The Myth of a Sumerian 12th Planet, (1)
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The Myth of a Sumerian 12
th
Planet:
“Nibiru” According to the Cuneiform Sources
Michael S. Heiser
Ph.D. candidate, Hebrew Bible and Ancient Semitic Languages
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Those familiar with either the writings of Zecharia Sitchin or the current internet rantings
about “the return of Planet X” are likely familiar with the word “nibiru”. According to self-
proclaimed ancient languages scholar Zecharia Sitchin, the Sumerians knew of an extra
planet beyond Pluto. This extra planet was called Nibiru. Sitchin goes on to claim that
Nibiru passes through our solar system every 3600 years. Some believers in Sitchin’s theory
contend that Nibiru will return soon – May of 2003 to be exact. These followers of Sitchin’s
ideas also refer to Nibiru as “Planet X”, the name given to a planet that is allegedly located
within our solar system but beyond Pluto. Adherents to the “returning Planet X hypothesis”
believe the return of this wandering planet will bring cataclysmic consequences to earth.
Is Sitchin correct – Is Nibiru a 12
th
planet that passes through our solar system every 3600
years? Did the Sumerians know this?
Are those who equate Sitchin’s Nibiru with Planet X
correct in this view? Unfortunately for Sitchin and his followers, the answer to each of these
questions is no.
This paper will address these questions in the course of five discussion sections:
Overview of the scholarship on Nibiru
How often and where does the word “nibiru” occur in cuneiform texts? What does the
word mean, and is there an astronomical context for the word in any of its
occurrences?
What are the cuneiform astronomical sources for our knowledge of ancient
Mesopotamian astronomy?
What do those sources tell us about Nibiru?
If Nibiru is not a 12
th
planet (and hence not Planet X), what is it?
Section One:
Previous scholarly work on Nibiru
While scholarly material on cuneiform astronomy is fairly abundant, specific treatments of
Nibiru are rare. The last treatment of Nibiru in a journal article in the English language was
in 1961, and was co-authored by the great Sumerian scholar Benno Landsberger, editor of
the Sumero-Akkadian lexical lists I reference on my website in conjunction with Zecharia
Sitchin’s abuse of Sumero-Akkadian vocabulary.
An earlier article in German (1936) dealt
1
It is important to note that Sitchin himself does not claim that Nibiru is Planet X or that Nibiru is returning this
spring (May 2003).
2
For readers who are familiar with Sitchin’s use of cylinder seal VA 243 as a defense for Sumerian knowledge of 12
planets, see the webpage on my website devoted to this error and the accompanying PDF file.
3
The article is B. Landsberger and J.V. Kinnier Wilson, “The Fifth Tablet of Enuma Elish,”
Journal of Near Eastern
Studies
20 (1961): 172ff. This is the scholarly journal of Near Eastern studies produced by the University of
Chicago’s Oriental Institute. The Sumero-Akkadian lexical lists (cuneiform bilingual dictionaries) are referenced on
my website in the discussion of Sitchin’s idea that words like
shamu
refer to rocket ships. The Mesopotamian scribes
tell us what these words mean in their own dictionaries (and Landsberger was the scholar who compiled these lists in
a multi-volume work [in German]).
directly with the subject, and a recent German article (1990) does likewise.
All of these
articles were written well after the cuneiform documents / tablets that mention Nibiru as an
astronomical body were known, and hence the authors had access to all the pertinent texts.
Other works dealt with Nibiru (see below for sources and footnotes), but only in passing, as
their focus was Babylonian astronomy in general. What you are reading in this present
paper is an attempt to synthesize this material and account for all references to Nibiru in
cuneiform tablets with an attempt to discern what exactly Nibiru is.
Section Two:
How often and where does the word “nibiru” occur in cuneiform
texts? What does the word mean, and is there an astronomical context for the word
in any of its occurrences?
Fortunately for scholars and other interested parties, the work of the studies above and the
editors of the monumental
Chicago Assyrian Dictionary
(= CAD hereafter) have located and
compiled all the places where the word “nibiru” and related forms of that word occur in
extant tablets. A look at the CAD entry (volume “N-2”, pp. 145-147) tells us immediately
that the word has a variety of meanings, all related to the idea of “crossing” or being some
sort of “crossing marker” or “crossing point”. In only a minority of cases (those references
in astronomical texts) does the word relate to an astronomical body. Below is a brief
overview of the word’s meanings outside our immediate interest, followed by specific
meanings and references in the astronomical texts.
