This page was last updated on 15 Oktober, 2022.

0. Preamble***
Due to lack of time I’m unable to complete this study (at this time).
I’ve put what I have so far online because I think, while not complete, and not always fully researched it’s good source of information that both debunks wrong views, and lists (possibly) correct views.

1. Introduction***
Where was the Garden of Eden? As with many things there is no consensus on its location.
It always was my view/feeling that Eden must have been in/near Israel. Even in Jerusalem itself.
Jerusalem was the place of the Temples. The place God chose. The most holy spot on earth.
Likewise the Garden was the most perfect/holy place on earth when Adam lived there.

According to some the Garden was somewhere in Iraq.
For me personally it's only logical when Jesus returns, He will rule the world from Jerusalem, Israel. Jesus comes to restore what was lost/destroyed by Adam's disobedience. Wouldn't it make sense Jerusalem is in the former garden. Especially because several major events took place the spot where Jerusalem is right now, but long before it existed?

This is going to be a bumpy ride. There are clues in the Bible to locate the Garden. But nothing more than clues. I'll collect information from all over the place and piece it together to locate Eden.

Obviously the Garden no longer existed when Moses wrote about it (1446-1406BC), so it can be said Moses only wrote in past tense. If so it isn’t relevant the rivers no longer existed at his time.

While had an idea where the Garden 'must' be before I even started this study I've always kept an open mind. Hopefully this little study reflects that. One of the bits of proof for that is that I'll suggest several possible locations for the Garden of Eden.

There will be a lot of overlap in the information and logic locating the possible locations of the Garden.

I placed that information as much as possible on this page.


Euphrates and Tigris are two of the four rivers originating from the Garden of Eden. They can be found on every modern and ancient map. The are at the same location on every suggested location of the Garden; so I placed the relevant info on them on this pages to avoid repeating the same stuff over and over on the pages that discuss the possible locations of the Garden.


If you believe there was a global flood which totally reshaped the whole earth you likely believe Eden can no longer be located because everything is totally gone. Even if that would be so Scripture gives several very useful clues based on the world as it was during the time of Moses.


2. Geology***
Rivers flow in lower areas which in this region were often formed by seismic activity (earthquakes, etc). What exactly that is you can read on the page linked to below. But all you really need to know is that nature can and does form and close channels almost ‘instantly’. Because water always seeks the lowest points those channels will become rivers.

But nature doesn’t randomly form channels, it requires certain very deep underground conditions. Those conditions hardly change over thousands of years. So using modern science good candidates for ancient channels that (likely) existed from the time of Adam and Eve until today.

The yellow lines below show areas with a high probability of significant seismic activity.
The line on the left that very roughly runs north-south marks the two most known waters of the Bible. The Red Sea and the Jordan River. Both are on an area of seismic activity that most likely created those waters.

A sneak peak of why this is of any importance is that according to one view Gihon and Pishon once ran over that yellow line and were destroyed, sunk, by seismic activity.

Click here for a lot more information on the above



3. Fresh water springs***
3a. Artesian aquifers:

On the right there is a stream originating from an aquifer. A massive aquifer was likely what fed the river they flowed out of the Garden of  Eden. More detail on that in a later section. We are talking really massive springs here. Springs that can create huge rivers. Springs that can turn a desert into fertile land.

The drawing below is an artificial well (pipe) but something similar can exist in nature too.
Imagine that all rock layers are impregnable, an earthquake cracked the rocks and the water gushes out. The crack acts as a pipe. Another earthquake can make the crack bigger, resulting in more output. But the earthquake can just as well cap the well so the output decreases or ceases completely.

An artesian aquifer is an underground layer which holds groundwater under pressure. This causes the water level in the well to rise to a point where the pressure is equal to the weight of water putting it under pressure. This type of well is called an artesian well. Water may even reach the ground surface if the natural pressure is high enough, in which case the well is called a flowing artesian well.

An aquifer is a geologic layer which can hold water such as sand and gravel, limestone, or sandstone, through which water flows and is stored. An artesian aquifer is trapped between rocks or clay which causes the pressure. Water returns to the aquifers when the water table at its recharge zone is at a higher elevation than the head of the well.

Fossil water aquifers can also be artesian if they are under sufficient pressure from the surrounding rocks. This is similar to how many newly tapped oil wells are pressurized.
Wikipedia

Construction workers in Jerusalem have discovered a large underground cave full of fresh flowing water. Officials say it is the most substantial underground water reservoir ever uncovered in the land. Scientists from Hebrew University who have been exploring the cave say it’s located about 150 feet below the ground. It appears to be around 30 feet high and stretches for some distance before cascading into the mountain aquifer that exists below the hills of Judea and Samaria.
Click Click Click

The cave also has hydrological significance because it is part of the mountain aquifer, an underground reservoir into which rainwater flows from the surface, and that extends all along Israel's central mountain range, Frumkin says. "The study of the cave can help us understand the precise mechanism by which water flows through the aquifer in the Jerusalem area," he adds.
Click


3b. Earthquakes***
Springs don’t just randomly pop-up; they need an underground water source and a route to the surface. That route can be made (and blocked) by an earthquake. There will be earthquakes to open the ‘fountain of the deep’ (Gen 8:2) when Christ returns.

