You’ve seen them. Those grainy, sepia-toned images of giant beings holding what look like modern handbags or wearing wristwatches. They’re all over Pinterest and weird corners of YouTube. People call them pictures of the anunnaki, claiming they’re proof of ancient aliens who tinkered with our DNA.
But here’s the thing. Most of those "pictures" aren't actually photos—they’re carvings. Specifically, they are Mesopotamian relief sculptures from thousands of years ago.
When you look at these images, you’re looking at the Neo-Assyrian and Sumerian view of the cosmos. It’s a mix of myth, propaganda, and some really wild artistic conventions. Honestly, the gap between what a New Age blogger says about these images and what an actual Assyriologist sees is massive. We need to talk about what’s actually in the frame.
What Are You Actually Seeing in Pictures of the Anunnaki?
If you search for pictures of the anunnaki, the first thing that usually pops up is a stone relief of a winged figure. He’s got a beard that looks like it was curled with a high-end iron. He’s usually holding a bucket and a pinecone.
Ancient alien theorists, most notably Zecharia Sitchin, argued these were extraterrestrial travelers. Sitchin’s work in the 1970s basically birthed the modern obsession with these images. He claimed the Anunnaki came from a planet called Nibiru. He saw "wristwatches" where historians see decorative bracelets. He saw "oxygen masks" where experts see stylized facial hair or ritualistic gear.
The Anunnaki were real—at least in the minds of the people living in the Tigris-Euphrates valley. The term basically translates to "those of royal blood" or "offspring of An." They weren't just one thing. In the early Sumerian texts, they are the high gods of the pantheon. Later, in Babylonian myths, they become a sort of underworld assembly.
The Handbag Mystery
Let’s talk about the "handbag." It’s the most famous part of almost every picture of the Anunnaki. You’ll see it held by eagle-headed geniuses (Apkallu) or kings. It looks exactly like a modern purse.
Is it a battery? A portal device? A cosmic toolkit?
Probably not.
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Archaeologists call this the banduddu. It’s a bucket. Specifically, it’s a bucket used for carrying holy water or pollen for the ritual pollination of the Date Palm, which was the lifeblood of the Mesopotamian economy. The "pinecone" in the other hand is a mullilu, a purifier. When you look at these images, you aren't seeing a pilot checking his gear; you’re seeing a priest or a supernatural protector performing a "cleansing" of a sacred space or the King himself.
The Problem With Modern Digital Renderings
The internet is flooded with digital "reconstructions." These are often labeled as pictures of the anunnaki, but they’re just 3D renders made in Blender or ZBrush. They add glowing eyes and metallic armor.
This creates a feedback loop. A kid sees a high-res digital image of a 10-foot-tall lizard man in a spaceship, it’s labeled as a "Sumerian artifact," and suddenly it’s "fact."
Real artifacts are far more subtle. Take Cylinder Seal VA 243. It’s a tiny piece of stone, currently in the Berlin Museum. Sitchin claimed it showed our solar system with twelve planets. If you look at a high-res photo of it, you do see a central star-like object surrounded by dots.
But historians like Dr. Michael Heiser pointed out a major flaw. The "star" isn't a sun; it’s a symbol for a star used in hundreds of other Sumerian seals that have nothing to do with astronomy. Also, the number of dots varies in other seals. It’s decorative, or perhaps astrological, but it’s definitely not a NASA-grade map of the solar system.
Why Scale Matters in These Images
In many pictures of the anunnaki carved into stone, the gods are huge. They tower over humans.
This is "hieratic scale."
It’s an art trick. It’s not a biological statement. The Egyptians did it. The Mayans did it. If you’re the most important person in the room, the artist carves you bigger. If the Anunnaki were actually 12 feet tall, we’d find 12-foot-long femurs in the archaeological record. We don't. We find human skeletons that are, frankly, smaller than the average person today due to ancient nutritional deficits.
