The 12th Planet

Home > Other > The 12th Planet > Page 24
The 12th Planet Page 24

by Zecharia Sitchin


  Fig. 114. THE RE-APPEARANCE OF THE TWELFTH PLANET.

  Then, at its apogee (point C) Marduk reached The Crossing: back at the site of the Celestial Battle, it was closest to Earth, and began its orbit back to distant space.

  The anticipation of the Day of the Lord in the ancient Mesopotamian and Hebrew writings (which were echoed in the New Testament's expectations of the coming of the Kingship of Heaven) was thus based on the actual experiences of Earth's people: their witnessing the periodic return of the Planet of Kingship to Earth's vicinity.

  The planet's periodic appearance and disappearance from Earth's view confirms the assumption of its permanence in solar orbit. In this it acts like many comets. Some of the known comets-like Halley's comet, which nears Earth every seventy-five years—disappeared from view for such long times that astronomers were hard-pressed to realize that they were seeing the same comet. Other comets have been seen only once in human memory, and are assumed to have orbital periods running into thousands of years. The comet Kohoutek, for example, first discovered in March 1973, came within 75,000,000 miles of Earth in January 1974, and disappeared behind the Sun soon thereafter. Astronomers calculate it will reappear anywhere from 7,500 to 75,000 years in the future.

  Human familiarity with the Twelfth Planet's periodic appearances and disappearances from view suggests that its orbital period is shorter than that calculated for Kohoutek. If so, why are our astronomers not aware of the existence of this planet? The fact is that even an orbit half as long as the lower figure for Kohoutek would take the Twelfth Planet about six times farther away from us than Pluto—a distance at which such a planet would not be visible from Earth, since it would barely (if at all) reflect the Sun's light toward Earth. In fact, the known planets beyond Saturn were first discovered not visually but mathematically. The orbits of known planets, astronomers found, were apparently being affected by other celestial bodies.

  This may also be the way in which astronomers will "discover" the Twelfth Planet. There has already been speculation that a "Planet X" exists, which, though unseen, may be "sensed" through its effects on the orbits of certain comets. In 1972, Joseph L. Brady of the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory of the University of California discovered that discrepancies in the orbit of Halley's comet could be caused by a planet the size of Jupiter orbiting the Sun every 1,800 years. At its estimated distance of 6,000,000,000 miles, its presence could be detected only mathematically.

  While such an orbital period cannot be ruled out, the Mesopotamian and biblical sources present strong evidence that the orbital period of the Twelfth Planet is 3,600 years. The number 3,600 was written in Sumerian as a large circle. The epithet for the planet—shar ("supreme ruler")—also meant "a perfect circle," a "completed cycle." It also meant the number 3,600. And the identity of the three terms—planet/orbit/3,600—could not be a mere coincidence.

  Berossus, the Babylonian priest-astronomer-scholar, spoke of ten rulers who reigned upon Earth before the Deluge. Summarizing the writings of Berossus, Alexander Polyhistor wrote: "In the second book was the history of the ten kings of the Chaldeans, and the periods of each reign, which consisted collectively of an hundred and twenty shar's, or four hundred and thirty-two thousand years; reaching to the time of the Deluge."

  Abydenus, a disciple of Aristotle, also quoted Berossus in terms of ten pre-Diluvial mlers whose total reign numbered 120 shar's. He made clear that these rulers and their cities were located in ancient Mesopotamia:

  It is said that the first king of the land was Alarus.... He reigned ten shar's.

  Now, a shar is esteemed to be three thousand six hundred years....

  After him Alaprus reigned three shar's; to him succeeded Amillarus from the city of panti-Biblon, who reigned thirteen shar's....

  After him Ammenon reigned twelve shar's; he was of the city of panti-Biblon. Then Megalurus of the same place, eighteen shar's.

  Then Daos, the Shepherd, governed for the space of ten shar's....

  There were afterwards other Rulers, and the last of all Sisithrus; so that in the whole, the number amounted to ten kings, and the term of their reigns to an hundred and twenty shar's.

  Apollodorus of Athens also reported on the prehistorical disclosures of Berossus in similar terms: Ten rulers reigned a total of 120 shar's (432,000 years), and the reign of each one of them was also measured in the 3,600-year shar units.

  With the advent of Sumerology, the "olden texts" to which Berossus referred were found and deciphered; these were Sumerian king lists, which apparently laid down the tradition of ten pre-Diluvial rulers who ruled Earth from the time when "Kingship was lowered from Heaven" until the "Deluge swept over the Earth."

  One Sumerian king list, known as text W-B/144, records the divine reigns in five settled places or "cities." In the first city, Eridu, there were two rulers. The text prefixes both names with the title-syllable "A," meaning "progenitor."

  When kingship was lowered from Heaven,

  kingship was first in Eridu.

