Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(127)
4 star:		(35)
3 star:		(17)
2 star:		(16)
1 star:		(28)

 

 

Sitchin, if you didn't know it already, is one of the leading figures in alternative archaelogy and science in general.
These days, and especially the last 30-40 years, a "new wave" of scientists and non scientists alike has risen with the intention of re-examining what we as a species consider "knowledge", knowledge about what we are, and where we come from.
Sitchin, being one of the few people in the world who can actually read Sumerian, has spent his life examining our origins, and his conclusions have little to do with apes descending trees and miraculously evolving into humans.
In the "12th planet", his most famous of his alltogether 9 books, he suggests that we are actually the creation of an alien race which landed on earth more than 450 millenia ago, and who created us as slave labor for their purposes on this planet back then. From then on, and through a myriad interdevelopments and influences, we developed to what we are today.
Sure, this sounds controversial, and to most people content with swallowing mainstream teachings for "facts" this might seem as pure science fiction. You would have to read this book before you term it as such though.
It is an exhausting book too, as the author needs to use literally 100s of quotes on original translations he's made in order to make his argument and this isn't just any argument, you understand...
Exhausting as this book might then be at times, the reward is immense, to put it very mildly. Even if Sitchin happens to be wrong on half of his conclusions what he suggests is mind blowing and shatters to bits most of our current beliefs.
More importantly, Sitchin can serve you as a gateway to new paths of thinking. It is impossible -i would think- to read the "12th planet" and emerge the same person afterwards, providing of course that you read it with an open mind. All new knowledge recquires an open mind to begin with. This does not mean that you will necessarily agree with Sitchin if you do read it with an open mind, but the evidence he offers is important and solid enough to make you think in a way you've never thought before.
You ever wondered why we are the only species on this planet that definately does not fit in with its environment? Or why we have so many grey areas and disagreements about where we originate from and how? Or why the word "anthropos" (a greek word) means "the creature that always looks up"? Or even why the root word of the word "earth" comes from the ancient Sumerian (the word e.ri.du) and means "a home far away"?
The "12th planet" will provide you with some spectacular answers.

This is the first book of "The Earth chronicles" series in which Zecharia Sitchin tears the man's origins apart and puts them in a whole new perspective. Author is one of the top scholars in field of the ancient languages and offers his vision of extraterrestrial origins of Homo sapiens on Earth. His main point is that all ancient documents are written on the base of observations and facts and should not be taken symbolically. As we presume today, civilization has originated in Mesopotamia, but no one can really explain the fact that right from its start it was highly developed, that it blossomed virtually out of nothing and created incredible works, which we are not capable of performing even to date. Sitchin quotes many ancient documents, mostly Bible and Epic of Gilgamesh (which he read in Akkadian and Babylonian) and offers more sensful translation of these scripts. He also explains discrepancies of single/plural God in the Genesis and shows how the extraterrestrial wisdom has spread over other countries (Egypt, Greece, India...). Gods came from planet Nibiru (or Marduk in Babylonian), which has been created for special task: to bring order in our, at the time overcrowded solar system. After crushing Tiamat and forming Earth and Moon, planet Nibiru went on his comet-like journey, returning to the Sun in every 3,600 years. Life has formed and developed on it and some 450,000 years ago they noticed that our planet has some resources they desired. So they established settlements on Earth in range of Mesopotamia, because it is very rich with fuels, needed for space travelling. Man was created with genetic manipulation after their image (they mixed hominid's genes with their own in order to obtain higher IQ level) to do the mining work for them. In sitchin's light some very confusing and presumably highly imaginative texts suddenly seem very realistic. He explains why such monumental works like ziggurats, pyramids and other vast temples have been made and for what purposes they were used. The most monumental event in Earth's "modern" history was the Deluge, the Great Flood, found written and known everywhere around the world. Sitchin explains how Gods knew that it's going to happen and why Noah (or Ziusudra or Utnapishtim) was chosen to survive. After the waters flew away (the Deluge was coincided with the end of the Ice Age and the gravital pull of the passing Nibiru, therefore it lasted for a year), Gods gave many different technologies to people and they spread all over the Earth again. The book is very well written - if you don't accept the theory inside, it's still interesting piece of science fiction for you. I think Sitchin knows what he writes and the evidence written inside is sure enough for me. I already look forward what volume 2 will bring. And - if you disagree, maybe you know better?

