The 12th Planet

by Zacharia Sitchin

  each other; they were converging on Tiamat, disturbing and endangering the primordial bodies.

  The divine brothers banded together;

  They disturbed Tiamat as they surged back and forth.

  They were troubling the "belly" of Tiamat

  By their antics in the dwellings of heaven.

  Apsu could not lessen their clamor;

  Tiamat was speechless at their ways.

  Their doings were loathsome. ...

  Troublesome were their ways.

  We have here obvious references to erratic orbits. The new planets "surged back and forth"; they got too close to each other ("banded together"); they interfered with Tiamat's orbit; they got too close to her "belly"; their "ways" were troublesome. Though it was Tiamat that was principally endangered, Apsu, too, found the planets' ways "loathsome." He announced his intention to "destroy, wreck their ways." He huddled with Mummu, conferred with him in secret. But "whatever they had plotted between them" was overheard by the gods, and the plot to destroy them left them speechless. The only one who did not lose his wits was Ea. He devised a ploy to "pour sleep upon Apsu." When the other celestial gods liked the plan, Ka "drew a faithful map of the universe" and cast a divine spell upon the primeval waters of the solar system.

  What was this "spell" or force exerted by "Ea" (the planet Neptune) - then the outermost planet - as it orbited the Sun and circled all the other planets? Did its own orbit around the Sun affect the Sun's magnetism and thus its radioactive outpourings? Or did Neptune itself emit, upon its creation, some vast radiations of energy? Whatever the effects were, the epic likened them to a "pouring of sleep" - a calming effect - upon Apsu (the Sun). Even "Mummu, the Counsellor, was powerless to stir." As in the biblical tale of Samson and Delilah, the hero - overcome by sleep - could easily be robbed of his powers. Ea moved quickly to rob Apsu of his creative role. Quenching, it seems, the immense outpourings of primeval matter from the Sun, Ea/Neptune "pulled off Apsu's tiara, removed his cloak of aura." Apsu was "vanquished." Mummu could no longer roam about. He was "bound and left behind," a lifeless planet by his master's side.

  By depriving the Sun of its creativity - stopping the process of emitting more energy and matter to form additional planets - the

  gods brought temporary peace to the solar system. The victory was further signified by changing the meaning and location of the Apsu. This epithet was henceforth to be applied to the "Abode of Ea." Any additional planets could henceforth come only from the new Apsu - from "the Deep" - the far reaches of space that the outermost planet faced.

  How long was it before the celestial peace was broken once more? The epic does not say. But it does continue, with little pause,

  and raises the curtain on Act III:

  In the Chamber of Fates, the place of Destinies,

  A god was engendered, most able and wisest of gods;

  In the heart of the Deep was MARDUK created.

  A new celestial "god" - a new planet - now joins the cast. He was formed in the Deep, far out in space, in a zone where orbital motion - a planet's "destiny" - had been imparted to him. He was attracted to the solar system by the outermost planet: "He who begot him was Ea" (Neptune). The new planet was a sight to behold:

  Alluring was his figure, sparkling the lift of his eyes; Lordly was his gait, commanding as of olden times. . . , Greatly exalted was he above the gods, exceeding throughout. ...

  He was the loftiest of the gods, surpassing was his height; His members were enormous, he was exceedingly tall. Appearing from outer space, Marduk was still a newborn planet, belching fire and emitting radiation. "When he moved his lips, fire blazed forth."

  As Marduk neared the other planets, "they heaped upon him their awesome flashes," and he shone brightly, "clothed with the halo of ten gods." His approach thus stirred up electrical and other emissions from the other members of the solar system. And a single word here confirms our decipherment of the Creation epic: Ten celestial bodies awaited him - the Sun and only nine other planets.

  The epic's narrative now takes us along Marduk's speeding course. He first passes by the planet that "begot" him, that pulled him into the solar system, the planet Ea/ Neptune. As Marduk nears Neptune, the latter's gravitational pull on the newcomer grows in intensity. It rounds out Marduk's path, "making it good for its purpose."

