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 Update December 2023

 Special report

 Nibiru Blog -
Adonis Apollyon

This is a recovery of the authors original article since it repeatedly seems to vanish or get
ridiculed in one way ore another. The conclusions are excellent though, and really should be
preserved for all to behold. All images, except for the one above, were lost and the very last
part; "Conclusion: Waiting for Marduk" was deliberately left out (for certain good reasons).



The Marduk Connection: Part 1

Although archaeologists and historians seem confident with the "Ancient World Chronologies" they weaved since last century, there are some certain "holes" or "gaps" in them for which they have got very little or no clue at all. The most significant of these gaps is a "total blackout" around the year 1650 BC. Ancient documents, archaeological findings and texts on clay tablets or papyri don't say much about this shadowed pinpoint on our chronology tables.

Let's see what we mean:

In Ancient Egypt, there came a time when the central authority weakened and led to a turmoil which somehow resulted with the so-called "Hyksos Years" along the Nile delta. The time was around 1650 BC but we do not know much about how the "Asiatic nomads" dared to attack the mighty Egypt or even where did they really come from. This "obscured era" lasted for almost a hundred years and the order finally restored in Egypt around 1550 BC. But interestingly, no historical documents from the later years of the New Kingdom in Egypt ever mentioned the Hyksos disaster and the turmoil of the period. What kind of "opportunity", had these nomadic plunderers got just after 1650 BC, to get the Egyptians down on their knees? Historians are silent, though some opinions float around mentioning the "administrative failure at the end of the Middle Kingdom" or "an economical crisis which had weakened the Egyptian armed forces". Any solid evidence? No, not at all.

In Indus Valley, mainstream historical approach led us to a theory in the late 19th century, which was called "The Arian Invasion". This theory marks about the very same period, around 1650 BC and is as much blurred as the Hyksos Era in Egypt. All the archaeological findings proposes an advanced civilization along the Indus Valley (especially in the ancient city Mohenjo-Daro) and around the banks of ancient Sarasvati River which started most probably back in 3100 BC or so. This people, now called The Harappans, had had their all sophisticated city forms, writing system and literature which seem as advanced as Sumerians' and Egyptians'. But, strangely again, around 1650 BC something caused a "blackout" in history and the Harappan cities were destroyed, abandoned and finally invaded by a less civilized nomadic people who apparently came from northwest. Historians call these northern nomadics "The Arians" (the ancestors of all Europeans) and the blurred era of 1650 BC was widely believed as the "Arian Invasion" period in ancient India. No need to say that there were no enough evidence to explain the sudden collapse of the Harappan civilization and the disaster followed by the invasion. The "Arian Invasion" idea was "totally foreign to the history of India" as scholar David Frawley wrote, "whether north or south - has become almost an unquestioned truth in the interpretation of ancient history. Today, after nearly all the reasons for its supposed validity have been refuted, even major Western scholars are at last beginning to call it in question." (1) - (See the Notes section)

In Asia Minor, another mysterious nomadic people which is believed to be of Indo-European origin, experienced a sudden rise around 1650 BC and dominated almost all the eastern and central parts of the peninsula, including the famous ancient city of Hattusa (Bogazkoy.) This people, now called The Hittites, was first discovered by Charles Texier in 1834 during a research in Central Anatolia and was hitherto unknown to historians, mentioned only in the Old Testament. In 1876, scholar A.H. Sayce suggested that the "writers" of the scriptures found in Central Anatolia was the Hatti or Hittite people of The Bible. Famous egyptologist W. Flinders Petrie's research on the "El Amarna Letters" (2) supported the idea of a previously unknown ancient power in Anatolia. Finally, in 1907, excavations directed by scholar Hugo Winckler proved the existence of the mysterious Hittites. The researchs showed that, during a turmoil in Ancient Neareast and Anatolia, this Indo-European people seized the power and established their state almost "suddenly" in the area, previously dominated by the Hatti people, at some time around 1650 BC. Another "blurred point" which is not explained thoroughly yet.

Furthermore, this same Indo-European warlords attacked Babylon and ceased the activities of Assyrian trade colonies in southwestern Anatolia soon after they seized the power in Asia Minor – around 1600 BC. A statement in an ancient document mentions about the "Babylonian operation" of Hittites: "In the time of Samsuditana, men of Hatti began marching towards the Land Of Akkad." According to Hittite specialist Oliver R. Gurney, the most accurate date for the Hittites' Babylonian conquest was 1600 BC: "The activities of Assyrian merchants in Cappadocia ceased suddenly, probably during the reign of Anittas" Gurney says. And he adds: "It is not certain what caused this: The conquests of Anittas or a natural disaster which destroyed the city of Assur" (3). This was a very "unlucky" time for Mesopotamia's once proud Babylonian empire because they even couldn't get the strength to resist the Hittites.

One of the most remarkable Assyrologists of the 20th century, Leo Oppenheim, mentions about a "Dark Age" of the Mesopotamian history. This time span, according to Oppenheim, begins with the last kings of the Hammurabi Dynasty and lasts until the first kings of Kassite period which corresponds approximately between 1680 BC – 1500 BC in the timeline. "Many problems related to the chronology of Mesopotamia are intimately linked to the span of time allotted to the Dark Age", says Oppenheim, and he concludes: "There are different schools of thought, 'short' and 'long' chronologies, and intermediary solutions. None of them is based on more than circumstantial evidence. The discussion is sure to continue until more evidence and synchronisms will allow us to fit the few available facts into a more reliable time sequence." (4)

The term "Dark Age" was first used by scholar Benno Landsberger in his article "<Assyrische Koenigsliste und 'Dunkles Zeiter'" in 1954. The term usually refers to the lack of documentation and evidence of a specific time span and underlines an apparent "turmoil" in Mesopotamia, around 1650 BC.

"In the beginning of the 16th century BC" says Michael Roaf, "Hittite King Murshili destroyed Aleppo and ended the Hammurapi Dynasty in Babylon. When he got back in Anatolia, he was murdered by his brother-in-law who seized the crown. Shortly after this, Hurrian attacks and the civil war shrinked the Hittite land to their capital and its neighbourhood. Ancient Near East entered into a period of regression or at least, uncertainty. For the following century, there is almost no source" (5).

We can safely say that the time span between 1650-1500 BC was a real "blackout" in the Near East history, which scholars refer as the "Dark Age". According to Roaf, Egypt was no exception but it became the first power in the ancient world to "revive". Around 1525 BC, the first king of the 18th Dynasty, pharaoh Ahmose defeated the Hyksos at Lower Egypt and established the "New Kingdom."

In the Aegean Sea, a very advanced civilization called The Minoans suffered a sudden decline around 1650 BC and collapsed slowly but steadily in almost a few decades (though parts of it remained "alive" during the eve of the early Greek civilization.) As far as we know, the people who established the Minoan civilization on the Aegean islands had arrived there from the Near East, approximately around 3000 BC. With their advanced cities, writing system and arts, Minoans were unique in the region but that strange "collapse" during the very same time period, around 1650 BC, almost erased them from the history. The cause of the decline is still a subject for some controversial theories, though there are some very solid evidence which suggest a serious catastrophe, occured between 1650 - 1630 BC.

Let's turn our eyes to a very far land now: A land of jungle, beyond the Atlantic Ocean. In Meso-America, around the same date, 1650 BC, something caused a real "change" and a mysterious civilization managed to seize the power around the Yucatan peninsula. This people, now called The Olmecs, (the "Rubber People") have no known origin in the continent (6) and still preserve a deep mystery. Scholars now begin to think that they were the descendants of a high culture called "La Venta Civilization" which existed probably between 2900 - 1600 BC. But with a little or no clue which could help to explain who these early Meso-Americans were, the "Olmec enigma" is still hard to solve as Gerald Messadie states (7).

