Where Is The Garden Of Eden Located?

The location of the Garden of Eden is often suggested at Lake Van in Turkey or at Qurnah in Iraq. In this post we match the geographical descriptions of the Garden of Eden given in the Bible with the geography of Turkey, Iraq and India…. The purpose of this exercise is to show that the Garden of Eden indeed existed and it affirms the historicity of the Holy Bible.

Four Rivers of Eden in Bible:

The Bible describes the four rivers of Eden as follows: "The name of the first is Pishon; it runs through the entire land of Havilah… The name of the second river is Gihon; it runs through the entire land of Cush. The name of the third river is Hiddekel; it runs along the east side of Assyria. The fourth river is the Perath (Genesis 2:11-14)

British Egyptologist David Rohl has suggested that Eden could be located at Lake Van in Turkey. The Hiddekel is the Tigris, the Perath is the Euphrates, the Gihon is the Aras, and the Pishon is the Uwzon River as marked in Google Earth picture in Figure 1. We shall discuss these rivers in clockwise direction starting from the south.

This suggestion is largely rooted in the similarity of names. The Pishon is suggested to be the Uwzon River because the alphabet "U" in the name Uwzon, if changed to "P," becomes Pwzon, which is similar to Pishon. The Hiddekel is said to be the Tigris by default since the other three rivers are identified. The Perath is suggested to be the Euphrates River because the Biblical name Perath is similar to the name Euphrates. Both names have common consonants "p," "r," and "t/th." The Gihon is suggested to be the Aras River because the name "Gaihun" used by Islamic scholars for this river is similar to the Biblical name Gihon. Thus the Biblical description of four rivers emerging from a mountain matches with Lake Van.

A difference is that the Biblical narrative revolves around the Pishon and Gihon Rivers while the Hiddekel and Perath Rivers remain in the background. At Lake Van, on the other hand, the Tigris and Euphrates are mighty rivers while the Aras and Uwzon, relatively speaking, remain in the background.

Eden in Iraq| Euphrates| Tigris| Karun| Wady Ermek| Al-Qurnah| Shatt al-Arab| Strong's:

Another proposed location for Eden is at Al-Qurnah at the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers as shown in Figure 2. Names of the four rivers are circled in this picture. Here, Pishon is suggested to be Wady Ermek. As in the previous proposal, the Perath and Hiddekel are suggested to be the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers. Lastly, Gihon is suggested to be the Karun River. Thus the Biblical description of four rivers matches with Al-Qurnah.

But locating Eden at Al-Qurnah demands reconsideration because here the rivers converge into one river—the Shatt al-Arab—while, according to the Bible, one river "went out" in four rivers at the Garden. The Bible uses the word "yatsa" for "going out" (Strong's 03318). It means: "out" 166 times, "went out" 48 times, "left" 40 times, "go out" 40 times, "brought out" 38 times, "came out" 26 times… It is difficult, therefore, to interpret the word "yatsa" as "coming in," as the situation is at Al-Qurnah. The problem of the Biblical narrative revolving around the Pishon and Gihon Rivers remains here as at Lake Van. The Hiddekel (Tigris) and Perath (Euphrates) are mighty rivers while the Bible gives no details of these rivers. The Pishon (Wady Ermek)and Gihon (Karun) re described in detail in the Bible but are small rivers here.

Eden in the Indus Valley:

Now we suggest an alternative location for Eden in the Indus Valley. Four rivers flow out of Pushkar as shown in Figure 3. The river emerging to the south of Pushkar is the Sagarmati. We suggest she is the Pishon of the Bible. She flows near the town of Pisangan. The name "Pishon" and first part "Pisan" of the name Pisangan both carry the same consonants "p," "s" and "n" and suggest a common origin of the two names.

The river emerging to the west of Pushkar is the Saraswati. We suggest she is the Gihon of the Bible. The river emerging to the northeast is the Nahar. We suggest she is the Perath River of the Bible. The river emerging to the southeast is the Dai. We suggest she is the Hiddekel of the Bible.

The problem of the Biblical narrative revolving around the Pishon and Gihon Rivers does not arise here. The Luni (Gihon), carrying the water of Sagarmati (Pishon), is a mighty river while the Nahar (Perath) and Dai (Hiddekel) are, relatively speaking, puny rivers as indicated in the Bible giving no details of them.

Pishon Joins Gihon| Targums| Jonathan| Josephus| Legend of the Jews| Sea of Suph:

The secondary text Targum Jonathan says that the Gihon carried the waters of the Pishon to the Sea: "And the Mizraee followed after (the Hebrews), and came upon them as they were encamped by the sea, gathering of pearls and goodly stones, which the river Pishon had carried from the Garden of Eden into the Gihon , and the Gihon had carried into the Sea of Suph, and the Sea of Suph had cast upon its bank" (Exodus 13: 17, italics provided). Jewish Historian Josephus, writing in Legends of the Jews in the 1^st century CE, described the same situation: "The chariots were laden with silver, gold, and all sorts of costly things, which the river Pishon, as it flows forth from Paradise, carries down into the Gihon." This description does not match with Lake Van where Gihon (Aras) does not carry waters of Pishon (Uwzon); and also does not match with Al-Qurnah where Gihon (Karun) does not carry waters of Pishon (Wady Ermek). In contrast, this is exactly the situation in the Indus Valley where the Gihon (Saraswati) carries the waters of the Pishon (Sagarmati) as shown in Figure 3.