The Cultural Weight of the "Giant" Narrative
People want these images to be aliens. I get it. The idea that we were visited by sky-gods is way more exciting than the reality of complex irrigation systems and tax records.
But when we mislabel pictures of the anunnaki, we’re kind of robbing the ancient Sumerians of their own creativity. They were master storytellers. They wrote the Epic of Gilgamesh. They didn't need aliens to prompt them to be brilliant. Their art was an expression of their relationship with the environment, which was often harsh and unpredictable.
The gods—the Anunnaki—were a way to explain why the rivers flooded or why the crops failed.
The "Wristwatch" Explained
Look closely at a high-resolution photo of a relief from the Palace of Ashurnasirpal II. The figure has a disc on his wrist.
Is it a Rolex?
In the context of Neo-Assyrian jewelry, it’s a rosette bracelet. We’ve actually found these physical objects in royal tombs. They are made of gold and semi-precious stones. They don't have gears. They don't tell time. They were status symbols. Calling them watches is like someone in the year 4000 looking at a picture of a 2024 rapper and claiming his diamond chain is a "neck-mounted teleportation device."
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How to Spot a Fake "Anunnaki" Photo
There are several red flags to look for when browsing the web for images.
- Perfect Symmetry: Ancient stone is rarely perfect. If the "carving" looks like it was made yesterday with a laser cutter, it probably was.
- The "Grey Alien" Look: Real Sumerian art has very specific stylistic rules. Eyes are large and almond-shaped, but they aren't the wraparound "Grey" eyes popularized by 1950s sci-fi.
- Mismatched Scripts: Sometimes people Photoshop Egyptian hieroglyphs onto Sumerian statues. That’s a dead giveaway. Sumerians used Cuneiform—those little wedge-shaped marks. They look nothing like birds or eyes.
- Blurry "Leaked" Photos: If someone claims they have a "leaked photo from a hidden tomb" and it’s too blurry to see anything clearly, it’s a hoax. Every time.
The Real Anunnaki Evidence
If you want to see the real thing, look at the British Museum’s collection or the Louvre.
The pictures of the anunnaki found there tell a story of a civilization obsessed with order. The gods were the ones who kept the "Me"—the divine decrees of civilization—running.
The images are symbols of authority. When a king is pictured standing next to an Anunnaki figure, he’s saying, "The gods gave me the right to rule you." It’s political branding. It’s the ancient version of a politician taking a photo with a celebrity to look cooler.
Actionable Steps for Researching Ancient Images
If you’re genuinely interested in the iconography of ancient Mesopotamia, don't just rely on Google Images. Most of the captions there are written by people trying to sell books or get ad revenue on a conspiracy blog.
- Visit Museum Databases: Use the online archives of the British Museum or the Penn Museum. Search for "Assyrian relief" or "Cylinder Seal" rather than "Anunnaki."
- Check the Material: Real artifacts are usually gypsum, alabaster, or diorite. If an image shows something that looks like plastic or modern cast resin, ignore it.
- Read the Inscriptions: Most real reliefs have Cuneiform nearby. Scholars have translated almost all of it. If the text says "I am Ashurnasirpal, the great king," it’s not a caption about a spaceship landing.
- Compare Styles: Look at how the hair and muscles are rendered. Sumerian and Assyrian art is very muscular and "blocky." This was meant to convey strength and permanence.
The fascination with pictures of the anunnaki isn't going away. It’s part of our modern mythology. We’re looking for our origins in the stars because the earth feels a bit small these days. But the actual history—the real people who carved those stones—is arguably more fascinating than any alien story. They built cities out of mud and created the first writing systems. They didn't need "handbags" from space to do it. They did it with grit, intelligence, and a whole lot of clay.
Focus on the archaeology. The real carvings are impressive enough without the sci-fi layers. Go look at the Lamassu—the giant winged bulls with human heads. They aren't aliens; they’re the ultimate ancient security system. That’s the real legacy of the people who dreamed up the Anunnaki.