Chapter 12, The Creation of Man Summary and Analysis

Sitchin claims the Nefilim creation of man unites biblical creationism and scientific evolution. All the plants and animals were created before man, and as soon as man was created, he was put in a garden to work and tend. Sitchin points out passages in Genesis where God refers to himself in the plural, implying that the original, Sumerian version had multiple gods. Sitchin admits the validity of evolution for most of Earth's creatures but balks at the idea that Homo sapiens could have evolved "virtually overnight." Sitchin's answer is that Nefilim "gods" helped along evolution, creating Homo sapiens 300,000 years ago from existing Homo erectus.

Quotes from the Epic of Gilgamesh and other Sumerian texts are interpreted to show that the Nefilim encountered Homo erectus, an animal-like version of man. Sitchin also shows a...