There Were Giants Upon the Earth

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by Zechariah Sitchin


  Does this solution of not only PG-800 but also of the other identifiable 'Royal' tombs make sense? Let's recall the intriguing fact that Ninsun has been involved in dynastic matchmaking—a glaring example having been her scheme to espouse one of her daughters to Enkidu. Was she beyond scheming, when the decision was made to transfer central Kingship to a new dynasty in Ur, to have her daughter marry the demigod selected for the task? The other great matchmaking schemer, her mother, Bau/Gula—who might be the older matronly visitor shown on the cylinder seal having a cup of wine—would have given her blessing right away; and so would have the other grandmother, Inanna, for whom the choice represented a triumphant return to influence; was she the other visitor, sharing a beer?

  Nin.banda, I suggest, was the daughter of Ninsun + Lugalbanda:

  • Linked to Inanna by the dynastic title Nin.banda

  • Given the epithet-name Nin.e.gula for her Bau heritage

  • Lovingly nicknamed Nin. Puabi for her constant partying

  • Laid to rest in the family's burial compound in the sacred precinct of Ur

  She was also, one realizes, a younger sister of Gilgamesh—both children of the unique couple: the deified demigod Lugalbanda and the mighty goddess Ninsun. And that opens up a wider subject.

  * * *

  While arriving at this (probable or at least possible) identification of the person in PG-800 is a gratifying achievement, an attempt to recognize identities in the other fifteen Royal Tombs is needed for understand- * ing the jarring co-burials in the tomb chambers and especially in the death pits. The absence of any annals, hymns, lamentations, or other ' texts that would have explained the reasons is troubling in itself; the fact that the only textual corroboration is The Death of Gilgamesh text has only deepened the puzzle. But here is a thought outside-the-box: What if the Gilgamesh text described his actual burial—what if the great Gilgamesh was actually buried in one ofUr's Royal Tombs?

  The burial place of Gilgamesh has never been found, nor do the available texts indicate where it was. All along it has been presumed that Gilgamesh was laid to rest where he had reigned—in Uruk; but nowhere in Uruk, a site that has been most extensively excavated, was such a tomb found. So why not consider the royal cemetery in Ur?

  Transporting ourselves back to Sumer of almost 5,000 years ago, when central Kingship, having been in Kish and Uruk, was about to be transferred to Ur, we can imagine the chain of events that started in Kish. Beginning with the very first ruler, the kings were demigods: Mes.kiag.gasher was "a son of dUtu." So were the next ones—sons of a male god. To grasp the immensity of the change by the time of Lugalbanda, the father of Gilgamesh, it might be useful to reproduce a listing from an earlier chapter (to which one could add Gudea and his mother the goddess Nina):

  Etana: Of same seed as Adapa (= Enki's)

  Meskiaggasher: The god Utu is the father

  Enmerkar: The god Utu is the father

  Eannatum: Seed of Ninurta, Inanna put him on the lap of Ninharsag for breastfeeding

  Entemena: Raised on Ninharsag's breastmilk

  Mesalim: "Beloved son" of Ninharsag (by breastfeeding?)

  Lugalbanda: Goddess Inanna is his mother

  Gilgamesh: Goddess Ninsun is his mother

  Lugalzagesi: Goddess Nisaba is his mother

  Gudea: Goddess Nina is his mother

  At first the kings are demigods by dint of being fathered by a male god and mothered by Earthling females (Enki himself having set the example in pre-Diluvial times). A transition, in which artificial insemination by a god but breastfeeding by a goddess, takes place. Then Lugalbanda enters the stage with a major change: From him on, the divinity comes from a female—the mother is a goddess. What we know now about DNA and genetics clarifies the significance of the change: The new demigods carry not only the mixed god-Earthling regular DNA, but also the second set of mitochondrial DNA that comes only from the mother. For the first time, in Lugalbanda, the demi-god is more than 'demi' . . .