Splitting of mt. Olives (crucifixion site)

Zech 14:4 And His feet shall stand in that day on the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives shall divide from its middle, from the east even to the west, a very great valley. And half of the mountain shall move toward the north, and half of it toward the south.
Zech 14:5 And you shall flee to the valley of  My mountains, for the valley of the mountains shall reach to Azal. And you shall flee as you fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah, king of Judah. And YAHWEH my Elohim shall come, and all the saints with You.

3c. Misty Spring***

Gen 2:6 but there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.
Gen 2:6 Instead, springs came up from the ground and watered all the land. (Click)

Many Bibles use the word "mist" but others have “springs” - click

And that aligns perfectly with the verse in the Book of Adam and Eve about the water emerging from under the roots of the Tree of Life.


a mist] Heb. ’êd, a word found elsewhere in the O.T. only in Job 36:27, where it is rendered “vapour.” Here the meaning is not certain: the versions (LXX p: Lat. fons: Targum “cloud”) reflect the doubt. The English versions follow the Targum. Recently, Assyriologists have compared the Babylonian êdû, meaning a “flood” or “overflowing.” It is possible that the rendering “spring” or “stream” maybe more accurate than “mist”; that in Job 36:27 ’êd may denote the “source” of the waters above the heavens; and that here it may refer to the hidden source of the rivers of the world. No account is given of the origin of rain.

watered] Literally, “gave to drink”; an expression better suited to a “stream” than to a “mist”: cf. Genesis 2:10, where it is used of a river. “The ground,” the face of which was watered by it, was “the cultivable soil” (adâmah).

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges



During Jesus time a spring names after the river Gihon was still active. It was a main water supply for Jerusalem and was used in the Temple.
Due to seismic activity the output of the spring can vary a lot over the centuries.


Ancient sources state that the Pishon and Gihon rivers where subterranean. Gihon means "Bursting forth" Could be about a spring again.
The Tigris and Euphrates are surface rivers that are well know. But the other two are never found.... because everyone looks on maps that only show things on the surface....


Both Tigris and Euphrates originate in East-Turkey and empty into the Persian Gulf. Both flow over the surface.


The Jewish 1st century historian Josephus wrote there was a common belief that there was an underground river Gihon that connected the Nile and the sea of Galilee (also known as: Sea of Tiberias, Lake of Gennesareth, Sea of Chinnereth)  and sprung up from the Tabga spring. One of the proof for that is the migration of fish. Tabga spring was near Capernaum where Jesus read from the Temple Scroll.


“the explanation of the Ethiopian affinity of the fish fauna of the Jordan is that the Jordan formed at one time merely part of a river system that ran down the Great Rift Valley. The Jordan was one branch of this huge river system, the chain of lakes in East Africa represents the other; and together they opened into the Indian Ocean.”

R. Washbourn, “The Percy Sladen Expedition to Lake Huleh, 1935,” Palestine Exploration Fund, Quarterly Statements, (1936), p. 209.



2 Chronicles 32:30 This same Hezekiah also stopped the upper spring of the waters of Gihon, and brought them straight down on the west side of the city of David. And Hezekiah prospered in all his works.

The spring water was routed to Jerusalem. That spring was called Gihon spring and was located next to the Temple. It was tapped and flowed into the Temple.

Why was it called Gihon Spring?



4. Became 4 heads
4a. How many rivers flowed towards/into the Garden?

Gen 2:10 Now a river flowed out of Eden to water the garden; and from there it divided and became four rivers.

Gen 2:10 And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from there it was parted, and became into four heads.

The first translation is clear, but many translations have ‘heads’. Heads is a correct translation but it seems some people believe that heads are the end of the river and that it can be understood as 4 rivers flowing into the Garden, merging in the Garden and leaving the Garden as one river.

My conclusion is that only one river entered the Garden. For more details click here.


4b. Where did the rivers split?***

Click here  for more translations

Translation #2 states the river splits outside the Garden. Could be a few feet outside the Garden, or so far it splits outside the whole Land of Eden as #1 states.

While literal reading allows for that interpretation I think #2 means it splits while still inside the Land of Eden.

Translation #1 and #2 perfectly show the question I have and can't get answered: Does 'there' in #3 references to 'the Garden of Eden' or 'the Land of Eden'?

Translation #4 seems to say when the unnamed river was done watering the Garden, meaning when it was outside of it, it split. If so that would agree with #2.

I think translation is so difficult that it can't be used to prove or disprove a location of the Garden, based on splitting inside or outside the Garden.

Now let's assume we know for 100% sure the river splits inside the Garden and we found a potential location. Then we need to know the exact boundaries to verify if the river really splits inside the Garden. And because we don't have those boundaries the knowledge where it splits becomes (fairly) useless.

The only thing all translations agree on that a nameless river flowed through the 'Land of Eden', then entered the Garden. That means the source of the water was not in the Garden itself. But even that isn't very helpful because we need the boundaries of the Garden to verify if the river originates from inside or outside the proposed location.

A very literal translation has: ‘he-is-being-parted and.he-became to.four heads’.
That sounds like an ongoing progress, meaning the river could have split into two inside the garden and into 3 and 4 more downstream.


5. Underground rivers around the world***

Just some proof underground rivers exist.


