Astronomy:

The Sumerians recorded the movements of the planets over hundreds of years. A Sumerian
priest who could read the cuneiform text about astronomy could tell you 50 years in
advance on what day there would be a lunar eclipse. They had very accurate astronomical
information, which we have confirmed with our modern science. They actually listed the
distance between the outer planets and correctly cited the color of the outer planets such as
Uranus and Neptune. When we sent the Galileo and Voyager probes into deep space in the
late 70's and early 80's they took the first color pictures on the outer planets. NASAs
pictures exactly matched the Sumerian descriptions from 6,000 years ago as bluish-green
planets.
Evidence of their knowledge can be seen is this amazing cylinder seal found in the British
museum. Where as a backdrop to the drawing, we see our solar system with all the planets
we know of and the sun listed correctly in the center. We did not know the sun was in the
center of our solar system well into the time of Copernicus and Galileo. They used advanced
mathematics combined with new advances in the telescope to make these conclusions. But
somehow the Sumerian culture from 6,000 years ago already knew this information. But
how did they know?

The Sumerians were the first ones to divide the heavens into 12 parts, assigning each
section of the sky with a symbol. Remember the number 12 as we will see it has a key
influence in our our modern culture directly passed down from the Sumerian culture. As we
move into later sections of the book, we will discuss in more depth the profound importance
of the 12 signs of the zodiac and the precession of the equinox as seen in the constellations
of the night sky.
Bear in mind that the Sumerians identified the 12 constellations of the zodiac and the
precession of the equinoxand we still use the same system today. They clearly had a
remarkable system for understanding the night sky, and they were quite familiar with a race
of beings who came to them from out of that sky. In fact, with any study of ancient
Sumerian texts, it becomes more and more clear that the Sumerians did not come up with
everything they knew just on their own. As we move on, keep in mind also the image of the
astronaut so clearly carved into the Nazca plain that we discussed earlier. Keep in mind the
inexplicable faces of the megalithic statues on Easter Island, the remarkable astronomical
significance of the arrangement of the Egyptian Pyramids and the massive stones that make
up Stonehenge. You must ask yourselfwhat is the connection among all these things?