"Zahab," "Bdellium" and "Shoham"| Gum Resin| Arabia| Gold| Emerald| Beryl| Guggulu| Rajgarh| Mangaliawas:

The Bible tells of an association of the Pishon River with three materials: "The… Pishon… runs through the entire land… where there is zahab. (The zahab of that land is pure; bdellium and shoham stone are also there)" (Genesis 2:11-14).

I have found no suggestions for these materials near the Uwzon River in Turkey, which is identified with the Biblical Pishon.

It is reported that the area through which Wady Ermek flows, "was rich in bdellium, an aromatic gum resin that can still be found in north Arabia, and gold, which was still mined in the general area in the 1950s" (Has the Garden of Eden been located at last? By Dora Jane Hamblin).

We find all the three materials at Pushkar though with some unconventional interpretations. The first material is "Zahab" which is conventionally identified with gold. But gold is not found along the Sagarmati (Pishon). However, the root of the word "zahab" is "to shimmer" (Strong's 02091). Thus, the two qualities of zahab are yellow colour, which is derived from its conventional association with gold; and shimmering, which is derived from its grammatical root. The yellow emerald has both these qualities and is found in the area. Photo of an abandoned emerald mine near Rajgarh is given in Figure 4. Thus, "zahab" could be the yellow emerald.

The second material is "bdellium," which is a gum resin (Strong's 0916). People harvest a gum resin from the guggulu plant in the area. Figure 5 gives picture of gum oozing from the trunk of a guggulu tree at the Guggulu Research Farm at Mangaliawas, located on the banks of the Sagarmati.

The third material is "shoham" which means "a precious stone or gem, probably the beryl (from its pale green color)" (Strong's 07718). Beryl is also found in the area as reported by the Department of Mines and Geology, Government of Rajasthan on its website under the title "Precious & Semi-Precious Stones in Rajasthan." Thus, all the three materials associated with the Pishon River are found in the area south of Pushkar though not in their conventional identifications.

Archaeology| Open Bible| 4000 BCE| Groningen Institute of Archaeology| Allchin |Rise of Civilization in India and Pakistan| Budha Pushkar:

The Open Bible says that Adam lived around 4000 BCE. Thus the proposed location of Eden must provide archaeological evidence of habitation at this time.

The area of Lake Van witnessed the beginning of human habitation and grazing around 6000 BCE and this supports the possibility that Adam could have lived here. However, the area was fragile and susceptible to repeated degradation. A study by the Groningen Institute of Archaeology says: "the decline of grass steppe… proclaim increasingly arid conditions… The introduction of domestic cattle in these grasslands readily leads to disturbance and degradation of the vegetation… The interference of man and his animals with the fragile balance… probably started the decline of the grass steppe… Pollen values suggest a… declining agricultural activity towards the end of the 5th millennium BP." Further, Lake Van is a dead and extremely saline lake, which does not support cultivation. Such an area could hardly be a "Garden."

A large number of ancient archaeological sites are found near Al-Qurnah hence it is plausible that the area was inhabited at 4000 BCE.

Evidence of habitation is available continuously from the last 200,000 years at Pushkar. Bridget and Raymond Allchin, authors of The Rise of Civilization in India and Pakistan , say: "Around the… Budha Pushkar there is concentration of sites with (small stone tool) industries… these are primarily living or camping sites… the importance of this unique place may extend back without a break to prehistoric times." Thus Al-Qurnah and Pushkar provide supporting archaeological evidence.

Living Traditions| Akdamar| Abraham| Jesus| Adam's Tree| Brahma| Temple:

The church at Akdamar Island in Lake Van has stone reliefs depicting Biblical scenes with Adam, Eve, Abraham, David and Goliath, and Jesus as well as earthly themes, such as hunting scenes and human and animal figures as shown in Picture 6. There appears to be no special living tradition of Adam in the area.

There is a tradition of the Adam's Tree at Qurnah. A plaque announces that Prophet Abraham had visited the place in 2000 BCE and said that a tree would grow at that place "which is similar to our Father Adam's" as shown in Picture 7. This indicates that the "tradition" extends only to Prophet Abraham.

The Hindu living tradition says that Brahma undertook the task of creation at Pushkar. His main temple is located here as shown in Picture 8. Thus we find living tradition only at Pushkar.

Comparative Assessment:

We have marked the evidences at the three proposed locations in the Table below. We have given the evidence in green color where it matches with the Biblical descriptions, in yellow color where the match is weak, and in red colour where the evidence does not match the Biblical descriptions. In the last row of the Table we have given a numerical summary with green = 2 points, yellow = 1 point, and red = 0 points. The maximum possible score is 14 points for the 7 evidences. We find that the score of Lake Van is 6/14, of Qurnah is 7/14 and Pushkar is 13/14. Thus, we submit, there exists a good case to examine whether the Garden of Eden could be located at Pushkar.

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