Posted: June 11, 2022
The Stairway to Heaven
The Search for Immortality
Surprisingly, this book about the ancient history of Man begins at a comparatively late date in history, the 16th century. We are taken to the time that Spain was exploring the New World. This exploration was undertaken for various reasons such as wealth, territory, and the spreading of the Christian faith, but the book focuses on one reason in particular: The search for the Fountain of Youth.
The impetus for this search stemmed from an earlier time. During the Middle Ages a tale about Alexander the Great circulated around Europe. This tale involved Alexander's own quest for immortality. The book looks at Alexander's trip to Egypt where he successfully sought to be acknowledged the son of the Egyptian god Ammon. This rank would allow Alexander the right of the Egyptian Pharaohs, the right to become an immortal after death.
I did not find this a very auspicious beginning for the book, this wild historical roller coaster. Several chapters in I'm wondering where Sitchin is taking this.
The answer, it turns out, is Egypt.
The Egyptian Book of the Dead
The book starts to catch my attention as it discusses the funeral rites of the Egyptian pharaohs. The details of these rites come from hieroglyphic writings from the walls of the pyramids of two pharaohs of the Old Kingdom. These writings are known as the Pyramid Texts and they detail a ritual of immense complexity. The ritual is meant to usher a pharaoh to a life of immortality with the gods.
What strikes me most in this part of the book are the images. The actual wall art and hieroglyphics from the pyramids are shown. I'm looking at these Pyramid Text and I'm thinking this is exactly the kind of image that will be made when a relatively primitive culture is attempting to explain the technology of an advanced culture. And this is the point that Sitchin is making here, that these ancient death ritual of Egypt is based on the pre-space flight process of the Annunaki.
The pictures are fascinating. Ancient Egyptians cannot conceive of a mobile ramp or platform, no such thing in ancient Egypt, so they draw a barge pulled by gods. They cannot conceive of an automated doorway so they draw a rope and pulley system operated manually by gods. The Egyptians are trying to explain an advanced technology using technology and objects that are familiar to them. What emerges from the walls of the pyramids is a whimsical, quaint, and weird depiction of a trip to space.
It is also somewhat sad. The ancient Egyptians, left on their own by the Annunaki have taken to considering a flight protocol as sacred; and to further equate a space flight as a path ot immortality. These clueless, primitive hicks have built a religion and belief system on a simple flight manual. Depressing.
Further Evidence of Ancient Astronauts
Having taken us from Egypt to space through the flight of the pharaoh's soul or ka to the heavens, Sitchin gives us a tour of some space-related relics. The first one is artwork from th tomb of Huy, a viceroy of Egypt. It very clearly shows a two-stage rocket, first stage below ground, second stage above ground. The first stage is shaped very much like NASA's rocket command module. Of course, this is once again the Egyptians trying to explain advanced technology from the vantage point of their own technology and culture so beside the rocket are leopard skin hangings and he whole picture has a profusion of wildlife and flaura. And let's not forget the idiot rocket workshippers.
Going back to the command module motif, we are shown a stone sculpture of a triangular compartment with rounded edges looking very much like a command module complete with hatchway and an Annunki looking out. Quite striking, unfortunately Sitchin does not give us much detail on this one.
Even more interesting is an object found in the tomb of a prince from Egypt's First Dynasty. It looks like a precision-cast flywheel. It is made of stone too soft for machine-use so it is surmised it might be some kind of design model. This looks like an engine part from our own era and it is from Egypt's First Dynasty!
Run Through of Previous Material
What follow next is a beefy recap of "The 12th Planet". Sitchin once again details how the ancient cities have been discovered by the modern age, how the solar system was formed by the arrival of Nibiru, as well as the ancient Sumerian gods. The detail that is new here to me is that Ishtar's original territory is identified as the Indus Valley area.
Gilgamesh
The Gilgamesh part of this book elicited a groan from me because didn't Sitchin also go through this in "The 12th Planet"? Yes, and no. The Gilgamesh story here is a bit more detailed. The main point that was made is that Gilgamesh made two journeys in his attempt to be allowed to fly to space and become immortal. Two attempts to two different places. The story is retold because Sitchin will now point to where those two places are.
The first place is referred to as "The Landing Place" and Sitchin identifies it as Baalbek in Lebanon, known as Heliopolis during Roman times. Underneath all the temples and buildings built by the Romans and other cultures is a platform made of stones so large that the platform survived the Deluge. The stones typically weigh a thousand tonnes.
Omphalos
Have you ever read "The Lord of the Rings"? In that work of fiction there are seven palantirs, most of which are lost. Palantirs are crystal balls that can communicate with each other. In the world of Tolkein's Middle Earth such a thing would be revered and it would give big strategic advantages. It turns out that in ancient times they also had dome-like objects that also allowed for long-distance communication known as omphalos. Unlike in Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings", we don't have a working omphalos. What we do have are models in stone as well as depictions in art. These omphalos were located in key sites and have also become awe-inspiring objects during their time.
The Place of the Rockets
Going back to Gilgamesh, his second journey involved going to the "Place of the Rockets". By Sitchin's analysis this would be somewhere in the Sinai peninsula. Where exactly depends partly on the proper identification of Mt. Sinai. Because of the Bible, the name of Mt. Sinai is far-famed but what I didn't know is there is no mountain today called Mt. Sinai. There are various contenders for the name and Sitchin takes us on a detailed account of the quest to find this important mountain. To this day there is no unanimous agreement but Sitchin leans towards a mountain in the northern part of the Sinai peninsula.
The Post-Diluvial Spaceport
All these has been leading up to Sitchin's identification of a post-Diluvial Annunaki spaceport. Doing the mapping and triangulations he did in "The 12th Planet" Sitchin identifies this spaceport as being in the Sinia peninsula with command center being Jerusalem.
The main difference between this spaceport and the older one is that all the pertinent points and markers in the old spaceport where natural features of Earth. For this spaceport one feature had to be constructed by the Annunaki's themselves - the Pyramids of Giza.
The Pyramids of Giza
There are many pyramids in Egypt but only three are Annunaki made - the three pyramids of Giza. If one looks up what these pyramids looked like during the time they functioned as space beacons for the Annunaki, the image is quite breathtaking. They have a very sci-fi vibe, these bright white edifices against the desert backdrop.
Fraudsters in Egypt
Of course, according to Herodotus and modern-day Egyptology the Pyramids of Giza, and the Sphinx, where made by the Pharaoh's. The part of the book where Sitchin debunks this traditional view of the pyramids is a very interesting read. It describes how the view of the Giza pyramid being the work of the pharaoh Cheops is largely the work of heiroglyphic forgery wherein some unscrupulous adventurers in the 19th century began writing heiroglyphs inside the largest Giza pyramid - specifically writing the cartouche of Cheop, effectively identifying him as a the builder.
The point is made that the Giza pyramids existed before the pharaohs and that the pyramids they made are pale imitations of the three originals. These pyramids being part of a spaceport system used by the Annunaki.
Impressions of the Read
I was worried about the start of this book because it seemed to be all over the place but it very quickly regained focus and revealed how it fit in with the first book of the series. This is largely about the post-Diluvial spaceport of the Annunaki. It is also about the pyramids of Egypt and its place in ancient astronaut theory.