the Gods, that I accidentally stumbled upon at a relative's house. For an absolute beginner to the concepts in this book, I would definitely recommend reading Chariots of the Gods first (before the Sitchin books). It is a lot easier to read and is a great introduction to the mysteries of our past. However that book only poses questions and mysteries about our past, it does not give any answers. It confirmed my skepticism and taught me new things that I didn't know about our past. I finished that book with a lot more questions than when I started, but that really was a good thing. I read more of Daniken's books, but still no answers. Then I heard about this Sitchin guy and decided to read The 12th Planet.

WOW!!! Everything written in this book made absolutely PERFECT SENSE! It ties everything together from anolomies in our solar system, the "missing link", the Great Flood, the Great Pyramids of Giza, and much much more... This is one huge all-encompassing explanation of how WE got here and why. It explains why we believe what we do, and gives you the real story behind the events in the Old Testament. It gives a scientific explanation of creation that manages to explain everything without discrediting any religion or even evolution.

This is documentary reading, so don't expect it to be light. But when I first opened this book, I had so many questions that were slowly being answered that I could not put it down! I would read each chapter and find myself whispering "holy $@#%!" to myself. This has to be the most important book I will ever read. Even if you don't accept history as told to us by the Sumerians, you will learn more about your own religion. I enjoyed the third book "Wars of Gods and Men" the most (I'm on the fourth now), but this first book is more of a must-read in terms of revelation.

I still have more questions that continue to get answered in subsequent books, but I am completely confident that I have finally found the truth, and it all makes sense. You must read this book!

Rating:
Summary: To Be Aliens, Or Not To Be Aliens?
Review: One of the greatest mysteries humans have tried to understand is "What do we come from?". Creation or Evolution? Were we created by a mystical god-like figure in its image? Did we simply just evolve from a lower species like Homo Erectus? Are we supposed to fully believe we just appeared in modern form from dirt? Are we supposed to believe that virtually overnight modern humans evolved from primates? It's hard to accept either, because neither of them add up or make sense. But there is an answer in those two statements that is completely valid and without the Sumerian Tablets, this answer would be lost.

The answer? Creation and Evolution are one and the same (for us anyway) as described by the (up to) 6,000 year old text. Man was created from an already evolved species called Homo Erectus. Given another 40 million years, sure, man could have evolved from Homo Erectus by itself....but in a mere 300,000 years?? How can scientists say this with a straight face? The Anunnaki (those who from heaven to earth came) were the creators of man. They took homo erectus and 'upgraded' it with the DNA of the Anunnaki themselves....giving us the 'godly' element. These beings from a planet in our own solar system (labeled planet x by scientists) were our gods. We knew them as our creators and thus spawned entire religions based off of them.

The garden of eden was E.DIN in the sumerian tablets. Adam was the ADAMU....and the adam was created to work the land. In sumerian, the word 'man' means "domesticated worker". Plus, the entire Old Testatment resides in the sumerian tablets, except in their original form. So, what is the truth? The Sumerian Tablets may be just another key to the puzzle or may even be completely false. But what really makes sense? Did a mystical god create man? Did evolution create man overnight (in the scope of acceptable evolution)? OR, did highly advanced beings from another planet come to earth in search of gold, upgraded a primative race to be suitable slaves for mining the gold?

Well, that's up to you to decide. After you read the Sumerian Tablets with an open mind, the answer seems clear.

Rating:
Summary: Should be rated number 1 on Amazon.
Review: Z. Sitchin is one of the few people on the earth that can read ancient Sumerian Cunieform tablets. I have always tended to admire those who rebel at the status quo when asking why, how and when, and not accepting, 'That's the way it's always been'. " The 12th Planet" and all the other Sitchin books are controversial to those who cannot bring themselves to think 'out of the box.'

His books provide us with the means and understanding of our "creators" the Annunaki. The information supplied with these books tells a more sobering story of a man and his history and evolution of our civilization. His work represents over 40 years of study over such diverse areas as archeology, biology, medicine, space flight, astronomy, myth, legend and history.

In all these areas, there rings the peal of logical truth. Mr. Sitchin's hard effort tells an incredible yet apparently logically tight and factually correct story of how humanity can tie together evolutionary thought with religious tenets. Read with an open mind and you will find the implications are truly Earth Shattering.

We, as a race, need to rethink our near future plans to ensure that, as a race, we remain free from slavery and free to claim our place in the universe. Another excellent best selling book based on research and 'inside informaiton' is 'Alien Rapture' by Brad Steiger. Also see any book by Jim Marrs. Oh, and take a look at 'Unconventional Flying Objects' by NASA scientist Dr. Paul Hill.

