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THE ENIGMA OF BAALBEK

In Baalbek, Lebanon, the ruins of the monumental temple complex are one of the most extraordinary and enigmatic holy places of ancient times. There are two different stories about the construction of the Baalbek edifices—there’s the Roman story, and there’s the pre-Roman story. Most conventional researchers adhere to the Roman story and claim that all of the structures were constructed by the Romans, primarily in the time frame from 100 BC to 200 AD. These dates are well supported for the most visible buildings, especially the three main temples. Alternative researchers, however, suggest that the underlying platform (with many stones much larger than those used in the Great Pyramids of Giza) on which these buildings were constructed, was built at a much earlier date, perhaps as early as 10,450 BC—and that it was built by a race of technologically advanced ancient beings. This book explores the alternative theories about Baalbek’s pre-history, which, in most instances, seem to make more sense than do the conventional ones.

David Ritchey

The Enigma of

Baalbek

David Ritchey Headline Books, Inc. Terra Alta, WV

The Enigma of Baalbek by David Ritchey ©2016 David Ritchey All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any other form or for any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage system, without written permission from Headline Books, Inc. To order additional copies of this book or for book publishing information, or to contact the author: Headline Books, Inc. P. O. Box 52 Terra Alta, WV 26764 www.headlinebooks.com Tel: 800-570-5951 Email: mybook@headlinebooks.com ISBN: 9781882658619 Library of Congress Control Number: 2016935640

P R I N T E D I N T H E U N I T E D S TAT E S O F A M E R I C A

To those who have helped me learn to think outside the box.

Contents Introduction ................................................................. v Chapter 1: The Known History of Baalbek ................. 7 Chapter 2: Enter The Gods ........................................ 17 Chapter 3: The Original Space Facilities ................... 25 Chapter 4: The Great Flood ....................................... 29 Chapter 5: The Replacement Space Facilities ............ 35 Chapter 6: How Did They Do It? ................................ 43 Chapter 7: The Wars Of The Gods ............................ 51 Chapter 8: The Departure Of The Anunnaki ............... 57 Chapter 9: The Gods Who Remained .......................... 63 Chapter 10: Baalbek Today ....................................... 69 Sources ...................................................................... 73 Selected Bibliography .............................................. 76 Index ......................................................................... 77 Books By David Ritchey ........................................... 79 About The Author ..................................................... 96

Introduction There are two different stories about the edifices of Baalbek. There is the Roman story and there is the preRoman story. Most conventional researchers adhere to the Roman story and claim that all of the structures built at Baalbek were constructed by the Romans, primarily in the time frame from 100 BC to 200 AD. Almost all researchers, whether conventional or alternative, would agree that the most visible buildings, the Temple of Jupiter, the Temple of Bacchus, and the Temple of Venus were constructed by the Romans during that time frame. Where disagreements arise is over the provenance of the underlying foundations on which these structures were built. Alternative researchers suggest that they were constructed long before the time of the Romans, and existing evidence appears to support their position. Foremost among the alternative researchers is Zecharia Sitchin, who builds a strong case for the underlying platform having been built about 10,450 BC. Central to his argument is the thesis that a race of technologically advanced ancient beings was responsible for the construction. This thesis is anathema to conventional researchers. While Sitchin clearly made a number of mistakes in his details, what he had to v

say makes a lot more sense to me than does what the conventional researchers had to say. I have, therefore, chosen to track his thinking throughout most of this book. When dealing with events of pre-history, the data become very “slippery.” Different sources posit different dates for events and different names for both places and people. Illustratively, the Sumerian god Marduk was called by more than 50 different names. In this narrative, I have attempted to reconcile those differences. I would like to thank my friend Cornelia Keener for her superb editorial assistance, and for her ongoing support.

Chapter 1

The Known History of Baalbek One who lets sacred cows lie will never uncover the ideological bull. —Ted Goertzel Approximately 53 miles northeast of the city of Beirut in eastern Lebanon, and about 47 miles north of Damascus, Syria, stands the temple complex of Baalbek. Situated atop a high point (3800 feet) in the fertile Bekaa valley, the ruins are one of the most extraordinary and enigmatic holy places of ancient times. Long before the Romans conquered the site and built their enormous temple of Jupiter, there stood at Baalbek the largest stone block construction found in the entire world. Prior to the restoration and enlargement projects of various Roman emperors, Baalbek was the site of one of the greatest and most famous temples of all history — the Great Temple of King Solomon of Assyria, dated to about 1250 BC.

Map — Lebanon About 1070 BC, the Phrygians from western Turkey took control of the whole region including Baalbek, and it wasn’t until around 740 BC that the Assyrians regained their dominance. Alexander the Great of Greece conquered Baalbek in 334 BC and renamed it Heliopolis, (“City of the Sun”). Following the death of Alexander in 323 BC, the area was ruled successively by the Ptolemaic kings of Egypt and the Seleucid kings of Syria until the arrival of the Romans. Heliopolis was still the name of the city when the Romans took control of the area in the first century BC. The golden age of Roman building at Baalbek/Heliopolis began in 15 BC when Julius Caesar settled a legion there 8

and began construction of the great Temple of Jupiter. During the next three centuries, as emperors succeeded one another in the imperial capital of Rome, Heliopolis would be filled with the most massive religious buildings ever constructed in the far reaching Roman Empire. The

Baalbek Site Plan primary Roman structures there were the Great Court; the Temple of Baal/Jupiter situated upon the massive pre-Roman stone blocks known as the “Trilithon”; the Temple of Bacchus; and the circular temple believed to be associated with the goddess Venus. The Romans vastly improved the site with massive building projects, walkways, aqueducts, and roads. It is difficult to make sense as to why the Romans chose Baalbek as the site for building such an elaborate temple complex. As far as we know, at the time Baalbek was (apparently) just a small city on a trading route to Damascus. It held no special religious or cultural significance for Rome, other than being in the centre of a coveted burial region that was favored by local 9

tribes. It also seems completely out of character for the undeniably selfish Rome to have gone to all the trouble of creating such lavish and extravagant architecture in Lebanon, and at a place like Baalbek — that was located so far from Rome. Presumably Baalbek had something else the Romans wanted from the site — which leads us to surmise that the temple complex was in fact, an augmentation to a much older pre-existing platform and this platform offered the Romans a base on which to build their temples. The first view the visitor has of Baalbek is the six Corinthian columns of the Jupiter Temple thrusting 72 feet into the skyline. Built on a podium 23 feet above the Great Court, these six columns and the entablature on top give an idea of the vast scale of the original structure.

Temple of Jupiter The complex of the Great Temple had four sections: the monumental entrance or Propylaea, the Hexagonal Court, the Great Court and finally the Temple, where the six famous columns stand. The Temple itself was built between 100 BC and 100 AD, the Great Court complex and the Temple of Bacchus were built in the second 10

century AD, and the Propylaea and Hexagonal Court were built in the third century AD. The Temple of Jupiter measured 289 feet by 157 feet and stood on a podium 43 feet above the surrounding terrain and 23 feet above the courtyard, and it was reached by a monumental stairway. It was originally surrounded by 54 external columns, most of which now lie in fragments on the ground. The six currently standing columns are joined by an entablature decorated with a frieze of bulls’ and lions’ heads connected by garlands. The Podium was built with some of the largest stone blocks ever hewn. On the west side of the podium is the “Trilithon,” a wellknown group of three enormous stones weighing about 1000 tons each. (See photo page 44) It was decided to furnish the temple with a monumental extension of the podium, which, according to Phoenician tradition, had to consist of no more than three layers of stone. This decision initiated the cutting, transporting and lifting of the largest and heaviest stones of all times. Not only was it necessary to build a wall of 43 feet in height composed of three ranges of stones, but in the interest of appearance the middle blocks needed to have a length four times their height. With a depth equal to their height, each stone had a volume of approximately 500 cubic yards, corresponding to a weight of about 1000 tons. Technically, the builders of Baalbek proved that they could do it, since three such blocks of the middle layer are in place, but in terms of time they did not succeed — the podium remained incomplete. Nevertheless, so awe-inspiring were those blocks to all beholders ever after, that Baalbek was known for a long time primarily as the site of the three stones, the “Trilithon.” The Temple of Bacchus, dedicated to the Roman god of wine, is considered one of the best-preserved Roman temples in the world. It is larger than the Parthenon in 11

Greece, though much less famous. It was built close to the courtyard in front of the larger temple of Jupiter. The period of construction is generally considered to be between 150 AD and 250 AD. When the temple complex fell into disrepair, the Temple of Bacchus was protected by the rubble of the rest of the site’s ruins. The temple is slightly smaller than the Temple of Jupiter and is 216

Temple of Bacchus feet long, 115 feet wide, and 102 feet high. Its walls were adorned by forty-two unfluted Corinthian columns supporting a richly carved entablature, nineteen of which now remain upright in position standing 62 feet high. Some two hundred yards southeast of the altars on the Great Court of the Temple of Jupiter, and separated from it by a colonnaded street, was the complex of Venus and the Muses. It is a more or less square field, surrounded by a colonnade; on the field are two small shrines. The square one was dedicated to the Muses; in the other one, facing the Jupiter temple, Venus was 12

venerated. The temple of the Muses is the older of the two. It was built in the first century AD and was, compared to the other buildings in Baalbek, rather simple. The temple of Venus was built in the third century AD. It had a highly original design, being built on a horseshoeshaped platform, and consisting of a circular shrine with

Temple of Venus a square entrance. The outer facade of the shrine was graced by five niches, which means that there was not a single square wall. In the niches were representations of doves and shells, which has been taken as evidence that the shrine was dedicated to Venus. The square entrance probably was not one of those classical triangle-shaped pediments supported by columns. In fact, the straight horizontal line was broken by an elegant arch. Heliopolis remained the most holy of temple complexes until Christianity was declared an official religion of the Roman Empire in 313 AD, following which the Byzantine Christian emperors and their soldiers desecrated thousands of “pagan” sanctuaries. 13

At the end of the fourth century AD, the Romans destroyed many significant buildings and statues, and constructed a basilica with stones from the Temple of Jupiter. This signaled the end of Roman Heliopolis. The City of the Sun declined and lapsed into relative oblivion. Avoiding the fate of some pagan sites, which were neglected or destroyed, it was then Christianized. Many of the temples of the Roman complex were spared destruction during the rise of Christianity through their use as churches. The temples continued in their role as Christian places of worship until the coming of the Muslims in 637 AD. Under Muslim rul, the area was re-named Al-Qalaa (the fortress). Walls were strengthened for defense and the temples were fortified. A mosque was built amid the ancient Roman temples while the Christian additions were torn down and destroyed. The Byzantine army sacked the city in 748 AD and, again, in 975 AD but could not hold it, and eventually, having survived the Mongols and further military campaigns, it passed into the Ottoman Empire which largely ignored the city and allowed the ruins to crumble. A series of earthquakes over the centuries further damaged the site and nothing was done by way of preservation or excavation. For centuries the temples of Baalbek lay under yards of rubble, obscured by medieval fortifications. But even in ruins the site attracted the admiration of visitors and its historical importance was recognized. The first survey and restoration work at Baalbek was begun by the German Archaeological Mission in 1898. In 1922 French scholars undertook extensive research and restoration of the temples, work which was continued by the Lebanese Directorate General of Antiquities.