I've read the Sitchin collection. It's a mind boggling experiance. It's also very scholarly. An expert in Sumerian language, culture, et al.., Mr. Sitchins findings, if remotely accurate, explains a lot of empty holes in our History. I have never bought the fact that ancient cultures could be THAT imaginative. I am a believer that imagination is based on some basis of experience, exposure to or passed on story. You've heard the expression, there are no original thoughts, just original ways of presenting old ideas. I can't imagine that these civilizations just made up all those elaborate stories without some sort of core truth. Was there another more advanced culture? I wouldn't doubt it--there is so much we don't know. Mr. Sitchin's assertions are worth the read if only to spark further inquiry intoour mysterious and ancient past. Also read the works of Graham Hancock. His assertions are the same but different. He looks at the world where Sitchin focuses on a region. Never the less, why is it so hard to believe that our past may have been manipulated, Why couldn't there be a prehistory that has yet to reveal itself to us in detail. It's fascinating and deserves a serious study. Those who mock these ideas now once believed the universe rode on the back of a great turtle, or thought the world was flat or mocked Copernicus. A small question can ignite an inferno of curiosity and lead those who are brave enough into a wonderful world of adventure.

Okay, I can buy the idea that the Earth might have been visited by alien cultures in the distant past (in fact, considering what a fascinating species we obviously are, I'd be surprised if they hadn't.) I can also buy off on the idea that these ancient visitors might have been worked into the mythology of many cultures. I'm even open to the idea that life was `seeded' on this planet and that homo sapiens may be the result of some ancient genetic engineering. My problem is I can't buy off that all this occurred via a rogue planet that is in orbit around our own sun and that passes by every three-and-a-half millennias to `help us along' the evolutionary path.

I have great respect for Sitchin as a researcher and expert in ancient manuscripts, and I found much in this book to ponder. However, he makes the mistake most ufologists do in taking ancient texts as literal historical documents about real people and events rather than as fictionalized epics of antiquity. While he does at points recognize the metaphorical nature of some of their writings, he takes the ancient Sumerians far too literally, and strikes me as a man espousing a theory in search of evidence. His theory is simply too fantastic to be taken seriously and, while he makes a far more sophisticated attempt at demonstrating his thesis than Von Daniken, he makes many of the same mistakes Chariots of the Gods makes. For example, he has the residents of this twelfth planet (actually, the tenth, for he counts the moon and the sun as planets as well) fly to earth in spacecraft and have the means to genetically alter early primates, but then they travel about by means of paddle boats and utilize 19th century extraction techniques to pull gold from mines in Africa. He also stresses that the Mesopotamian region was chosen by the ancient astronauts-in part-because of its vast petroleum reserves (implying the ancients were using fossil fuels) yet there is no discussion of things like cars or trains or other types of technology these fuels might have been used for (unless we are to assume they were to be used somehow in propelling their spacecraft. Imagine, gasoline/oil powered rocket ships; what will they think of next?) He also pulls a `Von Daniken' by suggesting the ancients needed large expanses of flat ground to land their ships, giving one the impression of space shuttles and hyperjet transports, yet it would seem any technology sophisticated enough to maintain an interplanetary spacefaring capability should have figured out how to make space craft land and take off vertically (just as our own Apollo landers did on the moon.) In other words, their technology is inconsistent.

What's especially difficult to understand is why these beings don't seem to advance technologically themselves. Sitchin states they could only make the transit from their planet to our own when it swung into range every 3,600 years, but wouldn't any civilization have advanced considerably in such a vast amount of time? Consider how far we've come in just the last century; shouldn't these ancient peoples have developed an interstellar (or even intergalactic) capability over such a lengthy time? As such, there is much about these beings that appear inconsistent and inexplicable.

Finally, my biggest complaint with this book is the preposterous idea that a planet exists within our solar system that possesses such an elliptical orbit that it appears only once every 3,600 years and, more so, that this planet is teeming with beings similar enough to ourselves that they are capable of interbreeding with humans. First, if this is the case, why wasn't this planet reported during it's last pass through by ancient astrologers? Sitchin maintains this planet last made an appearance in 3,800 B.C. (just in time to get civilization kick started) yet if it has an orbit of 3,600 years, shouldn't it have shown up again around 200 B.C.? That's not all that long ago, historically speaking, and should have been quite a notable event (even if it's residents chose not to visit that time); one would assume someone-and astrology was a fairly well developed science back then-would have noted such a spectacular visitation from an unknown planet. Yet not a word exists in any ancient texts that even hint at such a remarkable event taking place. Curious.