  What is to be done with Lugalbanda when he dies? He is more than a mere king, he is more than a usual demigod; but neither is he a real pure-blooded god, so he can't be taken to be laid to rest on Nibiru—nor can he be buried in Uruk's sacred precinct that has been sanctified by Anu himself. So the gods take him to Ur, the birthplace (and current residence) of his mother, Inanna. They 'deify' him by burying him at the edge of Nannar's sacred precinct in a specially built tomb—perhaps, as we have suggested, in PG-261—clutching his favorite Lugal An.zu Mushen seal.

  Next, Gilgamesh appears on the scene, and he is also special: Not only is it his mother, not his father, who is the god-parent, but the father too is not a common Earthling: Lugalbanda, his father, was himself a son of a goddess (Inanna). So Gilgamesh is "two-thirds of him divine," enough to make him believe that he is entitled to the 'immortality' of the gods. Aided by his mother, the goddess Ninsun, and the god Utu in spite of their reservations, he goes on adventurous searches for eternal life that prove futile. Yet his conviction that he should not "peek over the wall as a mortal" continues even as he lies on his death bed—until Utu brings him the final verdict: Enlil said, No eternal life. But he is consoled: Because you are special, because you are unique, you shall continue to have with you your wife (and concubine . . .), cupbearer, attendants, musicians, and the rest of your household, even in the Nether-World.

  And so—in this imagined scenario—Gilgamesh is buried near his father, in the sacred precinct of Ur, with the otherwise incomprehensible accompaniment promised him in lieu of Eternal Life. In which PG? We don't know, but there are several ones (emptied by ancient looters) to choose from. How about PG-1050 that held forty companion bodies— about the right number of those listed in The Death of Gilgamesh text?

  An example is set—a precedent has been created.

  With the death of Gilgamesh—we are now calendarwise circa 2600 B.C.—Uruk's heroic age peters out; all that remains of it are the epic texts and the depictions on cylinder seals, highlighting Gilgamesh, Enkidu, and heroic episodes. While the Anunnaki leadership contemplates where to site central Kingship, Nin.banda, the sister of Gilgamesh, and her spouse Mes.anne.pada mark time in Kish. As the decision comes that Ur was chosen, the goddess + demigod couple transfer there to assume the role of founders of the First Dynasty of Ur.

  They leave behind in Kish their eldest son Mes.kalam.dug— reigning as King of Kish, though Kish is no longer the national capital. While the new rulers in Ur bring together Sumer's rivaling cities and extend Sumer geographically and culturally, their eldest son, Mes.kalam.dug, dies in Kish.

  A demigod, he is laid to rest not far from his grandfather Lugalbanda and uncle Gilgamesh, in what is becoming the 'Ur I' dynastic family plot. Woolley, who designated the tomb PG-755, described it as a "simple inhumation" in which he found the deceased king's personal golden helmet and a magnificent golden dagger (found placed in the coffin beside the body). The more than sixty artifacts found in the tomb include personal objects (his silver belt, a gold ring, gold jewelry with or without lapis lazuli decoration) and his royal utensils, many of gold or silver—everlasting evidence of his demigod + royal status. But we really don't know whether a death pit was once part of a more elaborate burial—the fact that his personal seal inscribed Mes.kalam.dug Lugal ('Meskalamdug, king') was found discarded in the SIS soil does suggest that another, undiscovered part had existed and was entered and robbed in antiquity. Metal vessels, lying near the coffin in PG-755, bear the names of his parents Mes.Anne.Pada and Nin.Banda Nin, further confirming the deceased's identity.

  The day then comes when Mes.anne.pada himself "peers over the wall." His wife and two remaining sons provide him with an elaborate burial befitting the dynastic founder: A proper coffin, a stone-built tomb chamber, a death pit reachable via a sloping ramp. A great treasure of objects made of gold, silver, and gemstones was carried down along with the body on two wagons, each one drawn by three oxen and driven by two men and an oxen handler. Six soldiers wearing co
pper helmets and carrying spears acted as bodyguards. Down in the pit, many more soldiers were arrayed, carrying decorated spears with electrum spearheads and holding shields. A contingent of female singers and musicians was gathered with exquisitely decorated wooden lyres and a musical 'sound box' with panels whose inlaid decorations depicted scenes of the tales of Gilgamesh. Also brought down were varied sculptures decorated with images of bulls and lions; one particular sculpture, a favorite of the king, was that of a bull's head made of gold with a lapis lazuli beard. In all, fifty-four retainers assembled in the pit to keep Mes.anne.pada company in the Nether World.