As of today, those who want to explore the ruins of Baalbek must be prepared to face multiple challenges. Not only is the travel to get there arduous, but also being on-site can be quite dangerous. There are ongoing clashes between Syrian militants, Lebanese Sunni, and the Shiite group Hezbollah. Moreover, terrorist attacks against foreigners are a common occurrence.

Chapter 2

Enter The Gods As we acquire knowledge, things do not become more comprehensible, but more mysterious. —Will Durant The construction activities of the Romans in Baalbek, and all that followed thereafter are interesting enough, but I find myself much more fascinated by what came before. When, by whom, and by what means was the original platform built? Research clearly indicates that it was not built by the Romans in the 100 BC to 100 AD time frame. That the Baalbek platform could have been built about 10,450 BC, shortly after the Great Flood, is well supported by the findings of alternative researchers. There are some claims to the effect that it was built even earlier, and thus was in existence during the Great Flood, but I can find no evidence to support such claims, so I will focus my attention on the 10,450 BC date. 17

Zecharia Sitchen has been the primary proponent of this theory, and while he clearly made a number of mistakes in his details, what he had to say appears to make more sense than do the theories of others, especially mainstream archaeologists. What follows, then, is a summary of his findings that I have presented as if they were factually so. I must caution you, Every great advance however, that this might not in science has issued be the case. They are only from a new audacity of a theoretical reconstruction imagination. of the past, based on the —John Dewey writings and legends of the ancient Sumerians as well as the Bible, and while many of them are ascribed to archaeological data, the conclusions must be considered to be circumstantially based. The building of Baalbek, about 10,450 BC, required technology, skills, and knowledge that were simply not available to earth-bound humans at the time. The undertaking of this project needed the intervention The opposite of a correct of beings from an advanced society. Who statement is a false statement. But the opposite were these beings, where of a profound truth may did they come from, and be another profound truth. what were they doing —Niels Bohr on Earth? In a nutshell, about 445,000 years ago, a race of advanced beings, called the “Anunnaki,” considered by humans to be gods, arrived on Earth. They came from a “rogue” planet named “Nibiru” that entered our solar system once every 3600 years. The presence of the Anunnaki and the periodic return of Nibiru to our solar system 18

form the foundation for the interventionist theory that explains the development of modern humans on planet Earth. More on this shortly. There are many, many questions that cannot be answered within the context of the conventional paradigm. Consider that: • Jericho was built about 8000 BC. No one can explain why. •

The first civilization, Mesopotamia, emerged suddenly about 3800 BC with advanced mathematics, astronomy, and other sciences. No one can explain how they got their knowledge and why they needed it.

•

In ancient times megalithic stones weighing hundreds of tons were cut, miraculously transported into position and fitted together with extraordinary accuracy and precision. Some such constructions would be extremely difficult even with twentieth century technology.

•

The Great Pyramid in Giza was built with advanced technology. No one can explain how the ancient Egyptians could have acquired such technology, nor why the pyramid shape was so important to them.

•

Ancient cultures were obsessed with the calendar and the Earth’s precessional wobble. No one can explain why.

•

The Egyptian pharaohs were obsessed with the afterlife. No one can explain what triggered their beliefs. 19

•

The Mayan calendar began in 3113 BC, at least a thousand years before the Mayan civilization emerged in Mesoamerica. No one can explain why.

•

The advanced civilization of the Olmecs suddenly appeared in Mesoamerica, as if from nowhere. No one can explain how a Negroid people crossed thousands of miles of ocean 3500 years ago. No one can understand their culture or explain their mysterious activities.

•

An ancient and highly sophisticated people carried out mysterious activities at Tiwanaku in the Andes of Peru at an elevation of 13,000 feet. No one can explain why they were there or what they were doing.

•

The Nazca Lines in Peru exist, and can only be properly appreciated from the air. No one can explain how they were drawn or what they mean.

•

The Easter Island statues could not have been cut with stone tools. No one can explain who carved them, why they erected them, or where the artists disappeared to.

•

The Sumerian civilization suddenly disappeared about 2000 BC. Historians have not explained why this occurred.

•

A sudden upsurge in technology occurred all around the world about 2000 BC. No one has explained why.

•

Both Crete and Mohenjo-daro in Pakistan suffered cataclysms about 1450 BC. No one has explained the cause of these destructions.

•

The mighty kingdom of Assyria collapsed in mysterious circumstances. No one has explained what happened.

I find it odd that despite the rate of technological progress and the fantastic achievements in space exploration, our top scientists are still unable to explain all of the down-to-earth mysteries listed above. In complete contrast, the interventionist approach explains every single one of them, as part of a logical, comprehensive and fully integrated solution. As opposed to the scientists’ complex arguments and contrived theories, the interventionist position offers (by way of example) precise geographical relationships, supported by physical evidence — pyramids, platforms, a geological scar and blackened rocks — and all supported, in turn, by detailed textual evidence. In addition, the interventionist approach enables us to understand, from a scientific point of view, the many prehistoric accounts which have become enshrined in myth. Thus the apparent immortality of the gods can be explained by genetic science. The Garden of Eden incident and the cursing of the serpent can be seen as a bitter dispute between two gods. The Tower of Babel incident can be understood as a controversial attempt by a god to rebuild his pre-Flood city in Babylon. And the Exodus represents a carefully timed evacuation orchestrated by a disillusioned god. A by-product of this study is the identification of Nibiru, the “Planet of Crossing” that played a major role in the formation of the Solar System. The scientific recognition of this 21

planet allows us to solve the fundamental unanswered questions of the Solar System. Scientists are bitterly divided, indeed confused, on all of these points, hence the extremely contrived theories that currently prevail. As if this were not enough, the existence of a recurring cataclysmic cycle on Earth, caused by Nibiru, can explain not only how life began on Earth, but why it has also suffered a mysterious sequence of mass extinctions. The most recent such cataclysm was the Great Flood, an event that is so widely recorded in legend that its recognition has only been delayed by a lack of probable cause. Most men can seldom accept even the simplest and most obvious truth, if it be such as would oblige them to admit the falsity of conclusions which they have delighted in explaining to their colleagues. —Leo Tolstoy That cause can now be scientifically identified as Nibiru. This stark contrast between establishment confusion and interventionist solution is a sure sign that conventional studies of the Earth’s past have been based on an incorrect paradigm. Nevertheless, entrenched views are not easily dislodged. There exists in our universe an anomalous planet, known as “Nibiru,” that has a clockwise (as opposed to the usual counter-clockwise) extended elliptical orbit around our sun, and it enters our solar system once every 3600 years.1 About 450,000 years ago, Nibiru’s atmosphere began to deteriorate, and large quantities of powered gold for the reflection of heat were needed to correct the situation. Scouting explorations had indicated that plenty of gold existed on the planet Earth, and Anu, 1

For more information, see my book, Descended From The Gods, and the extensive works of Zecharia Sitchen.

the ruler of the Anunnaki people of Nibiru, ordered the mounting of a mining expedition. The leaders of this venture were all offspring of Anu — Enlil, Enki, and Ninharsag (who was also married to Enki). Arriving on Earth, the Anunnaki set up their first headquarters near the Persian Gulf in southern Mesopotamia, a place that came to be known as “Eridu” (“Home in Faraway Built”). Initially, Enlil was in charge of the 300 Anunnaki who stayed aboard spacecraft in orbit around the earth, Enki was in charge of the 600 Anunnaki who came down to Earth to work the mines, and Ninharsag was Enki’s chief medical officer. Work in the mines was backbreaking, and about 300,000 years ago the Anunnaki miners mutinied and refused to return to their jobs. Enki and Ninharsag, however, came up with a solution that involved genetic engineering. They combined the genes of the Anunnaki, with the genes of Homo Erectus, and created a “primitive worker” with sufficient intelligence and dexterity to take over the tasks in the mines and to follow the instructions of the Anunnaki. Homo Sapiens was the end product of this work. Homo Sapiens were created in the image and likeness of the Anunnaki, and it wasn’t long before the younger generation of Anunnaki males developed an interest in the females of the species. “The sons of [the] god[s] saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took of them wives of all which they chose. … When the sons of [the] God[s] came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old men of renown.” (Genesis 6:2– 6:4) The resulting offspring were, of course, demigods. The Anunnaki leadership was quite upset by this interbreeding because it resulted in the purity of the gods’ genes being diluted by imperfect human genes. 23

Chapter 3

The Original Space Facilities The whole of science consists of data that, at one time or another, were inexplicable. —Brendan O’Reagan Needless to say, it was vitally important to the Anunnaki that they be able to continue their travels back and forth between Earth and Nibiru, so their top priority was the building of space facilities. They had arrived on Earth in the midst of an ice age (ca. 445,000 BC), and construction work was extremely challenging due to the harsh climatic conditions. Before too long, however, the glacial period began to give way to a warmer and rainier climate. These climatic changes made the interior of the land more accessible, and the decision was made to establish the space facilities complex inland between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, an area that came to be known as “Eden” (“Home of the Righteous Ones”). Having selected the “Land Between the Rivers” as the region in which they would first begin their 25

colonizing efforts, the Anunnaki carefully surveyed the area, paying particular attention to the mountain ranges. These could present hazards during landings and the takeoffs of their rocket ships, but they could also serve as visual navigation landmarks. One mountain, the twin-peaked Mount Ararat to the north, clearly stood out as being the dominant landmark. The Anunnaki chose to use it as a focal point in their project planning. Additional natural landmarks that were clearly visible from the skies were the Persian Gulf and the Euphrates River. Drawing an imaginary line south from Mount Ararat, the Anunnaki determined that their Spaceport, Sippar (“Bird City”), would be located where that line intersected the Euphrates River. Then, at that location, they drew another imaginary line to the southeast diagonal, at a precise angle of forty-five degrees, to the Ararat meridian. This line delineated their Landing Path. They then laid out their first settlements so as to mark out a Landing Corridor on both sides of the path. In the center point, Nippur (“Crossing Place on Earth”) was established as Mission Control Center; all the other settlements were equidistant from it. Located precisely on the line of the Landing Path were the cities of Shurrupak, the Medical Center (“Place of the Utmost Well-Being”), Bad-Tibira, the smelting and refining center (“Bright Place Where the Ores Are Made Final”), and Larak (“Seeing the Bright Halo”). Marking the southwest line of the Landing Corridor were the cities of Larsa (“Seeing the Red Light”), and the pre-existing Eridu (“Home in Faraway Built”). Finally, marking the northeast line of the Landing Corridor was the city of Lagash (“Seeing the Halo at Six”). These eight cities, then, made up the core of the Anunnaki’s original space

facilities. The plan below helps to clarify their locations and their physical positioning relative to one another.

