The Stairway to Heaven (Book II) (Earth Chronicles) Hardcover - 1992

 Since earliest times, humanity has pondered the incomprehensible mysteries of the universe, life...and the afterlife. Was there somewhere on Earth where, after death, mortal man could join the immortal Gods? Where was this place? By whom was it established? And does it still exist today? After years of painstaking research--combining recent archaeological discoveries with ancient texts and artifacts--noted scholar Zecharia Sitchin has identified the legendary Land of the Gods, and provided astounding new revelations about the Great Pyramids, the Sphinx, and other mysterious monuments whose true meanings and purposes have been lost for eons. Since earliest times, humanity has pondered the incomprehensible mysteries of the universe, life, and the afterlife. In The Stairway to Heaven, the second book of Zecharia Sitchin's Earth Chroniclesseries, the author answers these fundamental questions: Was there somewhere on Earth where, after death, mortal man could join the immortal Gods? Where was this place? By whom was it established? And does it still exist today? The Earth Chroniclesdeal with the history and prehistory of Earth and humankind. Each book in the series is based upon information written on clay tablets by the ancient civilizations of the Near East.

ARCHAEOLOGY / HISTORY Special large-format edition, lavishly illustrated with maps, diagrams, and photographs. Mythic memory has long held that somewhere on Earth there is a place where we can transcend death and join the gods. In The Stairway to Heaven, Zecharia Sitchin deepens his fascinating explorations into Earth history by looking at this longing for a return to the divine. Combining the enigma of the Pyramids with legends of human attempts to ascend like gods to Heaven in search of immortality, he delves into the lives of the pharaohs of Egypt, who taught how to travel the Route of the Gods to the "eternal afterlife"; the Sumerian king Gilgamesh, who journeyed to distant lands in his quest to "scale heaven" and ward off his mortal fate; Alexander the Great, who believed he was actually the son of a god; and Ponce de Leon, who explored Florida in search of the legendary Fountain of Youth. Finally, he leads us along the gaze of the Sphinx, the "Sacred Guide," for remarkable insight into the archetypal search for eternal life. "Well researched and persuasive ... Sitchin brings to this book' the logic and scholarship so often lacking. . . . He demonstrates the flaws in established theories about pyramid builders and exposes a few ancient hoaxes." --Library Journal "Impressive." --United Press International "Compelling." --Booklist