In Singapore, the Central Area or Central Business District (CBD) contains the core financial and commercial districts, including eleven urban planning areas, namely Downtown Core, Marina East, Marina South, Museum, Newton, Orchard, Outram, River Valley, Rochor, Singapore River and Straits View as defined by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA). Part of the Central Region in the southern part of Singapore, it includes high value land intensely regulated by the URA's urban planning initiatives. It approximately equates to the area which may be referred to as ''the city'' despite Singapore being a city in itself.

Singapore River which currently empties into Marina Bay, is a major landmark in this Central Area. The historical past of this river was that it emptied into the Singapore Straits, the main maritime activity site for the colony. The commercial areas which developed on the south banks became the central business district for post-independence Singapore (also known as Golden Shoe). URA groups these areas of commercial activity and calls it the Central Area.

The Central Area has since been expanded by the Government of Singapore and the URA to include the land reclamation of Marina Bay. Many construction projects have been completed on these reclaimed lands with many more still under consolidation or development. One significant feature of the Central Area is that it is more densely packed than other parts of Singapore and there are greater numbers of MRT stations.

Description

Before independence, the central business district in the Central Area consisted of what is now the Downtown Core, Museum, Newton, Orchard, Outram, River Valley, Rochor, and the Singapore River planning areas. These included areas such as Dhoby Ghaut and Raffles Place. These planning areas were themselves designated and set apart only recently. Each of these districts have a heavy and dense commercial presence, especially in the Downtown Core, Orchard and Singapore River planning areas.

Rochor, Newton, River Valley and Outram are commercially thriving, but have less skyscrapers and generally include a more substantial residential presence. Schools, condominiums and Housing Development Board apartments may be located in these areas, albeit at a high price.

In an attempt to expand the Central Area from the 1970s, the Government of Singapore and the Urban Redevelopment Authority have reclaimed land portions from Marina Bay. Newly created portions of land surrounding Marina Bay have been organised and labelled into Marina East, Marina South, Straits View, with their own separate plans. The development of the reclaimed land surrounding Marina Bay, such as the construction of infrastructure, was similar to that of Jurong and Jurong Island, with the exception to use the land for commercial purposes. Many construction projects have been completed on the reclaimed lands since their creation, but much of it is still under consolidation or development.

The area tends to be more densely packed than other parts of Singapore, and a great number of Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) stations tend to be concentrated in this area, especially interchange stations and stations along the Circle MRT Line.

History

Much of the central area bounded by Telok Ayer Road, which has a high concentration of skyscrapers is built on reclaimed land. Therefore the Thian Hock Keng Temple built in 1839 along Telok Ayer Road used to face the sea and it was visited by Chinese immigrants giving thanks to Ma Zu (Goddess of the Sea) for their safe voyage. Prior to 1839, the temple served as a joss-house for the Hokkien immigrants. This temple, which is also the first Hokkien temple to be built by the Hokkien clan under the leadership of Tan Tock Seng and Si Hoo Keh, is in the architectural style of southern China, using only materials imported from China and supported with no nails. The clan’s office was housed there and this temple was also used as a meeting venue. The construction of the temple was completed in 1842 and details of this temple’s history are recorded in granite tablets found on the wall inside the Entrance Hall.A plaque inscribed with the words Bo Jing Nan Ming (Gentle Waves over the South Seas) which was presented by the Guangxu Emperor in 1907, is found in this temple providing evidence of the temple’s stature. The temple comprises an architectural masterpiece of stone, tiles and wood, dragons and phoenixes, amazing cravings, sculptures and imposing columns. The Thian Hock Keng temple has been gazetted as a national monument in 1973.

The adjacent placement of places of worship of various religions (such as the Thian Hock Keng Temple, the Nagore Durgha Shrine, the Central Christian Church and Al Abrar Mosque) and demonstrate the peaceful coexistence of the early multi-ethnic and multi-cultural communities in Singapore.