Plan — Original Anunnaki Landing Corridor We can now visualize how it would look to be aboard an Anunnaki spacecraft coming in for a landing at Sippar. On the left would be the Euphrates River and the mountainous plateau west of it. On the right would be the Tigris River and the Zagros mountain range to the east of it. If the craft were to approach Sippar at the easily set angle of 45 degrees to the Ararat meridian, its path would take it safely between the two hazardous areas. Moreover, coming in to land at such an angle, it would 27

cross in the south over the rocky tip of Arabia while at a high altitude, and start its glide over the waters of the Persian Gulf. Coming and going, the craft would have an unobstructed field of vision and of communication with Mission Control at Nippur.

Chapter 4

The Great Flood Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence. —John Adams For many millennia, the Anunnaki lived with, or at least alongside of, the humans that they had created. They did their thing, procreating, building monuments, and fighting wars with one another. However, about 50,000 BC, Enlil became disenchanted with the multitudes of the humans and all of the chaos, confusion, and noise they were making. He began to explore options for eliminating them entirely from the face of the earth. As it turned out, nature provided Enlil with the solution he was looking for. About 11,000 BC, the world experienced a significant increase in temperatures, especially in the Antarctic area. This temperature increase, the pressure of the ice mantle on the Antarctic 29

land, and possible volcanic activity resulted in the creation of a lubricating slurry between the Antarctic ice and its underlying land mass, thus setting up the likelihood of billions of tons of Antarctic ice sliding into the Antarctic Ocean, causing an enormous tsunami. While the humans didn’t know this, the Anunnaki did, and they also knew that the upcoming return of Niburu in its 3600-year orbit, with its gravitational pull, would make the possibility of this event almost a foregone conclusion. Enlil, desiring that all humans perish, instructed that they not be warned. Enki, however, not wanting his “Created Ones” to disappear, sought to find a genetically pure bloodline to which he could make “improvements,” and create at least one human that he could save from the Flood. His work resulted in the creation of Noah, a righteous man with a brilliant mind who was hypopigmented (thus allowing a greater range of color variation in his offspring). At the last possible moment, Enki informed Noah of the impending Deluge and gave him instructions for the building of a boat, aboard which Noah and his family

Mount Ararat could survive the catastrophe. Enki also had Noah take aboard the craft the “seed of life” (i.e., DNA) of “all living beings” so that they could be recreated after the Flood was over. Enki advised Noah that after the loading 30

and boarding of the ark, Noah himself was to await the appropriate signal before going aboard and battening down the hatches. That signal was to be the launching of “sky vehicles” from Sippar, the Spaceport of the Anunnaki, as the gods left Earth to save themselves. Shortly after Noah boarded the ark, violent windstorms from the south slammed into the region, followed by a great tsunami, also coming from the south. The torrential downpours that followed the tsunami lasted 40 days and the Earth was covered by water for 150 days before the water began to recede, leaving the Ark aground on 16,854-foot-tall Mount Ararat. All told, it was a year and ten days before Noah and the others were able to leave the Ark and set foot on the ground. They then built an altar and offered burnt sacrifices to the gods. When Enlil first arrived on the scene, he was outraged to discover that some humans had survived the Flood, but with Enki’s encouragement, he relented. Enlil then blessed Noah and his wife, bestowed on them immortality, and took them to reside in the abode of the Gods. He also permitted the remaining humans to procreate, encouraging them to “be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the Earth.” (Genesis 9:1) While it may have seemed to those in Mesopotamia that all living beings on the face of the Earth, other than those aboard Noah’s ark, perished in the Deluge, it would be highly unlikely for that to have truly been the case. Even though many cultures in many different places have legends about events that parallel those in the Mesopotamian region (including, even, tales of certain couples who escaped their destruction in special boats), and, while modern science confirms the mass extinction of many species of animals during that era, it is much more likely that the catastrophe was nearly global rather than fully global. At the very least, there 31

would have been some inhabited mountainous regions of sufficient elevation not to have been reached by the waters of the Great Flood, and any number of people, in addition to those aboard the Noah’s ark, survived. As soon as those who had been aboard the ark were able to take up residence on the land, Anu sent to them seeds from Niburu that could be cultivated for food. Enlil assisted the humans in learning successful agriculture, and Enki assisted them in learning successful domestication of animals. The early farming by humans, as confirmed by modern science, was limited to the mountainous regions east of Mesopotamia because it would be many, many years before the plains and valleys had dried sufficiently from the aftereffects of the Flood to make human habitation possible. Eventually, Noah’s three sons and their wives, from whom most all of today’s humans are said to be descended, set forth from the ark and went about their business of repopulating the Earth. As a result of Enki’s earlier genetic engineering work with Noah, each of these three would eventually father a line of humans, each with different characteristics, and each of those lines would initially settle in different areas. The black-skinned Ham’s descendents, Negroids, settled in Africa and parts of Arabia, and came to be identified as the Egyptians. The red-skinned Shem’s descendents, Mongoloids, settled in Mesopotamia and the Middle East, and came to be identified as the Atlanteans. The white-skinned Japeth’s descendants, Caucasoids, settled in Asia Minor, Iran, India, and Europe, and came to be identified as the Araratians. Acknowledging these three regions, the Anunnaki also established a fourth region that was “restricted.” Reserved for the gods alone, it was considered to be a “pure land,” and could be approached only with specific 32

authorization. This region (located in what is today known as the Sinai Peninsula) was named “Tilmun” (literally “The Place of the Missiles”), and it was the dedicated area where the Anunnaki had reestablished their spaceport after the previous one at Sippar had been destroyed by the Deluge.

Chapter 5

The Replacement Space Facilities Reason can answer questions, but imagination has to ask them. —Ralph W. Gerard The Great Flood essentially wiped out the original space facilities of the Anunnaki, and as soon as possible, they got to work building a new complex. Again choosing the twin peaks of Mount Ararat as a focal point, they drew to the southeast a line at a 45o angle to the 30th parallel north, and where this line intersected the 30th parallel, they determined to locate their spaceport, Tilmun (“Place of the Missiles”). This line delineated their planned Flight Path. Down through history, the 30th parallel has apparently had special spiritual significance. Not only was the spaceport located on the 30th parallel, so too were the Great Pyramids, the city of Heliopolis in Egypt, the city of Eridu in Iraq, the city of Persepolis 35

in Iran, the city of Harappa in Pakistan, and the city of Lhasa in Tibet. Moreover, the Great Sphinx of Giza is situated such that it gazes directly eastward along the 30th parallel toward the Tilmun spaceport. Having established the location of the Tilmun Spaceport in the Sinai, the Anunnaki also constructed their Mission Control Center on Mount Moriah (in present-day Jerusalem) precisely on the proposed Flight Path and equidistant from the Tilmun Spaceport and the Baalbek Landing Platform. To complete the space facilities, it was necessary to anchor the Landing

Mount St. Katherine Corridor. In the southern Sinai, Mount St. Katherine was a visible landmark, and a line drawn from Mount Ararat to there served well to define the southeastern edge of the triangular Landing Corridor. There were, however, no natural landmarks that could be similarly used to define its northwestern edge. Dealing with this issue, the Anunnaki drew an imaginary line from Mount Ararat through Baalbek and extended it into Egypt where it passed through the Giza Plateau at a distance from Baalbek equal to the distance from 36

Baalbek to Mount St. Katherine. It was here that they built the Great Pyramid as a mathematical reflection

Giza Pyramids of Mount St. Katherine, as well as a second pyramid, perhaps imitating the twin peaks of Mount Ararat. A third, smaller pyramid had been built first as a test

Plan — Replacement Anunnaki Landing Corridor 37

scale model. The Landing Corridor was then defined by the Mount Ararat – Mount St. Katherine line on the southeast, and the Mount Ararat – Giza line on the northwest. The plan below helps to clarify the layout. When the Anunnaki commenced their space facilities reconstruction project around 10,450 BC, there was still extant a pre-existing space-related monument that they could use as a starting point. This was the Landing Place at Baalbek — not a full-fledged spaceport, but nevertheless a place to land on. Baalbek was the only element of the original Anunnaki space facilities to have survived the Great Flood. There was every reason to include this place — a vast stone platform of massive construction — in the new space facilities, and it was located equidistant from Giza and Mount St. Katherine, as well as being equidistant from the Spaceport at Tilmun and Mission Control Center at Mount Moriah. When, exactly, the original Baalbek was built is uncertain, but many legends are associated with it and its megaliths. Local traditions held that the place had existed from the days of Adam and his sons, who resided in the area of the Cedar Mountains after Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden. Adam was said to have inhabited the place that is now Damascus, and died not far from there, and it was Cain, Adam’s son, who built a refuge upon the Cedar Crest. Other legends suggest that Baalbek was built by a race of giants that perished in the Great Flood. The Anunnaki have often been referred to as “giants” (this may be an issue of Biblical translation). It is not entirely clear as to whether this appellation refers to their physical stature or to their power status, or both, but all indications are that considerable construction work took place at Baalbek around 10,450 BC, contemporaneously with similar

work being done at Göbleki Tepe in Turkey and the Giza Plateau in Egypt. Baalbek figures centrally in the Epic of Gilgamesh, an Akkadian poem that is generally considered to be the first great work of literature. In the epic, Gilgamesh is a demigod king of superhuman strength who built the city walls of Uruk to defend his people, and then, about 2600 BC, set off on a journey to find the abode of the gods and to learn the secrets of immortality. The Cedar Mountains of Lebanon were one of his primary destinations. While he and his companion, Enkidu, were there, they witnessed what can best be described as the launching of a rocket ship. ~~~ There are many extraordinary parallels between the construction work at Baalbek and the construction work at Giza — so much so that the Romans named Baalbek “Heliopolis,” the same name as the area in which the Giza Pyramids were located. Giza has been much more thoroughly researched than either Göbleki Tepe or Baalbek, so I suggest that Giza research can appropriately be applied to Baalbek as well. As regards the dating of the Giza construction to 10,450 BC, in accordance with the thinking of the revisionist researchers, there are a number of elements of evidence that support their position. Among these are:

•

There was only one epoch when the symbolism of a leonine marker (the Great Sphinx, which was built at the same time as the pyramids) would have been appropriate. That would have been during the Age of Leo, from 10,970 BC to 8810 BC. During that age, on the vernal equinox, the sun rose against the stellar background of the constellation of the Lion at exactly that point on the horizon — due east — which was faced by the Sphinx.

The Great Sphinx

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Geological evidence, especially significant water erosion, indicates that the Sphinx was built when there was still heavy rainfall in the area, thousands of years before the construction date of 2500 BC given attribution by mainstream archaeologists.

