The Location of the Garden of Eden

[@SleepyPotterFan]

One of the less focused on aspects of the story that’s recently interested me is that Eden is planted by God and tended by Adam. The people for whom it mattered conceived of the lush land as NEEDING intervention, first divine and then mortal, to exist. Which, is an interesting idea considering how often in the modern world we conceive of paradise as nature untouched by human hands.

[@InquisitiveBible]

Thanks, that's a great point.

[@ianbrailsford5843]

Going by the description in Genesis 2 you could make the inference that it is referring to the entire of the so-called 'fertile crescent', which is interesting.

[@thejerseyhistorian6734]

I know that David Rohl is not taken seriously as a historian of the ANE or Egypt, but I find his theory that the Garden of Eden was located in NW Iran near Tabriz, Mt Sahand, and Lake Urmia to be intriguing at the very least. The Gihon and Pishon would be the modern day Uizon and Aras (previously known as the Gayhun) while plains surrounding it were known as the Edin. It does seem to match the description found in Genesis 2 though whether "JE" were aware of that region when they wrote that part of the text is a huge sticking point in the theory.

[@RealTrentertainment]

As always, great presentation, well researched, and clearly conveyed. You clearly put a lot of work into these videos. Thank you!

[@MrDalisclock]

Been really interested in this topic for a while but was unaware of some of this. Thanks and keep up the great work.

[@avibenavraham]

Another banger. I look forward to the rest of this series!

[@Jordan-xm6wo]

Fantastic, so informative thank you for making these videos. New to the channel but I will slowly watch the back catalogue

[@AtheismActually]

In a recent video with History Valley, Kipp Davis also mentioned this point: narrow, skirtable bodies of water being called "river" regardless of salinity or flow.

[@anthropologicalminds2855]

THE GOAT BIBLICAL KZbinR HAS RETURNED!

[@stormx2827]

Some of the background illustrations are really nice. Are those AI generated or is there an artist behind em?

[@InquisitiveBible]

Thanks for the comment. If you mean the Gilgamesh backgrounds and river backgrounds, I started in Midjourney (AI) and then did additional editing and compositing in Photoshop. I don't have the budget (yet) to commission custom art, unfortunately.

[@stormx2827]

@@InquisitiveBible Understandable! Thanks for the great vid as ever :)

[@madProgenitorDeity]

great video.. how about the land of Nod east of eden? :)

[@paulallenscards]

Yours is my favorite channel on youtube right now, and it’s not particularly close.

[@robertwarner-ev7wp]

It’s in Missouri.

[@InquisitiveBible]

😄

[@TabletsAndTemples]

Maybe the real Eden was inside us all along

[@tsemayekekema2918]

This is literally New Testament theology: out of your belly shall (in the Messianic realised eschatological present) flow rivers of living water (all the rivers in the Eden story)

[@Emymagdalena]

😍 🌲

[@AvariceAndHubris]

I waited 2 months for this. Thank you for your hard work

[@WalterRMattfeld]

