Region
Eden (Garden of Eden)
EE-den · Modern Location disputed — traditionally placed near the Tigris-Euphrates confluence, modern Iraq/Iran border region · Also called Garden of Eden
Eden (Garden of Eden) is a region of the biblical world, known today as Location disputed — traditionally placed near the Tigris-Euphrates confluence, modern Iraq/Iran border region.
What is known
- Genesis 2:10-14 describes a river flowing out of Eden splitting into four headwaters — the Pishon, Gihon, Tigris (Hiddekel), and Euphrates — the latter two being real, identifiable rivers, which has driven most proposed locations toward Mesopotamia
- No archaeological site has ever been identified as 'Eden' — scholars remain divided between a southern Mesopotamian marshland location (near Basra, Iraq, where the Tigris and Euphrates historically converged), an Armenian highlands source-region theory, and readings of Eden as a theological/symbolic rather than strictly geographic place
- The name likely derives from a Sumerian or Akkadian root (edin, meaning 'plain' or 'steppe'), reinforcing the Mesopotamian plain as the leading candidate among scholars who take the account as geographically grounded
History
- Coordinates
- 30.4000° N, 47.8000° E
Scripture references
- Genesis 2:8 — The LORD God planted a garden in Eden
- Genesis 2:10-14 — The four rivers of Eden
- Genesis 3:23-24 — Adam and Eve expelled from Eden
- Genesis 4:16 — Cain settles east of Eden
- Ezekiel 28:13 — Eden, the garden of God, referenced in the lament for Tyre
- Ezekiel 31:9 — Eden referenced as the garden of God
- Isaiah 51:3 — Eden used as a symbol of restored fruitfulness
- Joel 2:3 — Eden used as a symbol of former fertility and beauty
On a modern map
Further reading
Reflect
In Eden, the first question after everything broke was God's: 'Where are you?' — how would you answer that today?
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