The articles are so lengthy (and boring?) I moved them to a separate page.

Please click here for the articles and use the back button in your browser to return to this page.


6. Locating the four rivers
6a. How can rivers split?***
The first thing to notice is that the nameless Genesis-River splits into four rivers. That's not impossible but doesn't happen that often. Most rivers are a merging of several smaller rivers. Those smaller rivers are often fed by many tiny streams. And only at the delta just before the dump into an ocean they split up into many smaller streams which are called delta and not be given separate names.
As an example image the Grand Canyon as that single Genesis river. Due to an earthquake the sides crack open and water will also flow through those newly formed cracks. That’s a way a river can split, instead of the far more common merge.


6b. Water doesn’t run uphill***
Water doesn't run uphill. While that's an extremely obvious statement it should be kept in mind when searching for a location because it rules out locations of the that are downstream of the four suggested rivers. Unless one believes the verse below can be understood as four rivers flowing into/towards the garden…

Gen 2:10 A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters.

The river flowed from the land of Eden both into and from the Garden at the same time. The easiest way to picture this is seeing the Garden as a city in a country because the Garden of Eden was located inside the land called Eden. So the four rivers that split plus the unnamed source river were all located in the land called Eden.
That's why the river flows: Eden -> Garden -> Eden.

Because water doesn't run uphill we can rule out certain layout of the location.

The source river can't run downhill into a valley and from that valley uphill again in the Garden as Scripture seems to state was located on a hill too.

That leaves two possibilities:
- The Garden was downhill viewed from the water source.
- The water source fed a spring that forced water to spring up (past the valley).

The next question we should ask yourself does a spring count for a river as stated in Gen 2:10? Unfortunately there is not a yes/no answer. A spring is not a river, it's as simple as that. But it can be said that a spring is the outlet of a underground river that flowed into the Garden.

The Garden itself is located in the land of Eden so all water originating from the Garden also originates from the Land of Eden. Scripture can be poetic so a spring could be seen as a river.

John 7:37-38 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”  

While it’s a rather strange way looking at things it has some support in folklore. It's said Adam and Eve slept in a cave under the mountain. That would mean under de mountain doesn't count as the Garden because they were expelled from the Garden. Likewise it could be reasoned a spring originates from below the Garden and with that outside the Garden.

Jesus and His disciples frequently met in the cave below Gethsemane. Is that a pattern with Adam's time?


Gen 2:10 A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there/thence it was separated into four headwaters

In the original text the words “and thence” come before the verb “parted.” This verb has no subject expressed, and may have its subject implied in itself. The meaning of the sentence will then be, “and thence,” after the garden had been watered by the river, “it,” the river, or the water system of the country, “was parted into four heads.” We cannot tell, and it is not material, which of these interpretations correctly represents the original fact.

That leaves room for writing the verse in various ways.

1- One river flows into the Garden and splits into 4 inside the Garden.
2- One river flows into the Garden and splits into 4 after exiting the Garden.


That may look like useless nagging about words, but in reality the concrescences are huge because in the first translation we must find a location where the river splits into four in a small area because the Garden likely wasn’t really huge. Such locations are quite rare

In the second translation the river may split many miles outside the Garden. Perhaps immediately into 4 parts but perhaps first into 2 or 3 parts at later splits again to for 4 rivers.

In section 9a you can find the full quote: “It is the alluvial ground where the Euphrates and Tigris unite their currents, and then again separate into two branches”. That makes room for a third way of rendering the verse…

1- One river flows into the Garden and splits into 4 inside the Garden.
2- One river flows into the Garden and splits into 4 after exiting the Garden.
3- One river passed through the Garden and looking from the Garden it split into two upstream and also split into two downstream.


6c. Much agreement doesn’t always equal fact***
The names of the rivers may give us some clues too.
Pishon:                 Increase, free-flowing.
Gihon:                  Gushing fountain, bursting forth.
Tigris/Hiddekel:   Rapid.
Euphrates:           The good and abounding river, the great river, the River.


The Bible gives the location of the rivers by stating the countries they were located in. Unfortunately those countries no longer exist and scholars disagree on where those lands were located.

Quite often you read scholarly works that makes quite firm statements and seems to have proof to back up those statements. But often the proof isn't that strong. Havilah is perfect example of that. Many scholars locate the northern tip of Havilah near Mecca because that's where a huge ancient gold mine is found (that likely was used by king Solomon). For a long time that was the only known ancient gold mine and for that reason it was believed Havilah was near Mecca. Much further south was bdellium and onyx found. For that reason Havilah on many maps is a quite big country that stretches from Mecca to southern Yemen.

Much later ancient gold mines were found much further south. That opened the possibility of a much smaller Havilah, that was located in present day Yemen. That's nearly 550mi/880km south from Mecca. And with that the river's location changes too.
Many Bible commentaries and encyclopedia use that old information. Old doesn’t mean wrong but it may give the impression a certain location is much more likely. That’s not the case because most articles are based on the same source of (outdated) information.

Not a single source will give a straightforward answer to any of the questions we (may) have. It's mainly collecting small bits of information and trying to organize them so a greater picture emerges.

One example of that is:

Gen 2:11-12 The name of the first is Pishon; it flows around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. The gold of that land is good; the bdellium and the onyx stone are there as well.