In the Far East, the land of China, the mighty Xia kingdom experienced a sudden collapse and during the turmoil, its successor, the Shang Dynasty seized the power, almost around the same mysterious date: 1650 BC.


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Footprints of a catastrophe
The Marduk Connection: Part 2

This very brief observation around the world, whispers us an unusual "wind of change" around the globe on this mysterious time period. As if something very serious happened around 1650 BC and it caused a chain of waves which washed the face of the ancient world and led it to a sudden and a dramatic change. A change, which prepared and determined the new circumstances that lead humanity upto today. What can it be?

All data and evidence lead us towards a very big and effective natural disaster: A catastrophe, which probably occured around 1650 BC and all around the world. We do have some recent findings and evidence about the results of a natural calamity. The most certain and obvious one is from the ancient Minoan island of Thera (now called Santorini.) The geologists and archaeologists now know that along with a volcanic eruption, there came strong earthquakes which were followed by tsunamis on the island between 1645-1628 BC. The result was not only a disaster on Thera, which caused the collapse of the advanced city of Akrotiri, but strong effects in nearby areas as well. The tsunamis reached all the East Mediterranean Sea and the shores of Egypt; caused very serious damages in Aegean Islands and Ancient city of Byblos. The effects of the catastrophe were not limited with geological activities but there were also some dramatic climate changes in the near east, caused by the "Volcanic Winter Effect" (8), which was followed by a famine that shook all the old world from Canaan to India.

A well-known Sumerian myth about "Kur" (a dragon) gives us some clues about the climate changes in Mesopotamia in an "unknown" time. Enki, the Lord of the Earth and Waters, finally kills Kur, who caused a lot of trouble to the land. But when Kur died, "the 'subterranean waters' rose on the ground which made agriculture impossible" as famous sumerologist Samuel N. Kramer comments (9). In another less-known yet very impressive epic called "Seven Evil Winds", we are informed about a horrible catastrophe which involves a "total darkness in daytime" and the disappearance of the Sun (Shamash) and the Moon (Sin):

"Seven are they, messengers to King Anu are they,
From city to city darkness work they,
A hurricane, which mightily hunts in the heavens, are they
Thick clouds, that bring darkness in heaven, are they,
Gusts of wind rising, which cast gloom over the bright day, are they" (10)

There is a similar story in Hittite mythology: A Hittite cuneiform script found on a clay tablet tells us a story about a cataclysm, caused by a demon named Hahimmas. The plants were dead, the lands were dry, the rivers were short of water and agriculture was almost impossible. Worse than this, when the gods looked for the Sun in order to demand help to stop this calamity, they realized that it was not up there in the sky! "It must be around here somewhere," thought the gods, because they could feel the heat of it but they were unable to spot it in the sky. The story describes a total nightmare, in which, the sun disappeared as if it was stopped "turning" somewhere below the horizon. (11)

The Earth stopped spinning?

The "easiest" way to explain this Hittite myth is to relate the events mentioned in the story to a "seasonal symbolism" combined with the "memories of a solar eclipse". But is this simple explanation enough to make ourselves feel "in comfort"? As we know by the achievements of archaeoastronomy in last century, the ancient stargazers were definitely able to tell a "solar eclipse" from a very "unusual" event in which the sun "disappears". In fact, there are some very interesting records about similar events in both sides of the Atlantic in ancient times. One of them is "the night without sunrise" in ancient Inca land of Peru, as Zecharia Sitchin states in volume 3 of his "Earth Chronicles" series:

"According to Montesinos and other chroniclers, the most unusual event took place in the reign of Titu Yupanqui Pachacuti II, the fifteenth monarch in Ancient Empire times. It was in the third year of his reign, when 'good customs were forgotten and people were given to all manner of vice,' that 'there was no dawn for 20 hours.' In other words, the night did not end when it usually does and sunrise was delayed for twenty hours. After a great outcry, confessions of sins, sacrifices and prayers, the sun finally rose." (12)

Sitchin connects this event to another one apparently occured around the same time, on the opposite side of the earth: When Israelites, under the leadership of Joshua had crossed the Jordan River and defeated the Canaanite forces, Lord God had helped them by "casting down great stones" upon the enemies, and during this battle, the sun and the moon had stood still a whole day, according to Bible. Sitchin calculates the time on the both sides of the Atlantic and concludes that the two events coincided around 1393 BC. He uses two reference points to render this calculation: The dating of Biblical Exodus to 1433 BC and the dating of Titu Yupanqui Pachacuti II's reign to 1400 BC.

Strangely enough, this dating of the "day the sun stood still" does not fit Sitchin's timetable for the orbital passages of Nibiru, the "12th Planet", for he places the last two pinpoints to 3800 BC and 200 BC respectively. So it appears as if this very unusual event (which leads us to think of a "polar shift" during which the earth stops spinning for a short while) had occured 2400 years after a previous passage and 1200 years before the next one. We then reserve our right to ask Sitchin "what could have caused this unusual event around 1400 BC if it was not Nibiru" and let us suggest our own dating:

Don Fernando de Montesinos' chronicles of Peru were often found "very unorthodox" by the mainstream academicians and generally disregarded. Montesinos, a well educated Spaniard of late 16th century, collected his study on Ancient Inca culture in his famous work: "Memorias Antiguas Historiales y Politicas del Peru." His work was considered somehow "revolutionary" because Montesinos had two claims about the roots of the Incas: First, the Inca were the descendants of Biblical Ophir from Mt. Ararat; and second, the eve of the civilization in Peru was around 3000 BC.

We may consider the first claim still "very extraordinary" at least; but his timeline about the roots of civilization in Peru has almost been proved by the new evidence. Since 1994, archaeologists (the chief of the team was Ruth Shady, a Peruvian scholar) have been working on an ancient site in Pacific coast of Peru, Caral. The site was first discovered in 1905 but was not excavated. In early 2001, scholars announced the results of their work in Caral: All evidence found at the site indicated a civilization, capable of building pyramides around 3000 BC. On February 24th, 2002, Craig Mauro from the Associated Press, told the story of Caral:

"Since 1994, Shady and a team of archaeologists have sifted through dunelike mounds on this desert plateau overlooking the Supe River valley, 90 miles northwest of Lima, in what could be the cradle of civilization in the Americas. The archaeologists knew early on that they were unearthing a city. But they could not find ceramics or pottery, suggesting it was built when ancient Americans were still thought to live in decentralized rural societies. Shady proposed that Caral predated Mayan settlements in Mexico and Central America by centuries, a claim she said her colleagues greeted with disbelief until last April. That was when she and two American researchers published hard proof in the journal Science. The Americans, Jonathan Haas of Chicago's Field Museum and Winifred Creamer of Northern Illinois University, had carbon-dated material from Caral's main pyramid to as far back as 2627 B.C. Shady said people began settling the city about 2900 B.C. and that it was continuously inhabited for 1,000 years. Shady believes Caral was a sacred city and administrative center for a civilization that built 17 other sites, most still buried in the Supe Valley and on the nearby Pacific coast." (13)

This is definitely a very "revolutionary" finding; at least, as revolutionary as Montesinos, who suggested that the "Year Zero" of the Peruvian civilization was 2900 BC. As Craig Mauro reported on February 24th, chief of the team Ruth Shady told him about a 1000 years time span for the ancient city Caral. Then, this "sacred city and administrative center" was left around 1600 BC.