Also, over at Church Street, there is the Yueh Hai Ching Temple. The Temple is one of the oldest Taoist temple and it was built in 1826. This temple was established by a group of Teochew settlers from Guangzhou in China when they dedicated a shrine to Tian Hou. This temple faced the sea and was therefore a place where newly-arrived Chinese immigrants (sailors and travelers included) came to offer their thanks to the Goddess for their safe voyage across the seas. The renovation to the temple was undertaken by the Ngee Ann Kongsi, which was formed by a group of immigrants from the Teochew community.This temple served as a meeting place for the people of the Teochew community in the late 19th century when the Teochews became the second largest Chinese Dialect group in Singapore.The temple was honoured with a bian e, an imperial signboard from Emperor Guang Xu of the Qing Dynasty in 1907. In 1996 it was gazetted as a national monument and it underwent repairs and restoration works. This temple is a silent testimony to the faith and gratitude of many people in Singapore. The background contrast between the old temples and the new modern buildings indicate that new and old can surely bond and blend in one common space.The temple has a cover structure which are models depicting the lives of Chinese villagers. The emperor of China at that point in time also presented the temple with a signboard that is still displayed in the temple till today. The temple is separated into two sections; each section caters for the different people coming from the different parts of China.

The Armenian Church is located at Hill Street, it is the oldest church in Singapore. The funding for the building of the church came from contributions of the Armenian community. It was built in the 1830s by George Coleman, the architect of many buildings in Singapore. The Armenian Church is the church for the Armenian community, a small community in Singapore once. The Church was credited as a national monument.

CHIJMES, located at Victoria Street, is currently converted into a modern dining area with restaurants. It was originally a Catholic Convent which was convented. The original structure was well-preserved and the chapel is still present till today. The restaurants resides in the old structures of the convent.

The closeness of the locations of various religions worship indicated the peaceful coexistence of the early multi-ethnic and multi-cultural communities in Singapore. The streets in the CBD area have a long history which showed a very different CBD as compared to the present. History past, Ang Siang Hill was the site of remittance houses where the Chinese immigrants go to when they wanted to remit money back home. Sago Lane (Street of the Dead) was formerly used as a place for people to die with the funeral parlor on the ground floor and living areas on the second floor. This area was infamous because of the large number of deaths found there. Although the Sago Street is referred to as the Street of the Dead, the funeral parlor was actually located in the Sago Lane. Sago Lane runs parallel to the Sago Street.

Significant Landmarks

Commercial

Singapore's Central Business District comprises the core of Singapore's financial activities and thus includes many important and significant financial buildings. There are many skyscrapers in the Central Business District. Skyscrapers in the city include the relatively new ones such as the UOB building and the Sail at Marina Bay, as well as the older but still well maintained and used buildings such as the Swissôtel The Stamford, which once held the title as the world's tallest hotel.

Majority of Singapore's tallest building are found in the CBD, where land are the most expensive in Singapore. However, due to aviation restrictions, buildings in the CBD cannot go higher than 280m. Most of the iconic building that represents Singapore CBD skyline also stand on free hold land, which are extremely uncommon in Singapore today.

Some commercial buildings reflect the cultural Chinese heritage of Singapore in addition to the presence of other cultural heritage sites in the Central Area. The UOB Plaza makes use of the traditional Chinese symbol of the octagon in its design, which supposedly brings about good Feng Shui according to traditional Chinese geomancy.

Cultural

The majority of Singapore’s tallest buildings are found in the Central Business District (high-valued land) but the skyscrapers cannot go higher than 280 metres due to Air traffic regulations. Also most of these buildings are built on freehold land which is relatively uncommon in Singapore today.

We will find that some commercial buildings do reflect the cultural Chinese heritage of Singapore. This is added to the presence of other cultural heritage sites in the Central Area. An example is the UOB Plaza makes use of the traditional Chinese symbol of the octagon in its design which is supposed to bring in good Feng Shui according to traditional Chinese geomancy.

Singapore's Central Area possesses some important cultural sites. Historical shophouses with their original façades preserved can be found along streets like Club and Ann Siang Streets. These shophouses have, however, been largely gentrified, displacing many of the original tenants, resulting in a loss of certain traditional trades such as crafts.

These shophouses were preserved as part of URA efforts to preserve the nation's cultural heritage. The façades are intact but the businesses operating inside today are now different, with law firms, design companies, insurance firms and bars and restaurants. These new companies fit into the old structures without too much alteration to the original façade. There are also shophouses that continue to serve as local clubhouses. Dates are present on the shophouses themselves to indicate date of construction, mostly in the 19th century.

Even though the shop houses today are filled with modern businesses and people, the cultural practices are still strong along these streets. An example would be the hungry ghost festival, one can often see many shops laying out tables outside their shop house and offering prayers. An indication that we do still remember and preserve our cultural identity and practices.

The Central Business District was the original location for many schools in Singapore, such as Anglo-Chinese School, Raffles Institution (Secondary) and Raffles Girls' School, Yeung Ching (Yangzheng) Primary School and Tao Nan School. These schools have since moved to newer locations.