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Summary: A revolutionary theory - needs to be read with "caution"
Review: OK, let's get step by step to the point: This book (and the other 5 of the Earth Chronicles series, as well as the 3 companion books) presents a very exciting, revolutionary view to the ancient history, to the universe and to the sacred texts and myths. Sitchin's unique, "brave" interpretations, based on Sumerian/Akkadian clay tablets and cylinder seals and Egyptian papyri, suggest a very extraordinary alternative on the roots of our civilization which claims to replace the mainstream, orthodox understanding of history and universe. His main axis is a mysterious planet (belonging to our very own solar system, lurking in the depths of outer space but still "unknown" to us) which was somehow "hidden" in the mystical and "mythological" bulk of ancient sacred texts. Sitchin spots the "vague point" in myths, then clears the dust and mud carefully, finally points at this "surprising" planet which had been waiting to be discovered by us since millenia: This planet was called NI.BI.RU in ancient Sumerian (meaning "Planet Of Crossing"); had an orbital period of about 3600 years around the sun; and it was symbolized by the holy sign of "Winged Disk" in ancient cultures, as well as the cuneiform sign of "Shar" (meaning "3600" and "destruction".) He deciphers almost all the details about this huge planet and its "inhabitants" from a series of clay tablets, beginning with "Enuma Elish", the Babylonian Creation Epic, with a very careful attitude on ancient symbolism. This finding alone is enough to make his theory one of the most significant approachs on ancient history. But Sitchin goes further.

According to Sitchin, the "inhabitants" of planet Nibiru, "The Anunnaki" as they were called in Sumerian, had landed on Earth 450,000 years ago; had colonized our lonely planet for their mining purposes; had searched for gold and other valuable materials which had been needed in their own planet for the sake of their "atmosphere"; and at one time, when they had needed "extra labour" they had created the mankind "in their own look", by manipulating the genetic structure of the "ape man"; then they naturally had become the "powerful gods" of our ancestors. Seems very radical at first look, but also a very logical explanation, especially when considering the fact that even the "monotheistic" religions had made up their holy books (Old Testament, for example) by borrowing themes from much ancient resources and modifying them. (Thus, biblical Nephilim was nobody but the Anunnaki according to Sitchin.) A more intriguing point is about the two puzzles of modern science: "Planet X" theory (astronomers believe there should be another planet beyond Pluto since last century) and the "missing link" in evolutionist theory between the "humanoids" and "homo sapiens".

I do not want to spoil your reading fun, so I won't mention any other details on Sitchin's unique theory but I feel I'd like to state a "caution" about him: Though his theory of planet Nibiru with a 3600 years orbital period and his powerful explanations on "ancient gods" concept are very important to understand the roots of our civilization, there is something very "disturbing" with Sitchin's approach: His obsession to prove and verify the Old Testament as an actual historical resource. He puts the dawn of Sumerian civilization to 3800 BC (and puts the orbital passage of Nibiru at exactly the same date) just to make his theory to conform with the Jewish calendar, which begins on 3760 BC. He goes even further and suggests 3760 BC as the starting point of the Nippur calendar - which actually is thought to begin around 3100 BC. More disturbing than this, Sitchin takes biblical Abraham as a real personality and claims him as the real descendant of the Sumerians - a "wise" man from Nippur (thus, making the Hebrews literally "the chosen people of the god(s)" as the Old Testament states).

This religous and "nationalistic" approach not only ruins his exciting theory with his prejudice and religious obsessions, but also forces him to make dramatic mistakes on the dawn of civilization (and with the orbital periods of Nibiru) just to make everything "literally" conform to the Old Testament. And in the course of his "Earth Chronicles" series, he uses a method which can hardly be considered as scientific: He begins quoting a Sumerian myth (often without exact references) then inserts his commentary on the events; goes on with another quote from the same story (this time from an Akkadian source); again puts his commentary and then quotes a passage from the Old Testament he believes related to the same myth. This makes up a very eclectical version of the original story: A collage, just made everything to conform his view and of course, the Old Testament.

Strangely enough, Sitchin ignores Maya end-date of 2012 AD (which could contribute well to his theory on orbital periods of Nibiru); does not pay attention on Indus "kaliyuga" (starting of which coincide with Mayans "5th Sun"); and does not mention the Revelation of St John (which is very intriguing and without doubt was borrowed from much older sources.) Because none of them has any use for his efforts to verify the Old Testament. Do read Sitchin's books, they are very important works; but be warned and read with "caution".