General Meanings of Occurrences Outside Astronomical Texts
Word meaning, of course, is determined by context. “Nibiru” (more technically and properly
transliterated as “
ne4beru
”
can mean. I have underlined the form of nibiru for the reader:
“place of crossing” or “crossing fee”
– In the Gilgamesh epic
for example, we read
the line (remarkably similar to one of the beatitudes in the sermon on the Mount):
“Straight is the crossing point (
nibiru
; a gateway), and narrow is the way that leads to
it.” A geographical name in one Sumero-Akkadian text, a village, is named “
Ne-bar-ti-
Ash-shur” (“Crossing Point of Asshur”). Another text dealing with the fees for a boatman
who ferries people across the water notes that the passenger paid “shiqil kaspum sha
ne-
bi-ri-tim
” (“silver for the crossing fees”).
“ferry, ford”; “ferry boat”; “(act of) ferrying”
– For example, one Akkadian text
refers to a military enemy, the Arameans: “A-ra-mu nakirma bab
ni-bi-ri
sha GN itsbat”
(“The Arameans were defiant and took up a position at the entrance to the ford [gate,
crossing point]”). In another, the Elamites are said to “ina ID Abani
ni-bi-ru
u-cha-du-u”
(“[to] have cut off the ford [bridge, crossing way] of the river Abani”).
I think the “root idea” of the
nibiru
word group and its forms as meaning something with
respect to “crossing” is clear, and so we’ll move on.
4
A. Schott, “Marduk und sein Stern” (“Marduk and his Stars”),
Zeitschrift fur Assyriologie
43 (1936): 124-145;
Johannes Koch, “Der Mardukstern Neberu” (“Marduk’s star Nibiru”),
Welt und Orients
22 (1990): 48-72.
5
For the most part in this paper I have not used the standard scholarly transliteration font with diacritical marks. I
have instead tried to spell Akkadian words phonetically for readers. An exception would be the chart of Nibiru
references below.
6
Tablet X, ii:24.
7
The “GN” refers to a determinative for a geographic name.
8
Sitchin of course notes the basic “crossing” meaning in his book. One just needs a dictionary for this, as the above
indicates. He then supplies – without textual support – the idea that Nibiru is a planet that “crossed” paths with other
planets in our solar system on its regular 3600 year course. The rest of this paper will demonstrate the flaws in this
view.
Nibiru as Referring to an Astronomical Body
The following is an exhaustive list of
the word
“nibiru” in astronomical texts and/or
astronomical contexts.
If one wants to know what Nibiru as an astronomical body is,
one is dependent on these texts – unless, like Zecharia Sitchin, one makes up
meanings to prop up a theory
.
One either lets the texts tell you what Nibiru is, or
ignores the scribes in favor of Sitchin
. I have, in these cases, given (a) the
Mesopotamian text where the word occurs; (b) a Sumero-Akkadian transliteration;
c) a
brief translation; (d) the page references to English translations of the Mesopotamian text in
which the word occurs, so the reader can check the context and study further. (Note as well
that in Section Three I discuss each occurrence in more detail and in context). In the
following chart,
•
superscripted “d” = the cuneiform sign for “god” (Dingir), and so “neberu” may refer
to a god (recall that Sumerians and Mesopotamians associated heavenly bodies with
deities)
•
superscripted “MUL” = the cuneiform sign for “star” (and so “neberu” is a star – the
texts tell us this
point blank
)
•
subscripted numbers = the numerical reference number for Sumerian signs that can
stand for more than one syllable. This is a scholarly convention for keeping such
overlapping signs distinct so the texts can be read accurately.
At the risk of some redundancy, you will notice quickly that Nibiru is preceded by both “d”
and “MUL”, and so is referred to as a deity and a star. As Sitchin himself notes on various
occasions (and this is common knowledge to ancient near eastern scholars), ancient people
often identified the stars or planets as gods, as though the stars were deified beings. This is
one reason why even in the Old Testament the sons of God are referred to as stars (cf. Job
38:7-8). In the texts that follow, Nibiru was regarded as a planet (specifically, Jupiter, but
once as Mercury), a god (specifically, Marduk), and a star (distinguished from Jupiter).
