Many readers will have heard of the Anunnaki — hopefully listening to me debunk nonsense about them and not from Ancient Aliens. One of the problems with getting quality information about the Anunnaki is that the best material was published decades ago in German...
Cuneiform
Iraqi Transportation Minister Says Iraq the HQ of Ancient Aliens — Sounds Dumber than Tariq Assiz
Here’s a link to a Breitbart story, part of which reads: “Iraqi transportation minister Kadhem Finjan al-Hamami asserted that Sumerians, the members of an ancient Iraqi civilization, built ‘the first airports’ and ‘Sumerian spaceships...
Cuneiform Lexical Lists: Another Reason Sitchin Was Wrong
The Ancient History website just published this short essay on cuneiform lexical lists — basically, the ancient equivalent of bilingual (and otherwise) dictionaries for Sumerian and Akkadian produced by the ancient scribes. From the opening paragraph: Lexical...
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...
Hand Drawing Cuneiform
I found this blog this morning via Twitter. It’s a new one, and begins with how to use Adobe Illustrator to trace out cuneiform tablets. I don’t have Illustrator, but if anyone in the graphic arts community knows of a similar (free) online tool for tracing...
Joseph Farrell’s 150-Year Learning Curve on Yahweh and Cuneiform Texts
A few days ago I exchanged emails with Cris Putnam who blogs at Logos Apologia. The conversation was in regard to how Dr. Joseph Farrell had published certain ideas about the name Yahweh in cuneiform texts that people who are actually in this field (ancient Semitic...
Sweet Assyriology Resources Online
The Ancient World Online (AWOL) blog recently posted about updates made to the CDLI (Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative) wiki site, now hosted at the University of Oxford. The CDLI wiki is a terrific website for Assyriology. By way of examples, you can find helpful...
After 90 Years the CAD is "Finished" (Chicago Assyrian Dictionary)
Here’s the link to the recent announcement. I say “finished” because, having been begun in 1921, many volumes are now outdated. But it’s still a great achievement. The CAD is available for free in PDF (or you can buy all the volumes for $1400)....
Cuneiform Astronomy: The Planets in Mesopotamian Cuneiform Sources
I get asked all the time, “How do you know Sitchin is wrong about aliens in Sumerian tablets?” Short answer: Because I get my information from the actual ancient scribes. Here’s one example among many that could be offered. It’ s a free PDF...
Is Zecharia Sitchin Anti-Semitic?
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...
Ancient Mesopotamian Science vs. Sitchin
Came across a free PDF article on divination as science in Mesopotamia. Seems the people that had advanced knowledge of the heavens, including the outer planets and orbital mechanics of the most distant objects in our solar system believed you could discern the future...