In recent years, the theory of extraterrestrial visitations has gained a growing number of followers. Ancient writings that speak of beings descending from the heavens seem to lend credence to this intriguing hypothesis.
Among these alleged extraterrestrial beings are the Anunnaki, revered deities of the Sumerians. Did the Anunnaki truly arrive from another planet, subsequently civilizing humanity? Or is this merely a misinterpretation or far-fetched notion based on millennia-old myths?
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In the Beginning, There Were the Anunnaki:
Before the grand pantheon of Ancient Greece and the gods of ancient Egypt, there existed deities revered by the Sumerians. This civilization thrived in the Middle East, in what is now modern-day Iraq and Iran.
The Sumerians worshipped a pantheon of deities known as the Anunnaki, descendants of An, the supreme being who ruled over all gods in Sumer.
According to Sumerian legends, the Anunnaki came from the skies. Babylonian creation myths speak of 300 Anunnaki guarding the heavens and another 300 guarding the underworld.
These deities held such significance that they were even mentioned in the Epic of Gilgamesh. However, the narrative took a bizarre turn.
The Babylonian Clay Tablets:
Dating back to 2500 BCE, Mesopotamians began venerating Enki, the son of the supreme god An.
Fast forward to the 19th century when archaeologists discovered tens of thousands of clay tablets in Babylon (an empire that emerged in the territories occupied by the Sumer and Akkad kingdoms).
These collections are so voluminous that they continue to be translated and researched even today. The one who brought the Anunnaki deities into contemporary spotlight is author Zecharia Sitchin.
In his book “The 12th Planet,” Sitchin included translations of 14 such clay tablets, which shed light on Enki. This work became the catalyst for the popularization of the Anunnaki.
Named “The 12th Planet,” Sitchin’s book proposes that the Sumerians believed the Anunnaki hailed from a mythical planet called Nibiru.
Sitchin suggests that Nibiru follows an enormous orbit around the Sun, completing it in 3,600 years. When Nibiru was closer to Earth some 450,000 years ago, Anunnaki allegedly decided to pay our planet a visit.
Were the Anunnaki Gods Extraterrestrial?
Sitchin contends that the Anunnaki landed in Sumer with the intent of exploiting Earth’s natural resources, specifically its gold. Unable to mine the gold themselves, they supposedly genetically engineered a species called “humans” to labor for them.
Sitchin’s book sold millions of copies. He, along with his predecessors—Swiss author Erich von Däniken and Russian author Immanuel Velikovsky—believed that ancient texts were not merely myths.
All three proponents argue that ancient Babylonian texts were, in fact, scientific journals and that the Anunnaki had extraterrestrial origins.
However, mainstream academics and historians unequivocally reject Sitchin’s and his colleagues’ ideas. They assert that Babylonian tales are simply myths concocted by ancient humans to explain their world.
Since then, science has advanced, elucidating natural phenomena, astronomy, fauna, and other aspects that were once attributed to divine intervention.
An Advanced Civilization:
Nonetheless, one thing is certain: ancient Babylonians were more advanced than contemporary perceptions often hold.
A translated clay tablet from 2015 demonstrates that Babylonian astronomers made highly precise mathematical calculations regarding Jupiter’s orbit 1,400 years before Europeans did.
Additionally, it’s possible that Babylonians developed trigonometry a thousand years before the ancient Greeks. Does this suggest that ancient Sumerians had extraterrestrial visitors who imparted advanced mathematical knowledge?
Did ancient civilizations have access to computers or complex calculating technologies? Almost certainly not. However, those who subscribe to the ancient astronaut theory, bolstered by a popular TV series, firmly believe otherwise.
Others contend that ancient societies had ample time to develop mathematics and make detailed celestial observations without external technological assistance.
Unraveling the Mystery Through Tablet Deciphering:
No one truly knows what the Sumerians intended when writing about the Anunnaki. On one side, historians challenge extraterrestrial theories.
On the other, proponents of the theory argue that these lost civilizations couldn’t have possessed such advanced knowledge without “external help.”
Perhaps the enigmas surrounding the Anunnaki have less to do with extraterrestrials and more to do with gaps in understanding ancient cultures.
Our limited knowledge of Sumer stems from clay tablets inscribed in a language no longer spoken. To uncover more, archaeologists must continue deciphering scripts from that era. Thus, we can only await the work of linguists to shed further light on this captivating mystery.
To delve deeper into this topic, explore “The 12th Planet”:
The culmination of 30 years of intense research, “The 12th Planet” serves as the inaugural installment in the “Earth Chronicles” series. This collection of revolutionary works draws from documentary evidence suggesting that humanity’s lineage might involve extraterrestrial forebears—interstellar travelers who arrived on Earth eons ago, sowing the genetic seeds that eventually flourished into the remarkable human species. “The 12th Planet” vividly resurrects the Sumerian civilization and presents millennia-old evidence of the existence of Nibiru, the planet of the Anunnaki deities, and their periodic visits to Earth every 3,600 years.