(23 October 2024, 11:35 AM, EST) My research has concluded that Genesis 1-11 is in response to and in refutation of, Sumerian accounts of Mankind's origins. I have concluded that to locate the Garden in Eden, one must study the Sumerian accounts of Mankinds' origins. Genesis is RECASTING the Sumerian accounts: 1. Why man was created? 2. Who created Man? 3. Where was man created? 4. Why mankind is not immortal? 5. Why is primitive Man, portrayed as a Naked servant of God at first? 6. Where is the garden in Eden according to Sumerian myths? My research into Sumerian accounts of man's origins has found the answers to all the above questions. 1. Man was created to end the grueling toil of the Igigi gods in the fruit-tree gardens near Temples (Ziggurats) in Sumerian cities. That is to say Man is a gardening slave. 2. Man is created at the behest of En-Ki (Akkadian E-A) and En-Lil (Sumerian). 3. Man was created at Nippur at the behest of En-Lil, at Eridu at the behest of En-Ki (Akkadian E-A) and thirdly in Edin by the goddess Aruru in _the Epic of Gilgamesh._ 4 _Adapa and the south wind_ explains WHY man is not immortal. It unfolds at two locations: At Eridu, and in Heaven (Anu's dwelling). 5. Sumerian art shows primitive man as bald-headed and NAKED as the servant of the gods He serves drinks to seated gods and goddesses while NAKED, he waters seedling plants in vases by the seated gods, while NAKED and bald-headed. Females appear as NAKED, providing drinks to the gods. 6. Sumerian texts have the god En-Ki (Akkadian E-A) warning Adaba (Adapa) "DO NOT EAT THE BREAD OR DRINK THE WATER OF DEATH TO BE OFFERED YOU IN HEAVEN BY ANU, YOU WILL SURELY DIE!" In heaven, Adaba/Adapa obeys En-Ki/E-A and REFUSES to consume the bread and water of death! Adapa is asked by Anu, Why did you refuse these items? Adapa replies his god warned him he will die! Anu laughs and sends Adapa back to Eridu. Anu wa willing to grant immortality to man via Adapa, for he offered the bread and drink conferring immortality, not death! Adapa was not aware E-A had lied to him, not wanting man to be immortal and like a god! Why? If man has immortality, like a god, who will care for the fruit-tree gardens and present their harvest to the gods to consume daily in the Ziggurat temples? The gods will have to care for their gardens themselves. Back-breaking work in maintaining irrigation ditches! The gods have fleshly bodies in early myths, without food they will experience thirst and hunger and die of starvation! Man's toil in Edin's gardens assures the gods they will not die of hunger and thirst! In Genesis God tells Adam and Eve "Do not eat or you will die!" It is in Eridu, E-A tells Adapa "Do not eat or you will die!" Ergo, the garden in Eden is a recast of E-A of Eridu, warning Adapa not to eat or he will die! So, the pre-biblical source of the Garden in Eden is Sumerian Eridug (Akkadia Eridu) and the Hebrew God is a recast of E-A (En-Ki). Conclusions: Genesis author is REFUTING the Sumerian account of Why man is not immortal! God is NOT a conning liar like E-A, Adam ate and DISOBEYED, Whereas Adapa OBEYED AND DID NOT EAT! SUMERIAN MYTHS KNOW OF TWO RIVERS, NOT FOUR. The Idiqlat and Purattu (Genesis' Hiddekel and Euphrates). In myth the Igigi gods with hoes, dig out the TWO river beds at Eridu, then En-Ki appears, masturbates, and fills the two empty beds with his sperm. Other myths have En-Ki dwelling in the depths of a spring at Eridu called the Abzu/Apsu, sendng up water to fill the two streams. So Eridu is source of Edin's two streams. Edin is a Sumerian word, translated to mean "Wilderness" according to scholars. Whereas Hebrew Eden translates as "Delight." Via a homonymn confusion, two words that sound alike, Sumerian Edin passed into Hebrew as Eden, meaning "Delight." For details cf. my book published in 2010, Walter R. Mattfeld. _The Garden of Eden Myth: Its Pre-biblical Mesopotamian Origins._ Ezekiel places Eden's trees (Cedars) on a mount in the Lebanon. The Bible is referring to two different locations: Ezekiel's cedars of Lebanon and Genesis' Eridu in Edin.

[@FredRickenbacher]

Thank you for this! Must look into that book of yours!

[@Hybris_Speedrun]

Earned yourself a subscriber

[@NotNecessarily-ip4vc]

Probably in the 0D subspace of a black hole.

[@InquisitiveBible]

Is that where missing socks end up?

[@fordprefect5304]

Are you kidding me. This is 2025 and people still believe this fairy tale.

[@InquisitiveBible]

If your comment is addressed to me (the video creator), I encourage you to watch the full video. My intent is to explore how Eden is portrayed in Genesis and Ezekiel by connecting those passages to related (older) paradise myths in Near Eastern literature.

[@auldlangsign3179]

Very good. Or Eden was a fantasy land painted on the walls of the secon(first?) Temple.