"Eventually Caral would spawn 17 other pyramid complexes scattered across the 35-square-mile area of the Supe Valley. Then,around 1600 BC., for reasons that may never be answered,the Caral civilization toppled, though it didn 't disappear overnight. 'They had time to protect some of their architectural structures,burying them discreetly,' says Shady. Other nearby areas,such as Chupacigarro,Lurihuasi and Miraya,became centers of power. But based on Caral 's size and scope, Shady believes that it is indeed the mother city of the Incan civilization." (14)

We do not know the other parts of the story, occured in other 17 sites Shady mentioned, because we do not have any findings or traces from that sites yet. But this date alone indicates a much earlier time for "the night without sunrise" than Sitchin suggested. We know that, the ancient Peruvians believed "good customs were forgotten and people were given to all manner of vice," that "there was no dawn for 20 hours." Could it be the abandoning of a sacred city (in which the inhabitants had built pyramids for their gods, centuries before the Egyptians)? Though there are no enough evidence to support this, I believe the event called "the night without sunrise" happenned sometime around 1650 BC.

Exodus: Sediments of catastrophic events in collective memory

The "counterpart" of the event in the Near East ("the day the sun stood still") according to Sitchin was the Israelites' victory over the Canaanites, as it was told in the Old Testament. While constructing the timeline, Sitchin uses the date he proposed for the Biblical Exodus, 1433 BC. Then, he takes the "40 years of wandering in Sinai Peninsula" literally and places the event just on 1393 BC.

Though he is a brilliant researcher and author without any doubt, there is a disturbing problem with Sitchin's theories: His obsession to verify the Old Testament as an actual historical source. This is somehow confusing because he is Sitchin himself who already proved that the Old Testament had borrowed most of its themes from much older sources, and the writers of the Old Testament had edited (rewritten) some of them, to make them conform to their supposedly "monotheistic" religion.

Sitchin's strong belief in the Holy Bible reflects itself when it comes to "fit" the dates of ancient events to the "history of Jews". It is very obvious when he places the orbital passage of Nibiru to 3800 BC (a well conforming date for "Year Zero" of Jews, 3761 BC) and he marks this dates as the "eve of the Sumerian civilization" in Mesopotamia. According to Sitchin, this supplies a "double check" for the significance of the year but he seems to forget that the year 3761 BC was the "date of Creation" in Jewish calendar, while his own theory mentioned some 432,000 years before the "Deluge" (for which he suggests another date, 8,000 years older than the Jewish "Year Zero".) Thus, Sitchin takes almost every time span mentioned in the Old Testament literally, and he does the same for "40 years in Sinai" while dating the counterpart of "the night without sunrise."

I believe, there had never occured a single event, that fits or verifies the Biblical Exodus. Rather, there had been a chain of similar extraordinary events in ancient Near East, that had been carved on the collective memory of ancients, and spread mostly with oral tradition: A horrible catastrophe. Nobody parted the "Red Sea" by raising his staff: Instead, it was "Sea of Reeds" (15) which was dried and fragmented enough to allow passage, by the effects of the earthquakes and sudden climate change. No Pharaoh was able to deal with the departure of some nomadic tribes from Egypt (nor any pharaoh could care), because they were busy enough with the shocking events occured around the "Two Lands". The calamities attributed to fictitious Moses were actually the results of the catastrophe: Ashes raining, blood in rivers, fatal diseases... Finally, "40 years in the deserts of Sinai Peninsula" was merely about a desperate wandering in vast lands of ancient Near East, during or just after the catastrophe: No place to settle; no fresh water to drink; no food because of the famine; tiredness caused by continuous wandering; sickness came with the diseases; hostile reactions of locals at the places they arrived – nobody was welcome during "dark days"... A typical chaos.

The "40 years" time span is most likely a symbol used to indicate the length of duration. (Just like an idiom Turkish people use in everyday life: To mention about a thing we do very rare, we use the idiom "once in a forty years". This does not mean we do it every 40 years but it states we do it very rarely.) In fact, the writers of Holy Bible have obviously a special interest in number 40 when measuring the time: Moses spent 40 days at Mount Sinai, Jesus was on a 40 days fast when the Devil "examined" him, Noah sailed 40 days after the Flood and so on. It seems the term of "40 days" or "40 years" represents a process which we can call "a time for preparation". We believe this was the case for the Israelites during Exodus.

I believe, the stories told in Biblical Exodus are the sediments of the events of 1650 BC in the collective memory of the Jews, which were written down by Jahveh priests in Jerusalem almost 7 centuries after the catastrophe. So, it is very likely that the event called "the day the sun stood still" occured just about the same time, around 1650 BC in the near east.

Giant stones to predict the "doomsday"

Another interesting clue is hidden in Salisbury, England. The world's most enigmatic megalithic monument, Stonehenge, which according to scholars first built around 3000 BC but experienced "restorations" and "rearrangements" during a time span of 1500 years, was apparently designed by the ancient "farmers" of the British Isles (a.k.a "The Beakers"), to observe the positions and movements of heavenly bodies. Through several centuries, this megalithic masterpiece was used by the people for astronomical and religious purposes. The oldest part of it, the "Heel Stone" belong to 3000 BC. A circle of small ditches, called the "Aubrey Holes" were added around 2900 BC. Another circle at he inner part, made by Sarsen stone was built most probably around 2450 BC (16). At the center of the "monument", there stood the most famous part of Stonehenge: The huge stone blocks, arranged as the inside circle in a form like "horse shoe"; and the building date of these blocks are about 1800 BC. It seems, the whole "sacred place" was continuously being rearranged through the centuries by the ancients. But, with an exception: The restoration and rearrangement suddenly declined and stopped around 1650 BC. Famous archaeo-astronomer Sir Norman Lockyer suggested in 1894 that Stonehenge was a "Sun Temple" and most probably, oriented towards the Summer Solstice sun. Lockyer proposed 1680 BC as the date of the rearrangement (17). As Zecharia Sitchin indicates, "by 1500 BC this era of prosperity suffered an abrupt decline that lasted the better part of a millenium; and Stonehenge must have shared in this decline" (18). Why and under which circumstances Stonehenge suddenly lost its importance among the Beakers after 1680 BC? Could it be a natural calamity that Stonehenge failed to "warn" its builders?

The amazing megalithic monuments found throughout the British Isles have "something" in common with their counterparts in all ancient world: Ziggurats, temples and "observatories". In contrary to our modern society, the ancient "wise" men directed their eyes very carefully to the sky. It was not just an effort made for calendrical purposes in order to obtain the most suitable times for agricultural activity, as most of the archaeoastronomers suggest. Instead, the strongest motivation for building these monuments with an amazingly accurate orientation was the "fear". It is almost obvious that the peoples of the ancient world had a restless fear as if the whole earth would collapse on their heads anyday. And, it is also very clear that they thought the catastrophic events on the earth had a strong relationship with the happenings in the heavens. In their sensational work "In Search Of the Cradle Of Civilization", the author and researchers Georg Feuerstein, Shubhash Kak and David Frawley underline this fear in collective memories:

"According to a minority opinion, human civilization has not been spared large-scale natural catastrophes. On the contrary, this small dissenting voice asserts, Nature's cataclysmic changes have shaped much of early culture and thought-leading to the creation of astronomical/astrological and calendrical/divinatory sciences at an early phase of our civilization. Our Neolithic (and possibly late Paleolithic) ancestors were anxious to predict the volatile behaviour of our planet. They kept careful and remarkebly accurate records of the motion of the luminaries in the sky, because they felt that there is a connection between the events in the celestial vault and the events on earth. As the esoteric maxim ascribed to Hermes Trismegistus states: As above, so below." (19)

The authors also mention about a very serious catastrophe occured in Indus Valley, beginning roughly around 1900 BC. They deny any possibility of a sudden "Arian Invasion" and propose this natural disaster as the cause of the sudden collapse of Harappan civilization. And they recall Charles Pellegrino's words while mentioning the catastrophic events after the volcanic eruption in Thera in 1628 BC: "When Thera exploded, it changed the history of the world."

