Nearly 400 Sumerian literary compositions from the late third and early second millennia BC, in transliteration and English translation. Funding ended in summer 2006; the site remains online.
“Sumerian is the first language for which we have written evidence and its literature the earliest known.” source
OFFICIALElectronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature, University of Oxford · DATE TO VERIFY
Myth in which the gods dig canals and pile up silt, the minor gods bear the toil, and a creature is made as a substitute to free them, its work to carry baskets.
“The gods were digging the canals and piling up the silt in Harali.” source
OFFICIALElectronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature, University of Oxford · DATE TO VERIFY
Enki organises the world and calls himself leader of the Anuna gods; gold and silver appear as goods carried by boat to Nibru and as treasure from Dilmun and Elam.
The Sumerian flood narrative: a flood sweeps the land, King Zi-ud-sura survives and sacrifices to Utu, and the gods settle him in Dilmun.
CLASSIFIEDDeclassifiedFILE NO. 023SHEET 2 OF 2
Analysis
Our own reading of the file, written from the sources on the other sheets. Opinion is marked as such.
The source material is not hidden. Sumerian is the first language with written evidence, and its literature the earliest known; the Oxford corpus publishes nearly 400 compositions from the late third and early second millennia BC. In The debate between Sheep and Grain, An spawns the Anuna gods. In Enki and the world order, Enki calls himself leader of the Anuna. In Enki and Ninmah, the minor gods weep over digging canals, and Enki has a substitute created to free them from their toil and carry baskets. In the Sumerian Flood story, Zi-ud-sura survives the deluge and is settled in Dilmun.
Sitchin's thesis takes these gods as a people from a planet called Nibiru, who came to Earth for its gold. None of the passages above mentions a planet or mining; gold in Enki and the world order is cargo carried by boat to Nibru, a city. Michael Heiser, a scholar of ancient Semitic languages, challenges readers to find one line saying the Anunnaki live on a planet, argues that Sitchin ignored the ancient bilingual word lists, and says Sitchin's reading of the Berlin cylinder seal VA 243 requires ignoring what the seal says.
We label the Nibiru claim speculation. Belief in it is not our business; the checkable part is whether the texts say what the theory says they say. Readers can test that themselves, which is the strongest thing about this file.
What it shows
That the Anuna gods, the creation of humans to do the gods' labour and a great flood are all in published Sumerian texts.
That these texts are freely available in English translation from the University of Oxford.
That the passages cited here describe gods, canals, baskets and cities, not planets or spacecraft.
What it doesn't prove
That every Sumerian text has been searched by us; the corpus has nearly 400 compositions and we cite a handful.
That Sitchin invented the myths: the gods, the labour and the flood are genuine; the dispute is about his translation and interpretation.
Anything about whether people should find meaning in these stories; that is not a checkable claim.
The other side
Sitchin's defenders point out that he based his work on texts from the ancient civilisations of the Near East, and the myths do describe gods who need labour and make humans to do it. On his official site the thesis is stated plainly: there is a further planet, Nibiru, and its people came to Earth and found the gold they needed. For his readers, the myths are memory, not metaphor.
The official site of Zecharia Sitchin (1920–2010): The 12th Planet and later books, based on Near Eastern texts, argue for a further planet, Nibiru, whose people came to Earth for its gold.
“People from Nibiru came to Earth and discovered the gold they needed” source
COMMENTARYMichael S. Heiser (PhD, Hebrew and ancient Semitic languages, University of Wisconsin-Madison) · DATE TO VERIFY
A Semitic-languages scholar's website rebutting Sitchin topic by topic: Nibiru, the Anunnaki, Sumerian texts and the seal VA 243. Commentary, not peer-reviewed.
COMMENTARYMichael S. Heiser, SitchinIsWrong.com · DATE TO VERIFY
Argues that the ancient scribes' own bilingual word lists contradict Sitchin's translations of key Sumerian terms such as MU, and that he neglected these resources.
COMMENTARYMichael S. Heiser, SitchinIsWrong.com · DATE TO VERIFY
On the Berlin cylinder seal VA 243, which Sitchin read as evidence of 12 planets: Heiser argues that reading requires ignoring the seal's inscription, Sumerian astronomy and standard iconography.
Overview with references to Penn Museum's Ancient Mesopotamian Gods and Goddesses and other scholarship: the Anunnaki as offspring of An and Ki, their roles in Atrahasis and Enuma Elish, and Sitchin's reinterpretation.
Route to sources only; the Penn Museum (Oracc) entry it cites could not be opened.
TO VERIFY Candidates, not yet checked
Penn Museum / Oracc, Ancient Mesopotamian Gods and Goddesses: 'Anunna (Anunnaku, Anunnaki)' by Nicole Brisch (2016): certificate error and connection refused.
British Museum pages on cuneiform and the Flood Tablet (K.3375): HTTP 403.
Atrahasis and Enuma Elish (Akkadian, not in ETCSL): need a museum or university translation; their roles for the Anunnaki are currently sourced only via Wikipedia, so they are kept off the sheets.
The publication year of Sitchin's The 12th Planet (1976 per Wikipedia) and his claim that humans were made by genetic engineering: only Wikipedia opened.
Assyriologists' published critiques of Sitchin from university or museum pages (e.g., Ronald H. Fritze, Peter James): not opened; WebSearch budget exhausted during this run.
Found, but not linked to a source we trust. Not on the sheets until they are.
