101 Myths of the Bible: how ancient scribes - Conscious Evolution TV

yth #26:
God planted a garden eastward in Eden.
The Myth: And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there
he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground made the LORD God
to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in
the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. And a river went
out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four
heads. The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of
Havilah, where there is gold; And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and
the onyx stone. And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth
the whole land of Ethiopia. And the name of the third river is Hiddekel:
that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates.
(Gen. 2:8–14)
The Reality: Eden originally represented the Isle of Flames, the first land in the
Egyptian Creation myths. In the Heliopolitan tradition, that would locate Eden at
Heliopolis.
Where did God plant the Garden of Eden? Much has been written on this subject
but without any definitive answer. The text provides few clues. Genesis places it in
the east, which is where the sun rises, and also locates it west of Nod, where Cain built
the first city. Unfortunately, no one knows where Nod is.
The chief clues to Eden’s location are the references to the four rivers, Pison,
Gihon, Hiddekel, and Euphrates, all of which split off from a main river that flows out
of Eden but which is not named.
The first river, Pison, encompasses all the land of Havilah, which has very good
natural resources, such as gold, bdellium, and onyx. The location of Havilah is
unknown, but most scholars believe it corresponds to Arabia. Genesis 10, however,
which describes various geographical relationships, depicts Havilah as a son of Cush,
and Cush is Ethiopia.
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