  In Eridu,

  A.LU.LIM became king; he ruled 28,800 years.

  A.LAL.GAR ruled 36,000 years.

  Two kings ruled it 64,800 years.

  Kingship then transferred to other seats of government, where the rulers were called en, or "lord" (and in one instance by the divine title dingir).

  I drop Eridu;

  its kingship was carried to Bad-Tibira.

  In Bad-Tibira,

  EN.MEN.LU.AN.NA ruled 43,200 years;

  EN.MEN.GAL.AN.NA ruled 28,800 years.

  Divine DU.MU.ZI, Shepherd, ruled 36,000 years.

  Three kings ruled it for 108,000 years.

  The list then names the cities that followed, Larak and Sippar, and their divine rulers; and last, the city of Shuruppak, where a human of divine parentage was king. The striking fact about the fantastic lengths of these rules is that, without exception, they are multiples of 3,600:

  Alulim – 8 X 3,600 = 28,800

  Alalgar – 10 X 3,600 = 36,000

  Enmenluanna – 12 X 3,600 = 43,200

  Enmengalanna – 8 X 3,600 = 28,800

  Dumuzi – 10 X 3,600 = 36,000

  Ensipazianna – 8 X 3,600 = 28,800

  Enmenduranna – 6 X 3,600 = 21,600

  Ubartutu – 5 X 3,600 = 18,000

  Another Sumerian text (W-B/62) added Larsa and its two divine rulers to the king list, and the reign periods it gives are also perfect multiples of the 3,600-year shar. With the aid of other texts, the conclusion is that there were indeed ten rulers in Sumer before the Deluge; each rule lasted so many shar's; and altogether their reign lasted 120 shar's—as reported by Berossus.

  The conclusion that suggests itself is that these shar's of rulership were related to the orbital period shar (3,600 years) of the planet "Shar," the "Planet of Kingship"; that Alulim reigned during eight orbits of the Twelfth Planet, Alalgar during ten orbits, and so on.

  If these pre-Diluvial rulers were, as we suggest, Nefilim who came to Earth from the Twelfth Planet, then it should not be surprising that their periods of "reign" on Earth should be related to the orbital period of the Twelfth Planet. The periods of such tenure or Kingship would last from the time of a landing to the time of a takeoff; as one commander arrived from the Twelfth Planet, the other's time came up. Since the landings and takeoffs must have been related to the Twelfth Planet's approach to Earth, the command tenures could only have been measured in these orbital periods, of shar's.

  One may ask, of course, whether anyone of the Nefilim, having landed on Earth, could remain in command here for the purported 28,800 or 36,000 years. No wonder scholars speak of the length of these reigns as "legendary."

  But what is a year? Our "year" is simply the time it takes Earth to complete one orbit around the Sun. Because life developed on Earth when it was already orbiting the Sun, life on Earth is patterned by this length of orbit. (Even a more minor orbit time, like that of the Moon, or the day-night cycle is powerful enough to affect almost all l
ife on Earth.) We live so many years because our biological clocks are geared to so many Earth orbits around the Sun.

  There can be little doubt that life on another planet would be "timed" to the cycles of that planet. If the trajectory of the Twelfth Planet around the Sun were so extended that one orbit was completed in the same time it takes Earth to complete 100 orbits, then one year of the Nefilim would equal 100 of our years. If their orbit took 1,000 times longer than ours, then 1,000 Earth years would equal only one Nefilim year.

  And what if, as we believe, their orbit around the sun lasted 3,600 Earth years? Then 3,600 of our years would amount to only one year in their calendar, and also only one year in their lifetime. The tenures of Kingship reported by the Sumerians and Berossus would thus be neither "legendary" nor fantastic: They would have lasted five or eight or ten Nefilim years.

  We have noted, in earlier chapters, that Mankind's march to civilization—through the intervention of the Nefilim—passed through three stages, which were separated by periods of 3,600 years: the Neolithic period (circa 11,000 B.C.), the pottery phase (circa 7400 B.C.), and the sudden Sumerian civilization (circa 3800 B.C.). It is not unlikely, then, that the Nefilim periodically reviewed (and resolved to continue) Mankind's progress, since they could meet in assembly each time the Twelfth Planet neared Earth.

  Many scholars (for example, Heinrich Zimmern in The Babylonian and Hebrew Genesis) have pointed out that the Old Testament also carried traditions of pre-Diluvial chieftains, or forefathers, and that the line from Adam to Noah (the hero of the Deluge) listed ten such rulers. Putting the situation prior to the Deluge in perspective, the Book of Genesis (Chapter 6) described the divine disenchantment with Mankind. "And it repented the Lord that he had made Man on Earth ... and the Lord said: I will destroy Man whom I had created."

  And the Lord said:

  My spirit shall not shield Man forever;

  having erred, he is but flesh.

  And his days were one hundred and twenty years.