  Marduk must still have been in a very plastic stage at that time. As he passed by Ea/Neptune, the gravitational pull caused the side of Marduk to bulge, as though he had "a second head." No part of Marduk, however, was torn off at this passage; but as Marduk reached the vicinity of Anu/Uranus, chunks of matter began to tear away from him, resulting in the formation of four satellites of Marduk. "Anu brought forth and fashioned the four sides, consigned I heir power to the leader of the host." Called "winds," the four were thrust into a fast orbit around Marduk, "swirling as a whirlwind."

  The order of passage - first by Neptune, then by Uranus - indicates that Marduk was coming into the solar system not in the system's orbital direction (counterclockwise) but from the opposite direction, moving clockwise. Moving on, the oncoming planet was soon seized by the immense gravitational and magnetic forces of the giant Anshar/ Saturn, then Kishar/Jupiter. His path was bent even more inward - into the center of the solar system, toward Tiamat.

  The approach of Marduk soon began to disturb Tiamat and the inner planets (Mars, Venus, Mercury). "He produced streams, disturbed Tiamat; the gods were not at rest, carried as in a storm."

  Though the lines of the ancient text were partially damaged here, we can still read that the nearing planet "diluted their vitals . . . pinched their eyes." Tiamat herself "paced about distraught" - her orbit, evidently, disturbed.

  The gravitational pull of the large approaching planet soon began to tear away parts of Tiamat. From her midst there emerged eleven "monsters," a "growling, raging" throng of satellites who "separated themselves" from her body and "marched at the side of Tiamat." Preparing herself to face the onrushing Marduk, Tiamat "crowned them with halos," giving them the appearance of "gods" (planets).

  Of particular importance to the epic and to Mesopotamian cosmogony was Tiamat's chief satellite, who was named KINGU, "the first-born among the gods who formed her assembly." She exalted Kingu,

  In their midst she made him great. . . . The high command of the battle She entrusted into his hand.

  Subjected to conflicting gravitational pulls, this large satellite of Tiamat began to shift toward Marduk. It was this granting to

  Kingu of a Tablet of Destinies - a planetary path of his own - that especially upset the outer planets. Who had granted Tiamat

  the right to bring forth new planets? Ea asked. He took the problem to Anshar, the giant Saturn.

  All that Tiamat had plotted, to him he repeated:

  ".. . she has set up an Assembly and is furious with rage . . .

  she has added matchless weapons, has borne

  monster-gods . . .

  withal eleven of this kind she has brought forth;

  from among the gods who formed her Assembly,

  she has elevated Kingu, her first-born, made him chief . . .

  she has given him a Tablet of Destinies, fastened it on his breast."

  Turning to Ea, Anshar asked him whether he could go lo slay Kingu. The reply is lost due to a break in the tablets; but apparently Ea did not satisfy Anshar, for the continuing narrative has Anshar turning to Anu (Uranus) lo find out whether he would "go and stand up to Tiamat." Hut Anu "was unable to face her and turned back."

  In the agitated heavens, a confrontation builds; one god lifter another steps aside. Will no one do battle with the raging Tiamat? Marduk, having passed Neptune and Uranus, is now nearing Anshar (Saturn) and his extended rings. This gives Anshar an idea: "He who is potent shall be our Avenger; ho who is keen in battle: Marduk, the Hero!" Coming within reach of Saturn's rings ("he kissed the lips of Anshar"), Marduk answers: "If I, indeed, as your Avenger

  Am to vanquis
h Tiamat, save your lives -

  Convene an Assembly to proclaim my Destiny supreme!"

  The condition was audacious but simple: Marduk and his "destiny" - his orbit around the Sun - were to be supreme among all the celestial gods. It was then that Gaga, Anshar/Saturn's satellite - and the future Pluto - was loosened from his course: Anshar opened his mouth,

  To Gaga, his Counsellor, a word he addressed. . . .

  "Be on thy way, Gaga,

  take the stand before the gods,

  and that which I shall tell thee

  repeat thou unto them."

  Passing by the other god/planets, Gaga urged them to ! "fix your decrees for Marduk." The decision was as anticipated: The gods were only too eager to have someone else go to settle the score for them. "Marduk is king!" they shouted, and urged him to lose no more time: "Go and cut off the life of Tiamat!" The curtain now rises on Act IV, the celestial battle.