If you’re confused, you aren’t alone. This tri-fold (fourfold if you count Mercury) designation
for Nibiru is why scholars of cuneiform astronomy have not been able to determine with
certainty what exactly Nibiru is. We’ll go into the problem more in later sections.
One
thing is certain from the texts, though: Nibiru is NEVER identified as a planet
beyond Pluto
.
9
“Transliteration” refers to putting the characters of a foreign language into “English
letters
and
sounds
” so as to
enable us to verbalize the text. Translation, on the other hand, is taking that text and putting its meaning into the
appropriate
words
of another language. At times in printed works dealing with the texts in question the editing /
layout differs (e.g., capitalizing or superscripting).
Occurrence
Sumero-Akkadian
Transliteration
Meaning
English
Translation
Source
1
“He [Marduk in context]
set fast the position of
Nibiru to fix their [the
stars] bounds”
Horowitz, 115,
161
Enuma Elish
Tablet V, line 6
u8-s\ar8-s\id man8-za8-az
d
Ne8-be8-ru ana ud8-du8-u rik8-si8-
s\u8-un
2
Enuma Elish,
Tablet VII, line
124
d
Ne8-be8-ru ne8-be8-re-et
s\ame, u ers[eti lu tameh}ma
“let Nibiru be the holder
of the crossing place of
the heaven and of the
earth”
Horowitz, p.
115;
3
d
Ne8-be8-ru kakkabu- s\u
s\a ina s\ame, u-s\a-pu-u
“Nibiru is his [marduk’s
in context] star, which
he made appear in the
heavens . . . [130-131]
The stars of heaven, let
him [Nibiru] set their
course; let him
shepherd all the gods
like sheep.”
Horowitz, p.
115;
Enuma Elish,
Tablet VII, line
126, 130-131
130-131 do not contain the
name Nibiru, but elaborate on
126.
4 Astrolabe B, the
Star catalogue
(known as “KAV
218B ii, lines 29-
32)
MUL SA
5
s\a ina ZI
im
U
18
LU EGIR DINGIR mes\
GI
5
ti ug-da-mi-ru-nim-
ma AN-e BAR-ma GUB-
iz MUL BI
d
Ne8-be8-ru
d
AMAR.UD
“the red star which
stands in the south
after the gods of the
night [the stars] have
been finished, dividing
the sky in half, this star
is Nibiru, (i.e.,
Marduk).”
Mul.Apin
5
“When the stars of Enlil
have been finished, one
big star – although its
light is dim – divides
the sky in half and
stands there: that is,
the star of Marduk,
Nibiru, Jupiter; it keeps
changing its position
and crosses the sky.”
Mul.Apin I.i:36-
38
k|4ma kakkabu4 s\u4t
d
Enlil
ugdammiru4ni is\ten kakkabu4
rabu4 s[essu da)mat s\ame,
us\tams\alma izzaz kakkab
d
AMAR.UD
Ne8-be8-ru
SAG.ME.
GAR
manza4ssu ittanakkir
s\ame, ibbir
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
Various star lists;
(#s 6-7 = CT
26.41..v.1;
44.ii.12 )
Numbers 6-7 = the word
MUL
Ni-bi-rum (in a list of stars)
“(the star) Nibiru”
Cuneiform texts
from
Babylonian
Tablets (
=CT)
Mul.Apin
Numbers 8-9 =
d
Ne8-be8-ru Marduk re4me4nu,
Numbers 10-11 have the word
MUL
Ni-bi-rum
“(the god) Nibiru, the
merciful Marduk”
(# 8,9 = CT
25.35.7; 36.6)
“(the star) Nibiru”
K = tablets on
the Kouyunjik
collection of the
British Museum;
LBAT = Late
Babylonian
Astronomical
and Related
texts, ed. By J.
Sachs
(# 10-13 = CAD,
p. 147; Omen
Texts; see
abbrev’s. in CAD
and last column
here)
Numbers 12-13 have the word
d
Ne8-be8-ru
“(the god) Nibiru”
14
15
Tablets K.6174:9’
and K.12769:6’
Both have the phrase:
“If Mercury divides the
sky and stands there,
[it’s name] is Nibiru.”