Rating:
Summary: Well, we all have our moments
Review: This book, and a token, might even get you on the subway. Where in the world did the author come up with civilization, if that's what you call it, starting 3600 years ago? Multiply that by 20 maybe. And what's this about ETs? It is true, some people from Sirius were remembered to have come to Earth a long time ago. The Dogon people in Africa know about this; they even have precise astronomical information about the star system Sirius which was only confirmed in the late 20th century by Western scientists. The ancient Egyptians, it seems, also had this information. The Sumerian myth-legend of the fish-man, Oannes, may also relate to this. Oannes was said to have come from a watery planet of the star system Sirius, and to have lived for a while under the sea on the earth, probably the Red Sea, from whence he came up to give the ancients some information that influenced their culture. It is also believed that the fish incarnation of Vishnu relates to Oannes. But this nonsense about a 12th planet and that the humans were created by ETs is a lot of malarchy. Put a totally blind man in front of an elephant and tell him to describe to you what the elephant looks like after he feels one of its ears. This is about where the author is about this all too vague and useless subject. The nearest star system to ours is Alpha Centuri. Alpha Centuri is a binary star. It lies at a distance from our sun 275,000 times that of the earth from the Sun. Figure, 93,000,000 miles times 275,000. There is no known planet in that star system. So far, we know of nine planets in our solar system, not ten, not eleven. It is most unlikely that there is a trans-Plutonian planet. By a stretch of the imagination, one might call the asteroid Chiron a planet, but even so, that would only make ten planets. So what's this about a twelfth planet? Hmm?

Rating:
Summary: The Twelfth Planet
Review: It found this book to be the most fascinating, exhilarating and informative book I have ever read. Having put religion behinds years ago as an unsatisfactory indulgence, I was left with an unquenchable thirst for knowledge. Altho I spend years reading many books, it seemed that each answer only begged more questions. This work answered many of those questions I'd had in my mind for so long. I had for a long time suspected that humans could not be native to this planet. Sitchin nicely explained all this and more.

I would say this is a must read for everyone who can read.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting, but questionable...
Review: I do concur with the basis of what Mr. Sitchin has delineated in this book, that an advanced extraterrestrial civilization visited this planet sometime durring our antideluvian past, but I think that this volume raises more questions than it answers. For example, according to Mr. Sitchin, what we know now as the human race was geneticaly engineered as servants to extract
gold from African mines. However, if the Annunaki were so scientificly advanced, why could't they have developed machines to fofill the role, or better yet, synthisize gold from other elements? I do not wish to invalidate the research in this book, but some of his assertions just don't make sense to me.

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Summary: "Sitchin ...
Review: To quote David Hannum, and not the great P.T. Barnum, as any real history buff knows, "There's a Sucker Born Every Minute"

... [that applies to]anyone who believes any of the garbage that Sitchin purports to be the truth. His findings are simply wild fantasies that fail even the simplest of fact checking.

Back in the 1970's when I read "Chariots of the Gods" I was fascinated and enthralled by the notions that were put forward. The way in which Erich Von Däniken presented his material and so called facts made it very compelling to believe. But then again I was only 9 years old at the time.

As an adult I have become much more critical of what I read. I apply logic and reason to new ideas, as all adults should. When you apply logic and reason to the ideas that Sitchin puts forth; well they just don't hold up. You have to be foolish to believe that a planet that orbits more than 3,000 years in the absolute zero temperature of deep space could support any life; let alone a colonizing force of aliens.

Author Sitchin really does a disservice to the many great men and women of science who actually do check facts and test hypotheses and have devoted their entire lives to furthering humankind's understanding of our planet and the universe in which it resides.

It is a fact that the spacecraft, Pioneer 10 and 11, and Voyagers 1 and 2 have traveled outside the solar system, and have been used as probes for unknown gravitational forces possibly from unknown planets; none have been found. The Voyagers also yielded more accurate masses for the outer planets. When these updated masses were inserted in the numerical integrations of the solar system, the residuals in the positions of the outer planets finally disappeared. It seems like the search for "Planet X" finally has come to an end. There was no "Planet X"

If you want to read a piece of entertaining science fiction, buy this book. If you want true scientific facts, go to the library or talk to a real scientist.

Rating:
Summary: Read This Book Sitting Down!
Review: Having read any number of far-out, "conspiracy theory"-type books, on any number of subjects, I expected to read The 12th Planet just to have a few laughs. I was shocked at my own reaction. Sitchin's theory is more than just possible, it is very believable and is certainly more cohesive and sensible than any other scientific or religious theory now in the intellectual domain. It explains more of the fundamental scientific and spiritual mysteries of our ancient past and present culture than any other presentation to date. the book is both articulate and compelling. the religious implications of sitchin's theory are nothing short of staggering--your foundations may be shaken! this book has real power, possibly even moreso in the not-so-distant future, when Earth may be due for a rendezvous with an old aquaintance.