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About 10,450 BC, the three stars of Orion’s belt reached the lowest point in their precessional cycle, and this event is reflected in the placement and size of the three major pyramids at Giza.

•

The stunning perfection of the construction of the Giza Pyramids would seem to indicate that they were the end product of hundreds, if not thousands, of years of accumulated architectural and engineering experience. They were, however, among the earliest pyramids built in Egypt, and later pyramids, those that were indeed built around 2500 BC were very poor quality imitations. This suggests that the existence of the pyramids can be attributed to a technologically advanced and highly skilled, but unacknowledged, “outside party,” presumably the Anunnaki.

If we accept the construction date as being about 10,450 BC, it pretty much follows that we must also accept the likelihood of the involvement of a technologically advanced civilization in the project. Earth-bound humans of that era simply did not have what it took to carry the enterprise through to completion. Of course they probably couldn’t have done so in 2500 BC either, and perhaps couldn’t even do so today. An overriding question in all of this, and one that has never been satisfactorily answered, is that of how the stones could have been transported and then lifted twenty or more feet into the air to be placed with machinelike precision into their appropriate positions in the structure. Scientists and archaeologist have proposed many methods based on ancient technologies, but most of these approaches were impractical or insufficient due to local circumstances or the enormous weight of the stones.

Chapter 6

How Did They Do It? The important thing is to not stop questioning. —Albert Einstein A long-standing question is that of how the builders of these edifices were able to do what it was that they did. Nobody really knows for certain. Probably the most important unknown is how they were able to move the megalithic stones from the quarry to the site, and then lift them into their positions in the structure. The methodologies by which the Romans built their temples at Baalbek — primarily Jupiter, Bacchus, and Venus — are generally well understood. They were pretty much the same methods as those used at many other monument sites throughout the Roman Empire. Most importantly, they used stones that were of a manageable size (100 tons or less) — stones that could be transported and lifted using the conventional technology of the time that was powered by beasts of burden (including humans). The really big questions 43

have to do with the handling of the really big stones — those that were on the order of 1000 tons or more and were incorporated into the underlying platform at Baalbek that was presumably built long before Roman times. The most well-known of these colossal stones were in a collection of three —precisely shaped and perfectly fitted, each being about 68 x 14 x 14 feet — that has come to be known as “The Trilithon.” The stones are laid end-to-end as part of the narrow wall on the western end of the complex, and are located atop an underpinning of large blocks about twenty feet above ground level. Below is one of the best-known images of The Trilithon, and the inclusion of the two men (in the center of the picture) establishes an appropriate sense of scale. The size, shape, and placement of the stones provide clear evidence of at least three different stages of construction. The bottom courses were the original

The Trilithon ones, the middle courses were presumably placed there by the Romans in the 100 BC to 100 AD era, and the top 44

courses can be attributed to the fortification work done by the Arabs in the seventh century AD. It is noteworthy that the stones of The Trilithon show no evidence of “gripping holes” that would have been necessary had these stones been lifted into place by cranes, as were the smaller stones. Also of special interest is that at least three megalithic stones, even larger than those in The Trilithon, were left behind in the quarry a half mile away and never transported to the site of the Temple Complex. The precision and accuracy with which the Baalbek platform and the Great Pyramids at Giza were built is truly astounding! Khufu’s Pyramid is exemplary. To begin with, its square base was fully horizontal and flat to within +/- 0.6 inches. Its sides were closely aligned to the four cardinal compass points (within 4 minutes of arc) based on true north, not magnetic north, and the finished base had a mean corner error of only 12 seconds of arc. The base perimeter of the Great Pyramid (3023 feet) bore the same relationship to its designed height (481 feet) as does the radius of any circle to its circumference. That relationship is 2 pi, and this is especially interesting since the mathematical value of pi (3.14) was not supposed to have been calculated by any civilization until the Greeks stumbled upon it in the third century BC. Additionally, a relationship in the scale of 1:43,200 existed between the dimensions of the pyramid and the dimensions of the earth. The 481-foot height of the pyramid multiplied by 43,200 results in a figure of 3935 miles, which is just 14 miles short of the polar radius of the earth (3949 miles). Likewise, the pyramid’s base perimeter of 3023 feet, multiplied by 43,200 yields a figure of 24,735 miles, just 167 miles short of the earth’s equatorial circumference. The number 43,200 has solid relevance and historical meaning. As a number, 45

432 (with or without additional zeros) seems to have considerable import in a variety of religious/spiritual contexts. One example is that 432,000 is the number of years in the Hindu Kali Yuga. Especially important, however, for our purposes, is the meaning that it had for the Sumerian gods, the Anunnaki. Their life expectancy was 120 of their home planet years (“sars”), and, since a sar was 3600 earth years, they could be expected to live 432,000 earth years. Moreover, the Anunnaki posited that 432,000 years had elapsed between their arrival on earth and the time of the “Great Flood” (ca. 10,500 BC). All researchers pretty much agree that the large stones could have been quarried and shaped manually. Copper tools would have been used on softer stone such as limestone, and dolerite hammerstones would have been used on harder stones such as granite (a very laborious and time-consuming process). Moreover, stones could have been split using water-soaked expanding wooden wedges or the heat from fires. It is with respect to the transportation and lifting of the stones that questions, speculations, and disagreements are rife. The most commonly held belief is that all of this was accomplished by sheer muscle power, enhanced by capstans, pulleys, rollers, and perhaps sleds. While records from Egypt and Mesopotamia indicate the successful use of these methods for transporting stones, the stones involved there were only 1/10th the size of the Baalbek stones, and contemporary research suggests that insufficient pulling power could have been developed to move 1000 ton stones. Moreover, those stones were moved along flat surfaces with wide movement paths, while the terrain at Baalbek was rough and winding. Additionally, dragging the stones over the ground from the quarry to the site would have necessitated the building of a road with a heavy-duty foundation, and no 46

trace whatsoever has ever been found of such a road. Others have suggested that the Anunnaki brought in massive equipment and then took it away with them after the project was completed, but no archaeological evidence has ever been found to support this theory. Still others have proposed the construction of a canal that could have been used to float stones to the site aboard large barges, but again no archaeological evidence has ever been found to support this position. Once at the site, lifting the stones into place presented a whole new set of challenges. The standard solution was to use a complex of scaffolding, ramps, pulleys, and cranes, but the terrain of Baalbek made such an approach impractical. No evidence has ever been found of a flat and structurally firm lifting base having been built (and then removed). Finding conventional means to have been impractical, we must, perforce, consider unconventional possibilities, and here things get really interesting. The potential unconventional methodologies are so arcane Any smoothly that it would appear that functioning technology some special occult power will have the was employed to quarry, appearance of magic. transport, and lift these —Arthur C. Clarke immense blocks. One possibility for consideration is that of acoustic levitation. This methodology is often referred to in the context of the building of the pyramids in Mesoamerica. In the 20th century, the use of acoustic levitation by Tibetan monks was well documented. Today, acoustic levitation is being developed and successfully experimented with in modern scientific laboratories. Along the same lines, another possibility meriting consideration is that of large-scale psychokinesis. Psychokinesis is not all that 47

an uncommon “paranormal” ability these days, and it could well have been taught to humans by the Anunnaki. ~~~ Because there was no generally accepted consensus as to how the stones had been moved from the quarry to the site, the solution was wide open to speculative possibilities. My friend and editor, Cornelia Keener, and I thought it would be an interesting challenge to try to come up with a methodology that had not been previously considered. She suggested that we look at ice. That sounded like a great idea until I went online and found that today’s Baalbek climate was far too warm for that to have been a viable option. Cornelia then suggested that I look at the climate in the 10,450 BC era. Bingo! Average mid-winter temperatures were at that time on the order of 0o Fahrenheit — as a result of a mini ice age known as the “Younger Dryas.” That was plenty cold enough to ensure significant icing for several months each year. Given dependable icing, transportation of the megaliths from the quarry to the site could have been done by way of an ice chute during the winter months. Such a chute could have been built of 6” thick stone in sections 20 feet long, 20 feet wide, and with sides 1-foot high. They would have weighed about 16 ½ tons each. The sections would not need to have been mortared together because when the chute was filled with water, ice would fill up the gaps. Below one end of the megalith in the quarry, the soil would have been excavated almost to the halfway point in the stone, and the end of the ice chute would have been placed underneath it along with a fulcrum. The other end of the stone could then have been raised with minimal effort (a simple crane), 48

and the entire megalith would have then been slid onto the chute. Movement within the chute would have been controlled by capstans or the sheer muscle power of beasts of burden (including humans). The megaliths were often positioned in the monument several feet above ground level, but direct heavy lifting at the site was not necessarily required. Simple ramping of the chute could have had the megalith arrive at the site at a height from which it could be slid directly onto its appointed place in the structure. Additional ice on the stones’ underpinnings in the building could have facilitated this process. After placement of the stone, the chute would have then been removed and repositioned

Megaliths Left In Quarry for placement of the next megalith. This would have been a laborious and very slow process, the movement and placement of a single stone requiring not just days or weeks, but often months. 49

The use of this methodology could explain why (almost) completed megaliths were left in the quarry rather than being transported to the site of the temple complex. Various researchers have proposed theories that range from structural defects, to war, to politics, to religion, but none of them has ever been confirmed. Our theory suggests that the cause may have been weather. Significant icing was necessary for this methodology to work. Such icing occurred in the area only during the Younger Dryas period, which ended abruptly about 9500 BC when things began warming up considerably. Without the ice, the methodology would no longer have worked, and there was then no practical way to move stones of that size from the quarry to the construction site.