Mul.Apin
DISH
MUL
UDU.IDIM.GU
4
UD
AN-e BAR-ma GUB-ma
d
Ne8-be8-[ru s\ums\u
]
16
17
Two omen texts
(CAD, p. 147)
Two short astronomical omens
have
MUL
Ni-bi-rum
“(the star) Nibiru”
As noted previously, Nibiru was regarded as a planet (specifically, Jupiter, but once as
Mercury), a god (specifically, Marduk), and a star (distinguished from Jupiter).
In the next section,
Section Three
, I’ll provide some information as to what the most
important sources for cuneiform astronomy are. Specifically, any of the above references
that add commentary about Nibiru (as opposed to just listing the name) will be discussed.
With that background we’ll head to
Section Four
and discuss the specific lines in context
that talk about Nibiru. The final section of the paper,
Section Five
, will sketch the scholarly
attempts to understand and explain the above (apparently) contradictory descriptions of
Nibiru.
Section Three:
What are the cuneiform astronomical sources for our knowledge of
ancient Mesopotamian astronomy?
Cuneiform tablets that contain astronomical data or references to astronomical bodies date
as far back as 1800 B.C.
The dating of cuneiform sources is secure,
ut this date is not
nearly as old as Zecharia Sitchin claims for Sumerian astronomical knowledge. The
chronological gap is due to the fact that Sitchin does not derive his views from the tablets
themselves, but from his imaginative interpretation of them.
Sitchin’s entire
cosmological-mythological system is based on three lines of argument
:
(1) The cylinder seal VA 243, which is dismantled in another PDF file on my website
In a nutshell, the “sun” on the seal (which allegedly depicts the solar system) is not
the sun – based on the consistent style of the actual sun symbol in Sumero-
Mesopotamian seals and art. Without a sun, you don’t have a solar system.
(2) The claim that Nibiru lies beyond Pluto and is home to the Anunnaki, neither of
which come from the actual texts (see the chart abov
.
(3) The “reconstruction” of the formation of our solar system, accomplished by
matching the names of gods in Sumerian creation-cosmological texts with planets –
and then describing a “cosmic billiards” scenario supposedly conveyed to us in these
10
Francesca Rochberg, “Astronomy and Calendars in Ancient Mesopotamia,”
Civilizations of the Ancient Near
East
, vol. III, ed. Jack Sasson (2000): p. 1925. This is likely the best introduction lay to the subject, and so I use it
here throughout.
11
The reader must realize that dating ancient tablets is not arbitrary. Dates are determined by several methods: (1)
The names of kings or other important figures in texts (like generals or priest) who are cross-referenced in other
sources, often from other countries (like Egypt). In the case of kings, these names are then matched to king lists or
other lists that tell us the number of years in succession each king reigned. One can therefore start plotting out a
chronology in conjunction with the records of other ancient peoples. “Starting points” or benchmarks are obtained by
Greek or Roman records (which take us well into the “AD” and several centuries backinto “BC). (2) Astronomical
events mentioned in texts (like eclipses) that can be plotted today via modern astronomical techniques and records.
Often these events also show up in other ancient sources as well. (3) Important events that show up in texts (like
battles or treaties) that reference other nations or are themselves recorded in other sources (common for both parties
in treaties to record them). Again, these can be cross-referenced. (4) Once a body of cuneiform tablets accumulates
that can be chronologically dated, scholars make note of changes in vocabulary, style, and grammar. This enable
them to date tablets that do not have any of the chronological markers in them noted above. To illustrate, if you
found a letter in your attic or a yard sale that had words like “thee” or “thou” in it, you’d know immediately that the
letter could be an approximate number of years old. Once you checked with experts, you could get it quite close (at
least to the decade). If you found a letter that LOOKED old, but had the word “email” in it, you’d also know it
couldn’t be older than the year when email came into being.
12
See www.facadenovel.com/SitchinPDFpapers.htm.
13
If one wants to disagree with the chart, I invite the reader to simply look up the references to Nibiru in the
Chicago Assyrian Dictionary
and then go look up the English translations in the sources in the charts, as well as the
bibliography at the end of this paper.
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