The Asian Civilisations Museum lies near the bank of the Singapore River, and it is a cultural landmark that has been preserved since colonial times. This building is otherwise known as the Empress Place Building. It was converted to a museum in 2003. The Peranakan Museum is also nearby along Armenian Street. This building is the Old Tao Nan School, and since early 2008 has been specializing in Peranakan culture.

The CBD is very much rooted to the cultural traditions of the Chinese. Some examples are the Chinese geomancy or Feng Shui. We can see that many buildings in the CBD are actually designed according to this Chinese belief. The Furama City Hotel, for example, has a roofline which resembles the open palm of the hand to ward off evil. The ‘Fountain of Wealth’ at the Suntec Tower has the inward flowing water at the fountain for two reasons. Water is the symbol of life and wealth in Chinese culture and the inward motion of the water signifies the retention of wealth for Suntec City. According to feng shui experts, the water which flows inwards represents riches pouring in, thus the fountain is appropriately named ‘Fountain of Wealth’.

Land Use

Over the course of its history, dating back to as far as the 18th Century, the land use of the various regions of Singapore have changed over time. The mixed land use in the central area is unlike other regions in Singapore, housing both the old and the new side by side.

Taking for instance, the case of the shophouses on Ann Siang Hill, the use of the shophouses have changed over the years. In the past, these shophouses were used as clan houses for the various clans that existed in the Chinatown region. Due to a housing shortage exacerbated by the destruction of World War II, an HDB paper estimated that in 1966, 250,000 lived in squalid shophouses in the Central Area.

However in recent times, with continued progress of the nation, the regions closest to the core of the central area has continued to be upgraded and developed. In this region, though the physical structure may remain the same, the use has now been changed. Though there are still various clan houses there, alongside them are new offices and shops. Some shophouses have even adapted to house both the traditional and modern land uses in the same complex.

Moving closer to the city center, the type of buildings observed change drastically. The Raffles Place area has been changed from a low lying shophouse region to a region that is exclusive to skyscrapers. Despite the fact that there is a height limit of 280m, these skyscrapers are so dense that the density of offices here is probably the highest in Singapore. There are several clusters throughout the region for the different business sectors - there are areas dedicated to the offices in fields of law and banking.

Transport

There has always been a high flow of traffic within the CBD due to its identity as the core of the financial centre in Singapore, resulting in a high density of offices in this area of the city. This leads to a large amount of people commuting to and from the city to work everyday. In a bid to prevent congestion in the city, the Government has implemented several different measures to curb the problem. For example, 5 more ERP gantries were erected in the CBD since July 2008. The operating hours of these gantries are also tweaked to accurately reflect the traffic situation in the CBD. A multistory automated car park has also been constructed to allow workers around the area to park their cars with a peace of mind and it is also very convenient as the driver does not have to waste the time to find a parking lot.

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) has also implemented several taxi stands around the city as designated points along busy main roads since taxi drivers are not allowed to pick up or drop off passengers within the Central Business District (CBD) area in Singapore, where buses ply daily from 7am to 10pm except on Sundays and Public Holidays to ensure the safety of passengers, taxi drivers and other road users, except at the designated taxi-stops.

SBS Transit and SMRT also offer bus services from the various parts of Singapore to the CBD via direct bus services. A new scheme of premium bus services running during the morning and evening peak hours provide quick bus connection downtown.

Singapore's rapid rail transit network, the MRT, calls at several stops downtown, including City Hall, Raffles Place and Tanjong Pagar. All four rail lines (both under construction and in operation) in Singapore run through the city area, which contains multiple rail interchanges between the East West Line, the North South Line, the North East Line and the under construction Circle Line. A railway station in Tanjong Pagar provides a rail link to Malaysia to the north.

Future Development

The Central Area of Singapore is slated to undergo significant changes in upcoming years. This expansion includes the construction of newer industrial buildings, as well as road expansion and other infrastructural projects. This also includes the expansion of the Mass Rapid Transit system's Circle Line, to be completed in 2012.

Because of its history dating back to the origins of the country, the area also contains several buildings of intrinsic and immense cultural value. These include shophouses and temples, some of which are still used by historical groups in Singapore. (i.e. Hokkien clan associations) Some of these buildings are being preserved but put to good economic use in the process, as renovation works in the interior of these buildings allow them to be used for other purposes while preserving their historical and architectural value. Other examples of buildings put to such use in Singapore include the Asian Civilisations Museum and the Peranakan Museum.