In fact, the effects of the catastrophe and its traces are now being discovered all around the Asia (or even at Central and South America); and the most devastating part of it happened not in 1900 BC but as combined evidence found in the ancient world show, around 1650 BC. Thera incident was most likely the "most terrifying cutscene" of the sequence.

A "Giant Planet"?

According to Zecharia Sitchin, Ancient Sumerian clay tablets mention about a "giant planet" in our very own solar system. With an orbit like a comet, this huge celestial body, called "Nibiru" in Sumerian texts, completes its orbital cycle around 3600 years (20). Again, Sitchin tells us that, the orbital passages of this divine planet causes a very strong gravitational pull upon earth and sometimes the result of this effect is a direct "catastrophe", just as in the case of the "Great Flood" story of the Bible.

While scholars tend to ignore the theory and evidence Sitchin supplied in his six volumes of "The Earth Chronicles", modern astronomers, at least some of them, believe that there should be another planet beyond Pluto. Though it is not observed or detected yet, the orbital anomalities of outer planets indicate a giant celestial body, approaching our system. Astronomers call this still unknown member of our solar system "Planet X" and the quest for detecting it, goes on. As famous astronomer Patrick Moore points out, "Planet X is out there somewhere. It must have been very pale. So, without any idea where to look for it, it is unlikely for us to find it". (21)

In his chronologies, Sitchin suggests 200 BC as the last passage of Nibiru. This draws a picture of a "returning planet" around 3400 AD. However, I don't think this is the case. If a chain of natural catastrophes caused by a giant planet did occur on earth in ancient times, we have to go back to ancient history and observe the periods which looked somehow "obscured" or appeared as a "gap" in chronologies. As we presented above, 1650 BC was definitely such a period and we can well speculate that its effects had changed the face of the earth since then. The question is, "Does it have anything to do with the so-called giant planet, mentioned in ancient Sumerian texts?" Or, in other words, could 1650 BC be the last passage of Nibiru through our solar system? If the answer is "yes", then we are about to experience a very special period in our planet's history. Because, it gives us a new date for the next orbital passage of Nibiru: Around 2000 AD!
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The Bactuns of Yucatan
The Marduk Connection: Part 3


We have another "catastrophe" story, on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. It mentions about the world ages, called the "Suns", and all the calculations are depicted on an excellent calendar system ever found in an ancient civilization. The Mayans of Yucatan and Southern Mexico had developed an astounding calendar which depended upon their precise astronomical observations. While most of the scholars deal with Tzolkin (the Religious Cycle) or Haab (the solar year), the most intriguing part of the Mayan calendar system is the famous "Long Count". This very interesting time keeping concept divides the time since "The Beginning" into 5 different "ages". Each "Sun" lasts around 5125,36 years and we are living the last days of the 5th (thus, the last). According to the Mayas, the end of the 5th Sun, "13 Bactun" in their calendar system, will come with a catastrophe and mark the beginning of a new era in the history of mankind.

This mysterious "end date" of the 5th Sun is December the 23rd, 2012 AD in our Gregorian calendar system, according to scholar Eric Thompson. After a careful study in the field of archaeoastronomy, he marked the beginning of this last time span as August the 13th, 3113 BC.

We shall come back to the basics of this time keeping model later, but for now, let's only give a look at the supposed beginning and end dates of the "Long Count". The first year of the 5th Sun as Thompson pointed out, is 3113 BC. This date is a very special pinpoint in space-time, when a 13 Baktuns age (The 4th Sun) ended and a new one began.

According to Mayan cosmology, this is not a simple "milestone" as we use in our calendars marking the end of an "age" and beginning of another. For example, when we talk about the prehistorical "ages", we deal with a "substance" used to fashion "tools" by the ancient men: "Stone Age" or "Bronze Age". In our western understanding, the "end" of the ages does not necessarily mean a "global change" and by no means this shifting ages have something to do with heavens. Astronomical observations or galactic changes are not taken into account when determining the "world ages". Instead, our concept of "ages" is rather a "pragmatical" one by considering just the social, political and economical changes in a certain geography (and formulates it in terms of the Western world.) In contrary, ancient peoples always directed their eyes to the heavens and only the "galactical" or "universal" changes of significance were considered as "World Ages". Because "what happens on the heavens, determines everything on the earth." This cosmological concept was a very common one in ancient world and was very well formulated with the familiar Hermetic principle "As above, so below". The effects of the end of one age and the start of another were definitely "global" and somehow related with a catastrophe, which was the "mark of change".

The date, civilization was born

The Mayans believed that the year 3113 BC was a global pinpoint for the entire world. A horrible catastrophe ended an "Age" in this year and marked the starting point of a new one. Surprisingly, Mayans were not the only ancient people who pointed out this curious year as the starting point of a "new age". Thousands of miles away from Yucatan, on the other site of the Pacific Ocean, another ancient people developed an understanding of "cosmic world ages", called the "Yuga"s. According to ancient Hindu philosophy, the last world age began on 3102 BC, called "Kaliyuga". This could be considered as a simple "coincidence" if there had not been any more references to a date close to 3100 BC in other ancient civilizations' histories.

The so-called "unification" of Lower and Upper Egypt by a pharaoh called "Narmer" (a.k.a "The Scorpion King") or Menes supposedly took place around 3100 BC. After some very interesting findings around Egypt (including the famous "Narmer Plate") Egyptology accepted this date as the starting point of the Dynasties along the Nile Valley. Furthermore, scholars have difficulties to explain the "sudden rise" of the Egyptians with their advanced cities and holy writings (called "the hieroglyphes") exactly around this time. As Ancient Egyptian specialist James P. Allen states, "Unlike Mesopotamian cuneiform or chinese, whose beginnings can be traced over several hundred years, hieroglyphic writing seems to appear in Egypt suddenly, shortly before 3000 BC, as a complete system" (22). (Interestingly, Allen also states a "change" in Egyptian language around 1600 BC: The New Egyptian replaces the Middle Egyptian.)

If we look at the early Mesopotamian cities, we confront almost the same circumstances around the land of Sumer. Though some of the pre-Sumerian settlements (the "Obaid" culture) can be chased back to 3700 BC, it is very clear that the Sumerian Civilization as we know it, flourished between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, around 3100 BC. The preceding years of the "Golden Age" of Nippur, Eridu and Ur are shadowed by some kind of natural catastrophes, as scholar Leonard Woolley found out the traces of "The Deluge" in early 20th century.

In South America, along the Pacific coast of Peru, a mysterious ancient civilization who were the ancestors of the Inca and Quechua people, emerged with a sophisticated city structure and with sacred pyramids, built centuries before the Giza pyramides in Egypt. The times is again, around 3000 BC. Besides, their descendants, the Inca had also an "ancient wisdom" about curious "world ages" called "Suns" just like the Maya of Yucatan or the Toltecs of Central Mexico. According to this system, the last "Sun" began around 3000 BC. The same concept can be found with "5 equal world ages" called "the Worlds" in Nahajo indians' calendar keeping system. Finally, as we stated above, the first building date proposed by scholars for the megalithic monument of Stonehenge is around 3000 BC.