  The gods have decreed Marduk's "destiny"; their combined gravitational pull has now determined Marduk's orbital path so that he can go but one way - toward a "battle," a collision with Tiamat.

  As befits a warrior, Marduk armed himself with a variety j of weapons. He filled his body with a "blazing flame"; "he constructed a bow . . . attached thereto an arrow ... in front of him he set the lightning"; and "he then made a net to enfold Tiamat therein." These are common names for what could only have been celestial phenomena - the discharge of electrical bolts as the two planets converged, the gravitational pull (a "net") of one upon the other.

  But Marduk's chief weapons were his satellites, the four "winds" with which Uranus had provided him when Marduk passed by

  that planet: South Wind, North Wind, East Wind, West Wind. Passing now by the giants, Saturn and Jupiter, and subjected to

  their tremendous gravitational pull, Marduk "brought forth" three more satellites - Evil Wind, Whirlwind, and Matchless Wind.

  Using his satellites as a "storm chariot," he "sent forth the winds that he had brought forth, the seven of them." The adversaries

  were ready for battle.

  The Lord went forth, followed his course;

  Towards the raging Tiamat he set his face. . . .

  The Lord approached to scan the innerside of Tiamat -

  The scheme of Kingu, her consort, to perceive.

  But as the planets drew nearer each other, Marduk's course became erratic:

  As he looks on, his course becomes upset,

  His direction is distracted, his doings are confused.

  Even Marduk's satellites began to veer off course:

  When the gods, his helpers,

  Who were marching at his side,

  Saw the valiant Kingu, blurred became their vision.

  Were the combatants to miss each other after all?

  But the die was cast, the courses irrevocably set on collision. "Tiamat emitted a roar" . . . "the Lord raised the flooding storm, his

  mighty weapon." As Marduk came ever closer, Tiamat's "fury" grew; "the roots of her legs shook back and forth." She

  commenced to cast "spells" against Marduk - the same kind of celestial waves Ea had earlier used against Apsu and Mummu.

  But Marduk kept coming at her.

  Tiamat and Marduk, the wisest of the gods,

  Advanced against one another;

  They pressed on to single combat,

  They approached for battle.

  The epic now turns to the description of the celestial battle, in the aftermath of which Heaven and Earth were created.

  The Lord spread out his net to enfold her;

  The Evil Wind, the rearmost, he unleashed at her face.

  As she opened her mouth, Tiamat, to devour him -

  He drove in the Evil Wind so that she close not her lips.

  The fierce storm Winds then charged her belly;

  Her body became distended; her mouth had opened wide.

  He shot there through an arrow, it tore her belly;

  It cut through her insides, tore into her womb.

  Having thus subdued her, her life-breath he extinguished.

  Here, then, is a most original theory explaining the celestial puzzles still confronting us. An unstable solar system, made up of the Sun and nine planets, was invaded by a large, comet-like planet from outer space. It first encountered Neptune; as it passed by Uranus, the giant Saturn, and Jupiter, its course was profoundly bent inward toward the solar system's center, and it brought forth seven satellites. It was unalterably set on a collision course with Tiamat, the next planet in line. A. Marduk's "winds" colliding with Tiamat and her "host" (led by Kingu).

  But the two planets did not collide, a fact of cardinal astronomical importance: It was the satellites of Marduk I hat smashed into Tiamat, and not Marduk himself. They "distended" Tiamat's body, made in her a wide cleavage. Through these fissures in Tiamat, Marduk shot an "arrow," a "divine lightning," an immense bolt of electricity that lumped as a spark from the energy- charged Marduk, the planet that was "filled with brilliance." Finding its way into Tiamat's innards, it "extinguished her life-breath" - neutralized Tiamat's own electric and magnetic forces and Holds, and "extinguished" them.

  The first encounter between Marduk and Tiamat left IKT fissured and lifeless; but her final fate was still to be determined by future encounters between' the two. Kingu, louder of Tiamat's satellites, was also to be dealt with separately. But the fate of the other ten, smaller satellites of Tiamat was determined at once.

  After he had slain Tiamat, the leader, Her band was shattered, her host broken up. The gods, her helpers who marched at her side, Trembling with fear, Turned their backs about so as to save and preserve their lives.