There are also recreational facilities planned for development in the Central Area. These include the Gardens At The Bay, the Sports Hub, and the Fullerton Heritage. These will have significant impact on the recreational and sporting scenes in Singapore upon completion. Finally, the largest project in the area would be the Marina Bay Sands Integrated Resort along the waterfront of Marina Bay.

See also

Ann Siang Hill

Integrated Resort

Architecture of Singapore

Transport in Singapore

History of Singapore

Cuisine in Singapore

Singapore River

Geography and climate of Singapore

Tourism in Singapore

Culture of Singapore

References

1. "Telok Ayer Market". infopedia.nl.sg. Singapore Infopedia. 1999-04-17. http://infopedia.nl.sg/articles/SIP_810_2005-01-11. html. Retrieved 2009-09-04. 2. http://www.thianhockkeng.com.sg/home.html 3. http://infopedia.nl.sg/articles/SIP_793_2005-01-10.html 4. http://www.asiaexplorers.com/singapore/thianhockkeng_temple.htm 5. http://infopedia.nl.sg/articles/SIP_327_2005-01-18.html 6. http://www.streetdirectory.com/travel_guide/singapore/historical_sites/62/yue_hai_qing_miao_yueh_hai_ching_temple.php 7. http://www.visitsingapore.com/publish/stbportal/en/home/what_to_see/places_of_worship/armenian_church.html 8. http://www.chijmes.com.sg/ 9. http://74.125.153.132/search?q=cache:OCWw0kEXCvAJ:www.chingwei.com/blog/% 3Fm3D200805+chinese+geomancy+in+singapore+cbd&cd;=15&hl;=en&ct;=clnk≷=sg 10. http://74.125.153.132/search?q=cache:56yMmgT-Ec8J:www.fnetravel.com/english/singaporehotels/furama-city-centre-hotel.html+Chinese+geomancy+in+Singapore+CBD&cd;=7&hl;=en&ct;=clnk≷=sg 11. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenian_Church,_Singapore 12. http://www.asiarooms.com/travel-guide/singapore/singapore-popular-destinations/sago-street-(street-of-the-dead)-in-singapore.html 13. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ann_Siang_Hill 14. http://heritagetrails.sg/content/1280/Yueh_Hai_Ching_Temple_.html

External links

Planning Areas Boundaries Map A, showing extent of the Central Area

LTA, (2008, March 17). Land Transport Authority- What's new. Retrieved August 24, 2009, from Land Transport Authority Web site: http://app.lta.gov.sg/corp_press_content.asp?start=1902

LTA , (Land Transport Authority) (2007, October 22). Taxi Stands in CBD. Retrieved August 24, 2009, Web site: http://taxisingapore.com/taxi-stands/

(2006). New Page 1. Retrieved August 24, 2009, from CBD Web site: http://cgz.e2bn.net/e2bn/leas/c99/schools/cgz/accounts/staff/rchambers/GeoBytes/GCSE/Revision/Urban%20Land%20Use%20models/Central%20Business%20District/Central%20Business%20District.hmp.htm

Category:Places in Singapore Category:Financial districts Category:Central business districts

nl:Centraal Gebied pt:Área Central de Singapura zh:新加坡中區

Coordinates	45°30′″N73°40′″N
name	The Riot
director	Mack Sennett
starring	Fatty Arbuckle
released	11 August, 1913
country
language	SilentEnglish intertitles
followed by	}}

''The Riot'' is a 1913 short comedy film directed by Mack Sennett and starring Fatty Arbuckle.

Cast

Phyllis Allen

Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle

Alice Davenport

Hank Mann

Charles Murray

Mabel Normand

Ford Sterling

Al St. John

See also

List of American films of 1913

Fatty Arbuckle filmography

References

External links

Category:1913 films Category:American films Category:1910s comedy films Category:Short films Category:Silent films Category:Black-and-white films Category:Films directed by Mack Sennett

Coordinates	45°30′″N73°40′″N
Name	Zecharia Sitchin
Birth date	July 11, 1920
Birth place	Baku, Azerbaijan SSR
Death date	October 09, 2010 (aged 90)
Death place	New York, New York
Resting place coordinates
Citizenship	United States
Known for	Ancient astronauts
Alma mater	London School of Economics, University of London
Website	http://www.sitchin.com/ }}

Zecharia Sitchin (July 11, 1920 – October 9, 2010) was an Azerbaijani-born American author of books promoting an explanation for human origins involving ancient astronauts. Sitchin attributes the creation of the ancient Sumerian culture to the ''Anunnaki'', which he states was a race of extra-terrestrials from a planet beyond Neptune called ''Nibiru''. He believed this hypothetical planet of Nibiru to be in an elongated, elliptical orbit in the Earth's own Solar System, asserting that Sumerian mythology reflects this view. Sitchin's books have sold millions of copies worldwide and have been translated into more than 25 languages.

