Alice C. Linsley
The Eden described in the Bible was a vast well-watered region that extended from the source of the Nile to the Tigris-Euphrates (Gen. 2). Memory of Eden is preserved in Akkadian documents and ancient Egyptian texts. According to Genesis 13:10, the Garden of the Lord was well watered, like “the land of Egypt.” The Afro-Asiatic word for garden or virgin forest is egan, and the Hebrew word gan for garden, is cleared related. In Akkadian, the oldest known Semitic language, the region was called Edinu. The word is derived from the Akkadian word edû which refers to a flow, spring. The text says that springs came up from the earth. Perhaps the biblical writer is making a play of words Eden = edû , meaning "flow" or "spring."
E. A. Speiser believed that the Sumerian word eden refers to a plain or a steppe (The Anchor Bible, Genesis, p. 16).
Rock paintings of boats, people fishing and herding cattle have been found around the Sahara. These tell the story of life during the African Humid Period (or the Aqualithic) when the wet Sahara sustained large herds.
The Paradise of Eden is described as a well-watered garden. This was not a small garden that could be managed by a single gardener. It was God's garden. Today the region is one of the driest on Earth.
Genesis 2 gives the account of 4 major rivers are boundaries for biblical Eden. They are the Gihon and the Pishon in Africa, and the Tigris and Euphrates in Mesopotamia. The Ethiopians identify the Gihon with the Abay River, which circles the former African kingdom of Gojjam. Genesis 2:13 states that the Gihon "winds through all the land of Kush." The Pishon "winds through the whole land of Havilah" (Gen. 2:11). Havilah is both a place name and the name of one of Kush's sons (Gen. 10:7). This identifies the Gihon and Pishon with the Upper Nile region.
This ancient paradise supported forests (Gen. 2:9). Some believe that the earliest of Abraham’s ancestors were forest dwellers. This pushes those ancestors to a time before memory, and yet the Paradise they enjoyed is remembered. Karl Jung might suggest that the Paradise of Genesis reflects the collective memory of Abraham’s early Nilotic ancestors (4200-2000 B.C.).
Rock paintings of boats, people fishing and herding cattle have been found around the Sahara. These tell the story of life during the African Humid Period (or the Aqualithic) when the wet Sahara sustained large herds.
Genesis 2 gives the account of 4 major rivers are boundaries for biblical Eden. They are the Gihon and the Pishon in Africa, and the Tigris and Euphrates in Mesopotamia. The Ethiopians identify the Gihon with the Abay River, which circles the former African kingdom of Gojjam. Genesis 2:13 states that the Gihon "winds through all the land of Kush." The Pishon "winds through the whole land of Havilah" (Gen. 2:11). Havilah is both a place name and the name of one of Kush's sons (Gen. 10:7). This identifies the Gihon and Pishon with the Upper Nile region.
This ancient paradise supported forests (Gen. 2:9). Some believe that the earliest of Abraham’s ancestors were forest dwellers. This pushes those ancestors to a time before memory, and yet the Paradise they enjoyed is remembered. Karl Jung might suggest that the Paradise of Genesis reflects the collective memory of Abraham’s early Nilotic ancestors (4200-2000 B.C.).
Many discoveries, such as the 8000-year Dufuna boat, ancient petroglyphs of boats and cows in the Sahara, and 9000-10,000-year burial sites provide evidence of extensive water systems and human populations. The paleoanthropologist, Paul Sereno, unearthed 9700-year skeletons at Gobero in Niger. These were buried on the edge of a paleolake on the northwestern rim of the Chad Basin. The Gobero site is the earliest known cemetery in the Sahara and the skeletons found there indicated that some of the people were at least 6 feet tall.
At the time of the Gobero population, humans were dispersed globally, and during the time of Noah these populations were not destroyed.
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| Gobero skeleton (G3B8) measures 6 feet, 6 inches Photo: Mike Hettwer, courtesy Project Exploration |
At the time of the Gobero population, humans were dispersed globally, and during the time of Noah these populations were not destroyed.
Many peoples have their point of origin in archaic Eden. This is the point of origin of the biblical Hebrew clans. The oldest identified Horite Hebrew shrine cities were Nekhen and Nekheb on the Nile. These twin cities date to 3,800 B.C.
The rulers of Tyre, an ancient seat of wisdom, are traced back to Eden. "Son of Man, raise a lament over the king of Tyre and say to him: Thus says the Lord God: You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and flawless beauty. You were in Eden, in the Garden of God; every precious stone was your adornment... and gold beautifully wrought for you, mined for you, prepared the day you were created." (Ezekiel 28:11-18)
Painting on the wall of a tomb at Nekhen
The rulers of Tyre, an ancient seat of wisdom, are traced back to Eden. "Son of Man, raise a lament over the king of Tyre and say to him: Thus says the Lord God: You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and flawless beauty. You were in Eden, in the Garden of God; every precious stone was your adornment... and gold beautifully wrought for you, mined for you, prepared the day you were created." (Ezekiel 28:11-18)
It was in biblical Eden that the Messianic promise was first proclaimed when God explained to the Woman that her Son would crush the serpent's head under his feet. This prophesy predates the Bible. It was expressed in the 4200-year-old Pyramid Texts: "Horus has shattered the mouth of the serpent with the sole of his foot" (The Ancient Pyramid Texts, Utterance 388). The expectation is expressed in Psalm 91:13 - "You will tread on the lion and the adder; the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot."
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