"The 12th Planet" playing cards
Mesopotamian Archaeology: U.S. ARMY PLAYING CARDS EMULATE A SITCHIN 'FIRST'
The U.S. Department of Defense is distributing to the troops in Iraq new decks of playing cards that depict archaeological sites and artifacts. The Learn As You Play program aims to make the troops aware of Mesopotamian antiquity and the need to respect and protect its archaeological heritage.
This is a welcome step, as many will recall the shocking looting of the National Museum in Baghdad when Saddam Hussein's regime collapsed; and nightly illegal digging by locals, resulting in the disappearance of artifacts, continues unabated. This Army program follows a "Sitchin First" - the introduction, two years ago, of an educational set of playing cards with depictions and text based on Zecharia's book The 12th Planet. The cards, that can be played as regular cards as well as in three innovative ways, are manufactured by industrial producers of regulation playing cards.
Sitchin's cards, augmenting his writings, have in fact generated interest among US troops in Iraq's ancient sites well before the Army's Play & Learn program. An example of soldiers who have read Zecharia's books persuading commanders to permit archaeological time-off is that of SFC Donald Buswell who, with a group of comrades, visited the site of ancient Babylon - sending Zecharia a long report together with photos of both the ancient remains and some of the 'glorified reconstruction' by Saddam Hussein and his son Uday.