[@kaostheninja]

You say the names used for the rivers are from akkadian so it's not possible they existed before the flood, but you used the name Palestine for the land which is more modern than the Bible. Perhaps the same issue is happening in both instances, using the terminology at the time of writing

[@InquisitiveBible]

Thanks for the comment. I can use terms like "Palestine" because I am referring to the same geographical region, even if I use a different name. If the rivers of Eden were not called Hiddeqel and Perat and they did not flow past Assur and they were not even the same rivers, then you have reduced the literal meaning of Genesis 2:10-14 to nonsense. Every statement in those verses becomes meaningless. I don't think that's a helpful interpretation of Genesis. I think the author very much intended the same Tigris and Euphrates we know today.

[@kaostheninja]

@@InquisitiveBible you don't seem to understand what I'm saying. You're using a modern term for the area because that's what it is referred to now. They used the terms that were common at the time the Bible was written, not when the events happened.

[@InquisitiveBible]

If I've misunderstood, I apologize. “You're using a modern term for the area because that's what it is referred to now.” If you're saying that the rivers are the same, and the text is just using the current Hebrew names for them, then yes, I agree. I was trying to address claims that the rivers are not even the same rivers (regardless of the name).

[@lizettramos9240]

The GARDEN OF EDEN IT IS STILL AROUND TRUE LOCATED IN CALEXICO CA KINGS OF THE VALLEY EGYPT 👆

[@ElijahRobinson-ht9sb]

It’s at the bottom of the ocean due to the great flood

[@supernautacus]

This is VERY easy to answer. The Persian Gulf! It wasn't always underwater. Bahrain is the highlands of Eden, still above water. The island of Qeshm is the highlands of Nod, still above water. Three of the rivers that joined together in the now sunken lowland river valley still flow. The first two most everyone knows so I won't repeat their names. The Pishon dried up long ago. We would call it the Kuwait River today. And the Gihon is now called the Karun. This all was before the Younger Dryas Flood (what science is now calling Noah's Flood) happened. about 13 thousand years ago.

[@InquisitiveBible]

Thanks for the comment. It's a compelling idea, but I have a few problems with it. (1) It doesn't account for additional details like proximity to Havalah for the Pishon and proximity to Nubia for the Gihon. (2) The Persian Gulf was full of water by 4,000 BC and even extended further inland during the Bronze Age than it does now. There's no evidence that any civilization was aware of the state of the Persian Gulf was it was 12,000 years ago, nor any way for such knowledge to have been transmitted to Judaean scribes by the time Genesis was written.

[@EricDavidHall]

Pasargadae is the garden of Eden. The Polvar River is the unnamed river. Cyrus Christ rebuilt His Father’s garden 550bc.

[@In-Gall_Tegidda_n_Tesemt]

Eden is gone. It was destroyed in the flood...

[@InquisitiveBible]

I don't see any biblical justification for that view. Genesis describes its location in relation to rivers and countries that are known to its audience, which is the whole reason I think it is an interesting question to ask.

[@Hitchpster]

In between Narnia and Middle Earth, not too far from Tatoine and Hogwarts. In your head.

[@FreakInCage]

There is little point in pretending to explore a probable location, when your introduction classifies Eden as myth. Where is your evidence, supporting your claim that Eden is a myth, not a historical place? Perhaps, first demonstrate beyond reasonable doubt, that Eden never existed. Then proceed to assume where it might have been.

[@spookyshark632]

Are you suggesting there's an actual place where a tree is being guarded by a flaming sword?

[@InquisitiveBible]

Thanks for the comment. Usually, when I use the word "myth" in my videos and writing, I don't mean it in the everyday sense of "an untrue story" but in the anthropological sense of "a well-known story that explains primary principles, beliefs, and values". I also think that if were were going to have a conversation on whether Eden existed, figuring out where the Bible's authors believed it was is a helpful first step.

[@voidagent]

Supposedly in Iraq, that is where the Tigris and Euphrates are, but the Jew-Book "bible" is a superstitious Jew delusional fantasy and complete garbage. Genesis 2:13-15 13 The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the entire land of Cush.[e] 14 The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Ashur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.15 The Lord God (imaginary, supernatural Jew war-lord YAHWEH) took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.