By the end, and we're nearing the end of Sitchin's works and Earth Chronicles, Sitchin is mostly repeating himself. This is a mélange of his previous books, mainly Genesis Revisited and The Wars of Gods and Men, with a few new things thrown in: ruins on the Golan Heights, a little gematria, a little Kabbalah, a little DNA, and all his previous conclusions repeated ad infinitum. Kind of getting sloppy too. Sometimes he writes "Kaballah," really a misspelling, and "Kabbalah." Et cetera. Like all of his works. it is all un-referenced: no citations, no bibliography, etc. Odd translations of Sumerian and Biblical texts, etc. Again, the thesis is all the same: ancient gods were actually aliens from an extra planet in the solar system: Nibiru, which has a 3,600 year orbit and, stubbornly, still hasn't managed to be found with our modern astronomy. Again, Sitchin thinks that aliens only had rockets and, apparently, needed glide paths and mission control centers to land only in designated spots with their rockets. And, the god-aliens lived in cramped little rooms on the top of ziggurats. Really? Here's the big problem with Sitchin's theories: you'd think ancient aliens would have left some nice pieces of metal or computers in some of the ruins that have been excavated now for 100+ years. Apparently they took everything with them when they inexplicably left Earth except what the humans could write and crudely draw on clay tablets, etc. Really? And, of course, why aren't the aliens still here ruling the puny, weak humans? Always the problem with ancient alien theories. Unless you buy Icke's theories that they secretly do rule the earth, like the thesis of Bramley's The Gods of Eden. Really? ( )

The balance between Fate and Destiny to the ancients not only effected man but also the gods for both good and ill that made them all look towards the heavens. The Cosmic Code is the sixth book by Zecharia Sitchin in The Earth Chronicles that analyzes ancient megaliths, ancient mysticism, and ancient texts to reveal the secrets of the aforementioned code.

Beginning with an examination a mysterious circular stone structure on the Golan Heights that according to astronomical calculations is ancient, Sitchin reintroduces his research from previous volumes so as to build a framework to discuss this book’s main theme. Always introduced through the use of his previous research, Sitchin covers the “creation” of the zodiac before linking it to the Golan site and its strategic location between the two main highways of the ancient Middle East. The discussion turns to the death of demigods and why it was distressing before Sitchin recounted the Annunaki creation of man and why they did not give man “immortality” in his DNA. Then Sitchin turned his attention to “secret knowledge” which he posited to be secret number codes that were the basis for languages and latter prophecies, especially in relation to the heavens and the ones who came from there. This talk of prophecies brought Sitchin back to chronicling the history of the Middle East after Marduk/Ra rose to supremacy among the Annunaki and how his turbulent “reign” is recorded in the Bible and other ancient texts until finally his city Babylon captured by the Persians. Yet, Sitchin makes clear that during this time the phrase “End of Time” was always mentioned but it was never specified when it would happen.

Beginning with an enigmatic ruin, Sitchin set the stage for this book in his usual academic approach and then woven in his own theories and research from previous books early on. His examination of Fate & Destiny was interesting but even after the introduction of the beginning of languages, secret number codes, and connections to DNA it was hard to understand what the point was. The further information on Marduk’s reign during the “Age of the Ram” was interesting and basically the highlight of the book though the reader had to wait to get to it. While Sitchin avoided going into the evidence that went into his already written about theories—giving new readers the knowledge of which volume to look for them—he still seemed to tread water in some places before fully moving on. Yet in reflecting on this volume, it was hard to not feel that only half of this nearly 300 page book was new material and a fraction of that was gearing towards the next volume of Sitchin’s series. At the end I felt that this book could have been combined split and combined with the previous volume and maybe in the next.

The Cosmic Code never felt like a cohesive book, it read like Sitchin meshed material from two different books to create another. This overwhelming thought made it hard to focus on the evidence that Sitchin presented to prove his new assertions, but his reliance on flawed conclusions from When Time Began still makes it hard to keep an open mind. If you’ve read all of Sitchin’s previous work then go ahead and read this, but be warned this one seems all over the place. ( )