As I wrote above we need to figure out what bdellium is, where it's found. In that region should be also (a lot of) gold and onyx. There are many regions with gold but far less with all of those things. A mine that was opened in the year 2000 doesn't count. It should be open and famous in the time of Moses when he wrote Genesis.


7. The first two rivers***
Euphrates and Hiddekel/Tigris are known rivers that still exist today, and are part of every suggested locating. So in an attempt to avoid duplicated information as much as possible I’ll discuss those two rivers on this page and the other two on separate pages.

7a. Hiddekel = Tigris***

Dan 10:4 On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, while I was by the bank of the great river, that is, the Hiddekel,

Daniel was sitting by the bank of the Tigris during the Babylonian captivity. That means the Hiddekel was somewhere in Babylon. Many scholars agree it's the present day Tigris.

Another verse states:

Gen 2:14 The name of the third river is Tigris; it flows towards the east of Assyria.

One verse implying Babylon and another stating Assyria may be seen as a contradiction. But in fact it's another clue because it simply means the rivers ran close/through to both empires.

Both empires had borders that where in constant flux. On all maps the Tigris runs almost through the middle of Babylon. So no problem with Dan 10:4

Assyria is a little more problematic because on many maps the Tigris runs through the middle of Assyria, not east of it. On the map below the Tigris runs trough the eastern part of Assyria. That would ok because it qualifies as 'toward the east'

Another way of understanding 'toward the east' is that the river comes/originates from the west. That view isn’t on any map because the Tigris doesn’t originate from the west for a very long time, if ever. In this view it originates from the west - click


7b. Euphrates***

2Kgs 23:29 In his days Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt went up to the king of Assyria at the river Euphrates. And King Josiah went to meet him, and when Pharaoh Neco saw him he killed him at Megiddo.

Jer 51:61 Then Jeremiah said to Seraiah, “As soon as you come to Babylon, see that you read all these words aloud,
Jer 51:62 and say, ‘You, LORD, have promised concerning this place to cut it off, so that there will be nothing living in it, whether man or animal; but it will be a permanent desolation.’
Jer 51:63 “And as soon as you finish reading this scroll, you shall tie a stone to it and throw it into the middle of the Euphrates,

The above two verses locate the Euphrates in Babylon and  Assyria. That aligns perfectly with the present day location. See also the above section because  the Euphrates is close to the  Tigris. (And for that reason ran through the same empires)


8. Gold, bdellium and onyx***

Gen 2:11-12 The name of the first is Pishon; it flows around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. The gold of that land is good; the bdellium and the onyx stone are there as well.

To locate the Garden we need to locate the rivers.
To locate the rivers we need to locate the lands they flowed through and around.
To locate the lands we need to locate the gold, bdellium and onyx.

It’s a fact that all of that has been located. It’s less a fact that it is what Genesis is referring to. By that I mean if we locate a gold mine, is it 100% sure that’s the one Genesis is referring to? Maybe Genesis refers to a yet undiscovered ancient gold mine. There’s not total consensus on what bdellium is. If we knew for sure we could rule out certain locations.

8a. Gold
Until 2000 it was believed only Mahd adh-Dhahab which is near Medina Saudi-Arabia, had gold mines in ancient times. For that reason many where ‘forced’ to conclude Havilah was in that area.
The big green G2 in the south marks the archeological digs in Yemen.
The big green G3 to the north the Mahd adh-Dhahab area.

Below some quotes/opinions I found relation to the location of the gold/Havilah:


8b. Bdellium ***
Bdellium seems to be one of those words lost in the mists of time.

Two main meanings can be found in commentaries.
A precious stone that’s possibly a pearl, crystal or emerald.
Aromatic gum.

Two great articles can be found here and here.
All considered I think it’s the aromatic gum and locations I found in various articles are:


This what many think bdellium looks like. Looks a bit similar to raisins.


The locations combined span a huge region. Unless Havilah was really that huge we still haven’t located it. But we can narrow down our list by combining it with the locations where ancient gold mines were found. Is that conclusive evidence? No, the perfect proof for that is that the ancient Yemen mines weren’t found until 2000, so in my mind it’s possible other mines will be found at a later date.

The Exodus most likely started 1446BC - click   that means the suggested regions should not just have existed during that time, but they must also be well known for their bdellium.

8c. Onyx

The exact nature of the onyx stone is not known, however, precious stones were being brought into Israel and Mesopotamia through Arabia during times antiquity.


9. Cush
While Havilah is a lot of guesswork, Cush is less unsure. But don’t expect it to be easy. Contradictions all over the place…

9a. Cush is located in Arabia***
I dedicated a whole page to prove Cush is in Arabia and not Africa. -CLICK-

9b. Cush is located in ….

Gen 2:13 And the name of the second river is Gihon. It is the one surrounding all the land of Cush/Ethiopia/Sudan.

The original text reads Cush, but the translators tried to be helpful and translated that name with the name of the modern day country they assumed where ancient Cush was located in. That’s not a translation but an opinion or commentary. I see that as a major problem in translations. On one hand translators never ever under no condition may inject doctrine and personal views into translations because that would be adding/changing Scripture. But on the other hand they should deliver a readable product. That said Ethiopia and Sudan most certainly isn't in the original text. Even if Scripture would clearly point out Cush is also called Sudan it's a wrong translation because if God wrote Cush He means Cush. We may have no clue why; but He did and still does.