After all, we can arrive a conclusion that the year 3113 BC was indeed a significant date on Earth's history. Just like a whistle somebody had blown to mark the beginning of a new phase in humanity. What could be the motivation behind this "sudden enthusiasm" for establishing advanced cities and civilizations all around the world just about the same time?

I propose, this was the end of a long "chaotic period", marked by a global catastrophe which was echoed in almost all ancient mythologies as "The Deluge". As Sir Leonard Wooley pointed out, the "flood" had occured some time between 3200 and 3100 BC around most of the low lands from Mexico to China. After the "nightmare" was over, the people began to build cities and establish kingdoms with a high motivation and "confidence".

A "heavenly" corelation

As we discussed above, the end date of this period ("World Age") according to Mayan Long Count system is the year 2012 AD. And again, as we pointed out that the next orbital passage of the mysterious Sumerian planet Nibiru may well coincide with this date. Two milestones, two important "celestial events" that strongly effects our world, and two indicators of a global catastrophe- coinciding on the same year. What do all these mean?

The total time span for Maya ages, is 25,627 years. (One World Age, or Mayan "Sun" is "13 Baktuns" which makes 1,872,000 days. So, the total 5 ages have 9,360,000 days. This equals 25,626.98 years.) This is exactly "7 x 3661" years. In other words, 5 Mayan Ages are equal to 7 Marduk orbital passages. The numbers 5 and 7 are "sacred" for Meso-Americans and Mesopotamians respectively. More intriguing than this, this equality clearly shows that the "first day of the first Maya World Age" begins with Marduk's orbital passage!

We know that, Mayans like to "equalize" cycles, using a "smallest common number" method. This is just like their "Calendar Round" which makes 52 years and 73 Tzolkins (260 days "sacred" cycle) synchronized in 18,980 days. Or, like they equalized 8 solar years, 5 Venus synodic cycles (584 days) and 99 lunar months in a 2,920 days cycle. So, I propose that, the ancestors of Mayans were aware of the Great Flood around 3150 BC and selected the year 3113 BC both as "First Day of the Fifth Sun" and "The Birth Of Venus". During 1649 BC catastrophes, some priests were able to measure the orbital period of Nibiru/Marduk and they insisted that this age was about to end during the next orbital passage in 2012 AD. This makes a "world age" of around 5125.36 years. With their familiar "smallest common number" method, they equalized 3661 and 5125.36 in a huge 25,627 years time span. This was the "sacred" cycle of total human ages!

The corelation between Marduk's orbital period (3661 years) and World Ages, also help us to decode the mystery of Tzolkin, the 260 days sacred calendar. One World Age was, 13 Baktuns; and one Baktun was 20 Katuns. So, Tzolkin was formularized as 13 "Uinals" (20 days "months"). This was a miniature model of a "World Age" in fact! And else? Let's change the "year" unit in a "World Age" and use "Tzolkin" (260 days period) instead of a solar year:

5125.36 x 260 = 1,332,593.6 days.
1,332,593.6 / 365.24 = 3648.54 years.

This value is very near to 3661 years orbital period of Nibiru. If we take the integer part of this number (3648) and add Mayans "13 Holy Sky Gods", we get exactly 3661 years. So, Tzolkin also helps to calculate the orbital period of the10th Planet, in a "secret" way.

3661 is a really intriguing number. If you multiply it with 7, it gives total Mayan Ages' time span. And 3661 can only be divided to 7, like "7 Stations of Marduk in space." This definitely calls for a really interesting relation between 3661 and 7.
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The Number of the Beast
The Marduk Connection: Part 4


One of the most enigmatic sacred texts is definitely The Revelation of St. John, which is the final part of the New Testament. In this apocalyptic vision, John tells us about the "final days" of our world, when the "Kingdom Of the Lord" comes back. The text includes a very confusing symbolism with some repeated enigmatic numbers such as 7. And the most confusing part of the Revelation is about a " Beast" whose "number" is 666.
This number is told as a "number of a man" and with this verse, Chapter 13 of the text ends. What is this curious "666" formula and just who is this "man"? Bible scholars have different approaches for this subject and the explanation is still uncertain even in Christian world.

Now, while keeping this enigmatic sentence of the Chapter 13 in John's Revelation in mind, let's get back to the calculation we made above: 3661 years orbital period of Nibiru. We know that ancient Sumerians had used a mathematical numbering system called "sexagesimal". This means, the essential numbers were related with 60 and 6, while writing down the numbers or making calculations with tokens or beads.

In fact, Sumerian system was not definitely "sixty based", but it was a combination of our 10 based system and their 60 based understanding. In other words, the essential numbers of the system were the exponents of number 60 and their multiplication with number 10. What does this mean in practical life? We have to look at the Sumerian numbers and "digits" for a very brief picture:


Essential numbers:

1 (600)
10 (600 x 10)
60 (601)
600 (601 x 10)
3,600 (602)
36,000 (602 x 10)

In this system, Sumerian mathematicians combined a few glyphs together to be able to write every complex number. The basic glyphs were for 1, 10 and 60. While 60 was essential and "sacred" for the calculations related to the heavens, 10 helped the Sumerians to make the things simple in daily life. We shall not deal with the details of the Sumerian sexagesimal system for now. But, considering this numbering system, we can look at the orbital period of Nibiru/Marduk once more. It takes 3661 solar years for this planet, to complete its orbit. How can this number be written in Sumerian sexagesymal system?

There are only 3 digits for this (beginning with the lowest number from right to left, as Sumerians used to write):


Third Digit
Second Digit
First Digit
Numbers
3600 (602)
60 (601)
1 (600)
Glyphs



Cuneiform signs

This means, with 3 glyphs representing these three essential numbers, we can write down the orbital period of Nibiru in solar years. The first line of glyphs represent the numbers on the above line respectively. These glyphs were used in a very early time, around 3100 BC in Mesopotamia and they are the primitive samples of Sumerian numbering system. The line below it, shows the cuneiform symbols for the same numbers but they are from a relatively late period, about 2200 BC, used in Babylon. (23)

As we see, the number 3661 consists of only "the holy numbers": The exponents of 60. And this is also a "perfect number" because it only includes the 0,1 and 2nd exponents of this holy number in turn, each of them used once. Furthermore, the first digit is the most sacred number, "Shar" which is directly related to Nibiru/Marduk.

In his marvellous work, "Histoire Universelle Des Chiffres", French mathematician and writer Georges Ifrah shows the evolution and simplification of Mesopotamian numbers in cuneiform. As the centuries passed, the Assyrrian and Babylonian mathematicians applied a "fine tuning" to the system to provide simplicity. And during the 6th century BC (the accurate time for Israelites' Babylonian captivity) the system evolved to a very "pure" simplicity: The essential numbers, i.e 3600 and 60 were symbolized only with a "wedge" (which means Number 1) when used in their "own digit". In other words, when you wanted to write for example, 64, you have to put a "1" sign in 60's digit (to indicate that the number contained 1 time 60) and four "1"s to the 1st digit. With this simplification, it was possible to write down the number 3661 using just one sign, used three times in three digits:


Third Digit ("3600"s)
Second Digit ("60"s)
First Digit ("1"s)


1 x 3600 (60 2)
1 x 60 (601)
1 x 1 (60 0)

