Chapter 1, The Endless Beginning Summary and Analysis

In THE 12TH PLANET, Zecharia Sitchin argues that Sumerian myths of a pantheon of gods are no less than fact and that Earth's solar system includes an additional planet called Shar, which comes near Earth every 3,600 years on an elliptical orbit that takes it deep into space. The planet, he claims, is inhabited by advanced alien beings called Nefilim. Based on a Sumerian origin myth, he recounts how the arrival of this planet formed the solar system as we know it. Sitchin credits the Nefilim for advancing humanity and also for the stories of the Great Flood.

Sitchin argues that life doesn't seem to belong on Earth. The chemical makeup and beginnings of life on Earth imply that life may have come from elsewhere. Sitchin also creates mystery around the evolutionary evidence of man's ancestors...