Elsewhere I'll show that even Cush is a little debatable. It actually reads Kush with a K. Is using a C a correct spelling variation of exactly the same region? Or are Cush and Kush different countries as some assume? This kind of things make studies like this so hard. You can't trust many things. You have to verify the translator didn't give his/her own twist to things. Please note I’m pointing a finger at the translator, not Scripture winch never is flawed.


9b1. Gojjam Ethiopia (debunked)***
Cush means black, and a century ago it was understood as ‘land of black/colored people’.
Other sources add a little more detail and state Cush in Hebrew, Ethiopia in Greek and Sudan in Arabic mean burned face.

The word, "Ethiopian", is a Greek word meaning "a man with a sun burned face". Ethiopia and Cush (the Hebrew word meaning "dark skinned") are used interchangeably in the Bible to refer to dark skinned Africans. See William D. McKissic, Snr., in Beyond Roots: In Search of Blacks in the Bible (Wenonah, New Jersey: Renaissance Productions, 1990), p. 20.

Ethiopian was a Greek term for black-skinned peoples generally; all East African countries, with exception of Egypt, through which the river Gihon goes was identified as the Biblical Ethiopia (Cush).


More - click

Havilah is  today’s Ethiopian province Gojjam . The land skirted by the river Pishon or the Blue Nile, the first of the four river of Eden. No land like Godjam in Ethiopia is skirted by such big river in the world!

From this, it is clear to understand that:

Aksum was the name of a city and a kingdom which is essentially modern-day northern Ethiopia (Tigray province) and Eritrea. Research shows that Aksum was a major naval and trading power from the 1st to the 7th centuries C.E. As a civilization it had a profound impact upon the people of Egypt, southern Arabia, Europe and Asia, all of whom were visitors to its shores, and in some cases were residents.


Me: This can easily be debunked with a few well established facts.

You will see me copy and pasting (part of) this argument over and over because it’s simple, well established and hard hitting debunking material.


9b2.Kush vs Cush (debunked)***

Spelling varies between Kush and Cush. Does that one letter difference has a big impact? As huge as being two totally different kingdoms? Or is it merely a different spelling?

Hebrew Kush, Strong H3568, is found 30 times in the Bible. I listed all verses here. - click

I don’t see a single verse that hints toward the Kassite view.
I have a strong feeling scholars keep looking very hard in the Babylonia area because they want to fit the Edenic rivers in a logical place that can be connected to their favorite spot for Eden, southern Babylonia. It’s fine to be very open to information.

The list of verses can be grouped into 3 parts.

While figuring out the exact ancient borders may be  interesting, it’s not the real reason I mention all of this. All I want is a global location of the country to rule out things like this:

Biblical scholar Ephraim Speiser proposed the "Gush", or "Kush", translated as Cush, meant to imply the Kashshu. The Kashshites overran Mesopotamia in 1500 B.c.E. These people dwelt east of Mesopotamia from the years 1800-1600 B.C.E. The land before the Kashshu was known as Elam, or Susa. The phrasing is also interesting. The Gihon is said to "compasseth" the whole land. The Hebrew term literally means; to twist and turn, to take roundabout course.

With this in mind, the most likely candidate would be the Karun River. The Karun and Karkheh rivers provided ancient Mesopotamia with vital trade routes into Elam and Susa. The people of this day would have been very familiar with the Gihon River, and the land of Kush, or the Kashshites (Kassites). The Karun river runs a course of over 500 miles. However, the river is only 175 miles in length. It runs a zigzagging, meandering course through the Zagros Mountains.

The Kassites ruled from 1531-1155BC click

Speiser places Cush near Tigris and Euphrates; which is 1500km/956miles east of what the Bible states. While the exact size of ancient Cush is still unknown it’s clear it bordered Egypt. The location of Egypt has never been unclear or disputed.


Taharqa has been been suggested to be Tirhakah, king of Ethiopia (Kush), who waged war against Sennacherib during the reign of King Hezekiah of Judah (2 Kings 19:9; Isaiah 37:9).

The events in the biblical account are believed to have taken place in 701 BC, whereas Taharqa came to the throne some ten years later. If the title of king in the biblical text refers to his future royal title, he still may have been too young to be a military commander.



Unfortunately these conflicting views do not rule out each other.
Cush was the southern neighbor of Egypt.
But that’s of zero importance if the Bible is referencing a totally different land as Speiser claims.


Biblical Ethiopia is Nubia is Cush. disputed
Biblical Ethiopia is not the same as modern Ethiopia. Not even in part.???
Biblical Ethiopia is not the same as the Ethiopian Empire called Abyssinia (1270-1974).
Biblical Ethiopia is the most southern part of modern Egypt and in the northern part of modern Republic of Sudan. Possibly Khartoum, Sudan, and northward.
This theory is quite well supported by the Biblical text and archeology.

Gen 2:13 And the name of the second river is Gihon. It is the one surrounding all the land of Cush/Biblical-Ethiopia/approximately-Sudan.

That  would be a more accurate ‘translation’ with less of chance assuming a wrong location.

