Tilmun

Tilmun (Dilmun)

Tilmun (also known as Dilmun) is a legendary land mentioned in Sumerian mythology as a paradisiacal place where the gods resided. For Zecharia Sitchin, Tilmun was the “Land of the Rocketships” — the site of an Anunnaki rocket base.

Tilmun in Sumerian Literature

In Sumerian myth, Dilmun/Tilmun is described as:

• A pure, bright, and holy land
• A place where sickness and death do not exist
• The land where the sun rises
• The destination of the flood hero Ziusudra / Utnapishtim
• A place of great importance in the stories of Enki and Ninḫursag (Ninmah)

Sitchin’s Interpretation

“Tilmun was not a paradise in the mythological sense. It was the place of the rocketships — the SHEM — where the Anunnaki kept their spacecraft.”

Sitchin argued:

1. Tilmun = the Land of the SHEM — The Sumerian term Tilmun may be broken down as Til (life/living) + Mun (mountain/raised platform), suggesting a place where the “living mountain” (rocketship) dwells
2. Location — Sitchin debated Tilmun’s location but generally placed it near the Sinai Peninsula or possibly the Sinai spaceport itself
3. Paradise — The description of Tilmun as a disease-free paradise reflected the sterile environment of a space facility
4. Gilgamesh’s Journey — In the Epic of Gilgamesh, the hero journeys to Tilmun to meet Utnapishtim and seek immortality — which Sitchin read as a journey to the spaceport to find the secret of eternal life

Conventional Identification

Mainstream scholarship identifies Tilmun/Dilmun with the island of Bahrain in the Persian Gulf. This identification is based on:

• Neo-Assyrian inscriptions referring to Dilmun as a trading partner
• Archaeological evidence of a Bronze Age civilization on Bahrain
• References to Dilmun as a source of copper and other trade goods

Sitchin acknowledged this conventional identification but argued that the “Dilmun” of the trade routes was a later, secondary location named after the original Tilmun of the Anunnaki.

Sitchin Analysis

Where Sitchin Agrees with Mainstream

• Tilmun is a real land in the literature: Both Sitchin and mainstream Assyriology agree Dilmun appears as a pure, disease-free paradise in Sumerian myth. This is not disputed.

• The flood survivor is settled there: Both agree Ziusudra/Utnapishtim is placed in Dilmun after the deluge.

• It features in “Enki and Ninhursag”: Both agree Dilmun is the setting of that myth.

• Mainstream identifies it with Bahrain: Both acknowledge the Bahrain identification from trade records and archaeology.

• It was disease-free in the texts: Both agree on the “no sickness, no death” description.

Where They Differ

• Rocket base or trade land: Sitchin makes Tilmun the “Land of the SHEM.” Mainstream reads the Bronze Age trading land of Bahrain.

• The etymology: Sitchin parses Til + Mun as “living mountain,” a launch platform. Mainstream finds no such derivation.

• The purity: Sitchin reads a sterile space facility. Mainstream reads the standard mythic-paradise motif.

• Gilgamesh’s journey: Sitchin reads a trip to the spaceport. Mainstream reads a mythic journey to the far land of the flood survivor.

• One place or two: Sitchin splits an original Tilmun from a later namesake. Mainstream reads a single Dilmun, Bahrain.

PRO vs CONTRA

Argument PRO (Sitchin)	Counterargument (mainstream)
Tilmun is a real land in Sumerian literature, a pure paradise	Agreed - but the mythic paradise-land identified with Bahrain
Tilmun was the “Land of the Rocketships,” the SHEM base	Dilmun is a Bronze Age trading land; no rocket base is attested
Til + Mun parses as “living mountain,” a raised launch platform	The etymology does not yield “rocketship”; it is Sitchin’s segmentation
Its disease-free purity reflects a sterile space facility	Freedom from sickness is a standard feature of the mythic paradise motif
Gilgamesh journeyed there to reach the spaceport	He journeys to the far land of the flood survivor, a mythic destination
It lay near the Sinai spaceport	The textual and archaeological Dilmun is Bahrain, in the Persian Gulf
Trade-route Dilmun was a later namesake of the original Tilmun	Dilmun is a single place, Bahrain, attested in trade and myth alike

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See Also

• SHEM — The rocketship terminology
• Sinai-Spaceport — The Sinai spaceport
• Stairway-to-Heaven — The Stairway to Heaven
• Gilgamesh — The epic hero who journeyed to Tilmun
• E.DIN — The Garden of Eden
• Baalbek — The launch platform

Sources

• Sitchin, Z. (1980). The Stairway to Heaven. Chapter 9.
• Sitchin, Z. (1976). The 12th Planet. Chapter 9.
• Kramer, S. N. (1963). The Sumerians: Their History, Culture, and Character.
• Bibby, G. (1969). Looking for Dilmun. New York: Knopf.