Has the Pishon River from the Garden of Eden been found?
Among the key elements mentioned in the biblical narrative of the creation story, there are some features described that may help us to decipher where the Garden of Eden is located. The four rivers that flowed through Eden are the Pishon, Gihon, Tigris and Euphrates. However, the precise location of the Gihon and Pishon rivers has remained a subject of debate and speculation.
Archaeologist Joel Kramer embarked on a thrilling quest to decode the passages of Genesis, aiming to uncover clues that could lead him to the Garden of Eden, in particular by finding the Pishon River.
Genesis 2:10-11 says: “A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it parted and became four rivers. The name of the first is Pishon; it encompasses the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold.”
It is this river, the Pishon, that Kramer was in search for. Through meticulous analysis and deep research, Kramer identified the southern Arabian Peninsula as a promising location, where precious commodities have always abounded.
“It’s just a fit between the description of the land of Havilah in Genesis 2 and the land of Arabia,” Kramer said.
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Not only does the Arabian peninsula fit the description based on elements of the land itself, but its geographical location makes the most sense. Southern Iraq is where the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers meet and flow into the Persian Gulf. Kramer also identified something that most would not have; the Karun River in Iran meets these two rivers, which makes it a possible candidate as the Gihon from Scripture.
While two of the four rivers are easily identifiable and the third can be based on some inquisitive thinking, the Pishon River is still harder to identify. However, in Saudi Arabia lies an area known as the ‘cradle of gold,’ which today includes 55 gold mines.
As Kramer continued on his quest to find the Pishon River, he discovered how the Hijaz mountains of Saudi Arabia just may hold the key to the Pishon River and the location of the Garden of Eden may be.
The Wadi Rum in Jordan, which contains non-native rocks most likely from the distant contains Hijaz Mountains, indicates that a flowing river may have connected what is now a desert region.
While we cannot know for certain if this geographical landmark holds the key to the exact location of the Garden of Eden or if it was the Pishon River, we can still hope in the fact that we will be restored to an eternal paradise someday with Christ.
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Abby Trivett is a marketing copywriter and coordinator for Charisma Media.
Abby Trivett is copywriter for Charisma and an editorial intern.