  When Woolley discovered this grave, he numbered it PG-789 and called it the 'King's Tomb He did so because of its obvious link to the 'Queen's' PG-800; and that, I suggest, in fact it was: The grave of Mes.anne.pada, the founder of the 'Ur I' dynasty.

  Because the main body was missing, and due to the absence of gold, silver, and lapis lazuli objects, Woolley concluded that PG-789 was entered and robbed in antiquity—quite possibly, when the digging for PG-800 revealed the tomb chamber of PG-789.

  And so we arrive in our imagined Journey to the Past at 'Queen Puabi's' own death. How and when she died we do not know. Assuming she also outlived her two other sons (A.anne.pada and Mes.kiag.nunna) who reigned after her spouse had died, Nin.banda/Nin.e.gula/Nin .Puabi found herself alone, with all who were dear to her—her father Lugalbanda, her brother Gilgamesh, her spouse Mes.anne.pada, her three sons—dead and buried in the cemetery plot that she could daily see. Was it her wish to be buried on Earth alongside them—or could the Anunnaki not take her body back to Nibiru because, though a Nin, she did have some Earthly genes through her demigod father?

  We don't know the answer. But whatever the reason, Nin.Puabi was buried in Ur, in a grave adjoining that of her spouse, with all the treasures and attendants to which this dynasty had uniquely become accustomed—adorned with jewelry from Grandma Inanna and an oversize headdress from Grandma Bau/Gula . ..

  And that brings us to a Human Origins Discovery of all time: Because of all the Anunnaki and Igigi who had treaded planet Earth and were gone, Nin.Puabi—a NIN no matter who precisely she was— was The Goddess Who Never Left.

  NIN.PUABI'S DNA AND MTDNA LINEAGES

  Here is how, if we are right, Nin.Puabi's general and specifically female DNA lines connect her directly to Nibiru, via Anu's children Enlil, Ninmah/Ninharsag, and Bau/Gula:

  POSTSCRIPT

  Mankind's Alien Origins:

  The Evidence

  Ever since Darwin's offer of Evolution as the explanation for life on Earth, the most interesting chapter—that dealing with human origins— has crashed against two blocking walls as seawaves futilely striking a rocky shoreline: For the 'Believers', the sanctity of the biblical assertion that God, not Evolution, created Man; for the Scientific Purists, the inability to explain how, in a slow evolutionary process that requires millions and tens of millions of years, Man jumped from a hominid just learned to walk to Thinking Man (Homo sapiens)—us—practically overnight, some 300,000 years ago. The more ever-earlier hominid fossils are found, the greater the puzzle of the 'Missing Link' (as the problem has come to be known).

  For more than thirty years now, since the publication of The 12th Planet, I have done my best to show that there is no conflict between Bible and Science, Faith and Knowledge. The 'Link' is missing, I said, because someone jumped the gun on Evolution and used sophisticated genetic engineering to upgrade a Homo erectus or Homo ergaster (as some prefer to call his African cousin) by mixing his genes with their advanced genes. That 'someone' were the biblical Elohim (whom the Sumerian called Anunnaki) who came to Earth from their planet, Nibiru, fashioned The Adam, then took the Daughters of Man as wives. That was possible, I explained, because life on their planet and on our planet is based on the same DNA—shared when the planets had collided . ..

  Are you still there with me?

  There has to be a better way, isn't there, not only to explain all that without arguments—not just to say that the Crime Scene Investigation indicates a murder had taken place—but a way to produce the body and say: Voila!

  Ah, if only one of the Anunnaki were still around, a chap or lass whose being Nibiruan would be unquestionable, who would roll up their sleeve and say: Test my DNA, decipher my genome, see that I am not of your planet! Find out the difference, discover the secret of longevity, cure your cancers ... If only!

  But, through the grace of Fate and the professionalism of dedicated archaeologists, such evidence—a physical body of an Anunnaki—does exist. It is the skeletal remains of Nin.Puabi.

