Creation: Where Was the Garden of Eden?

The Bible gives a few geographic reference points from Genesis 2


10 A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters. 11 The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 (The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin and onyx are also there.) 13 The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the entire land of Cush. [g]
14 The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Asshur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.



Many Christians therefore assume the Garden was in what is now in Iraq. However, may be a problem with this theory. After the Flood, the survivors (Noah's family) moved to the plain of Shinar (Sumeria/Babylonia) which is where we find rivers today called Tigris and Euphrates. We are left with 2 possibilities:

  1. Noah and his family simply moved upstream

  2. Noah and his family renamed the rivers after rivers that were known to them, kind of like how many cities in America are named after cities in England.

    (Keith's opinion here) As the family was just starting out, not to mention age issues, it was doubtful they traveled very far.


Each possibility certainly has merits. But in the end, no one really knows where the Garden of Eden was. Below are a few maps showing a few possibilities. 










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