I don't believe so (Sitchin is Jewish). That said, it seems Sitchin and his followers don't realize how his ideas open themselves to that charge. How? Aside from pure imagination, a lot of Sitchin's ideas presuppose a dependence of the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) on...
Sitchin
Exposing the Work of Zecharia Sitchin, Part 2: Does the Bible Have the Gods Creating Humankind?
This is a Sitchin signature teaching. In an effort to marry his notion that the Anunnaki (a group of gods in the Sumero-Mesopotamian pantheon) created humankind to the biblical story, Sitchin teaches that the Bible itself has plural gods creating humankind in Genesis....
Exposing the Work of Zecharia Sitchin, Part 1: ELOHIM in the Hebrew Bible
Prior to this blog, I created a website devoted to exposing the flawed teachings and research of Zecharia Sitchin. Next to Erik von Daniken, Sitchin is easily the most well-known articulator of the ancient astronaut theory--the idea that the gods of ancient texts and...
A New Planet Beyond Pluto? Sitchin is Still Wrong
I've been getting emails about the news that some scientists are claiming (note: a claim isn't the same as established fact) that there is a very large planet beyond Pluto. This naturally excites Sitchinites and other ancient astronaut theorists who follow the work of...
Friends Don’t Let Friends Read Mike Bara: An Explanatory Illustration
One of my favorite blogs is The Emoluments of Mars. It's the brainchild of "Expat," who has committed himself to the mind-numbing task of critiquing the conspiratorial pseudo-science behind ideas like the "face" on Mars, glass domes on the moon, and esoteric meanings...
Zecharia Sitchin’s Planet X PaleoBabble
Astronomer Stuart Robbins has made a considerable effort in his PseudoAstronomy podcast to tell the truth about how real astronomy does not jive with the astronomical quackery of Zecharia Sitchin. I was recently interviewed by Stuart for his podcast (those episodes...
New Research on Nibiru Shows Sitchin is Still Wrong
I recently received this short note in email about some work done in the cuneiform sources regarding Nibiru: Dear Dr. Heiser, I have analyzed the extant cuneiform evidence in the peer-reviewed publication "The Marduk Star Nebiru" (CDLI Bulletin 2015:3). I conclude...
Sachs, Velikovsky, and Sitchin
A short time ago I blogged about the work of C. Leroy Ellenberger, at one time a first-tier defender of Immanuel Velikovsky who later came to doubt and then refute that brand of catastrophism, sent me a link I thought I'd share with readers. Leroy's link was to a...
Addendum to the Anunnaki Search on my Sitchin Is Wrong Website
I just wanted to give readers a heads-up on this. Some readers of my Zecharia Sitchin website have been unable to re-create the search for all occurrences of the Anunnaki in Sumerian texts via the Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature. (For those to whom that...
Ancient Astronaut Enthusiast Defends Sitchin
Some readers know about my website devoted to demonstrating the nonsense put forth by Zecharia Sitchin. Part of that site includes an open letter to Sitchin (now deceased of course) and his worshippers. It's been there over 10 years (Sitchin never responded) but at...
Ancient Planes, Rockets, and Helicopters?
I feel a little embarrassed. I can't believe I forgot to blog this, though I probably intended to redo the page and make it look nice. Oh well. The last time I was on Coast to Coast, I threw this page together (in about an hour - I know, it shows) since I knew people...
Zechariah Sitchin’s Contribution to PaleoBabble
L. A. Marzulli recently asked me to contribute to a newsletter he has created. I naturally agreed since he wanted some thoughts on the work of Zecharia Sitchin. Here's my short contribution for PaleoBabble readers: Zecharia Sitchin: Why You Can Safely Ignore Him...
Zecharia Sitchin and the Meaning of Sumerian and Akkadian Words
On my old website devoted to exposing the phony scholarship of Zecharia Sitchin's ancient astronaut nonsense, I had occasion to note how the meanings of certain Sumero-Akkadian words or glyphs supplied by by Sitchin were not only nonsense, but the Sumerians themselves...
Ancient Aliens, Religion, and Nature.Com
Dr. Michael Blume, author of the SciLogs blog, whose focus is "the nature of faith / evolutionary studies of religion, was kind enough to ask me for a short interview regarding why modern people believe in PaleoSETI -- visitation of earth by aliens in antiquity. I was...
More Fun with Zecharia Sitchin: Looking for Rocket Ships in Sumerian Texts
Squint real hard, you might see them. This video is longer (19:00) because I go through the major lexical resources for Akkadian and Sumerian -- all publicly accessible -- to show that (surprise!) Zecharia Sitchin's translations ("rocket ship"; "fiery rocket") for...