Much of the translators' tendency to translate kush by a term that has modern day political significance stems from the Septuagint's use of the word Aithiopia . At the time the Septuagint was translated, this was indeed a correct Greek term to use in translating kush. The Greek word Aithiopia had both a narrow and a wide use. The narrow definition was the Nile valley, south of Egypt, such as used by Herodutus (5th century BC). "Aithiopians inhabit the country immediately above (south of] Elephantine [n.b. an island at Aswan] ... you will arrive at a large city called Meroe: this city said to be the capital of all Aithiopia" (Herodutus ii .9). He also used the same definition of Aithiopia when he wrote of Cambyses procuring interpreters at Elephantine (modern Aswan) for his expedition into Aithiopia and marching in via Thebes and back out through Thebes and on to Memphis (iii 19-25). This Aithiopia is clearly the adjacent area south of Egypt. This narrow usage of Greek Aithiopia is also found in the Greek text of Acts 8:27, where the homeland of the eunuch is referred to as Aithiopia, where he served as treasurer to Candace, who is known to have reigned in Meroe. not in the modern state of Ethiopia
Adams 1977:260

'Ethiopia' in most of the references in Greek literature refers to people along the Nile, above [n.b. south of] the fourth cataract.. This differs from modern Ethiopia, however, which lies well to the east of the Cushites"
Hays 1996:271

The name Kush, since at least the time of Josephus, has been connected with the biblical character Cush, in the Hebrew Bible , son of Ham (Genesis 10:6). Ham had four sons named: Cush, Put, Canaan and Mizraim (Hebrew name for Egypt). According to the Bible, Nimrod, a son of Cush, was the founder and king of Babylon, Erech, Akkad and Calneh, in Shinar (Gen 10:10). The Bible also makes reference to someone named Cush who is a Benjamite (Psalms 7:1, KJV).
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Ezek 29:10 Therefore, lo, I am against thee, and against thy floods, And have given the land of Egypt for wastes, A waste, a desolation, from Migdol to Syene, And unto the border of Cush.

Migdol was at the Mediterranean Sea and Syene is two thirds down Egypt, modern Aswan. So going from north to south. That means Cush is on Egypt’s southern border.

Ps 68:31 Princes shall come out of Egypt; Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands to God.

Egypt never sent armies all the way to Tigris river.

Isa 20:3 And Jehovah saith, `As My servant Isaiah hath gone naked and barefoot three years, a sign and a wonder for Egypt and for Cush,
Isa 20:4 so doth the king of Asshur lead the captivity of Egypt, and the removal of Cush, young and old, naked and barefoot, with seat uncovered--the nakedness of Egypt;
Isa 20:5 and they have been affrighted and ashamed of Cush their confidence, and of Egypt their beauty,

Jer 46:7 Who is this? as a flood he cometh up, As rivers do his waters shake themselves!
Jer 46:8 Egypt, as a flood cometh up, And as rivers the waters shake themselves. And he saith, I go up; I cover the land, I destroy the city and the inhabitants in it.
Jer 46:9 Go up, ye horses; and boast yourselves, ye chariots, And go forth, ye mighty, Cush and Phut handling the shield, And Lud handling--treading the bow.

Cush and Egypt are linked in these verses.

2Kgs 19:8 So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah: for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish.
2Kgs 19:9 And when he heard say of Tirhakah king of Cush, Behold, he is come out to fight against thee: he sent messengers again unto Hezekiah, saying,
2Kgs 19:10 Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, Let not thy God in whom thou trustest deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.
2Kgs 19:11 Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, by destroying them utterly: and shalt thou be delivered?
2Kgs 19:12 Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed; as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden which were in Thelasar?
2Kgs 19:13 Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivah?

Tirhakah king of Cush ruled during the 25th dynasty of Egypt, because Cush conquered and ruled Egypt.

An inscription by Esarhaddon of Assyria proclaims in Aramaic that he had defeated Tirhakah "king of Egypt and kush" (Pfeiffer 1966:611 ,612). King Tirhaka was buried not within Egypt proper. but in Napata, which was the capital of Kush (Adams 1977:250), a city between the 3rd and the 4th cataracts, clearly within the present borders of Sudan.


9b2. Pamir Plateau (debunked)***

This would place the original Cush in Central Asia. That’s east of Iraq.


Me: This can easily be debunked by looking at the map below.













9b3. At the bottom of the Persian Gulf (possible)***



A new review of the archeological literature reveals evidence that the Persian Gulf region was once a lush oasis, during the last glacial maximum. At that time, sea levels were much lower, meaning that virtually all of the Persian Gulf was a large floodplain above sea level. More than 60 archeological sites, some of which are currently submerged, show that the area was extensively inhabited. The study describes four rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers from Mesopotamia, the Karun River (biblical Pishon?) draining the Iranian Plateau, and the Wadi Batin River (biblical Gihon?) flowing across northern Arabia. The convergence of the four rivers, along with subterranean aquifers, resulted in what the author described as the "Persian Gulf Oasis." According to the study,
Click for source

The dotted area on the large map. Or the large white X on the same map. Combined with the suggested Pishon (green and red) and Gihon (blue) connecting to the gulf it has several things going for it because the suggested rivers also are near to the gold etc.
Today the Tigris and Euphrates merge (red merge) over 600km/375mi more upstream than they did in the time of Adam (black merge).