A combination of "divine" numbers

The number 60 is related to the events and calculations in heavens (while number 10 is an "assistant" to ease the daily life calculations), as we mentioned above. We can see the reflections of this concept in Sumerian "mythology". Ancient Sumerians assigned not only planets and stars but also "numbers" to their "gods". Enlil, for example, is the god "Number 50", while his older brother Enki is "Number 40". Utu gets number 20 while the oldest "popular goddess" figure Inanna gets number 15. The detailed table is below:

NumberSumerian/Babylonian NameDefinition60An(u)God of the Heavens50EnlilLord of the "Air"40Enki/EaLord of the Earth30Nanna/SinMoon God20Utu/ShamashSun God15Inanna/IshtarGoddess of Love and War10MardukEnki's Son/Chief deity in Babylon6Ishkur/AdadStorm God

The reason for assigning the gods and goddesses to heavenly bodies such as the Moon, the Sun or the Planet Venus is still uncertain. Because, the stars or planets themselves were not the gods or goddesses; instead, the divine creatures described in Sumerian myths were rather "flesh-and-blood" super beings. Most probably, the Mesopotamian astronomer/priests used this assignments to formulate their calculations in heavens. But if we deal with the "myths" and legends about these "divine beings", we soon realize that all the gods and goddesses are "earthly rulers" and they deal with ordinary daily tasks on earth, except one god: An (or Anu in Akkadian) who is "The God Number 60". An(u) was never related to administrative tasks on earth but he was the "ultimate ruler of heavens". This explains the number 60's significance: It rules the earth but it belongs to heavens. The essential heavenly number is assigned to the essential heavenly "Lord".

This short explanations makes clear the significance of the number 60 and the calculations directly made by using it. The orbital period of Nibiru, which according to my thesis is 3661 years, is a sacred divine time span by using only the exponents of 60 just once.

Now let's get back to the point where we took a break: The last sentence of the 13th chapter of John's Revelation. The text describes a heavenly body (but "evil", without doubt) appears after "the Lamb opens the 7th seal" and name it as "The Beast". You can feel the "hate" tendency in the expressions of the text, while mentioning about this Beast. As a Judeo-Christian tradition, the same feeling of "hate" is also directed to Babylon. The "Kingdom of God" arrives only after the destruction of Babylon; and at one point, the angels announce the end of it: "Babylon is fallen, is fallen that great city because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornification." (24)

The writers of the New Testament took the flag from the Old Testament tradition when it comes to "hate Babylon". John followed the suit in his Revelation and in the last sentence of the 13th chapter, he made his most enigmatic announcement: "The number of the beast is 666". Just what is this "number"? And why is it "666"?

Ancient enemy, ancient knowledge

Since the deciphering of Sumerian and Babylonian cuneiform tablets and cylinder seals, we know that both Old and New Testaments' writers borrowed their main "themes" from much older sources. Israelites were not totally unfamiliar to Mesopotamian pantheon because they knew (and even worshipped) the Canaanite versions of its deities (i.e Baal or Anat.) During the 6th century BC, when Israelites became the captives of the Babylonian King Nabuchadnezar, the Hebrew culture encountered directly with the Mesopotamian theology and science. Most of the popular Babylonian myths thus were edited and moved in their supposedly "monotheistic" religion. This cultural encounter was not limited with myths, for sure: Some "divine numbers" about the heavens, migrated too. One of them, according to my theory, was the orbital period of Nibiru: The number 3661.

In Babylon, during 6th century BC, Nibiru was called "Marduk". And it was also the name of the principal deity of the land. So, the Israelites realized that, the chief deity of their eternal enemy was called Marduk and was symbolized with the divine number of 3661. Nevertheless, this number was written with cuneiform signs in "divine" sexagesimal system and had only 3 digits. Besides, all three digits contained the same sign as a number. The captives had learned something about this numbering system (because some of their "wise men" and talented kids were accepted in King's Palace and were taught there) but not much. Israelites used the 60 based calculations in their length and weight measuring system, without accepting and learning it totally; but in fact, the sexagesimal numbering was almost completely "alien" to them. They knew that the system had to do something with the number 6 and 60 and perhaps with 600, because:

600 was the "total number of the Anunnaki Gods", according to Mesopotamian creed
60 was the sacred number of Anu, the Sky God
6 was the number of the god Ishkur/Adad; the cief deity of "priest initiation system" in Mesopotamia

After almost 4 centuries, while the Essene and Nasorean movements were being formed in Juda, this ancient knowledge were also in the "basket": Babylonians, the eternal enemy of the "God's People", had a "False God" who was supposed to come back in future. His name was Marduk and he beared a three digit number on it. Each digit was one of their enemies' "sacred numbers".

In second century A.D, while the New Testament was being formed with retouches, this "knowledge" was added to the end of the book: To the "damned" 13th chapter of apocalyptic prophecies; John's Revelation. The God of the "Evil Babylonians" could only be a "Beast". But he was surely to come back soon from the heavens (not "from the waters" as some interpreters think today, taking John's words literally – "The Waters" or "The Sea" was an ancient Mesopotamian cosmological term, "the Abzu" and meant directly the "outer space" as well as "The Wisdom Of Deep Waters".) In this case, this "Beast" could only be a "false God" (but nevertheless very powerful) and we could identify him with his number: 666! With a very high probability, they misinterpreted the sexagesimal system and mistakingly focused on 6, 60 and 600 as the essential numbers. So they took the number 6 into the first digit; 60 into second and 600 to the third!

"Here is Wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of a man: And his number is Six hundred threescore and six." (25)

The term "wisdom" in ancient cultures was often used as the "knowledge of heavens" so the astronomer/priests of the Ancient Near East were the most "wise" men. In this case, it also refers to a knowledge of "mathematics", the wisdom of the "divine numbers". It apparently presents a riddle to a "wise person" who has the "wisdom of the heavens and the divine numbers". That mysterious "Beast" in the Revelation is described as a creature with "seven heads". And, "upon his heads it had his name of blasphemy." (26) Seven heads, could well be the "7 stations Marduk passes while travelling towards the Earth". Also, if this sentence carries a double riddle, it could be the 7 letters of its name.

The name Marduk, has only 6 letters. But in Hebrew, the name is "Merodach " (where "Mero" means "the rebel" and "dach" means "exiled": a very brief description for Marduk, who really were an "exiled rebel" according to ancient myths). The "ch" sound is a single sign in Hebrew alphabet, so the name Merodach actually has 7 letters. There is a little "trick" here: In Hebrew, only consonants were written so the name Merodach had only four letters. On the other hand, the Greek alphabet (with which the New Testament was written) has both vowels and consonants, so the Merodach has 7 letters when written in Greek.

Another curious point is John's comments about the "owner" of the name: It was also "the number of a man". Marduk was a deity, not human. Who could then be this "man"? The answer lies in the Old Testament and in Babylonian history: Nabuchadnezar conquered their land and brought them to Babylon as "slaves". Some decades had passed and the cruel king died. His successor was his son Evil-Merodach. (The word "Evil" has nothing to do with the English word "evil". According to Bible Names Dictionary, Evil-Merodach means "The fool of Merodach" or "the fool grinds bitterly". The same dictionary gives "the bitter contrition" as the meaning of Merodach. Another Biblical dictionary uses "death, slaughter" for the name Merodach.) The young king ruled the country for two years before being killed by his brother-in-law, and had close relations with some of the "captives" in the city of Babylon. One of them was probably Biblical Daniel. As far as we know from the Old Testament records, Evil-Merodach released a couple of Israelites and let them safely return to Jerusalem and Jeconiah, the ex-King of Judah were among these lucky people.

