Archeology is interesting to me, especially Biblical Archeology. I would like to share a few tidbits from the world of Biblical Archeology. The major sources for this are the Tanakh, JPS translation and Biblical Archeology Review, July/August 1996 (the later was from memory and is thus not quoted, though I finally found the issue well after writting this)
Genesis 2 mentions 4 rivers that issue from Eden and water the garden that was in the eastern part of Eden. The rivers are/were the Pishon, the Gihon, the Tigris, and the Euphrates. The Tigris and the Euphrates are easy to locate on most any map of the area of modern day Iraq. What of the Pishon and Gihon? The Pishon is said to "wind through the whole land of Havilah, where the gold is (The gold of that land is good; bdellium is there, and lapis lazuli)" Gen 2:11-12. The Gihon is "the one that winds throughout the whole land of Cush" Gen 2:13. So, where were/are these 2 rivers?
I Samuel 15:7 says "Saul destroyed Amalek from Havilah all the way to Shur, which is close to Egypt, 8and he captured King Agag of Amalek alive." (JPS Tanakh) We also know that the Amalekites attacked Israel as they went up from Egypt and that in the time of the Judges they were also found among some of the Midianites (see Judges chapter 6). Archeologists tend to put the river somewhere in Arabia. In fact, recent science and satellite technology has found a old river bed that flowed through Arabia and modern day Kuwait, ending up just about where the mouth of the Euphrates was about (nearly) 6000 year ago (remember that by the Jewish calendar 1998-9 is the year 5759, so nearly 6000 years ago)! It turns out that the area then was grassland, with some scattered trees and some lakes and that one river. This river, it is thought, is the Pishon.
The Gihon is said to run through Cush. Since Cush is used as a name for Ethiopia also, some believe this to be the Nile. However, considering the Tigress, the Euphrates, and the Pishon all flow into the Persian Gulf, I believe this to be unlikely (only G-d knows for certain). The "Oxford Companion to the Bible" a non-Jewish work, states that "In Genesis 2.13 Cush probably refers to Babylon, which was occupied by Kassites..." Genesis 10:7-8 states: "The descendants of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca. The descendants of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan. Cush also begot Nimrod, who was the first man of might on earth." (JPS Tanakh). Notice that Cush in the early days was associated with Havilah (Arabia as mentioned above), and Nimrod, who built in Mesopotamia. Thus, the Gihon was probably in the same area as the other 3 rivers. Some archeologists place it in modern day Iran, flowing south into the gulf. Since there was a city named Kish near the city of Babylon, between the Tigress and Eurphraties, some place the river Gihon as a tributary of one of the two rivers. Unfortunately, I cannot find the article which suggested a possible river in Iran.
At any rate, it seems that all 4 rivers flowed into the current Persian Gulf, but further inland than the current mouths of the Tigress and Euphrates, as rivers will build deltas. Genesis 3:23-24 "So the L-RD G-d banished him from the garden of Eden, to till the soil from which he was taken. He drove the man out, and stationed east of the garden of Eden and the cherubim and the fiery ever-turning sword, to guard the way to the tree of life" Could it be that the deserts found east of the old mouths of the rivers, the desert that is round about the area is either Eden lost, or the "fiery ever-turning sword" that is said to be *east* of Eden and the garden which lay in Eden's eastern part, watered by all 4 rivers?
Just some things to think about.