Sitchin's hypotheses are not accepted by scientists and academics, who dismiss his work as pseudoscience and pseudohistory. Sitchin's work has been criticized for flawed methodology and mistranslations of ancient texts as well as for incorrect astronomical and scientific claims. According to Sitchin, Nibiru (whose name was replaced with MARDUK in original legends by the Babylonian ruler of the same name in an attempt to co-opt the creation for himself, leading to some confusion among readers) collided catastrophically with Tiamat (a goddess in the Babylonian creation myth the ''Enûma Eliš''), which he considers to be another planet once located between Mars and Jupiter. This collision supposedly formed the planet Earth, the asteroid belt, and the comets. Sitchin states that when struck by one of planet Nibiru's moons, Tiamat split in two, and then on a second pass Nibiru itself struck the broken fragments and one half of Tiamat became the asteroid belt. The second half, struck again by one of Nibiru's moons, was pushed into a new orbit and became today's planet Earth.

According to Sitchin, Nibiru (called "the twelfth planet" because, Sitchin claimed, the Sumerians' gods-given conception of the Solar System counted all eight planets, plus Pluto, the Sun and the Moon) was the home of a technologically advanced human-like extraterrestrial race called the ''Anunnaki'' in Sumerian myth, who Sitchin states are called the ''Nephilim'' in Genesis. He wrote that they evolved after Nibiru entered the solar system and first arrived on Earth probably 450,000 years ago, looking for minerals, especially gold, which they found and mined in Africa. Sitchin states that these "gods" were the rank-and-file workers of the colonial expedition to Earth from planet Nibiru.

Sitchin wrote that Enki suggested that to relieve the Anunnaki, who had mutinied over their dissatisfaction with their working conditions, that primitive workers (''Homo sapiens'') be created by genetic engineering as slaves to replace them in the gold mines by crossing extraterrestrial genes with those of ''Homo erectus''. According to Sitchin, ancient inscriptions report that the human civilization in Sumer, Mesopotamia, was set up under the guidance of these "gods", and human kingship was inaugurated to provide intermediaries between mankind and the Anunnaki (creating the "divine right of kings" doctrine). Sitchin believes that fallout from nuclear weapons, used during a war between factions of the extraterrestrials, is the "evil wind" described in the Lament for Ur that destroyed Ur around 2000 BC. Sitchin states the exact year is 2024 BC. Sitchin says that his research coincides with many biblical texts, and that biblical texts come originally from Sumerian writings.

Popularity

Since the release of his first book ''The 12th Planet'' in 1976, now in its 45th printing, Zecharia Sitchin wrote seven other books as part of his ''Earth Chronicles'' series, as well as six other companion books, all of which are still in print . Sitchin's books have sold millions of copies worldwide and been published in more than 25 languages, as well as in braille. New York Times reporter Corey Kilgannon noted that despite academic dismissal of his work, Sitchin has "a devoted following of readers".

Critic Michael Heiser called Sitchin "arguably the most important proponent of the ancient astronaut hypothesis over the last several decades". Sitchin was a frequent guest on the Coast to Coast AM radio show, which in 2010 presented Sitchin with a life-time achievement award. ''Gods of the New Millennium'' author Alan F. Alford admits he initially became "infatuated" with Sitchin's hypotheses but later became a critic of Sitchin's interpretations of myth.

According to some writers, Sitchin's ideas along with those of Erich von Däniken may have influenced the beliefs of the religious sect of Raëlism, and writer Mark Pilkington sees the mythology of Japan's Pana Wave religious group as rooted in Sitchins ''The 12th Planet'' and its sequels.

The 1994 movie ''Stargate'', directed by Roland Emmerich, and the 2009 video game ''The Conduit'' drew some conceptual inspiration from Sitchin's ideas, while screenwriter Roberto Orci says the villains of the film ''Cowboys and Aliens'' were inspired by Sitchin's conceptualization of the Anunnaki as gold-mining aliens.

Criticisms

Criticism of Sitchin's work falls primarily into three categories: 1) translations and interpretations of ancient texts, 2) astronomical and scientific observations, and 3) literalism of myth.