Chapter 7

The Wars Of The Gods Once the Anunnaki had their needs vis-à-vis space facilities straightened out and things were back to a relative degree of normalcy, they returned to their “usual” way of doing things. They spent their time busily procreating, busily building monuments, and busily fighting wars with one another, commanding thousands of humans loyal to them. About 9200 BC, the Egyptian Sun God, Ra, divided the rulership of Egypt between the brothers Osiris and Seth who were sons of another Egyptian god, Geb. Seth, to whom Upper Egypt had been allotted, coveted Lower Egypt because of the presence there of the Giza Pyramids and the space facilities. Whoever controlled them was in a strong position to control the comings and goings between Earth and Nibiru. About 8770 BC, Seth murdered Osiris and began to rule all of Egypt, but about 300 years later, Horus, the son of Osiris, set out to avenge his father’s death and completely defeated Seth, thus becoming the ruler of all of Egypt. This was the 51

era of the First Pyramid War — a war that had its roots in the never-ending struggle for control of Earth and its space facilities. Seth was banished from Egypt and took up residence in the lands of Canaan to the east. In the absence of Seth, all of the Anunnaki space facilities came under the control of the Enki gods. This was a situation to which the Enlilites could not acquiesce, and about 8150 BC they launched the Second Pyramid War to recover their territory from the illegal occupiers. In the aftermath of years of bitter fighting, the gods gathered at Harsag, Ninharsag’s mountain abode in the Sinai, and she played the role of peacemaker. The first item of the agenda was the cessation of hostilities — peace on Earth — and Enlil readily agreed, on condition that the territorial disputes be brought to an end and the lands rightfully belonging to the Enlilites be returned. Enki agreed to cede forever these territories, however, in so ceding the Restricted Zone (the Sinai Peninsula with its Spaceport) and the Radiant Place (the site of Mission Control Center, the future Jerusalem) Enki had a firm condition. In return for granting Enlil and his offspring eternal rights to those lands and vital sites, the sovereignty of Enki and his descendants over the Giza complex had to be recognized for all time. Enlil agreed but not without a condition: those of Enki’s sons who had brought about the war and used the Great Pyramid for combat purposes must be barred from ruling over Giza, or over Lower Egypt. Enki then made his young son, Thoth, who was apparently acceptable to both sides, Lord of Giza and Lower Egypt. The period the Egyptians associated with the reign of Thoth was an era of peace among the gods, during which time the Anunnaki first and foremost established settlements

relating to the construction and the protection of the new space facilities. Much later, about 3450 BC, Marduk, son of Enki, decided he would extend his father’s privilege of a base in Mesopotamia, and chose Babylon (modern Baghdad) on the Euphrates River as his headquarters. It was constructed between the rebuilt Nippur (the preDiluvian Mission Control Center) and Sippar (the preDiluvian spaceport of the Anunnaki). Marduk had in mind a facility that served both functions — mission control and spaceport. He named the place, Bab-Ili (“Gateway of the Gods”) — a place from which the gods–especially those under his influence — could ascend and descend the heavens. Marduk ordered his slaves to build at Bab-Ili a “tower whose head shall reach the heavens — a launch tower.” This tower was a ziggurat that became known as “Etemananki.” With his own spaceport, Marduk could then challenge the Enlilite spaceport on the Sinai. Finding this to be unacceptable, Enlil ordered Marduk to stop the project peacefully, but when Marduk continued to build the launch tower of Babylon, Enlil ordered the destruction of the tower and much of the city surrounding it as well. Also, in order to prevent humans from conspiring to undertake additional such subversive projects, he ordered that their language be confused and that they be scattered far and wide. Marduk was then sent into exile from Mesopotamia. This series of events was referred to in the Bible as the “Tower of Babel” incident. In 2316 BC, a great military campaign was launched that united most of Mesopotamia. The tribes and cities surrounding the Jordan River plain continued to be subjugated by an Elamite king, and some years later, four of the southern kings revolted, refusing to pay the required tribute. In response, eight northern kings 53

launched a military campaign against them in a conflict that became known as “The War of the Kings.” Taking advantage of the chaos created by The War of the Kings, Marduk returned to the area and reestablished himself as the controlling power in Babylon. From there, he threatened not only the Enlilite space facilities and the Enlilite dominance on Earth, but also the rulership of Nibiru. With the support of Anu, Enlil made the decision to forfeit Earth to Marduk, but only after destroying the Tilmun Spaceport and the armies of Marduk’s son, at the southern end of the Dead Sea. In 2024 BC, Enlil’s son and his cohorts attacked the Enkiites with unconventional (nuclear) weapons. Five cities — Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboim, and Bela — were destroyed. As confirmed by archaeological evidence, the embankments of the southern portion of the Dead Sea, were destroyed and the waters of the Dead Sea filled the land below. But Babylon, where Marduk had declared his supremacy, was spared, and Enlil saw this as a fulfillment of a previous vision he had to the effect that the Enkiites would prevail over the Enlilites. This vision affected his future actions.

Nuclear Explosion 54

The nuking of the space facilities in the Sinai Peninsula was spectacularly destructive. The Place of Landing, the Spaceport itself, was annihilated; the Mount within which the controlling equipment was located was flattened; the launch platforms were completely destroyed; and the plain whose hard soil the spacecraft had used as runways was obliterated, with not a single tree left standing. After the explosion, a storm wind began blowing, carrying dust particles (technically called “Tephra” which is formed in the heat of volcanoes — but there are no volcanoes in the Sinai) eastward toward Sumer. These highly radioactive particles brought with them death and desolation from which there was no escaping, and the lands of Sumer became uninhabitable for several centuries to come.

Sinai Peninsula Scar 55

The explosion left behind millions upon millions of bits of burnt-through blackened rock that resulted in a black scar on the Sinai Peninsula so huge that its impact can only be seen on satellite images. It also left behind deposits of “desert glass” that is created by the fusing of sand into glass at extremely high temperatures.

Chapter 8

The Departure Of The Anunnaki If you wish to see the truth, then hold no opinions for or against anything. —Sengtsan The nuclear strikes killed many thousands, among them quite a few Anunnaki. Of the Anunnaki who survived, many decided to flee, and a number of them went off-planet, never to return again. Nevertheless, enough Anunnaki (and their hybrid offspring) remained on Earth to continue engaging in their ongoing power struggles. The period of 2000 BC to 200 BC was an era of widespread chaos and warfare. By the time it had ended, most of the cities of the ancient world had been razed to the ground. The humans didn’t need much help from the Anunnaki in accomplishing this — they were perfectly capable of creating widespread death and destruction all by themselves. Empires in the Middle 57

East rose and fell for no apparent reason, and advanced civilizations arose in the New World of the Americas, as if out of thin air. The presence of the gods was indicated by their technological interventions. Sometimes this is described in texts, such as the Ark of the Covenant in the Bible. Sometimes it appears in a physical form, such as the pyramids that still exist in Teotihuacan. Another physical indicator was the sheer scale of destruction in the ancient cities. Such destruction could not have been brought about using only fire, swords, bows, and arrows. About 1450 BC, a major catastrophe struck Crete and all of its cities were burned to the ground. The scale of destruction was so great that archaeologists have searched, but without success, for a powerful natural phenomenon as the cause. Alternative researchers have proposed that it was the result of a weapons strike, perhaps nuclear, by the Enlilite goddess, Inanna, against Enki, for whom Crete was believed to have been a fortified stronghold. Shortly thereafter, the cities of the Indus Valley in Pakistan, an area loyal to Inanna, suffered a similar fate. This is highly suggestive of a limited tactical retaliatory strike by Enki. The Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt in 1433 BC was facilitated by the god “Yahweh” (arguably “Enlil”). The Israelites were about to become embroiled in an allout war for the Nile delta, and Yahweh acted urgently to move them to the only available safe haven — the Sinai desert, an area that was generally considered off-limits, due to the lingering fear of radioactive contamination. Yahweh’s objective was to get the Israelites to embrace monotheism, and having them spend forty years of isolation in the desert served to buffer them from the polytheism of the Egyptians. The gods’ intervention once 58

again became obvious as a result of the technological aspects of the Exodus — the “pillar of fire” that led the Israelites, the smoke and fire of the landing on Mount Sinai, and the powerful communications device known as the Ark of the Covenant. During this time, Yahweh always relayed any instructions via the Ark of the Covenant, and any physical interventions were carried out on his behalf by divine emissaries — the socalled “angels” of the Bible. These angels assisted the Israelites, led by Joshua, in their partial conquest of the Canaanite lands, beginning with the defeat of Jericho in 1390 BC. The collapse of Jericho’s walls is an event now confirmed by archaeology, and may well be the result of another divine technology, which has been describe in non-technical language as a “trumpet blast.” The Babylonians continued their conquests and, in 597 BC, gained control over Jerusalem. The kings of Jerusalem became Babylonian appointees and the Israelite elite were exiled. This was followed in 586 BC by a major Jewish revolt, which was ruthlessly suppressed by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II. He burned Jerusalem’s temple, demolished its buildings and city walls, and carried off its treasures. In the meantime, Nebuchadnezzar brought the city of Babylon to new heights of grandeur, including its famous hanging gardens. One of the Israelites deported from Jerusalem to Babylon in 597 BC was a priest named Ezekiel — the same priest who had “visions” of a spacecraft. The highly technical descriptions provided by Ezekiel testify to the reality of his experiences. In 572 BC, Ezekiel was lifted up by the Lord’s “Spirit” and transported to a “temple.” A temple that exactly matches Ezekiel’s description does, in fact, exist at Chavin de Huantar in the Andes of Peru!

Around 200 BC, the planet Nibiru made another of its 3600-year returns into the heart of our Solar System — the most recent in the series that had occurred around 11,000, 7400 and 3800 BC. It is almost certain that remnants of Sumerian astronomical knowledge from 3600 years earlier survived, and in all probability Nibiru’s return was eagerly awaited, detected and carefully logged by Chinese and Babylonian astronomers. Nevertheless, no astronomical records of these sightings have ever been found — perhaps because they have never been properly translated, or perhaps because of a tremendous reluctance to acknowledge their scientific content. There is no reason to assume that Nibiru did not turn up on schedule. After all, the evidence indicates that it had been orbiting the Sun for 4 billion years, so it is unlikely to have missed its most recent rendezvous! In addition, two highly significant things did occur about 200 BC. The first occurred at the ceremonial centre of Chavin de Huantar, which had been constantly occupied since the aforementioned temple incident with Ezekiel nearly four hundred years earlier, but had gone into a steep decline. Meanwhile, a similar change occurred at Teotihuacan, Mexico, where the industrial activities came to a halt, and the “City of the Gods” became the city of men alone. About 200 BC, whoever had controlled Teotihuacan picked up and left, and the place became a Toltec city. There is an additional possibility that merits some consideration here. Given that dates are only approximate, and given the fairly broad window of time during which travel between Nibiru and Earth would have been feasible, the important date may not have been 200 BC, but rather 0 AD — the year of Jesus’ birth. His birth was not a conventional one; it was said to have been a virgin birth, one that was not the result of 60

human sexual intercourse. This suggests the possibility of genetic tinkering on the part of the Anunnaki (Jesus is often depicted as being fair complected with red hair), and this may have been one last genetic engineering project conducted by the gods. The “Star of Bethlehem,” which led the Magi to Bethlehem could well have been the planet Nibiru — the observation of which would certainly have been an unusual occurrence given the extended length of Nibiru’s 3600-year orbit. It is important to note that the return of Nibiru about 200 BC marked a unique moment in history, for it was the first occasion on which its orbit had coincided (approximately) with the end of a precessional age. Precession is another way that the Anunnaki had of marking time. Because of the Earth’s wobble, its orbit around the Sun is slightly retarded each year. This retardation or precession amounts to 1o every 72 years. To conform to the twelve-number composition of the Solar System, the Anunnaki invented the concept of the twelve houses of the zodiac, and allotted to each house 30o of arc, in consequence of which, the retardation per house added up to 2160 years. The birth of Jesus occurred about 2160 years after the return of Marduk to Babylon, and coincided with the beginning of the Age of Pisces. Noteworthy is that the precessional era of Pisces, symbolized by the zodiac depiction of fishes, matches the era of Christianity and its almost identical symbol of fishes. Might this symbolic event account for the apparent absence of the gods ever since? Oh yes, there may have been bright lights, visions and miracles, etc., but there has been nothing to compare with the direct personal presence of the gods which mankind experienced for nigh on to 200,000 years. Might the chief god Anu have taken this opportunity to impose a truce on the 61

warring gods on Earth? Might the Anunnaki have declared a “hands-off” period relative to intervention in the affairs of humans? It would appear that the gods did, in fact, make a conscious decision to withdraw and leave humans to their own devices. Did they return to Nibiru; did they go elsewhere; did they enter a reclusive period on Earth? Wherever they went, we should not assume that they are in permanent retirement. Quite the contrary, because the activities of the gods have been driven, ever since the Great Flood, by periods of Lordship determined by the 2160-year divisions of the precessional cycle. Looking at precessional cycles, if we count 2160 years from the time of Jesus, we arrive at the middle of the 21st century for the beginning of the new age (“The Dawning of the Age of Aquarius”), but this chronology is not based on a reliable starting point. Interestingly, however, the ancient Maya in Mesoamerica, working from an entirely different calendrical system, predicted the arrival of the new age on December 21, 2013 AD. All indications are that most of the Anunnaki left Earth about 200 BC. Perhaps they no longer needed the Earth’s gold; perhaps they had accomplished all that they had intended to accomplish; perhaps they had decided that humans had become so difficult that they were no longer worth dealing with; perhaps they simply got homesick. Whatever the reason for their departure, they left behind them a human species that had been profoundly changed by their presence.