Some think the Atlantis story is like a variation of the Eden account.


9b4.
LXX describes boundaries. (The LXX is the most ancient OT translation into Greek)

1Kgs
2:46 And Solomon commanded Banaeas the son of Jodae, and he went forth and slew him.
(2:46A) And king Solomon was very prudent and wise: and Juda and Israel were very many, as the sand which is by the sea for multitude, eating, and drinking, and rejoicing:
(2:46B) and Solomon was chief in all the kingdoms, and they brought gifts, and served Solomon all the days of his life.
(2:46C) And Solomon began to open the domains of Libanus,
(2:46D) and he built Thermae in the wilderness.
(2:46E) And this was the daily provision of Solomon, thirty measures of fine flour, and sixty measures of ground meal, ten choice calves, and twenty oxen from the pastures, and a hundred sheep, besides stags, and does, and choice fed birds.
(2:46F) For he ruled in all the country on this side the river, from Raphi unto Gaza, over all the kings on this side the river:
(2:46G) and he was at peace on all sides round about; and Juda and Israel dwelt safely, every one under his vine and under his fig tree, eating and drinand feasting, from Dan even to Bersabee, all the days of Solomon.
(2:46H) And these were the princes of Solomon; Azariu son of Sadoc the priest, and Orniu son of Nathan chief of the officers, and he went to his house; and Suba the scribe, and Basa son of Achithalam recorder, and Abi son of Joab commander-in-chief, and Achire son of Edrai was over the levies, and Banaeas son of Jodae over the household and over the brickwork, and Cachur the son of Nathan was counsellor.
(2:46I) And Solomon had forty thousand brood mares for his chariots, and twelve thousand horses. (2:46K) And he reigned over all the kings from the river and to the land of the Philistines, and to the borders of Egypt:
(2:46L) so Solomon the son of David reigned over Israel and Juda in Jerusalem.





10. HAVILAH
Since Havilah is one of the regions of Cush (Gen. 10:7), it would seem that the two major branches of the Nile (the Blue and the White Nile) may have been intended.

TWO HAVILAHs***

Gen 10:7 And the sons of Cush: Sebah and Havilah and Sabtah and Raamah and Sabtechah. And the sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan.

Gen 10:29 and Ophir and Havilah and Jobab. All these are sons of Joktan.
Gen 10:30 Now their settlement extended from Mesha going toward Sephar, the hill country of the east.

The Havilah from v29 is from a different family line and born three generations later that the one from v7.

Noah => Ham => Cush => Havilah
Noah => Shem => Arpachshad => Shelah => Eber => Joktan => Havilah

On all maps I found Sephar is a few miles east of the present day city Dhamar, Yemen.
On most maps Mesha is located on the east coast of the Gulf of Aqaba, between Alsharaf and Nuweibaa beach (The most likely Red Sea crossing location)

Another suggested location is 'King Abdullah Economic City Saudi Arabia', 77 miles north of Mecca. That's 555 miles south of the location on the eastern shore of the Gulf of Aquaba.
All that shows us that the Gen 10:30 Havilah is east of the Red Sea. And that aligns perfectly with the view that the descendants of Ham lived west of the Red Sea in Africa/Egypt and the descendants of Shem east of the Red Sea.

1Kgs 9:28 And they went to Ophir and received 420 talents of gold from there, and brought it to King Solomon.
1Kgs 10:11 And the ships of Hiram as well, which brought gold from Ophir, brought in from Ophir a very great number of almug trees and precious stones.

King Solomon got gold in large quantities from Ophir. The precious stones are possibly the onyx stones mentioned in  Gen 2:12. Ophir is the brother of Havilah (Gen 10:29), so likely their land was close; and with that the possibility that the same  resources were found in Havilah.

Ancient gold mines:


Click   click


Havilah

  1. For a meaning of the name Havilah, NOBSE Study Bible Name List reads Circle, and Jones' Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names has Bringing Fort, or Trembling (with pain).


10b. Havilah***

Marked with black

Havilah, likely means sandland.

Most/many scholars think Havilah was in the north-west of Arabia which has an extremely rich goldmine named “Cradle of Gold”. In that same area are the remains of what likely once was king Solomon’s goldmine.
Havilah is marked with a black ellipse. The black star marks the main mine. Also near Solomon’s mine.

The problem with this location is that it has no onyx and bdellium; but are found in Yemen. Yemen also has gold. Not as much as the other area, but still a very serious amount. That area is marked by the black square.


The black dashed lines are extremely simplified versions of rivers surrounding their respective Cush country.

That said; perhaps the answer is that Havilah is most of the east-coast of the red Sea. Starting a little north above the star and stretching all the way south to the Gulf of Aden, Yemen. That way the area has both the richest goldmine and also onyx and bdellium.

The black dash-dot line is an ancient dried up riverbed named ‘Kuwait river’; which is another suggested Pishon. This river doesn’t really encompass the ellipse, but flows trough the heart of it. Unless that’s the border of the country. Could it mark of Abraham's promised land?


1Sam 15:7 And Saul smiteth Amalek from Havilah--thy going in to Shur, which is on the front of Egypt,

Always thinking from the east, ‘the front’ means east. Just a verse that shows Havilah was quite near Egypt.


