Location of Eden based on the "four rivers," contra "Flood Geology"

GORDON: I can't imagine that any reader in Biblical times would assume
that the Euphrates River in Genesis would be anything other than what it
is the other 20 times it is mentioned by name in the Bible. I also can't
imagine that the same reader would believe that the Tigris River mentioned
in Genesis is not the same river as Daniel was standing beside when he had
one of his visions (Daniel 10:4). These rivers flow on top of sediments
six miles thick. In a FLOOD GEOLOGY scenario the rivers of Genesis,
chapter two, should be long gone, and a guide to locating Eden would be an
exercise in futility. [I would refer you for details to an article by
Carol Hill in the March 2000 issue of PSCF (the ASA journal) available on
the ASA website.]

ED: Biblical Archaeology: Garden of Eden by Dr. Stephen C. Meyers,
Th.D., from Trinity Evangelical Seminary of Florida in 1997

http://www.bibleandscience.com/archaeology/eden.htm
In order to locate Eden one must understand the ancient words being used.
The "source" or "head" of the river is what we would call the "mouth" of
the river (Hess & Tsumura, 1994, 178-9). Therefore all four rivers would
empty into the Persian gulf. The Tigris and Euphrates rivers are easy to
locate. Speiser identifies the possibilities of the other two as the
Gihon=Diyala, Kirkha, or Kerkha and Psihon=Kerkha, Karun, or Wadi er-Rumma
respectively (Ibid., 181, Map and more information at [
javascript:MM_openBrWindow('http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/rels/2/lectures/lecture3.html','winNew','width=800,height=600,toolbar=yes,location=yes,directories=yes,status=yes,menubar=yes,scrollbars=yes,resizable=yes')
]Lecture 3: Ancient Mesopotamia). If Gihon is identified with Kerkha, then
the rivers of Eden are listed in an east to west direction, and the Pishon
would be the Karun river in Elam. If Eridu may be equated with Eden then
the Garden would be just east of Eridu where a branch canal produced
abundant crops (Fischer 1996, 222). It should be noted that back then the
Persian gulf would have been extended all the way back to Eridu and Ur.
There is another new identification of the river Pishon with the Wadi
Batin that was seen from satellite photos. Wadi Batin is a dried up river,
but at one time it would have connected with the Tigris and Euphrates
Rivers. See [
javascript:MM_openBrWindow('http://www.ldolphin.org/eden/','winNew','width=800,height=600,toolbar=yes,location=yes,directories=yes,status=yes,menubar=yes,scrollbars=yes,resizable=yes')
]Has the Garden of Eden been located at last? for photos and details. This
is a very good possibility. The Gihon would then be identified with the
Karun river in Elam.
Some think the Hebrew word "Eden" is from the Sumerian word "edin" meaning
"plain" and its Akkadian equivalent is edinu (Fischer 1996, 223) which
refers to the land between the Trigris and Euphrates Rivers.
Other scholars equate the garden of Eden with the similar description of
ancient Dilmun. See [
javascript:MM_openBrWindow('http://emuseum.mankato.msus.edu/archaeology/sites/middle_east/dilmun.html','winNew','width=800,height=600,toolbar=yes,location=yes,directories=yes,status=yes,menubar=yes,scrollbars=yes,resizable=yes')
]Tombs of Dilmun . Dilum was probably the island Bahrain in the Persian
gulf. There is a Sumerian story entitled Enki and Ninhursag which
describes a paradise similar to Eden only it is called Dilmun. It says:
The land Dilmun is pure, the land Dilmun is clean; The land Dilmun is
clean, the land Dilmun is most bright. In Dilmun the raven utters no
cries, The ittidu-bird utters no the cry of the ittidu-bird, The lion
kills not, The wolf snatches not the lamb, The sick-eyed says not "I am
sick-eyed," The sick-headed (says) not "I am sick-headed," Its old woman
(says) not "I am an old woman," Its old man (says) not "I am an old man,"
He filled the dikes with water, He filled the ditches with water, He
filled the uncultivated places with water. The gardener in the dust in his
joy (ANET 1969, 38-9).
The geography surrounding Eden seems to be the same before the flood as
well as after the flood. The same rivers and mountains are mentioned. This
seems to indicate that Noahís flood was local. There is an excellent
article on this by John Munday Jr entitled Edenís Geography Erodes Flood
Geology (Westminster Theological Journal 58:1. 123-44, 1996).
Received on Tue Oct 26 15:39:10 2004