Translations and interpretations

When Sitchin wrote his books only specialists could read the Sumerian language, but sources such as the 2006 book ''Sumerian Lexicon'' have made the language more accessible to non-experts. Ancient language scholar Michael S. Heiser, states that he has found many inaccuracies in Sitchin's translations and challenges interested parties to use this book to check their validity. Prof. Ronald H. Fritze, author of the book ''Invented Knowledge: False History, Fake Science and Pseudo-religions'', mentions the example of Sitchin's claim that the Sumerian sign ''Din-Gir'' means "pure ones of the blazing rockets", adding that "Sitchin's assignment of meanings to ancient words is tendentious and frequently strained." 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." 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 semitologist Michael S. 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. 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, Prof. of Anthropology and Linguistics at Drew University, Madison, New Jersey, noted Sitchin's amateurishness with respect to the primacy of the Sumerian language:

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, 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 Tartarian signaries of Europe as well as by a variety of script-like notational systems between the Nile and Indus rivers.

Astronomical and scientific observations

Sitchin's "planetary collision" view does superficially resemble a theory by modern astronomers—the giant impact theory of the Moon's formation about 4.5 billion years ago by a body impacting with the newly-formed Earth. However, Sitchin's proposed series of rogue planetary collisions differ in both details and timing. As with Immanuel Velikovsky's earlier ''Worlds in Collision'' thesis, Sitchin states that he has found evidence of ancient human knowledge of rogue celestial motions in a variety of mythological accounts. In Velikovsky's case, these interplanetary collisions were supposed to have taken place within the span of human existence, whereas for Sitchin these occurred during the early stages of planetary formation, but entered the mythological account passed down via the alien race which purportedly evolved on Nibiru after these encounters.

While Sitchin's scenario for the creation of the Solar System is hard to reconcile with the Earth's current small orbital eccentricity of only 0.0167, Sitchin's supporters maintain that it would explain much of Earth's peculiar early geography due to cleaving from the celestial collision, i.e., solid continents on one side and a giant ocean on the other.

According to former Immanuel Velikovsky assistant turned prolific critic, C. Leroy Ellenberger, "[Sitchin states that] from an equal start, the Nefilim evolved on Nibiru 45 million years ahead of comparable development on Earth with its decidedly more favorable environment. Such an outcome is unlikely, to say the least, since Nibiru would spend over 99% of its time beyond Pluto. Sitchin's explanation that heat from radioactive decay and a thick atmosphere keep Nibiru warm is absurd and does not address the problem of darkness in deep space. Also unexplained is how the Nefilim, who evolved long after Nibiru arrived, knew what happened when Nibiru first entered the solar system."

Sitchin in “the case of Adam’s alien genes” states that 223 unique genes found by the Human Genome Sequencing Consortium are without the required predecessors on the genomic evolutionary tree. Later researchers have argued that the conclusion from the Human Genome Sequencing Consortium cannot be drawn due to a lack of a comprehensive gene database for comparison. An analysis by Salzberg identified 40 potential genes laterally transferred into the genome from prokaryotic organisms. Salzberg also argues that gene loss combined with sample size effects and evolutionary rate variation provide an alternative, more biologically plausible explanation.

Literalism of myth

Peter James, co-author of the controversial book ''Centuries of Darkness'', has criticized Sitchin both for ignoring the world outside of Mesopotamia and more specifically for misunderstanding Babylonian literature:

William Irwin Thompson comments on what he calls Sitchin's 'literalism':

What Sitchin sees is what he needs for his hypothesis. So figure 15 on page 42 is radiation therapy, and figure 71 on page 136 is a god inside a rocket-shaped chamber. If these are gods, why are they stuck with our cheap B movie technology of rockets, microphones, space-suits, and radiation therapy? If they are gods, then why can't they have some really divine technology such as intradimensional worm-hole travel, antigravity, starlight propulsion, or black hole bounce rematerializations? Sitchin has constructed what appears to be a convincing argument, but when he gets close to single images on ancient tablets, he falls back into the literalism of "Here is an image of the gods in rockets." Suddenly, ancient Sumer is made to look like the movie set for ''Destination Moon''. Erich Von Däniken's potboiler ''Chariots of the Gods'' has the same problem. The plain of Nazca in Peru is turned into a World War II landing strip. The gods can cross galactic distances, but by the time they get to Peru, their spaceships are imagined as World War II prop jobs that need an enormous landing strip. This literalization of the imagination doesn't make any sense, but every time it doesn't, you hear Sitchin say "There can be no doubt, but..."