  Can we identify this "shattered . . . broken" host that trembled and "turned their backs about" - reversed their direction? By doing so we offer an explanation to yet another )ii7./le of our solar system - the phenomenon of the comets. Tiny globes of matter, they are often referred to as the solar system's "rebellious members," for they appear to obey none of the normal rules of the road. The orbits of the planets around the Sun are (with the exception of Pluto) almost circular; the orbits of the comets are elongated, and in most instances very much so - to the extent that some of them disappear from our view for hundreds or thousands of years. The planets (with the exception of Pluto) orbit the Sun in the same general plane; the comets' orbits lie in many diverse planes. Most significant, while all the planets known to us circle the Sun in the same counterclockwise direction, many comets move in the reverse direction.

  Astronomers are unable to say what force, what event created the comets and threw them into their unusual orbits. Our answer: Marduk. Sweeping in the reverse direction, in an orbital plane of his own, he shattered, broke the host of Tiamat into smaller comets and affected them by his gravitational pull, his so-called net:

  Thrown into the net, they found themselves ensnared. . . . The whole band of demons that had marched on her side He cast into fetters, their hands he bound. . . . Tightly encircled, they could not escape.

  After the battle was over, Marduk took away from Kingu the Tablet of Destinies (Kingu's independent orbit) and attached it to his own (Marduk's) breast: his course was bent into permanent solar orbit. From that time on, Marduk was bound always to return to the scene of the celestial battle.

  Having "vanquished" Tiamat, Marduk sailed on in the heavens, out into space, around the Sun, and back to retrace his passage by the outer planets: Ea/Neptune, "whose desire Marduk achieved," Anshar/Saturn, "whose triumph Marduk established." Then his new orbital path returned Marduk to the scene of his triumph, "to strengthen his hold on the vanquished gods," Tiamat and Kingu.

  As the curtain is about to rise on Act V, it will be here - and only here, though this has not hitherto been realized - that the biblical tale of Genesis joins the Mesopotamian "Epic of Creation"; for it is only at this point that the tale of the Creation of Earth and Heaven really began.

  Completing his first-ever orbit around the Sun, Mardu
k "then returned to Tiamat, whom he had subdued." The Lord paused to view her lifeless body. To divide the monster he then artfully planned. Then, as a mussel, he split her into two parts.

  Marduk himself now hit the defeated planet, splitting Tiamat in two, severing her "skull," or upper part. Then another of Marduk's satellites, the one called North Wind, crashed into the separated half. The heavy blow carried this part - destined to become Earth - to an orbit where no planet had been orbiting before:

  The Lord trod upon Tiamat's hinder part; With his weapon the connected skull he cut loose; He severed the channels of her blood; And caused the North Wind to bear it To places that have been unknown. Earth had been created!

  The lower part had another fate: on the second orbit, Marduk himself hit it, smashing it to pieces:

  The [other] half of her he set up as a screen for the skies: Locking them together, as watchmen he stationed them. . . . He bent Tiamat's tail to form the Great Band as a bracelet.

  The pieces of this broken half were hammered to become a "bracelet" in the heavens, acting as a screen between the inner planets and the outer planets. They were stretched out into a "great band." The asteroid belt had been created. Astronomers and physicists recognize the existence of great differences between the inner, or "terrestrial," planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth and its Moon, and Mars) and the outer planets (Jupiter and beyond), two groups separated by the asteroid belt. We now find, in the Sumerian epic, ancient recognition of these phenomena.

  Moreover, we are offered - for the first time - a coherent cosmogonic-scientific explanation of the celestial events that led to the disappearance of the "missing planet" and the resultant creation of the asteroid belt (plus the comets) and of Earth. After several of his satellites and his electric bolts split Tiamat in two, another satellite of Marduk shunted her upper half to a new orbit as our planet Earth; then Marduk, on his second orbit, smashed the lower half to pieces and stretched them in a great celestial band. Every puzzle that we have mentioned is answered by the "Epic of Creation" as we have deciphered it. Moreover, we also have the answer to the question of why Earth's continents are concentrated on one side of it and a deep