The Garden of Eden is a place that has captured the imagination of many, with its lush greenery, abundant fruits, and two naked humans living in perfect harmony.
According to the Bible, the Garden of Eden was the first home of Adam and Eve, the first humans created by God. They were placed in this paradise to live in peace and harmony, but their disobedience led to their expulsion from the garden.
But where exactly is this mythical garden located? And could it have been a real place?
The Garden of Eden is considered as human's beginning. Adam and Eve were the first two humans who lived here until they were deported as listening to the sneaky serpent seduction and eating the forbidden fruit.
There are various interpretations and theories about the location of the Garden of Eden.
Some believe it to be a physical place, while others see it as a symbolic representation of a spiritual state.
Genesis 2:10–14 gives the following description of the garden's location: “And a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from thence it was parted, and became four heads.”
The passage goes on, “The name of the first is Pishon; that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; and the gold of that land is good; there is bdellium and the onyx stone. And the name of the second river is Gihon; the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Cush. And the name of the third river is Tigris; that is it which goeth toward the east of Asshur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.”
If we go by the description in the Bible, the Garden of Eden was located near the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, which are now in modern-day Iraq and Iran. This theory is based on the belief that the biblical account is a historical record of actual events.
However, there are some discrepancies in this theory.
For one, the Tigris and Euphrates rivers do not meet in the same location, as described in the Bible.
Also, the geography of the region has changed significantly over time due to natural disasters and human intervention, making it difficult to pinpoint the exact location of the garden.
Although, it indicated four rivers' names, 2 of the four have remained unknown, which were Pishon and Gihon.
Today, we know two of these rivers: the Tigris and Euphrates. Originating in Turkey, they meander through Syria and Iraq, ultimately merging and pouring their waters into the majestic Persian Gulf.
According to John Calvin, the 16th-century theologian supposed: “Many think that Pison and Gihon are the Ganges and the Nile; the error, however, of these men is abundantly refuted by the distance of the positions of these rivers. Persons are not wanting who fly across even to the Danube; as if indeed the habitation of one man stretched itself from the most remote part of Asia to the extremity of Europe.”
Considering the references to the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, it is plausible to speculate that the Garden of Eden was influenced by the region where these rivers converge near the Persian Gulf, specifically in Iraq and Iran.
Notably, the Shatt Al-Arab River, formed by the merging of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers on the Iran-Iraq border, holds significance in this context.
The Cradle of Humankind, located approximately 50 kilometers northwest of Johannesburg in South Africa, is renowned as the site of the largest concentration of human ancestral remains worldwide.
Within this region, numerous fossils, including those of Australopithecus, an early hominid species resembling apes, have been discovered, dating back around 3.4 to 3.7 million years.
The emergence of modern Homo sapiens took place much later, between 200,000 to 300,000 years ago, predominantly in Africa, with the likely origin believed to be in present-day Ethiopia.
As a result, some believe that The Garden of Eden was located in Ethiopia, as the region is home to many species of plants and animals that are mentioned in the Bible.
Others suggest that it could have been in Tanzania, where the Great Rift Valley is located, which is believed to be the birthplace of humanity.
Thus, it appears that Ethiopia and South Africa are our best options if we're searching for a scientific Garden of Eden.
However, there is no solid evidence to support these claims, and they remain purely speculative.
