Zecharia Sitchin

"Zecharia Sitchin was born in Russia and raised in Palestine, where he acquired a profound knowledge of modern and ancient Hebrew, other Semitic and European languages, the Old Testament, and the history and archeology of the Near East. He is one of the few scholars who is able to read and understand Sumerian. Sitchin attended and graduated from the University of London, majoring in economic history. A leading journalist and editor in Israel for many years, he now lives and writes in New York."
     - Connecting Link Issue 17

Zecharia Sitchin's books are highly speculative in their advocacy of the theory that the gods of antiquity were actually visitors from another world, Nibiru, an as yet undiscovered planet beyond Pluto.

    "The Earth Chronicles series is based on the premise that mythology is not fanciful but the repository of ancient memories; that the Bible ought to be read literally as a historic/scientific document; and that ancient civilizations-older and greater than assumed- were the product of knowledge brought to Earth by the Anunnaki,'Those Who from Heaven to Earth Came.'...I trust that modern science will continue to confirm ancient knowledge."
         - Zecharia Sitchin

Sections of Sitchin's research taken in isolation, however, do present scholarly information which otherwise might never reach the general public. I don't know if the rayed star on the mural at Tell Ghassul was inspired by or has any connection to the Vela Supernova but the description of the star is certainly suggestive.

Related Sites
Eridu Books
     Gods of the New Millennium - controversial & extensively researched book on "ancient gods"

Hyperlinks