I've read Sitchin's version of the texts. He was working at a time when many texts had yet to be translated and few people knew the language. He was the only translator to reach the conclusions that he has.
Now that the 90 year project on translating the ancient language has been completed (
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... quest.html) there is still no expert on the topic who agrees with Sitchin. I've read all the debunkers of Sitchin who go through the texts word by word and show how Sitchin is wrong, how he misread the texts, leapt to conclusions and misinterpreted words to forcibly suit his personal ideas.
I've read the Atra Hasis and all the global flood myths, and the Enûma Eliš (and the Kolbrin, and many many other texts during my 30 years of researching topics like this one). I don't agree with Sitchin. Was there a flood? Yes, many actually all around the world, but I'm still unsure about anything global and completely earth covering though. Are we engineered by aliens? Not in my opinion - I think those are metaphors about the relationship between the material earth-bound body and our higher-consciousness. Is there a comet on a collision path with earth due around 2012? Maybe, none of us knows for sure but I am counting on the thousands of independent sky-watchers around the world to keep us posted on anything they see. And finally, the Enûma Eliš reminds me of the metaphorical lessons on quantum physics found in the Dogon creation stories:
viewtopic.php?f=9&t=22797One of many criticisms of Sitchin
Quote:
The goal here was to amass for readers every occurrence of the word "nibiru" in ancient cuneiform texts. Fortunately, this is possible because of the diligent work of the compilers of the well known Chicago Assyrian Dictionary, which bases its entries on exhaustive compilations of all cuneiform material known to the present day (there's a reason its taken decades to compile!). The study shows - from the texts themselves, not my opinion - that "Nibiru" is not a planet beyond Pluto and that the Anunnaki gods are never associated with it. These ideas are fabrications.
A study of the word "Nibiru" and an examination of the nature of Nibiru in cuneiform astronomical texts:
http://www.michaelsheiser.com/nibirupage.htm