Chapter 9

The Gods Who Remained It is one thing not to see the forest for the trees, but then to deny the reality of the forest is a more serious matter. —Paul Weiss Despite the significant reduction in their numbers, the Anunnaki continued to maintain a strong influence over the affairs of humans. If, in fact, there has been a 2160-year “hands-off” policy that will end around the middle of the 21st century, they are likely to significantly increase their presence and influence shortly. If they move to reassume control over the Earth, how might we expect them to go about it? Would they come en masse in fleets of flying saucers, or would they announce themselves via Reuters? Also, how could they prove themselves to a skeptical public, given that anyone could turn up claiming to be Jesus, or Yahweh, or whomever? There might, in fact, be little advantage to the gods’ immediately announcing themselves to the masses. 63

Confirmation of the existence of the Anunnaki, either in the past or especially in the present, might well have profound implications, both psychological and sociological, for the lay public. Many of us would be likely to be quite distraught if we were to discover that one of our most cherished beliefs — that we are at the “top of the heap,” socially, intellectually, technologically, etc. — is in error. The stress of this awareness would probably be compounded many fold were it to become known that another civilization was sufficiently more advanced to be able, as they chose, to use us as experimental subjects in their genetic engineering experiments. Anthropological studies provide many examples of societies, American Indians, for example, sure of their place in the universe, that have disintegrated when they had to associate with other, more advanced societies that espoused different ideas and different ways of life. Those societies that survived such an experience usually did so by paying the price of changes in values, attitudes, and behaviors. A 1960 report by the Brookings Institute think tank, entitled Proposed Studies on the Implications of Peaceful Space Activities for Human Affairs, addressed some of the issues that might arise as a result of the discovery of Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence. The study suggested a need for decision-makers and discovering scientists to carefully investigate the possible social consequences of such an ETI discovery. It further suggested the need to consider whether such a discovery should be kept from the public so as to avoid destabilizing political change and a possible “devastating” effect on scientists themselves, as a result of the revelation that many of their most ingrained theories could be mistaken. News of the Anunnaki’s return might be disseminated on a need-to-know basis, with only a few world leaders 64

permitted to approach them. Life might appear to carry on as normal, but with a new political agenda. We might detect their presence in inexplicable events, changes in government policy or acts of war that don’t quite make sense, and perhaps an increase in government secrecy. Eventually, these covert operations might give way to an openly declared presence, but only when the time is right. There might well be a manipulation of events that would facilitate a handover of sovereignty to the gods. The Anunnaki’s agenda could best be achieved by bringing the Earth to a crisis point from which the gods themselves would emerge as saviors. We might thus expect a breakdown of the social order and a widespread disillusionment with mankind’s existing institutions governments, religions, and industry. Then, when the masses are frustrated, frightened, desperate, and vulnerable, they would rally to the cry of a New World Order under the gods. The departure of the gods from the physical realm of humans does not necessarily mean that they departed from humans’ psycho-spiritual realm as well. Humans bred by the Anunnaki to serve them, to listen to them, and to obey them. We were their slaves and their cannon fodder, so it is unlikely that they would treat us with benevolence. Such a history, with its accompanying training has long lasting implications — especially if it has been hard-wired into our neurology. It is quite likely that the Anunnaki, in their genetic engineering work, modified the neurology of humans as well as their physiology, and that one of their objectives may have been to make humans more receptive to communications from the gods. Contemporary neurological research provides some hints as to how this might have been accomplished. In the majority of humans, there are two primary speech 65

areas in the brain, both of which are located in the left hemisphere: (1) Broca’s area, primarily responsible for the production of speech, is located in the left frontal lobe, and (2) Wernicke’s area, primarily responsible for the comprehension of language, is located in the left temporal lobe. The corresponding areas of the right hemisphere did not develop as auxiliary speech areas, the reason perhaps being that human language was intentionally restricted to only one hemisphere so as to leave the other hemisphere free to handle the voices of the gods. Those voices were psychically imparted to the right hemisphere of humans’ brains and were then carried over to the left hemisphere from where they were perceived as being internally generated. In essence then, the gods were, and perhaps still are, experienced by humans as being a part of themselves, and the voices of the gods could be absolutely compelling even when the gods were not physically present. In all likelihood, the primary agenda of the Anunnaki and their hybrid offspring still has to do with controlling the world and subjugating the human race. This can best be done by infiltrating the human power structures that are already in place. Some conspiracy theorists suggest that the Anunnaki and the Illuminati are essentially one and the same. The Illuminati are said to be a large collection of secret societies dedicated to bringing about a New World Order, presumably dominated by the Anunnaki. Primary groups within the Illuminati are thought to be the Bilderbergers, the Trilateral Commission, and the Council of Foreign Relations, with the United Nations functioning as their World Police. Many people believe that certain familial bloodlines, generally 13 in number, all of whom are super-wealthy, form the underpinnings for the Illuminati.

The Anunnaki/Illuminati control religion, education, entertainment, politics, business, and finance. Through their children, they own all the international banks, the oil businesses, the most powerful corporations of industry and trade, and they infiltrate and control world politics. It is by their control of the world of finance that they most effectively pursue their objective of destabilizing human society. They work to eliminate the middle class, to make the rich richer, and to make the poor poorer — thus leading to wars, conflicts, factions, religions, racial hatred, national boundaries, and class systems. The resulting divisiveness creates an environment in which they might be perceived as “saviors,” thus furthering their opportunities to create a New World Order. Of course the question of “What is to be done?” arises here and I must admit that I don’t have the foggiest idea as to what the answer might be. All I can say is that I believe it to be important that we all have at least some idea of what might be going on so that we are not taken completely unaware. A quote that applies is: Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge. —Charles Darwin

Chapter 10

Baalbek Today Curiosity has its own reason for existence. —Albert Einstein Lebanon, within which Baalbek is located in its eastern mountainous region, is bordered by Syria to the north and east, and by Israel to the south. Lebanon’s location at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian hinterland has dictated its rich history and shaped a cultural identity of religious and ethnic diversity. Lebanon is a parliamentary democracy that operates within a system known as “confessionalism.” This system is intended to deter sectarian conflict, and attempts to fairly represent in government the demographic distribution of the 18 recognized religious groups — 4 Muslim, 12 Christian, 1 Druze, and 1 Jewish. High-ranking offices are reserved for members of specific religious sects. The President, for example, must be a Maronite Christian; the Prime Minister must 69

be a Sunni Muslim; the speaker of the Parliament must be a Shi’a Muslim, the Deputy Prime Minister and the Deputy Speaker of Parliament must be Eastern Orthodox. In 1975, following increasing sectarian tensions, a full-scale civil war broke out in Lebanon. The Lebanese Civil War pitted a coalition of Christian groups against the joint forces of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and left wing Druze and Muslim militias. In June of 1976, Syria sent in its own troops, ostensibly to restore peace. In October of 1976, the Arab League agreed to establish a predominately Syrian Arab Deterrent Force, which was charged with restoring calm. In 1982, PLO attacks from Lebanon on Israel led to an Israeli invasion. A multinational force was deployed to Beirut to supervise the evacuation of the PLO, but was withdrawn in the spring of 1984 following a devastating bombing attack in Beirut in the fall of the previous year. The war, which resulted in massive loss of human life and property and devastated the country’s economy, ended in late 1990 after sixteen years of fighting. Before the war, Lebanon experienced a period of relative calm and renowned prosperity, driven by tourism, agriculture, commerce, and banking. Because of its financial power and diversity in its heyday, Lebanon was compared to Switzerland, and its capitol, Beirut, attracted so many tourists that it was known as “the Paris of the Middle East.” The war changed all of that despite extensive efforts to revive the economy and rebuild the national infrastructure. In 2000, Israel withdrew its forces from southern Lebanon. Numerous political assassinations occurred in the early 2000s, leading to the “Cedar Revolution,” a series of demonstrations that demanded the withdrawal of Syrian troops and the establishment of an international 70

commission to investigate the assassinations. Under pressure from the West, Syrian troops began withdrawing, and by April 26, 2005, all of its soldiers had returned to Syria. On July 12, 2006, Hezbollah launched a series of rocket attacks and raids into Israeli territory where they killed three Israeli soldiers and captured another two. Israel responded with airstrikes and artillery fire on targets in Lebanon, and initiated a ground invasion of southern Lebanon, resulting in the 2006 Lebanon War which lasted only a month, but severely damaged the country’s fragile economy, especially its tourism sector. Between 2006 and 2008, many small-scale conflicts occurred between pro-government and opposition militias. The signing of the Doha Agreement on May 21, 2008 ended the fighting and established a national unity government in which veto powers were granted to the opposition. In early January 2011, the national unity government collapsed due to growing sectarian tensions. In 2012, the Syrian civil war threatened to spill over into Lebanon, causing more incidents of sectarian violence and armed clashes between Sunnis and Alawites in Tripoli. This had a considerable negative impact on Lebanon’s tourist industry. On August 4, 2006, during the 2006 Lebanon War, Israeli helicopter-borne soldiers, supported by bombs from aircraft, entered the Shi’ite Islamic Hospital in Baalbek. Their stated goal was to capture senior members of Hezbollah who were considered to be responsible for the earlier kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers. The fighting caused minor damage to the hospital. Several gunmen were killed, and weapons and ammunitions were seized from inside the hospital building. No patients were hospitalized at the time.