Bibliography

Earth Chronicles volumes

# ''The 12th Planet'', New York: Stein and Day, 1976 # ''The Stairway to Heaven'', 1980, Avon Books (Bear & Company, 1992, ISBN 0939680890; Harper, 2007, ISBN 0061379204) # ''The Wars of Gods and Men'', 1985, Avon Books (Bear & Company, 1992, ISBN 0939680904) # ''The Lost Realms'', Avon Books, 1990, ISBN 0-380-75890-3 # ''When Time Began'', 1993, (Harper, 2007, ISBN 006137928X, ISBN 978-0061379284) # ''The Cosmic Code'', Avon Books, 1998, ISBN 0-380-80157-4 # ''The End of Days: Armageddon and Prophecies of the Return'', William Morrow, 2007, ISBN 978-0-06-123823-9

Companion volumes

''Genesis Revisited: Is Modern Science Catching Up With Ancient Knowledge?'', (Avon Books, 1990, ISBN 0-380-76159-9)

''Divine Encounters: A Guide to Visions, Angels and Other Emissaries'', Avon Books, 1995, ISBN 0-380-78076-3)

''The Lost Book of Enki: Memoirs and Prophecies of an Extraterrestrial god'', Bear & Company, 2001, ISBN 1591430372

''The Earth Chronicles Expeditions'', Bear & Company, 2004, ISBN 978-1591430766

''Journeys to the Mythical Past'', Bear and Company, 2007 ISBN 978-1591430803

''The Earth Chronicles Handbook'', Bear & Company, 2009, ISBN 978-1-59143-101-5

''There Were Giants Upon the Earth: Gods, Demigods, and Human Ancestry: The Evidence of Alien DNA'', (Bear & Company), 2010, ISBN 9781591431213

DVDs

''Are We Alone in the Universe?'' (based on ''Genesis Revisited''), documentary, 1978 (2003 DVD release)

''An Evening with Zecharia Sitchin'', lecture and slide presentation, 1997

''A Talk From The Heart!'', lecture and slide presentation, 2006

''Signs of the Return'', lecture and slide presentation, 2009

''2012 - The End of Days?'', lecture and slide presentation, 2010

''Zecharia at 90 - Farewell Address'', lecture, 2010

See also

Alan F. Alford

Ancient Aliens (TV series)

Ancient astronauts

Chariots of the Gods?

David Icke

Dogon people

Extraterrestrial hypothesis

Giorgio A. Tsoukalos

Panbabylonism

Planet V

Mesopotamian mythology

Murry Hope

Nibiru collision

Robert K. G. Temple

Sumerian literature

The Sirius Mystery

References

External links

Official Website

Kilgannon, Corey. "Origin of Species, From an Alien View", ''The New York Times'', January 10, 2010. p. MB4.

Zecharia Sitchin Audio Tribute on Coast to Coast AM

Criticisms

Ian Lawton's Mesopotamia Papers

An Astronomer's View of the Akkadian Seal by Tom van Flandern

SitchinIsWrong.com: A Polemical Website against the Theories of Zechariah Sitchin

Category:American people of Azerbaijani descent Category:Azerbaijani Jews Category:People from Baku Category:Ancient astronaut speculation Category:Esoteric anthropogenesis Category:Pseudoarchaeology Category:Pseudohistorians Category:Pseudohistory Category:Pseudoscientists Category:Writers from New York City Category:1920 births Category:2010 deaths

bg:Закария Ситчин cs:Zecharia Sitchin de:Zecharia Sitchin et:Zecharia Sitchin el:Ζεκάρια Σίτσιν es:Zecharia Sitchin fr:Zecharia Sitchin id:Zecharia Sitchin it:Zecharia Sitchin he:זכריה סיטשין mk:Зехарија Сичин nl:Zecharia Sitchin ja:ゼカリア・シッチン no:Zecharia Sitchin pl:Zecharia Sitchin pt:Zecharia Sitchin ro:Zecharia Sitchin ru:Ситчин, Захария th:เซชาเรีย ซิตชิน tr:Zecharia Sitchin

Coordinates	45°30′″N73°40′″N
name	Jan Akkerman
background	non_vocal_instrumentalist
birth date	December 24, 1946
origin	Amsterdam, Netherlands
instrument	Guitar, Lute, Bass Guitar
religion	Christian
genre	Rock, blues, jazz
occupation	Guitarist
years active	1958–present
associated acts	Johnny and The Cellar Rockers, The Hunters, Brainbox, Focus
website	www.janakkerman.nl
current members	Coen Molenaar (keyboard), Wilbrand Meischke (bass) Marijn van den Berg (drums)
past members	Thijs van Leer
notable instruments	Gibson les paul custom, Gibson SG, Catalyst Jakkerman }}

Jan Akkerman (born 24 December 1946) is a Dutch guitarist. Akkerman is a distinctive guitarist, constantly experimenting with new equipment and guitars. Akkerman's distinctive guitar sound is characterised by his pioneering use of volume swells which produce a smooth, fluty, sustained notes, and other complex techniques such as sweep picking, tapping, and high-speed alternate picking. He also pioneered the use of the lute in a rock band, reflecting his interest in medieval and Renaissance music and culture. He first reached world acclaim in the 1970s when he was seen as the core of the Dutch rock band, Focus, together with Thijs van Leer.