The bigger problem, however, lies with the idea that such a planet could sustain human-like beings, despite being in complete darkness for 99% of the time. Even if it was massive enough to maintain it's own atmosphere and generated enough internal heat to prevent it from being a giant ball of ice in space, how does photosynthesis and, with it, the production of oxygen, take place? Clearly, for life to have evolved on such a planet conditions should be, at least to some degree, comparable to those on Earth. How anything more sophisticated than single cell organisms and fungus could exist on such a planet is scientifically inexplicable.

There are other problems with the book as well, but this should be enough to at least give the reader some idea of what they're getting into here. I appreciate Sitchin's scholarship and thoroughness (perhaps a little too thorough-the book is ponderous and a tedious read at times) but I can't say much for his science. An interesting book if you're into ancient civilizations and ufos and such (one might consider Sitchin the thinking man's Von Daniken) but nothing to be taken too seriously. In fact, it might have been better if Sitchin didn't take his own theory so deadly seriously; at least then he could have had some fun with it.

Zecharia Sitchin presents the most academically comprehensive, most scientifically believable, most bizzare theorum on our human evolution and intergalactic origins imaginable. The 12th Planet ranks as the best I have ever read on the subject.

Mr Sitchin's theory is that our human species was an evolutionary jumpstart advancing our expected progression by a million years. This jumpstart was the result of the crossing of ancestral primates with intergalactic travelers some 300,000 years ago. Rather than biblical mythology, Sitchin tells us that the Garden of Eden, the Flood, the extreme longevities of biblical heroes are all real events. Mr Sitchin provides the greatest level of comfort I have ever felt with Darwin's evolution -- which is to say Darwin had it almost correct until he tried to fit homo sapiens into the same mold of environmental and sexual selection as all other taxa.

Most fascinating is Sitchin's postulate that humanity has existed only for 300,000 years, as opposed to the conventional wisdom of either linear or punctuated progression from something that crawled out of the oceans millions of years ago. This postulate, based on his scholarly interprestations of the most ancient hieroglyphs he penned years before current biochemistry substantiated exactly the same timetable of between 220,000 and 270,000 years ago. His theory that we are a genetic cross between resident primates and interstellar "gods" predated our current and rapidly magnifying ability to clone within species, which is undoubtedly the precursor to our being able to genetically cross disparate species. And Mr Sitchin presents all of this truly out-of-the-box thinking with rheems of scholarly evidence.

ANYONE who has ever been interested in evolution must attempt this book with an open mind. (Darwin's original theorums are no longer taken seriously by any serious evolutionist, having been replaced with "punctuated equilibria" without any explanation as to what causes the punctuations.) Anyone who has a keen interest in the origins of biblical thought and other pre-diluvium stories, should likewise attempt this book with an open mind. If you can't approach Sitchin's ideas with an open mind because your are too wed to your beliefs, save your money -- buy something more traditional.

I would have given it 5 stars instead of 4, but my conservative self wants to hold back a little something, just in case.

This is the first book in Sitchin's monumental Earth Chronicles series. It is important to remember that fact because there is necessarily a lot of introductory material to be presented here in order to lay the foundation for what is to come. In other words, most of the really interesting stuff comes later in the series--Ancient Egypt, MesoAmerica, etc. Parts of this first book are somewhat dry and hard to get through. As one gets into the latter half, though, some pretty amazing arguments are made. If you read this book and no other, you may well have a hard time even sanctioning the kinds of ideas Sitchen presents, let alone believing them. When you read the rest of the series, though, the arguments are threshed out much more thoroughly and should at least lend an idea of possiblity to objective readers.

