VA243 Cylinder Seal

By Joseph Pease

The VA 243 Cylinder Seal

The VA 243 Cylinder Seal is an artifact of Sumerian origin, and in the realm of pseudoarchaeology, purported to be real evidence of contact between that ancient civilization and extraterrestrial beings. In his book, The 12th Planet Zecharia Sitchin uses theorizes that the Sumerians had advanced knowledge of the stars, planets, and other heavenly spheres due to the involvement of the alien beings from the twelfth planet beyond Neptune, Nibiru. This book uses the cylinder seal as a evidential centerpiece, with its inscriptions being a "secret code" that points to the Sumerian cosmological knowledge, hidden in plain sight.

Context

Annunaki and "Planet" Nibiru

The Annunaki were divine entities within the myths and religions of ancient Mesopotamia. These deities can be found among the various cultural myths of the region, from the Babylonians to the Akkadians and Assyrians. These deities are shrouded in mystery, as little evidence of their worship remains. From what can be ascertained from surviving representations and records, these gods had various roles and varying aspects in the different regions of the ancient Middle East. Within the Sumerian mythos, these gods are descended from the sky, but their specific roles aren't exactly known. They are, however, associated with the heavenly bodies in Sumerian cosmology. Inana (Venus), Utu (Sun), and Nanna (Moon) are principal among them, with others representing various other stellar spaces. This vagueness of substance and evidence has made the ethereal Annunaki a common sight in pseudoarchaeological theories, being seen as alien beings who came to the earth to guide, enslave, or create human beings and civilizations. Their representative connections to the planets of our solar system also lends credence to these theories by giving them a mythological and allegorical framework for amateur theorists to work with.

The "Planet" Nibiru is posited by Sitchin as the twelfth planet of our solar system, lying beyond Neptune. Why twelve? According to Sitichin, he categorizes Nibiru as the twelfth planet due to Sumerian cosmology accepting the moon as a full planetary body as well as that of Pluto (a body not discovered or known to humanity until 1930). Nibiru is said to be an ancient world from the time of the solar system's formation, and the homeworld of the Annunaki as an advanced alien civilization. It is associated with the god Marduk, and according to Sitchin is the god-alien's palatial home from which he visited the earth in the distant past. The planet itself is more reasonable as a theory (in the eyes of its proponents) in that it is within the confines of the solar system, making the travel between worlds a far more realistic possibility than aliens from beyond the stars. Even the name of this speculated world has been misrepresented by pseudoarchaeologists. The word "nibiru" comes from a Babylonian term for a crossing. Within the cosmology of Mesopotamia, it has shown by cuneiform linguists that the nibiru of Marduk (the name associated with planet Nibiru) aligns not with a new planet, but the crossing of Jupiter from one hemisphere to another.

Cylinder Seals

Cylinder seals, the devices in which Sitchin derives his evidence for the Twelfth Planet, are ancient pieces of clay shaped into cylindrical forms and almost always covered in unique engravings, art, or hieroglyphics/cuneiform. These were used throughout the Bronze Age, from Egypt to Babylon, as devices to determine property rights and ownership. The person who had the seal was the owner of whatever property it marked. For one to use these seals, they would roll them across a clay object (or other soft material) rendering their seal from the cylindrical form to a two dimensional image. This was civilization's earliest form of both stamping and formal signatures. Seal shape varied with both geography and time, but their images tended to be commemorative or spiritual. The VA 243 seal depicts a seated man receiving offerings from two standing figures, between whom lie a star shaped symbol. That symbol would largely be what inspires the idea of Nibiru. There is also some gazelle on the sides and a natural setting, but this is probably ornamentation. Inscribed on the right and left sides of the artifact is cuneiform script, saying "Dubsiga, Ili-Iliat, Your (or His) Servant". Dubsiga nor Ili-Iliat are not known names within any of the mythologies of Mesopotamia, and it is safe to assume that they are indeed mortal men, the owner of the seal and the master/employer/ruler he is honoring.