Reportedly, during the conflict, vibrations caused by bombs damaged some of the Baalbek ruins. Fighting in the area continues to the present with frequent clashes between Syrian militants, Lebanese Sunni, and the Shi’ite group Hezbollah. Because of the hazardous conditions that exist there, the British government has advised against all travel to the Baalbek area, yet archaeologists, ever curious, have managed to find their way back in during periods of relative calm in the fighting. Their most impressive find (discovered in the summer of 2014 and announced in December) is the world’s largest cut stone to date — a megalith measuring 64’ x 20’ x 18’, and estimated to weigh an impressive 1650 tons. This stone was buried underneath the 1000 ton “Stone of the Pregnant Woman,” a block that had been a significant tourist attraction for many years. Baalbek has historically been one of the pillars of Lebanese tourism and, since 1956, has hosted the well-known Baalbek International Festival, which has attracted audiences of thousands. This performing arts festival focuses on the role of Lebanon in the historical development of culture and civilization. The fighting in nearby Syria has significantly curtailed attendance at the festival, but the show continues to go on each year. As of this writing, the most significant threat to peace in the area is the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), an Islamic extremist terrorist group, controlling territory in Iraq and Syria, with limited territorial control in Libya and Nigeria. ISIS is currently poised to overrun the Baalbek region, and perhaps much of the rest of Lebanon as well, especially the mountainous region in the east.

Sources Page # Introduction v

Chapter 1 13

Chapter 2 17

Subject Matter: Source(s) Foremost among the alternative researchers is Zecharia Sitchin …/ Sitchin, 1980

Heliopolis remained the most holy of temple structures…/ Sitchin, 1980

That the Baalbek platform could have been built about 10,450 BC …/ Sitchin, 1980

In a nutshell, about 445,000 BP, a race of advanced beings …/ Sitchin, 1976

There exists in our universe an anomalous planet …/ Sitchin, 1976

They combined the genes of the Anunnaki with the genes of Homo Erectus …/ Sitchin, 1976

Chapter 4 30

Chapter 5 35

At the last possible moment, Enki informed Noah of the impending deluge./ Ritchey, 2014

The Great Flood essentially wiped out the original space facilities of the Anunnaki …/ Ritchey, 2016

It was here that they built the Great Pyramid …/ Ritchey, 2016

As regards the dating of the Giza construction to 10,450 BC …/ Ritchey, 2014

Chapter 7 51

About 9200 BC, the Egyptian god, Ra divided the rulership of Egypt between the brothers Osiris and Seth …/ Sitchin, 1985 Much later, about 3450 BC, Marduk decided he would extend his father’s privilege of a base in Mesopotamia …/ Sitchin, 1985

Chapter 9 64

A 1960 report by the Brookings Institute think tank …/ Ritchey, 2014 Contemporary neurological research provides some hints …/ Ritchey, 2014

Selected Bibliography Alford, Alan. 2001. Gods of the New Millennium. London. Arnold. Alouf, Michel M. 1999. History of Baalbek. Escondido, CA. Book Tree. Childress, David Hatcher. 2013. Technology of the Gods. Kempton, IL. Adventures Unlimited. Clark, Gerald. 2013. The Anunnaki of Nibiru. CreateSpace. Collins, Andrew. 2014. Göbleki Tepe: Genesis of the Gods. Rochester, VT. Bear & Co. Coppens, Philip. 2012. The Ancient Alien Question. Pompton Plains, NJ. New Page. Ritchey, David. 2014. Descended From The Gods? Terra Alta, WV. Headline. 2016. Pyramidal Mystique. Terra Alta, WV. Headline. Sitchin, Zecharia. 1976. The 12th Planet. New York. Avon. . 1980. The Stairway to Heaven. New York. Avon. . 1985. The Wars of Gods and Men. New York. Avon.

Index A Anu 22, 23, 32, 54, 61 Anunnaki 4, 18, 23, 25, 26, 27, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 35, 36, 37, 38, 41, 46, 47, 48, 51, 52, 53, 57, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 73, 74, 76, 87 Ark of the Covenant 58, 59 B Baalbek 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 36, 37, 38, 39, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 69, 71, 72, 73, 76 Babylon 21, 53, 54, 55, 59, 61 C Christianity 13, 14, 61, 69, 70 E Enki 23, 30, 31, 32, 52, 53, 58, 74 Enlil 23, 29, 30, 31, 32, 52, 53, 54, 55, 58 Exodus 21, 58, 59

G Giza 19, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 45, 51, 52, 74 gods 18, 21, 23, 31, 32, 39, 46, 52, 53, 58, 61, 62, 63, 65, 66 Great Flood 4, 17, 22, 29, 32, 35, 38, 46, 62, 74 Great Pyramid 19, 37, 45, 52, 74 Great Sphinx 36, 40 H Heliopolis 8, 9, 13, 14, 35, 39, 73 I Illuminati 66, 67 M Marduk 6, 53, 54, 55, 61, 74 Mount Ararat 26, 30, 31, 35, 36, 37, 38 Mount Moriah 36, 38 Mount St. Katherine 36, 37, 38

N New World Order 65, 66, 67, 77 Niburu 30, 32 Ninharsag 23, 52 Noah 30, 31, 32, 74 R Roman 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 43, 44 S Sinai 33, 36, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 58, 59 Sitchin, Zecharia 5, 73, 74, 76 T Temple of Bacchus 5, 9, 10, 11, 12 Temple of Jupiter 5, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14 Temple of Venus 5, 13 Tilmun 33, 35, 36, 38, 54 trilithon 9, 11

Books By David Ritchey The H.I.S.S. of the A.S.P. (2003) More than five million Americans are “Anomalously Sensitive Persons (ASPs).” An Anomalously Sensitive Person exhibits uncommonly high levels of sensitivity, not only in the emotional realm, but also in the physiological, cognitive, altered states of consciousness, and transpersonal (“metaphysical,”) realms as well. The sensitivities of an ASP can manifest in many different ways: in the physiological realm as immune/auto-immune disorders or heightened sensory awareness; in the cognitive realm as learning disorders or genius; in the emotional realm as emotional disorders or heightened intrapersonal and interpersonal attunement; in the altered states of consciousness realm as dissociative disorders or creativity; and in the transpersonal realm as extra-sensory perception (ESP), psychokinesis (PK), out-of-body experiences (OOBE), trance channeling, or Kundalini arousal. The traits of the ASP, which originate in the structure and chemistry of the brain, have important psychological, medical, educational, and social implications. While persons who are unusually sensitive may have a variety of psychological and physiological problems, including decreased life expectancy, simplistic attempts to “correct” this condition may be at the expense of undermining potential extraordinary abilities. Drawing on vivid case histories and concrete data generated by testing hundreds of people with an innovative questionnaire, David Ritchey investigates 79

the links between a person’s sensitivities and a host of other factors related to biology (“nature”), history (“nurture”) and temperament (“personality”). This persuasive work, on the leading edge in the field of transpersonal psychology, carries the reader to the frontiers of higher consciousness and human potential. It is a thought-provoking, life-changing book that has profound significance for the ultimate comprehension of the nature of the human spirit. The Magic of Digital Fine Art Photography (2010) This book is a collection of fine art photographs created by David. One definition of fine art is “a visual art considered to have been created primarily for aesthetic purposes and judged for its beauty and meaningfulness.” The word “fine” does not so much denote the quality of the artwork in question as it does the purity of the discipline. Fine art photography refers to photographs that are created to fulfill the creative vision of the photographer, that is, to express her/his artistic perceptions and emotions, and to share them with others. Fine art photography stands in contrast to photojournalism, commercial photography, and snapshots.

26 Card Tricks (2011)

Do you already know something about card magic? Would you like to learn more? Do you want to add some new card tricks with a standard deck to your repertoire? If so, this is the book for you. Writing specifically for the intermediate level magician, David Ritchey presents 26 Card Tricks in clear, precise, easy-to-follow detail. He also provides refreshers for the techniques required to perform all of those tricks, and offers suggestions for creating routines by combining some of the tricks. Something About SCRABBLE™ (2011) There’s something about SCRABBLE™ that is almost addictive. Perhaps it’s the fact that the game combines just the right amount of luck with just the right amount of skill. This book is written for the average-level living room player who generally scores about 250 points per game, and who would like to become a strong living room player (or a competent club player) with an average score of 300 - 350 points per game. Written with a minimalist approach, the book includes only those concepts and word lists that are absolutely mandatory for excelling. Minimalizing further, a pullout “crib-sheet” is included.

Why We Are Fascinated by Dogs (2012) This is a book written by one dog lover for all other dog lovers. Its objective is to offer interest and pleasure to those who already “know” what is so about dogs, not to convince scientists or skeptics about anything. Most people, when they interact with dogs, do so as if dogs have consciousness, and deal with the world in much the same way that humans, at least small children, do. Many anthropomorphizing dog lovers believe that their dog thinks of her/himself as being human. From the dog’s perspective however, humans are probably considered to be strange looking elongated dogs who walk upright rather than on four paws — that is “cynomorphizing,” from the Greek root “cyno,” which means “dog.” Moreover, dogs probably believe that humans are not very bright “dogs,” because they don’t engage in, or respond to, the full spectrum of canine behaviors. Nevertheless, humans act enough like dogs that dogs believe they can get along with humans by assuming that humans will generally react and respond much like dogs. Without anthropomorphism on humans’ parts and without cynomorphism on dogs’ parts, it is unlikely that dogs would have ever been domesticated, and come to live with, work with, and serve as companions to humans. The underlying theme of the book is that dogs are wonderful, loving, social beings who are conscious, intelligent, and capable of exhibiting extraordinary abilities — much like the best of human beings. It is full of fascinating anecdotes that serve to enhance our 82

love and admiration for our canine companions. It also provides guidance on how to select the breed of dog that is most compatible with your personality. A Sense of Betrayal (2012) The war in Vietnam was characterized by lies, deceits, manipulations, and betrayals of “what’s right,” perpetrated by our allies, by our military, and by our government. Perhaps that has been the case in all wars, but the advances in communication and reportage in Vietnam were such that much of this was quickly brought into the public eye. Our citizens’ faith in our military and government, and in the competence and honesty of our leaders, was significantly undermined. The American populace developed a high degree of suspicion and distrust toward authority of any kind — a situation that continues to this day. David Ritchey spent a year as a young naval officer in Vietnam and was frequently a first-hand observer of the ubiquitous corruption — not just on the part of the Vietnamese, but on the part of the Americans as well. Because senior officials set their sights on their own power, prestige, position, and pelf (money), the lives of many young Americans were needlessly sacrificed. In this book, Ritchey writes about the Kafkaesque nature of his own experiences, and vividly illustrates how the dynamics of war can shake anyone’s faith in civilization and civilized man.