  It was in August 2002 that the British Museum in London revealed that unopened boxes languishing in its basement since "Woolley's time contained skulls from the Royal Tombs of Ur. Seeking more information from the museum, I asked "whether there are plans to examine the DNA in these skulls." A polite reply informed me that "at present there are no plans to attempt DNA analysis," however "further research is conducted by the Department of Scientific Research and the Department of the Ancient Near East, and it is hoped that the initial findings may be made public early in 2003."

  After further exchanges regarding the size of skulls and headdresses, the Curator of the Museum's Department of the Ancient Near East informed me that "a detailed reassessment of all the human bone collected from Ur is currently underway." The report, published in 2004, disclosed that the reassessment involved radiography (i.e., x-ray) tests by scientists at the Natural History Museum in London. It stated that "in spite of the long time since the skeletal remains were found, the conclusions of the contemporary specialists can be confirmed." The "contemporary specialists" in this case were Sir Arthur Keith and his aides.

  Obtaining a copy of the report, I was astounded to realize that seventy years after Woolley's discoveries, a museum in London still possessed the intact skeletal remains of'Queen Puabi' and 'Prince Meskalaindug'!

  Is this really so? I asked. Indeed so, the British Museum informed me on January 10, 2005: "The skeleton of Puabi is held in the Natural History Museum, alongside others from Leonard Woolley's excavations at Ur."

  This was a bombshell discovery: The skeletal remains of a Nibiruan goddess (and of a demigod king) who was buried some 4,500 years ago—were unexpectedly available, intact!

  One can debate who really built the Great Pyramids, disagree about the meaning of a Sumerian text, or dismiss an embarassing find as a forgery; but here is irrefutable physical evidence whose provenance, date and place of discovery, etc., are beyond doubt. So, if my identification of Puabi as an Anunnaki goddess and not a 'queen', and of Mes.kalam.dug as a demigod and not a Sumerian 'prince'— we have at our disposal two genomes ofpeople fully or partly from another planet!

  Persisting with my repeated questions about whether DNA tests were or will be conducted, I was referred to the lead reassessment scientist, Dr. Theya Mollenson. By the time I could reach her, she retired. Attempts to find out more with the help of friends in London led nowhere. The need to deal with more pressing matters kept the issue on a 'back burner'—until recent news, that biologists were able to decipher and compare Neanderthal DNA from 38,000 years ago with that of modern man, struck as lightning: If so—why not decipher and compare the DNA of an Anunnaki female who died a mere 4,500 years ago?

  In February 2009 I wrote about it to the Natural History Museum in London. A polite response signed by Dr. Margaret Clegg, Head of the Museum's Human Remains Unit, confirmed that their holdings include both "Nin Puabi, also listed as Queen Shubad, and King Mes-Kalam-dug." Adding that "No DNA analysis has ever been conducted on these remains," she explained that "the Museum does not routinely conduct DNA analysis on remains in the collection, and there are no plans to do so in the near future." This stance was reiterated by the museum in March 2010.

  Though Nin.Puabi's DNA is not purely Anunnaki because her father, Lugalbanda, was only a demigod, her mitochondrial DNA that comes only from the mother is pure Anunnaki—leadin
g through Ninsun and Bau to the Olden Mothers on Nibiru. If tested, her bones could reveal the DNA and mtDNA differences that represent our genetic Missing Link—that small but crucial group of "alien genes" (223 of them?) that upgraded us from wild hominids to Modern Man some 300,000 years ago.

  It is my fervent hope that by showing that the remains of NIN-Puabi are no "routine" matter, this book will convince the museum to do the unusual and conduct the tests. They could provide vital explanation of the answer given to Gilgamesh:

  When the gods created Man

  Wide understanding they perfected for him;

  Wisdom they had given him;

  To him they had given Knowledge—

  Everlasting life they had not given him.

  What was it, genetically, that the 'gods' deliberately held back from

  us?

  Maybe the Creator of All wished the Goddess Who Never Left to stay so that we finally find the answer.

  Zecharia Sitchin

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