Biography

Akkerman was born in the 'Jordaan' area of Amsterdam, the son of a scrap iron trader. At age five he took guitar lessons and his first single was released when he was fourteen years old. He was a member of Johnny and his Cellar Rockers, The Hunters and Brainbox, and joined the Thijs van Leer Trio in late 1969. They continued under the name Focus and scored a few worldwide hits in the seventies. In 1973 Akkerman was chosen 'Best Guitarist in The World' by the readers of the UK magazine, ''Melody Maker''. His standing was such that he teamed up with manufacturer Framus to produce one of the first 'signature' guitar models.

In 1976 Akkerman left Focus and continued his solo career, and collaborations with other musicians. In 1973 Akkerman contributed to the album of his former Brainbox companion Kaz Lux ('I'm the worst partner I know'), who in turn contributed to the Eli (1976) and Transparental (1980) albums.

A reunion with Thijs van Leer in 1985 turned out to be unsuccessful. He continued to produce several albums. At the same time he was active as a session musician with André Hazes and others. He also played alongside Vlatko Stefanovski, Alan Price, Herman Brood, Peter Banks, Charlie Byrd, Ice-T, Paco De Lucia, and B.B. King.

In 1992 he was involved in a serious car accident, but resumed playing in 1993. In the late 1990s, after an absence of nearly 20 years, he was persuaded to tour the UK again and has continued to do so on a regular basis. He writes for the Dutch magazine, ''GitaarPlus''.

In 2011, Akkerman released his latest album, "Minor Details"

Discography

''Talent for Sale'' - 1968

''Profile'' - 1972

''Tabernakel'' - 1973

''Eli'' (with Kaz Lux) - 1976

''Jan Akkerman'' - 1977

''Aranjuez'' (with Claus Ogerman) - 1978

''Live'' - 1978

''Jan Akkerman 3'' - 1979

''The Best of Jan Akkerman and Friends'' - 1979

''Transparental'' (with Kaz Lux) - 1980

''Oil In The Family'' - 1980

''Pleasure Point'' - 1982

''Can't Stand Noise'' - 1983

''From the Basement'' - 1984

''It Could Happen To You'' - 1985

''The Complete Guitarist'' - 1986

''The Noise Of Art'' - 1990

''Guitar Special'' - 1991

''Puccini's Café'' - 1993

''Blues Hearts'' - 1994

''The Guitar Player'' - 1996

''Focus in Time'' - 1996

''10,000 Clowns On A Rainy Day'' - 1997

''Live at the Priory'' - 1998

''Passion'' - 1998

''Live at Alexander's'' - 1999

''C.U.'' - 2003

Vlatko Stefanovski - ''Thunder From the Blue Sky'' - 2008

1977: Tony Scott Featuring Jan Akkerman - "Meditation" - (Polydor Records)

''Minor Details'' - 2011

References

David Randall: ''in & out of focus - the music of Jan Akkerman & focus''. SAF Publishing, London, 2002. ISBN 0-946719-44-6

Brigitte Tast, Hans-Juergen Tast: ''„be bop” - Die Wilhelmshöhe rockt. Disco und Konzerte in der Hölle.'' Verlag Gebrüder Gerstenberg GmbH & Co. KG, Hildesheim 2007, ISBN 978-3-8067-8589-0.

Brigitte Tast, Hans-Juergen Tast: ''„be bop” - Rock-Tempel & Nachtasyl - Band 2 zur Legende''. Hildesheim: Verlag Gebr. Gerstenberg 2009. ISBN 978-3-8067-8733-7.

External links

Jan Akkerman (official website)

Ode to a guitarist (by Forward Magazine)

FOCUS Tribute Site

Category:1946 births Category:Living people Category:Dutch rock guitarists Category:Jazz fusion guitarists Category:Lead guitarists Category:People from Amsterdam Category:Harvest Records artists

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