Reviewing The Montauk Legend (2013) Fact can be stranger than fiction because fiction needs to stay within the realm of what is possible; fact does not. The Montauk Legend, which has to do with UFOs, invisibility, time travel, teleportation, mind control, weather control, conspiracies, and other similarly esoteric subjects, is sufficiently bizarre that it seems to lie outside the realm of possibilities, and therefore it just might be fact. Reasoning of that sort, however, would certainly not satisfy anyone with skeptical inclinations. David Ritchey was sufficiently curious that he decided to dig deeper in an attempt to determine which elements, if any, were based in fact. He enlisted the assistance of a psychic colleague who knew absolutely nothing about the Legend, and worked with her to find out what she was able to determine about what “really” happened, using her special gifts. He reasoned that, while psychic readings can hardly be considered the best source of factual data, if the readings were to dovetail closely with what was in the literature, that might go a long way toward establishing credibility. The results of their inquiries were quite startling, and make for fascinating reading.

Presidents In The Crosshairs (2013) Being President of the United States can be hazardous to one’s health and longevity. Of the 44 Presidents that have served this country, 4 have been shot and killed while in office — that’s one in eleven. By way of comparison, of the 2,709,918 Americans who served in uniform in Vietnam, 47,424 were killed in combat — that’s one in 57. These numbers suggest, then, that an individual is approximately five times more likely to be violently killed as President of the United States than as a member of the U.S. military serving in a war zone. Clearly, protection of the President has been a monumental challenge. Those Presidents who have been shot and killed by assassins are: Abraham Lincoln on April 14, 1865, James A. Garfield on July 2, 1881, William McKinley on September 6, 1901, and John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. Those Presidents who have been shot and wounded by would-be assassins are: Theodore Roosevelt on October 14, 1912, and Ronald W. Reagan on March 30, 1981. A chapter of this book is devoted to each of these shootings, and a final chapter provides a broad overview of presidential protection.

Understanding the Anomalously Sensitive Person (2014) “Anomalously” means “unusually,” and anything or anyone who is “unusual” is “different.” Human nature being what it is, those who are different are likely to be marginalized, and the use of the term “weird” serves the purposes of marginalization quite well. Not only are Anomalously Sensitive Persons different in having heightened levels of sensitivities, they are also likely to be different in purely objective criteria — such things as hypopigmentation, Non-Right-Handedness, and having been born as one of a multiple birth. Their differences are such however, that once they have mastered the challenges of being different, they are positioned to move on to become modern day shamans who help others to understand, and to live within the framework of a life-enhancing world view that, in early times, was known as “wyrd.” All of this is covered in the book.

Descended from the Gods? (2014) In his quest to comprehend the early origins of “Anomalously Sensitive Persons (ASPs)” — those who are unusually sensitive in a variety of realms, David Ritchey found that the theory of creationism and the theory of evolution both had serious shortcomings. He decided therefore, to pursue his inquiry from the perspective of the theory of interventionism, which is grounded in the history of civilization as espoused by the ancient Sumerians. His findings suggest that about 450,000 years ago, a group of advanced beings (who the Sumerians called the “Anunnaki”) arrived on Earth and intervened in the development of humans by undertaking an ongoing series of genetic experiments using humans as subjects. This book follows the history of those experiments and suggests that today’s ASPs are direct descendants of the Anunnaki’s test subjects.

Those Who Know The Wyrd (2014) In this book, the author suggests that given the current state of the world, the survival of humanity may well depend on our adopting the worldview of wyrd that was central to the practices of the early Anglo-Saxon shamans. The “modern” worldview — based on anthropocentrism, humanism, rationalism, mechanism, and materialism — authorizes and even encourages, aggression, exploitation, and destruction. This has led to a situation in which the state of the world reflects the state of our minds, in which the conflict without mirrors the conflict within, in which the external chaos echoes the internal chaos. The worldview of wyrd, on the other hand, is based on the premises that: all things and all events are intimately interconnected on all levels of reality; objects perceptible to human senses are nothing more than local manifestations of larger energy patterns; that which is imperceptible to human senses is as important as that which is perceptible; any event, anywhere, affects everything else, everywhere; everything, everywhere, is alive — that is, consciousness is all-pervasive; body, mind and spirit are all one; and the entire universe is sacred and has purpose and meaning. While few are born with the sensitivities necessary to be true shamans, many more might be willing to adopt the shamanic worldview of wyrd if they are shown the way. Today’s neo-shamans can be their guides. Instead of separation, conflict, alienation, and chaos, the human experience could be one of unity, harmony, cooperation, order, meaning, purpose, and value. 88

Tales From the Depths (2014) Most people are unable to comprehend the enormous magnitude of the Great Lakes, thinking of them as “just lakes.” That they are not. They are more appropriately thought of as “inland seas.” Collectively, they cover an area of approximately 800 miles from east to west and 500 miles north to south; they contain 21% of the world’s surface fresh water. Storms on the Great Lakes are every bit as powerful as storms on the world’s oceans. Storms with winds up to 60 miles per hour and waves up to20 feet in height are not uncommon. Unlike on the oceans, however, mariners on the Great Lakes have little room in which to maneuver, and shipwrecks have been a common occurrence. Most people also have no idea of the frequency of shipwrecks on the Great Lakes, estimating them at 100 - 500 over the years rather than the actual number of 6000+ with the loss of 30,000+ lives. This book puts those numbers into perspective and provides an up-close and in-depth account of eleven of those wrecks.

On Conflict (2015)

The existence of conflict is an ongoing part of the human condition. Different people have different wants and needs, and as a result they frequently find themselves at odds with one another. Instances of conflict can be resolved peacefully, often with constructive results, or they can escalate into aggression and violence, generally with destructive results. In the chapters of this book, we will look at how conflict generally manifests in the different stages (age groups) of a person’s life. It must be remembered, however, that the “boundaries” for the groups are not fixed, and that a given individual might well function in a manner that is reflective of an older or younger age group. In the final chapter we will discuss the currently declining rates of conflict and efforts being made to continue that trend.

Keep The Colors Flying (2015) Many people have difficulty comprehending the enormity of America’s Great Lakes, and are surprised to learn that the U.S. Navy ever operated on them “because they are, after all, just lakes.” In order to correct this misconception, this book speaks of the Great Lakes, along with Lake Champlain, as “America’s Inland Seas.” While a significant naval presence on these bodies of water was relatively short-lived — from the beginning of the American Revolutionary War in 1775 to the end of the War of 1812 in 1815 — several noteworthy naval battles took place there. A number of U.S. Naval heroes were recognized as a result of those actions. Among them was Benedict Arnold (yes, that Benedict Arnold) on Lake Champlain during the Revolutionary War. Thomas Macdonough on Lake Champlain during the War of 1812, and Oliver Hazard Perry on Lake Erie during the War of 1812. The focus of the main text is on the battles, and appendices provide insight into the people, places, and ships involved.

The Deadliest Pandemic (2015) The 1918 avian influenza pandemic has been called “the greatest medical holocaust in history.” In a few short months, it killed 50–100 million people. It had a very high mortality rate, in excess of 2%, whereas annual flu epidemics, which kill 250– 500 thousand people each year, have a mortality rate of about 0.1%. The 1918 flu pandemic killed more people in a year than the Black Death of the Middle Ages killed in a century; it killed more people in 25 weeks than HIV/AIDS killed in 25 years. A new strain of flu, labeled “H5N1,” has emerged in recent years. H5N1 is good at killing — having a mortality rate in excess of 50% — but it is not yet good at spreading. Given that this virus is at least 10–20 times more deadly than the 1918 strain, if it mutates to the point of becoming equally contagious, it could then rival the ferocity of some strains of Ebola, and be as contagious as the common cold. That being the case, evidence suggests that at a minimum it would kill 500 million people, or 7% of the world’s population.

Locked and Loaded (2015)

When it comes to deaths by firearms, the United States can be likened to a veritable slaughterhouse. As compared to seven other developed countries with a collective population that is roughly the same as that of the U.S., total deaths by firearms in a representative year has been approximately 12 times higher in the U.S. than in those countries — with about 32,774 people dying in the U.S., as compared to 2,689 dying in the other countries. Gun control advocates suggest that this is primarily as a result of the high prevalence of firearms in the United States, which is seven times more per 100,000 residents than it is, on average, in the comparison countries, and that the relative lack of gun control in the U.S. is a strongly exacerbating factor. Gun rights advocates, on the other hand, suggest that “the right to keep and bear arms,” as specified in the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, is of paramount importance, and that firearms deaths would actually be reduced if more American civilians were encouraged to carry guns. This book explores these issues and more.

From Aardvarks to Zyzzyvas (2016) Word games can be beneficial to us in a number of ways. Perhaps their greatest benefit is that they promote social interactions and increase time spend involved with family and friends. For children, especially, playing word games with others provides a simple, stress-free way of enhancing their emotional, intellectual, and social skills, and helps to build their selfesteem while they engage with people in a positive way. Word games are also an absorbing way to spend our solitary time, and while they are generally engaged in for their entertainment value, they serve an educational purpose as well — challenging us intellectually and providing new learning opportunities. There are scores, if not hundreds of types of word games available. In this book, I have chosen to focus on several of those that are most popular or most well known. My intention is to provide the reader with a basic introduction to a broad spectrum of such games, not to serve as a definitive instruction manual, nor as a source of large numbers of puzzles on any specific theme.

Pyramidal Mystique (2016) There are many hundreds of pyramids around the world. They have been built by a variety of different cultures in a number of different eras. Those that appear to be either the most important or the most representative show up in North America, South America, Central America, Mesopotamia, Egypt, and China, but there are multiple other analogous structures located elsewhere. This book looks closely at a few of the pyramids, with an emphasis on their descriptions and histories. The methodologies of their construction and their purpose are also addressed. Additionally, some alternative theories about these pyramids are explored.

About The Author

David Ritchey’s vocations have included: naval officer, businessman, fine art photographer, psychotherapist, researcher, and writer. His avocations have included: scuba diving, sailing, skiing, tennis, golf, gardening, woodworking, dogs, magic, bridge, and SCRABBLE™. After being educated in economics at Yale University, he served for five years as an officer in the U.S. Navy, including a year in Vietnam. Back in civilian life, he initially became a businessman, but shortly thereafter followed his true inclinations and became a fine art photographer. While immersed in the art world, he became fascinated by the psychology/neurology of creativity, and returned to school to train as a psychotherapist. During his 15 years of clinical practice, specializing in hypnotherapy, he became especially interested in the psychodynamics of those clients who reported having had transpersonal (“metaphysical”) experiences, and undertook a twelveyear project of researching and writing about such people, who he speaks of as “Anomalously Sensitive Persons.” Later, he became his daughter’s business manager at her art gallery on Cape Cod, and spent a few years involved simultaneously in the worlds of both business and art. Now “retired,” he spends his time writing about a wide range of subjects that are of special interest to him. Information about his books can be found at www.davidritchey-author.com. He currently lives in historic Bucks County, Pennsylvania. He has two grown children, Harper and Mac, and a grandson, Brendan. 96

THE ENIGMA OF BAALBEK

David Ritchey