Editing Zecharia Sitchin (section)

===Translations and interpretations===
When Sitchin wrote his books, only specialists could read the Sumerian language. However, sources such as the 2006 book ''Sumerian Lexicon''<ref>{{cite book|last=Halloran|first=John A.|date=2006 |title=''Sumerian Lexicon: A Dictionary Guide to the Ancient Sumerian Language''|publisher=The David Brown Book Company|isbn=0-9786429-0-2}}</ref> have made the language more accessible to non-experts.

American biblical scholar [[Michael S. Heiser]] states he has found many inaccuracies in Sitchin's translations and challenges interested parties to use this book to check their validity.<ref name="Pilkington">[http://www.forteantimes.com/features/articles/199/zechariah_sitchin.html Zechariah Sitchin] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071117164717/http://www.forteantimes.com/features/articles/199/zechariah_sitchin.html |date=2007-11-17 }}, [[Mark Pilkington (writer)|Mark Pilkington]], ''[[Fortean Times]]'', August 2003.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sitchiniswrong.com/anunnaki/anunnaki.htm|title=Anunnaki|work=sitchiniswrong.com}}</ref> Prof. [[Ronald H. Fritze]],<ref name="corndancer.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.corndancer.com/fritze/fritzebio.html|title=Ron Fritze's Bio|work=corndancer.com}}</ref> author of the book ''Invented Knowledge: False History, Fake Science and Pseudo-religions'',<ref name="corndancer.com"/> mentions the example of Sitchin's claim that the Sumerian sign ''[[Dingir|DIĜIR]]'' means "pure ones of the blazing rockets", adding that "Sitchin's assignment of meanings to ancient words is tendentious and frequently strained."<ref name="Fritze, Ronald H 2009 p214">Fritze, Ronald H,. (2009). Invented knowledge: false history, fake science and pseudo-religions. Reaktion Books. p. 214. {{ISBN|978-1-86189-430-4}}</ref> Fritze also commented on Sitchin's methodology, writing that "When critics have checked Sitchin's references, they have found that he frequently quotes out of context or truncates his quotes in a way that distorts evidence in order to prove his contentions. Evidence is presented selectively and contradictory evidence is ignored."<ref name="Fritze, Ronald H 2009 p214"/>

Sitchin bases his arguments on his personal interpretations of Egyptian and Sumerian texts, and the seal VA 243. Sitchin wrote that these ancient civilizations knew of a twelfth planet, when in fact they only knew five.<ref name=autogenerated1>{{cite web|url=http://www.michaelsheiser.com/va_243%20page.htm |title=The Myth of a 12th Planet in Sumero-Mesopotamian Astronomy: A Study of Cylinder Seal VA 243 by Dr. Michael S. Heiser |publisher=Michaelsheiser.com |access-date=2011-04-23}}</ref> Hundreds of Sumerian astronomical seals and calendars have been decoded and recorded, and the total count of planets on each seal has been five. Seal VA 243 has 12 dots that Sitchin identifies as planets. When translated, seal VA 243 reads "You're his Servant" which is now thought to be a message from a nobleman to a servant. According to Heiser, the so-called sun on Seal VA 243 is not the Sumerian symbol for the sun but is a star, and the dots are also stars.<ref name=autogenerated1/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.michaelsheiser.com/VA243seal.pdf |title=The Myth of a 12th Planet |access-date=2011-04-23}}</ref> The symbol on seal VA 243 has no resemblance to the hundreds of documented Sumerian sun symbols.

In a 1979 review of ''The Twelfth Planet'', Roger W. Wescott,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.velikovsky.info/Roger_W._Wescott |title=Roger W. Wescott - The Velikovsky Encyclopedia |publisher=Velikovsky.info |access-date=2011-04-23}}</ref> Professor of Anthropology and Linguistics at [[Drew University]], Madison, New Jersey, noted Sitchin's [[amateur]]ishness with respect to the primacy of the Sumerian language:

{{blockquote|Sitchin's linguistics seems at least as amateurish as his anthropology, biology, and astronomy. On p. 370, for example, he maintains that "all the ancient languages ... including early Chinese ... stemmed from one primeval source -- Sumerian". Sumerian, of course, is the virtual archetype of what linguistic taxonomists call a [[Language isolate|language-isolate]], meaning a language that does not fall into any of the well-known language-families or exhibit clear cognation with any known language. Even if Sitchin is referring to written rather than to spoken language, it is unlikely that his contention can be persuasively defended, since Sumerian ideograms were preceded by the [[Azilian]] and [[Tărtăria_tablets|Tartarian]]  signaries of Europe as well as by a variety of script-like notational systems between the Nile and Indus rivers.<ref>Wescott, Roger W. 1979. ''Kronos'' Vol. IV, No. 4, pp. 90-92.</ref>}}