At this very point, there came a claim about Evil-Merodach: Before letting Jeconiah go, he gave him a special "present" to bring along to their homeland. It was a "snake throne made of bronze". When released captives arrived Jerusalem, they tried to restore the Temple and hid the present Evil-Merodach gave, in the most inner sanctum of the temple. The object, afterwards, became the center of a "secret ritual" practised by a handful of bishops in Jerusalem. This was, without any doubt, an action against Yahveh's will.

Some fundamentalist jews (and later, the first Christians) considered these rituals as an "insult" and therefore accused the bishops practising them as "heretics". According to these fundamentalists, the releasing and the special present were Evil- Merodach's "tricks" played on God's people: It was a "test" in which Jeconiah failed. So, no need to say, Evil-Merodach was literally "evil" for Yahveh's chosen people.

It is very likely that John was giving another clue to the readers of the New Testament, by mentioning a "man's name" while describing the "Beast". Now, let us see what we have about the Beast of John's Revelation in our hands:

It came from the sea: It was not actually "sea" but "Abzu", the "primeaval sea" in Sumerian cosmology, which directly refers to "outer space". So this dragon is subject to appear in heavens, most probably in a form of a celestial body. Just like Nibiru/Marduk.
It bears the number "666": As we propose, this number was actually the orbital period of Nibiru/Marduk and it was 3661, not 666. The writers of the Revelation (John or somebody else) fell into the "trick" of Mesopotamian sexagesimal numbering system.
It had seven heads with its "name of blasphemy" written on it: As we have already seen, the name "Merodach" (Hebrew version of "Marduk") has 7 letters when written with the Greek alphabet (the alphabet of the New Testament.)
It also had 10 horns with ten crowns on each: In Babylonian mythology, Marduk symbolizes "number 10".
It was also a "man's number" (name): Evil-Merodach was Nabuchadnezar's successor/son and was being held responsible for some "heretic rituals" in Jerusalem by fundamentalist jews.
To count the Beast's name, wisdom and understanding are required: The term "wisdom" usually refers to astronomy and religion in ancient near eastern cultures. So a man has to know something about the heavens, celestial bodies and numbering system to count the Beast's number. We believe, this is the wisdom of our solar system, the 10th planet Marduk and its "number" (which is actually its orbital period).
The Beast brings only destruction and death to the nations: In the Bible Names Dictionary, one of the meanings of the name Merodach was "slaughter and destruction". It is remarkable that the "shar" (3600) sign also has a secondary meaning in all Mesopotamian cultures: "Destruction". The 10th planet Nibiru/Marduk's gravitational pull brings catastrophes and destruction during its orbital passage.
After all these taken into account, the riddle of John's Revelation becomes more clear: Eternal Enemy's (Babylon) chief deity (Marduk) will appear in heavens in the form of a "celestial dragon" (Nibiru/The 10th Planet), to cause trouble to Earth (earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and flood) in future (after completing its orbital period). It is the "Anti-Christ". No need to deal with "gematria" in order to solve the riddle of 666.
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Waiting for Marduk
The Marduk Connection: Part 5 & Reference Notes

Now our conclusion suggests a very specific cuneiform sign to symbolize both Nibiru/Marduk and its orbital period and it should be a "divine" sign. Roughly, something like this:

It is just the right time for a question: "Such an important, divine sign should have been found in most places along Mesopotamia, why we do not have a sample of it among our findings?" In fact, we do have; but somehow in an "encoded" style:

This is our famous "Sar" (shar). Used as the "divine number" 3600 (602) both in Sumerian and Akkadian languages with the same phonetic value. In Akkadian, the word was used as a "title" for the kings; so "Shar Hammurabi" means "King Hammurabi". According to John A. Halloran's "Sumerian Lexicon", the word "Sar" has the following meanings as well as the divine number 3600: Horizon, totality, world, ball, and counter. Interestingly, as a verb, it also means "to slaughter". Note that the name Marduk (Merodach) meant "slaughter" in Bible Names Dictionary. The most important thing here is the fact that this sign symbolizes a number, Shar, which is the orbital period of Nibiru/Marduk both in Sumerian and Babylonian cultures. Thus, it is naturally a "counter" of times. The actual orbital period of the "Divine Planet" is encoded in this sign, with the topmost "three notches" by the chief priests. The "Shar" sign was presented as the symbol for number 3600; but actually, in Babylon's digital numbering system it was "3661": One 3600 + One 60 + One 1.

We see the sign with "three notches" very often in divine names or concepts about the heavens. Here is another sample:

The sign on the left is both a noun and a determinative. Phonetically, it gives the sound "An", and it is also the name of the chief deity: "An" in Sumerian and "Anu" in Akkadian languages. The second name of the sign is "DINGIR", which meant "God". As a determinative, it was used before the names of the gods to indicate that the name sign after it belonged to a god. Finally, the third meaning of the sign is "Sky" or "heavens": Again, "An" in Sumerian and "Samu" (Shamu) in Akkadian. However, the sample above includes another sign near "An" or "DINGIR": It is our "three notches" with two companions on each side (reminds us the four moons of Nibiru/Marduk). This word is "shamu-u" in Akkadian and it also means "heavens". While most of the times the sign "DINGIR" was enough to write the word "sky", sometimes it was written like the sample above. (21)

Another question could be, "Why didn't we find any piece of scripture in Mesopotamia, mentioning the number 3661 in a special manner?" There are a couple of reasonable answers for this. First, it was not just an ordinary number and could not be written all around as if it was a result of a sum, say, "2300 sheep and 1361 lamb, totally 3661." Note that in most religious cults, it is even forbidden to pronounce the "real name of the god". And to have this knowledge is often a privilege, belonged to priests. Second, the orbital time of Nibiru/Marduk was "rounded" to the divine number of 3600, while the precise time was hidden in its cuneiform sign. And third, this number was the "secret code" of heavens, and without any doubt, it could not be revealed to those who were "uninitiated", for it required "wisdom".

But anyway, there are some intriguing "encoded" scriptures which were found in various ancient cities of Mesopotamia. In these samples, we find a "mysterious" number pair, which apparently had been used to substitute the word "Shar" in Akkadian. Most scholars are confused about this "number pair" which they interpret as "3 ; 20". A typical instance was found on a stela in ancient Susa and was something like this:

Scholars were surprised when they could not find a way to decipher the script of King Ilani. The title of the stela was read "SUSINAK SHAR ILANI, SHAR SUSI", but it was written like this (according to the scholars):

"SUSINAK 3;20 ILANI, 3;20 SUSI".

Why the word "shar" was written as "3;20"? No satisfactory answer has been given since. Here is what I propose: The "number pair" is not "3 and 20" but obviously "3661 and 20"; where, the first number symbolizes the "Divine King (Shar)", i.e Nibiru/Marduk and the second one points to "the God 20", which was the Sun God Shamash! Thus the "number pair" was an encoded statement: "Marduk is the King, Shamash is his Partner". In some Mesopotamian cities, this number pair appears as "3 and 30"; which actually is "3661 and 30". In these cities, the Moon God cult appear to be dominant. So, "the God 30", i.e Sin (Moon God) replaces Shamash.

The sign with "three notches", and of course the sign for "Shar" also reminds us a well known symbol from the ancient times. It is, "the Trident", the famous "tool" of the God Poseidon/Neptun, the Greco-Roman counterparts of Sumerian EN.KI and Babylonian E.A. And the Greek letter "psi" is very likely derived from this intriguing symbol:

In ancient myths and stories, the "tool of Poseidon" (or Enki), the trident, is sometimes a destructive weapon with its lightning bolts that slaughtered the God's enemies. (Remember that "Shar" was also "slaughter" and "destruction" as well as Nibiru/Marduk's name in Hebrew.)

