A nearly 5-century-old map inside a 16th-century Bible has revived one of the greatest religious and historical mysteries and may answer a question that has haunted humanity for centuries: the true location of the Garden of Eden, the paradise where, according to biblical tradition, Adam and Eve lived.
According to the New York Post, the find comes from a 1599 Geneva Bible, one of the most important religious works of the time, which includes a detailed map titled "The Situation of the Garden of Eden." The map is based on a drawing created in 1554 by Protestant reformer John Calvin.
"It's incredibly detailed considering the era in which it was printed," said a collector of antique religious books known on YouTube as Ashleys_AntiqueBibles, introducing the rare copy.
According to the map, the Garden of Eden was located near the source of the Euphrates River, at the foot of Mount Ararat, in present-day Turkey.
This description is related to the description in Genesis, according to which a river began in Eden and then divided into four branches: the Pishon, the Gihon, the Tigris, and the Euphrates.
The latter two rivers are easy to identify geographically, as the Tigris and Euphrates are well-known rivers of Mesopotamia. However, the identity of the Pishon and Gihon rivers remains a matter of dispute among scholars.
Some theories have linked the Pishon to the Ganges and the Gihon to the Nile, but this version creates serious geographical problems, as the two rivers never meet.
John Calvin took a different approach. He argued that the biblical reference to the "sources" of rivers did not necessarily mean the point where they begin, but could also refer to their mouths or lower reaches.
According to this interpretation, the Pis and Gihon rivers may simply be different references to parts of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
This view would place the Garden of Eden in the wider region of Mesopotamia, a region often called the "cradle of civilization."
However, as former University of Wisconsin historian Justine Angelique Walden notes in an introduction, Calvin's map does not depict the exact perimeter of Eden, but only the general area where it may have been located.
So the mystery remains. The map leaves behind only "traces" of a place that, according to the biblical account, may once have been precisely located.
The search for the true location of the Garden of Eden has led scholars to many different theories. From time to time, areas from South Africa and the Persian Gulf to northwestern Ethiopia, near a branch of the Blue Nile, have been proposed.
Despite the allure of the theory linking Eden to the Euphrates and Mount Ararat, geology does not fully confirm the biblical description.
Scientists estimate that today's Euphrates was formed by the union of two rivers that originated in the Turkey region and ended in the Mediterranean basin, which millions of years ago had a different shape.
Thus, the 1599 Geneva Bible map offers a fascinating historical glimpse into the perceptions of the time, but without providing a definitive answer to a question that continues to trouble historians, theologians, and archaeologists: where was the Garden of Eden really located? ©LAPSI.al
