The Genius of the Few: The Story of Those Who Founded the Garden in Eden

by Christian O'Brien

The Genius of the Few continues the work described in the author's earlier book - The Megalithic Odyssey - and carries the prehistorical research back to 8000 BC, when a group of Sages, known to the Sumerians as "Anannage" and to the early people of the Middle East as the 'shining ones' settled into a fertile basin within the mountains of Southern Lebanon.

Genres: Nonfiction

320 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1985

Reviews

[Robin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book! Thanks heavens the Patrick Foundation resurrected the out-of-print version and expanded its fascinating study of a group of advanced beings known as the Shining Ones, or Anannage, who lived in the Near East around 8200 BC. In-depth analysis includes easy-to-read, scholarly evidence drawn from translations and interpretations of Sumerian, Hebraic and Greek texts. Extensive research challenges previous interpretations and "raises questions and probabilities that have immense implications for the study of prehistoric and modern religion." I highly recommend this to readers interested in the bible and prehistory.

[Wendy Waters · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this book should be mandatory reading for everyone. In Genius of the Few O'Brien questions the laws and dogma governing Christianity and Judaism. In considering the nature of Yahweh, O'Brien reveals an entity with alarming mood swings and swift retaliatory punishment when his laws were either questioned or disobeyed.

Whether or not you accept the hinted-at suggestion that the settlement in Eden was an outpost for a far more advanced race of inter-stellar travellers who decided to settle and "educate" the locals or whether you believe Eden was God's first attempt at guiding wayward humanity, the magnificence of this book lies in the idea that somewhere along the way we have lost all sense of the munificent numinous presence in whom we found our genesis and have fallen into the rut of worshiping an anthropomorphic semblance of our worst egoistic characteristics. O'Brien ably and intelligently points out that the Judaeo-Christian God based on the entity who led the Hebrews out of Egypt is a jealous God indeed, a small-minded, sharp-tongued, ego-driven narcissist in desperate need of anger management as opposed to the spectacular stage management he used to control his "chosen" people. Heaven help them! I cannot recommend this book highly enough. Speculative or absolutely on the money this book is a fascinating read.

[Kaberoi Rua · Rating 5 out of 5]

Of all the books I have read on what are commonly known today as the Anunnaki, The Genius of the Few stands apart. This is a scholarly and well researched book compared with most works I have read on the subject. I first discovered the book through Joseph P. Farrell, who referenced it in one of his own works. It is also a difficult book to find. I eventually located a copy on eBay and paid a fairly high price for it. After reading it, I can say it was worth tracking down.

Christian and Barbara Joy O’Brien approach the subject by bringing together three major bodies of ancient material. They examine Sumerian tablets from the Library at Nippur, where these beings are referred to as the Anannage. They compare these records with ancient material from the Books of Enoch, where similar beings appear as angels. Finally, they critically examine Genesis and its use of the Hebrew ha elohim. The authors refer to these beings collectively as the “Shining Ones.” Their method of comparing languages, ancient texts, geography, archaeology, and biblical traditions gives this book a depth that I have rarely encountered in books dealing with the Anunnaki. In my opinion, the level of research here places Zecharia Sitchin and his Earth Chronicles series well below what the O’Briens accomplished.

The book is divided into two major parts, followed by an extensive series of appendices from A through G. These appendices are substantial and continue the investigation long after the main chapters have ended. One of them, An Alternative Genesis, is particularly interesting. The first part examines the arrival of the Shining Ones and their establishment of an advanced settlement in the ancient Near East. The authors identify their original center as Kharsag, which they connect directly with Eden, the Garden of Eden, and attempt to reconstruct its location, history, and purpose. From there they examine the Enochian chronicles, the fall of the Watchers, the reality of Eden and its inhabitants, and eventually the making of man.

Chapter Seven, dealing with the making of man, was one of the most fascinating sections of the entire book for me. Unlike many books about the Anunnaki, the O’Briens do not simply present these beings as creating humanity from nothing. Their interpretation of the ancient material points toward a process resembling artificial insemination and what we would now associate with assisted reproductive technology. In modern terms, the closest comparison would be in vitro fertilization. That distinction completely changes the usual interpretation. Humanity already existed within their reconstruction. What occurred was an intervention into human reproduction. Of all the accounts I have read concerning the Anunnaki and the making of man, this was one of the most interesting because the authors attempt to build their case directly from their comparison of the ancient sources.
The second major part of the book turns heavily toward Yahweh, and this is where the book becomes even more provocative. The Yahweh presented by the O’Briens is not the peaceful image of God familiar to many modern believers. He is portrayed through the ancient accounts as a violent commander who ruled through authority, punishment, warfare, and fear. The authors make an extraordinarily severe comparison, arguing that even the great dictators of modern history do not compare with the brutality attributed to Yahweh in these records. Whether one accepts every conclusion or not, their treatment forces the reader to look closely at what the ancient texts themselves actually say about his actions.

Another fascinating distinction is the authors’ interpretation of the name Yahweh itself. I have read other works attempting to identify Yahweh directly with Anu, Enki, or Enlil. The O’Briens take a different approach. They interpret Yahweh more as a title or position that could be occupied by different individuals. In that sense, Yahweh functions more like an office of authority than the personal name of one eternal individual. This interpretation opens an entirely different way of examining the apparent differences in behavior attributed to Yahweh throughout ancient Hebrew literature.

There is one area where my own research differs considerably from the authors. At times, the O’Briens present the Shining Ones collectively as benevolent teachers who brought civilization, knowledge, and religious traditions to humanity. According to other research I have studied, the picture is much darker. From that perspective, these beings and their intervention into humanity are responsible for the conflict, division, chaos, and war that have plagued humanity since ancient times. They are also connected with the fall of civilizations throughout human history. Therefore, while I found the O’Briens’ research extremely valuable, I do not necessarily agree with their overall interpretation of the Shining Ones as benevolent civilizers. Yahweh is the clear exception even within their own account. There is nothing benevolent about the Yahweh they describe. He is presented as a thoroughly malevolent and destructive ruler.

The Genius of the Few is one of the strongest books I have read on this subject because the authors do not build their entire argument around one ancient tradition. They compare Sumerian material, the Books of Enoch, Genesis, Hebrew terminology, geography, and archaeology in an attempt to reconstruct what they believe happened in deep antiquity. Their central argument is that behind the later religious traditions lies the memory of an advanced group remembered under different names as the Anannage, angels, Elohim, and the Shining Ones. Whether every conclusion can ultimately be proven is another question, but the research itself is extensive. Let me make myself clear. Based on all the research I have done, these Shining Ones are not God or gods. They are advanced beings who came to Earth and played the role of gods before ancient humanity, establishing a master and slave paradigm that has continued in different forms throughout human civilization. For anyone seriously studying Eden, the Watchers, the Anunnaki tradition, the making of man, Yahweh, or the possible historical foundations behind Genesis, The Genius of the Few deserves a place on the bookshelf.