There is another "entity" in our common religious culture, who carries and uses the destructive tool, the Trident. This well known entity is The Devil itself with its most popular archetype. After Christianity became the official religion in Roman empire and the ancient "pagan" gods were thrown out, the image of the devil began to emerge as a beast with a pair of wings, horns on his head, a typical beard, an arrow-like tail and a trident in his hand. This was a melting-pot of ancient and relatively new symbols and archetypes. We can safely say that the "Beast Number 666" in John's Revelation was one of the strongest inspirations for medieval artists when depicting the Devil. The important archetype for us here is of course the trident: The tool of Enki (Greek Poseidon) and a very likely symbol of Nibiru/Marduk The Divine Planet with an orbital period of 3661 solar years. It seems, the mighty god of the ancients became the anti-Christ, or the "Devil", after Christianity established itself.

To understand this metamorphoses, we have to go back to the eve of Christianity, around 2nd century BC. We need to decipher the "political character" of the Devil in Christianity and observe the crisis of Judaism after the end of Babylonian captivity. This short panorama could make the ideology in John's Revelation more "understandable" and restore the obvious link between Daniel's prophecies about the "End Of Days" and the symbols of the Beast in the Revelation.


Essenes: The roots of the Christianity and the Devil

The Hebrew writers of the Old Testament have never considered an entity like the Devil of Christianity. There have always been "demons", as the cause of some troubles but a mighty being with "absolute evil" never existed. It is very likely that the demons were imported from Babylonian magic cults, as they were very popular entities in ancient Mesopotamian daily life. Most of the diseases were caused by specific demons in Babylonian beliefs: While a demon was responsible for fever, another one could cause cough. Each remedy were prepared to disable that specific demon, in order to make the patient get well. During the long decades of Babylonian captivity, the Israelites learned enough about these "trouble makers" and imported them into their monotheistic system later.

On the other hand, the Devil (or Satan) often appeared in the books of the Old Testament but not as an "eternal enemy of the God". In contrary, he was one of the other servants of the Lord God and did only things according to God's will. Furthermore, he was a member of the Council of God in heavens, as Gerald Messadie states (26). The Devil (or more correctly, Demon) sometimes "examined" the humans by confusing and tempting them; and sometimes he appeared as a "punisher". But all he did was nothing but the God's will. So, the Hebrew people never considered a "Devil with absolute evil" as an enemy.

The concept of "absolute evil" as the contrast of "absolute good" was born in another eastern monotheistic philosophy: Zoroastroanism. The religion of the Persian Empire was established on the contrast of its two "magnetic poles": Ahura Mazda was the deity of Light, while Ahura Mainyu was the power and Prince of Darkness. This dualism was the core principle of Zoroastroanism and it was the first appearance of the entity we call "The Devil" in the history of civilization.

When King Kyros defeated the Akkadian armies and invaded Babylon at the end of 5th century BC, he let the Hebrews go back to their homeland and rebuild their holy temple. While a number of jews preferred to stay in Babylon under Persian rule, most of them freely and happily returned home. This was the first acquintance of Israelites with Zoroastroanism and also with the concept of a mighty Devil.

"And it came to pass" after more than a century, Alexander the Macedonian invaded the Near East in 332 BC. This time the Hebrews met with the Hellenistic culture and quickly began absorbing some of its elements. After Alexander's death, the region was being controlled by the Ptolemean dynasty in Egypt, then by the Selevkos. During this time span, Hellenism gradually began to influence the Hebrew culture. It was a time of crisis for Judaism.

A long time had passed since Malaki's death, the last prophet of the Old Testament. Hopes for a long-awaited Messiah were being lost day by day. The Hebrew rulers of the land became deeply influenced by the Hellenic culture. Elements of pagan Greek religion slowly began leaking into the daily life in the land of Judah, even under the "independent" Hasmonian Dynasty, after the successfull Maccabee Revolt. The rich jewish families began to prefer the "Hellenic way of life". It was all a nightmare for some fundemantalist jews.

Around 150 BC, these fundemantalists began to organize an effective opposition in ther land of Judah. They left the cities and towns they lived in and moved to a region called "Qumran" near the Dead Sea. They were known as "Essenes" among the Jews and they were very sensitive about their religion. "Life should be lived as Torah (Old Testament) ordered" was their main principle. They considered the life in Judah as "decadent" and developed a ceremony to "purify themselves with water": Baptism. This was a revolutionary new practise for Jews and probably imported from Persian Mithra cult (27).

By the end of the second century BC, the Essenes became a religious as well as a political power in the land of Judah. Their opposition created their own leader: His name is unfortunately unknown to us but his title was "The Righteous One". His disciples began to travel the cities and performing sermons among people. (It is very likely that John the Baptist was also an Essene militant.)This was a very "tough opposition": A Messianic sect of Jews was born and it was nothing but the very roots of the Christianity. The response of Judah establishment was tough too: Their leader, "The Righteous One" was arrested and killed brutally (probably by crucifixion).

The opposition of Essene movement also created a tradition: These were the scriptures and texts known as "inter-testament" or "apocryphal" books. Hundreds of these texts were found by a shepherd boy in the caves of Qumran, in 1947. (These are the so-called Dead Sea Scrolls.) Among them were the earliest copies of notorious "Book of Enoch".

The Essene movement is important for our research for two reasons: First, the ideology represented in their sect and writings are the real roots of Christianity, thus, it is the "essence" of the concept of "Beast Number 666" in John's Revelation. And second, it integrates a Devil of "absolute evil" into Judeo-Christian ideology and directly uses the name and image of a Babylonian god in this concept. The Essenes, a "male-only" sect in Qumran, imported the Zoroastroanist "absolute evil" and considered it as the "eternal enemy" of the Lord God. Not surprisingly for us, they named this entity as "Belial", a synonim for the Canaanite God "Baal" or "Bel". This was nothing but the Canaanite version of Babylonian god Marduk. In most of the ancient Hebrew texts, Marduk was called "Bel-Merodach" or "Baal-Merodach".

In Judah's hard times, the Essenes believed that their religion and tradition was under the threat of a serious assimilation. Their people and local rulers was becoming "heretics" day by day (they were practising secret pagan rituals with Evil-Merodach's present to Jeconiah.) All these were against the Lord God's will and for this heresy, they were about to be punished by God. They browsed the pages of the Old Testament and concentrated on Daniel's prophecy about the "End of Days". They felt the fear in their hearts especially after an earthquake had killed 30,000 people in Jerusalem, in 32 BC. "The End of Days" were very near and it would come after a final battle between the Good and the Evil in heavens. The Evil One, was of course Babylonian god Marduk, who was supposed to come back in future.

The Essene movement bore the essence of Christianity in the first century BC. And after more than three centuries, Roman Emperor Constantine gave a "politically correct" decision about adopting this essence as the "official state religion". In early fourth century A.D, Constantine organized a council in Nikaia (northwestern Turkey) to determine the main principles and philosophy of the new official religion. Bishops and priests discussed all the details during long days and "cleared" the elements of "opposition" and Essene fundamentalism from the core of the doctrine. While Essenes were interested with a Kingdom on this world, the Nikaia Council revised this as a "Netherworld Kingdom". The political opposition was "swept" and a peaceful, obedient nature was adopted with the myth of Jesus Christ. Though some of the participants of Nikaia Council refused to sign the declaration (like Arius and his comrades) the new religion was formed eclectically, at the end of the discussions. And, John's enigmatic Revelation still was the last chapter of the "Good News".


Article by Burak Eldem - 2008


 

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