  Generations of scholars have read the verse "And his days shall be a hundred and twenty years" as God's granting a life span of 120 years to Man. But this just does not make sense. If the text dealt with God's intent to destroy Mankind, why would he in the same breath offer Man long life? And we find that no sooner had the Deluge subsided than Noah lived far longer than the supposed limit of 120 years, as did his descendants Shem (600), Arpakhshad (438), Shelah (433), and so on.

  In seeking to apply the span of 120 years to Man, the scholars ignore the fact that the biblical language employs not the future tense—"His days shall be"—but the past tense—"And his days were one hundred and twenty years." The obvious question, then, is: Whose time span is referred to here?

  Our conclusion is that the count of 120 years was meant to apply to the Deity.

  Setting a momentous event in its proper time perspective is a common feature of the Sumerian and Babylonian epic texts. The "Epic of Creation" opens with the words Enuma elish ("when on high"). The story of the encounter of the god Enlil and the goddess Ninlil is placed at the time "when man had not yet been created," and so on.

  The language and purpose of Chapter 6 of Genesis were geared to the same purpose—to put the momentous events of the great Flood in their proper time perspective. The very first word of the very first verse of Chapter 6 is when:

  When the Earthlings

  began to increase in number

  upon the face of the Earth,

  and daughters were born unto them.

  This, the narrative continues, was the time when

  The sons of the gods

  saw the daughters of the Earthling

  that they were compatible;

  and they took unto themselves

  wives of whichever they chose.

  It was the time when

  The Nefilim were upon the land

  in those days, and thereafter too;

  when the sons of the gods

  cohabited with the Earthling's daughters

  and they conceived.

  They were the Mighty Ones who are of Olam,

  the People of the Shem.

  It was then, in those days, at that time that Man was about to be wiped off the face of the Earth by the Flood.

  When exactly was that?

  Verse 3 tells us unequivocally: when his, the Deity's count, was 120 years. One hundred twenty "years," not of Man and not of Earth, but as counted by the mighty ones, the "People of the Rockets," the Nefilim. And their year was the shar—3,600 Earth years.

  This interpretation not only clarifies the perplexing verses of Genesis 6, it also shows how the verses match the Sumerian information: 120 shars, 432,000 Earth years, had passed between the Nefilim's first landing on Earth and the Deluge.

  Based on our estimates of when the Deluge occurred, we place the first landing of the Nefilim on Earth circa 450,000 years ago.

  •

  Before we turn to the ancient records regarding the voyages of the Nefilim to Earth and their settlement on Earth, two basic questions need to be answered: Could beings obviously not much different from us evolve on another planet? Could such beings have had the capability, half a million years ago, for interplanetary travel?

  The first question touches upon a more fundamental question: Is there life as we know it anywhere besides the planet Earth? Scientists now know that there are innumerable galaxies like ours, containing countless stars like our Sun, with astronomical numbers of planets providing every imaginable combination of temperature and atmosphere and chemicals, offering billions of chances for Life.

  They have also found that our own interplanetary space is not void. For example, there are water molecules in space, the remnants of what are believed to have been clouds of ice crystals that apparently envelop stars in their early stages of development. This discovery lends support to persistent Mesopotamian references to the waters of the Sun, which mingled with the waters of Tiamat.

  The basic molecules of living matter have also been found "floating" in interplanetary space, and the belief that life can exist only within certain atmospheres or temperature ranges has also been shattered. Furthermore, the notion that the only source of energy and heat available to living organisms is the Sun's emissions has been discarded. Thus, the spacecraft Pioneer 10 discovered that Jupiter, though much farther away from the Sun than Earth, was so hot that it must have its own sources of energy and heat.

  A planet with an abundance of radioactive elements in its depths would not only generate its own heat; it would also experience substantial volcanic activity. Such volcanic activity provides an atmosphere. If the planet is large enough to exert a strong gravitational pull, it will keep its atmosphere almost indefinitely. Such an atmosphere, in turn, creates a hothouse effect: it shields the planet from the cold of outer space, and keeps the planet's own heat from dissipating into space—much as clothing keeps us warm by not letting the body's heat dissipate. With this in mind, the ancient texts' descriptions of the Twelfth Planet as "clothed with a halo" assume more than poetic significance. It was always referred to as a radiant planet—"most radiant of the gods he is"—and depictions of it showed it as a ray-emitting body. The Twelfth Planet could generate its own heat and retain the heat because of its atmospheric mantle. (Fig. 115)

  Fig. 115

  Scientists have also come to the unexpected conclusion that not only could life have evolved upon the outer planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune) but it probably did evolve there. These planets are made up of the lighter elements of the solar system, have a composition more akin to that of the universe in general, and offer a profusion of hydrogen, helium, methane, ammonia, and probably neon and water vapor in their atmospheres—all the elements required for the production of organic molecules.

 

‹ Prev