The Wars of Gods and Men is the third volume of Zecharia Sitchin's Earth Chronicles series, published in 1985. It shifts from prehistory into the early historical record, reading the wars of ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece, and India as distorted accounts of conflicts among Anunnaki factions described in Sumerian clay tablets. Sitchin places particular emphasis on the rivalry between Enlil and Enki — the two principal sons of the Anunnaki leader Anu — and their respective lineages, which he argues supplied the template for mythological warfare across the ancient world, from the Egyptian conflict of Horus and Seth to the Greek Titanomachy.
The book's most contentious claim concerns the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and a visible scar across the Sinai Peninsula. Sitchin argues these resulted from nuclear weapons deployed by Anunnaki factions around 2000 BCE, and draws on aerial photography of the Sinai desert as visual evidence. Academic scholars — including Sumerologists, Assyriologists, and biblical archaeologists — have rejected his interpretation along with the translations of the underlying texts. The claim that ancient sites show residual radioactivity is not supported by published scientific evidence. Despite this, the book sold internationally and remains a central reference in the ancient-astronaut genre.
Contents
Chapter 1 — The Wars of Man
Chapter 2 — The Contending of Horus and Seth
Chapter 3 — The Missiles of Zeus and Indra
Chapter 4 — The Earth Chronicles
Chapter 5 — The Wars of the Olden Gods
Chapter 6 — Mankind Emerges
Chapter 7 — When Earth Was Divided
Chapter 8 — The Pyramid Wars
Chapter 9 — Peace on Earth
Chapter 10 — The Prisoner on the Pyramid
Chapter 11 — A Queen I Am
Chapter 12 — Prelude to Disaster
Chapter 13 — Abraham: The Fateful Years
Chapter 14 — The Nuclear Holocaust
Epilogue — The Earth Chronicles: Time Chart
Reception
The most contentious volume of the Earth Chronicles; its nuclear-weapon claim regarding Sodom and Gomorrah became its signature argument. Academic Sumerologists, Assyriologists, and biblical archaeologists rejected Sitchin's translations and methodology as they did in earlier volumes. The book sold internationally and extended his influence in the ancient-astronaut genre.
Frequently asked
What is The Wars of Gods and Men about?
It is the third volume of Zecharia Sitchin's Earth Chronicles. Sitchin reads the ancient wars described in Sumerian, Egyptian, Greek, and Indian texts as literal accounts of conflicts between Anunnaki factions — primarily the rival lineages of Enlil and Enki, sons of the Anunnaki leader Anu. He argues these conflicts served as the template for mythological warfare across the ancient world.
What is Sitchin's claim about Sodom and Gomorrah?
Sitchin argues that the biblical destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and a scorched zone in the Sinai Peninsula were caused by nuclear weapons deployed by Anunnaki factions around 2000 BCE. He cites aerial photographs of a barren area of the Sinai as visual evidence. Academic archaeologists and biblical scholars do not accept this interpretation, and the claim that these sites show residual radioactivity is not supported by published scientific data.
How does Sitchin connect the Anunnaki wars to recorded history?
Sitchin argues that the collapse of Sumerian civilisation around 2000 BCE, as mourned in the Lamentation Texts over the destruction of Ur, was caused not by the Elamite military invasion documented by scholars but by the nuclear fallout from Anunnaki weapons. He also connects the Anunnaki lineage disputes directly to the biblical account of Abraham's journey from Ur to Canaan. Academic Sumerologists reject both readings.