DOES MOUNTAIN GRAVEL DEBUNK RIVER ORIGIN JERUSALEM?

Does gravel come from after rift break or also before?

https://www.science.gov/topicpages/r/red+sea+rift Spreading started millions of years ago.




4. Locating the four rivers - Pishon - MOVE TO SEPARATE PAGE


Gen 2:11 The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold.

Gen 2:11 The name of the first is Pishon; it flows around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold.

Literal translation: turn (around, aside, back, towards), go (about, around), encircle, surround, change direction.

A verb meaning to go around, to surround; to turn around, to turn back, to change. It indicates a curving motion or an encircling motion of something, but it is used figuratively as well: to turn, to change direction (1 Sam. 15:12); to encircle or flow around about, throughout (Gen. 2:11, 13); to surround something (Gen. 19:4); to gather people around a central person or object (Gen. 37:7); to travel round about (Ex. 13:18). It indicates a surrounding setting prepared by a jeweler to receive jewels, etc. (Ex. 28:11). It refers to the motion of something that turns or moves about: a door (Prov. 26:14); the wind in its circuits (Eccl. 1:6). It is used metaphorically of a person’s mind turning, its attention focusing (Eccl. 7:25); of Jerusalem opening like a door (Ezek. 26:2). It indicates the transforming of a matter, the changing of a matter (2 Sam. 14:20). It indicates the giving over, the turning over of something in its causative forms (1 Chr. 10:14); of changing a name (2 Kgs. 23:34); or of the features of a land being transformed, changed (Zech. 14:10). It describes boundaries that turn around (Num. 34:4, 5; Josh. 18:14).


Gen 2:11 The name of the first is Pishon; it flows around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold.
Gen 2:12 And the gold of that land is good; the bdellium and onyx stone are there.

These substances were not found within the borders of Mesopotamia. The gold of this passage rests in the land of Havilah. Bdellium came only from Southern Arabia and Somaliland in antiquity.

Though the exact location of Havilah is not agreed upon unanimously, Scripture indicates it’s in Arabia, perhaps modern day Saudi-Arabia. Indeed, the most ancient gold deposit on earth rests in Saudi-Arabia, at modern day Mahd adh Dhahab which was the largest, and one of the most richest, gold mines in antiquity. Many scholars believe Solomon obtained his gold from this mine. They also feel as if Mahd adh Dhahab is, more than likely, the Biblical Ophir

Thus, the Pishon may be identified as the Wadi al Batin, continuing underground, in a dried up ancient river bed, and emerging eventually around the oldest, most prolific gold mine of antiquity.

An intriguing theory by scholars has placed the Biblical Garden of Eden underneath Bubiyan Island. Interesting evidence exists underneath this island which suggests at one point the land was dry. In fact, up until 8,000 B.C.E., the entire Persian Gulf is thought to have been a dry river valley.


WADI AL BATIN


. Gold, Onyx and Bdellium

Gen 2:12 And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone.

Gold
Mahd adh Dhahab means ‘Cradle of Gold’ is the oldest and most rich goldmine from the ancient past. Likely it’s Biblical Ophir. Archeologists have found, what they think is, Solomon’s mine nearby Mahd adh Dhahab. 255km/158mile NNE of Mecca.
It can be taken as a fact that during and even before Solomon, gold was mined there.

Gold can be found in many places, but not so easily available as in Mahd adh Dhahab. Keep in mind that mining technology in Solomon’s time wasn’t able to mine gold in the same places we mine it today.

Onyx
The Bible seems to imply onyx was mined in Saudi-Arabia, but archeologists haven’t investigated that yet.

Bdellium
Bdellium is a fragrant gum resin from plants that only grow in modern Yemen and Northern Somalia; so Pishon must be very near.

All that places Pishon in Saudi Arabia


Bdellium Bdellium, also bdellion, is a semi-transparent oleo-gum resin extracted from


https://www.bible.ca/archeology/bible-archeology-exodus-mt-sinai-arabia-gal-4-25.htm

Ishmaelites, Midianites, Kedarites never lived west of the Arabah valley in the Negev



http://www.bibleorigins.net/pishonrivermapwadibishahasir.html

http://www.bibleorigins.net/EdensFourRivers.html

http://www.bibleorigins.net/MapShowingGenesisEdenSumerianEdin.html


This article in a nutshell:

Since 1875 the Pishon/Pison River associated with the land of Havilah has been identified by some scholars with Wadi Baish (Baysh) and Havilah with the Khaulan in SW Arabia, present-day Saudi Arabia near the Asir mountains. Two wadies, Bishah (Bisheh) and Baish (Baysh) are understood to have been conflated and identified with the Pishon/Pison.




 Gihon and Cush
An extremely simplified river that encompasses Cush is drawn with a red dotted line.


The names in blue are the modern names.
Of course there is just one river going north-south trough the Red Sea.
It’s easier to draw.


GULF OASIS

https://www.ancient-origins.net/human-origins-science/paradise-lost-gulf-oasis-was-home-earliest-humans-existed-africa-what-forced-021390






xyz.All coincidence?

Could Gethsemane at the foot of mt. Olives be the cave were Adam and Eve lived?
While no firm conclusions can be drawn for the above information the answer seems to be “yes”.
Death crept into creation and eternal life was restored at the same spot….