The idea that "ancient astronauts" (a term I dislike) had a hand in Man's creation and evolution is not new. Sitchin goes far beyond the normal arguments, however. He argues that there is an undiscovered planet in our own solar system upon which life developed and evolved millions of years before life on earth, a planet that seeded earth with its earliest life forms millions of years ago when this undiscovered planet entered our solar system and essentially crashed into a large planet between Mars and Jupiter--the planet in question was broken up into two parts, one eventually forming Earth and the other the asteroid belt. The 12th planet (counting the sun and moon as planets) he calls Nibiru; it is a planet with an eccentric orbit carrying it well past the other nine planets thousands of years at a time. Here life developed and advanced at a very early period. Needing resources, particularly gold, the planet sent forth emissaries to earth. In order to free themselves of the hard labor of mining, these aliens, the Nefilim, created Man by combining their genes with those of the ape men then on earth, a procedure made possible by the fact that the two races were in fact genetic cousins. Thus, the Nefilim became early man's gods, and their stories were told in the artifacts of the ancient Sumerians and of the kingdoms that came after them.

Sitchin makes a determined effort to tie Christianity and the Bible to the tale he unfolds. He effectively, and with good evidence, shows that the early stories in the Bible are based largely on older manuscripts from Sumeria. He explains many of the mysterious passages in the Bible by tying the stories to more complete Sumerian tales--the Elohim, the plural Deity mentioned in the Creation story, the great flood, the Tower of Babel, and others. In this endeavor, he is very successful. While one may not be convinced of his story of life on Earth, one cannot doubt the fact that the early books of the Bible are basically a condensed version of former manuscripts. He makes a convincing argument for his theories, but one will not be and should not be convinced based on this one book. Much supporting evidence is to be found in the later books in the series, where a far richer version of man's history is presented by the author. As unbelievable as many of his ideas sound, Sitchin actually does an effective job of answering many of the big questions that scientists and theologians have been unable to answer about life on earth, the most important of which is an explanation of why home sapiens developed so suddenly and miraculously 300,000 years ago. Right or wrong, his ideas answer a lot of questions and deserve serious study. Sitchin's knowledge of ancient civilizations is immense, and his judgments cannot be dismissed without serious attention paid to them.

Mr. Sitchin does more than point out an intelligent alternative to the impossible teachings that have been thrust upon us since childhood. His information explains and corroborates ideas expressed in ancient and religious texts throughout our world in terms and interpretations that at first seem possible, then plausible, but finally, probable.

Yes, it's a bit hard to swallow the 'spaceman' theories, but give his evidence a chance. It is certainly no more incredible than many of the traditional ideas we've been taught over the years. If you feel a strong literal belief in some of those well-established dogmas, or are offended when people contradict the typical interpretations of today's largely Judeo-Christian society, you may feel that Sitchin's material shows anti-religious leanings or even approaches blasphemy. To the open minded individual, though, this book will expose an entirely possible origin of life on this planet (both all life and later, human life), more intellectually explained than the bible stories we've been asked to believe, but in fact in complete agreement with them!

If nothing else, Sitchin shows us a concise view of the evolution of myths, religions and 'sacred' teachings on this planet, and shows direct evidence that they mostly boil back to the same events. Even if you don't buy the whole Ancient Astronaut bit, the historical perspective is fascinating. And if you DO buy it (I did within the first 20 pages), it opens up a whole new interpretation of old and current events.

I'd also recommend another book, William Bramley's The Gods of Eden (personal rating: 3.5 stars). It begins with the basic Ancient Astronauts premise, but opines about the motives of the supposed extraterrestrial race. In The 12th Planet, though Sitchin tries to stay objective regarding the intent of the Annunaki, he does show evidence of mixed feelings among the community of "Gods" about the welfare of humanity. He even states that Man was, in fact, created by the Annunaki specifically to be a slave race, literally owned by the ETs. Mr. Bramley shows some impressive research of his own in The Gods of Eden, but suggests an even darker, more conspiratorial extraterrestrial race that he believes could be the cause of most or all human warfare, famine and discontent on this planet. Bramley's book also puts a very interesting slant on many current events, and suggests the possible methods these ETs use to direct and control human activity even today.

A bit sinister, but in the spirit of lively discussion, and for another phenomenal historical perspective, read The Gods of Eden (but only AFTER you read The 12th Planet)! Chew on these suppositions long and well before swallowing, but a little enlightenment goes a long way toward satisfaction!

Sitchen readers are of two types: either they love him and believe him, or they relegate him to the fringe.
There are a few authors who influenced the direction of my work and my life, and Sitchen is definately one of them. I travelled the Old Silk Road in search of ancient manuscripts, never knowing where the search would lead.
From ancient documents in Tibetan monastaries, to Hindu concepts of the Garden of Eden and Shangri-La, there was much in Asia that corroborated Sitchen's translations and interpretations in the Middle East and Suneria. In India there are even directions for building and fueling personal vimanas (flying machines)written down five thousand years ago.

This gives Sitchen's theories and conclusions a lot of corroboration even he didn't expect. He doesn't have to one hundred percent right on everything, but it's obvious he isn't one hundred percent wrong either. This is already a classic and one you should read.

Zecharia Sitchin is a firm proponent of the possibility that extra-terrestrials visited Earth, and were the beings that created impressive mega-structures, like the Pyramids and Machu Picchu, genetically modified apes into humans, and gave rise to our idea of gods. Although his beliefs seem far-fetched, he puts his arguments forward with supporting evidence. If you're expecting him to be a religious fanatic in this book, you would be wrong.

I have read some of the other books in Sitchin's Earth Chronicles series: books like The Lost Realms, and Genesis Revisited. If you want an introduction into his school of thought, The 12th Planet covers a lot of ground, and basically has his main arguments. Sitchin expands on his basic ideas, as described in the above paragraph, with more supporting evidence, in his other Earth Chronicles books. Hence, if you think The 12th Planet is an interesting read, and wish to go deeper, you could then go on to his other books.

In The 12th Planet, Sitchin maintains an objective view of evidence to support his case most of the time, although I felt that sometimes the evidence he uses to support his arguments can be tenuous.

He quotes from the Bible, Sumerian archives, Chinese archives, South American archives, archaeological finds, present day articles on space exploration, and many other sources, showing that he has done extensive research on the topic. A reader might have seen all the evidence without any bells ringing in his head. Weaving a thread through all these sources allows the reader to step back and see the big picture. Sitchin then proceeds to put forward believable hypotheses.

The thought that superior beings were on Earth, and created humans is a gripping one, and Sitchin maintains an interesting read by peppering his hypotheses with evidence. You will sit back, and wonder why you have not thought of things his way before. He does not treat the book as a fantasy book, and takes his audience to be intelligent beings who will scrutinise his book.

Overall, this book gives a new angle of tying the issues of the origin of humans, presence of extra-terrestrial beings, presence of impressive mega-structures that ancient humans should not have been able to build without our present day technology at least, and passages in the Bible that are echoed in other archives and anecdotes around the world. It is a good mix of the mystic and the facts.

The unfortunate thing is that people living now would not be able to corroborate Sitchin's hypotheses because the next time the Annunaki's planet mentioned in Sitchin's book orbits close to Earth, it would be approximately A.D. 3500.

Z.Sitchin only interprets what he is reading. The "SEMANTICS" of our own Americanized English creates misunderstanding everyday...what does one think writings over 5,000 years will do? Especially, in a language by all accounts that is a dead language. This book gets 7 stars because it challenges the mainstream inexcusable belief system. Most people are spoon fed history never even questioning whether if it can be proven or not. Any "theory" can be invalidated. Since history is filled with supposition and conjecture, how can one embrace what one holds to be truth without empirical evidence? We can believe, think, even guess or for that matter ridicule our way at the truth but in the end we are no more wiser than a scholar who interprets ancients writings. Its a shame that people have to tear this man down using the guise of reviews. I think that Z. Sitchin in earnest pieces together a history that has been scattered. I also believe that the very thought that GOD is not some omnipotent/omniscient intelligence scares the hell out of people. In all fairness these writings are not Hollywood science fictions to be disregarded like some outrageous tabloids we find at the checkout line. These writings are hewn in stone set back in a time when the paradigm of that civilization can now only be understood if not in part by these very tablets. Let me add that I have read this book over 10 years ago and up until now I found no reason to influence or persuade/dissuade anybody but after reading some of the reviews it just seems unjust to let some of these meanderings go without my say on the matter....if this book seems misguided could it possibly be that just maybe the tablets that Z.Sitchin interprets may be what seems misguided. So if one can interpret Sumerian tablets and challenge the validity of Z. Sitchins works based on actual knowledge of the language not disdain of the subject then that would be a fair review. Otherwise...IT IS WHAT IT IS! Too all those who say Prove it...I say Prove that its not true...it cannot be proven or disproved just argued about. I recommend this book to those who are not satisfied with the same old hum drum rhetoric that church and state teach us. I liked this book so much that I bought another one....one more thing I see that the flat earth society still has some members.