Garden of Eden

This article is about the Biblical garden. For other uses, seeGarden of Eden (disambiguation).

"Terrestrial Paradise" redirects here. For the painting, seeTerrestrial Paradise (Bosch).

The Garden of Eden with the Fall of ManbyJan Brueghel the ElderandPieter Paul Rubens,c. 1615,depicting bothdomesticand exotic wild animals such astigers,parrots,andostrichesco-existing in the garden

InAbrahamic religions,theGarden of Eden(Biblical Hebrew:גַּן־עֵדֶן‎,romanized:gan-ʿĒḏen;Greek:Εδέμ;Latin:Paradisus) orGarden of God(גַּן־יְהֹוֶה‎,gan-YHWHandגַן־אֱלֹהִים‎,gan-Elohim), also called theTerrestrial Paradise,is thebiblicalparadisedescribed inGenesis2–3 andEzekiel28 and 31.

The location of Eden is described in the Book of Genesis as the source of four tributaries. Various suggestions have been made for its location:at the head of thePersian Gulf,in southernMesopotamiawhere theTigrisandEuphratesrivers run into the sea;and inArmenia.Others theorize that Eden was the entireFertile Crescentor a region of "considerable size" inMesopotamia,where its native inhabitants still exist in cities such asTelassar.

Like theGenesis flood narrative,theGenesis creation narrativeand the account of theTower of Babel,the story of Eden echoes theMesopotamian mythof a king, as a primordial man, who is placed in a divine garden to guard thetree of life.Scholars note that the Eden narrative shows parallels with aspects ofSolomon’s TempleandJerusalem,attesting to its nature as a sacred place.Mentions of Eden are also made in the Bible elsewhere in Genesis,in Isaiah 51:3,Ezekiel 36:35,and Joel 2:3;Zechariah14 andEzekiel47 use paradisical imagery without naming Eden.

The name derives from theAkkadianedinnu,from aSumerianwordedinmeaning'plain'or'steppe',closely related to anAramaicroot word meaning'fruitful, well-watered'.Another interpretation associates the name with aHebrewword for 'pleasure';thus theVulgatereadsparadisum voluptatisin Genesis 2:8, and theDouay–Rheims Bible,following, has the wording "And the Lord God had planted a paradise of pleasure".

Biblical narratives

Genesis

Main articles:Genesis creation narrativeandAdam and Eve

Expulsion from Paradise,painting byJames Tissot(c. 1896–1902)

The Expulsion illustrated in the EnglishJunius manuscript,c. 1000 CE

The second part of theGenesis creation narrative,Genesis 2:4–3:24, opens withYHWH-Elohim(translated here "the LORDGod ")creating the first man (Adam), whom he placed in a garden that he planted "eastward in Eden":

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.

— 

The man was free to eat from any tree in the garden except thetree of the knowledge of good and evil,which wastaboo.Last of all, God made a woman (Eve) from a rib of the man to be a companion for the man. In Genesis 3, the man and the woman were seduced by theserpentinto eating theforbidden fruit,and they were expelled from the garden to prevent them from eating of the tree of life, and thus living forever.Cherubimwere placed east of the garden, "and aflaming swordwhich turned every way, to guard the way of the tree of life ".

Genesis 2:10–14lists four rivers in association with the garden of Eden:Pishon,Gihon,Hiddekel (theTigris), and Phirat (theEuphrates). It also refers to the land ofCush—translated/interpreted asEthiopia,but thought by some to equate toCossaea,a Greek name for the land of theKassites.These lands lie north ofElam,immediately to the east of ancient Babylon, which, unlike Ethiopia, does lie within the region being described.InAntiquities of the Jews,the first-century Jewish historianJosephusidentifies the Pishon as what "the Greeks calledGanges"and the Geon (Gehon) as theNile.

Ezekiel

Main article:Ezekiel's cherub in Eden

In Ezekiel 28:12–19,the prophetEzekielthe "son of man" sets down God's word against the king of Tyre: the king was the "seal of perfection", adorned with precious stones from the day of his creation, placed by God in the garden of Eden on the holy mountain as a guardian cherub. However, the king sinned through wickedness and violence, and so he was driven out of the garden and thrown to the earth, where now he is consumed by God's fire: "All those who knew you in the nations are appalled at you, you have come to a horrible end and will be no more." (Ezekiel 28:19).

Proposed locations

The Tigris and Euphrates rivers

Map byPierre MortiercaptionedMap of the location of the terrestrial paradise, and of the country inhabited by the patriarchs, laid out for the good understanding of sacred history, byPierre Daniel Huet(1700)

The location of Eden is described in Genesis 2:10–14:

And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became four heads. The name of the first isPishon;that is it which compasseth the whole land ofHavilah,where there is gold; and the gold of that land is good; there isbdelliumand the onyx stone. And the name of the second river isGihon;the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Cush. And the name of the third river isTigris;that is it which goeth toward the east of Asshur. And the fourth river is theEuphrates.

Suggestions for the location of Eden includethe head of thePersian Gulf,as argued byJuris Zarins,in southern Mesopotamia where theTigrisandEuphratesrivers run into the sea;and in the Armenian Highlands or Armenian National Plateau.British archaeologistDavid Rohllocates it inIran,and in the vicinity ofTabriz,but this suggestion has not been adopted by mainstream academia.

Others theorize that Eden was merely a region of "considerable size" inMesopotamia,where its native inhabitants still exist in cities such asTelassar,based on verses such as Isaiah 38:17.Or that it encompassed the entire Fertile Crescent.

According to Terje Stordalen, the Book of Ezekiel places Eden in Lebanon."[I]t appears that the Lebanon is an alternative placement in Phoenician myth (as in Ez 28,13, III.48) of the Garden of Eden",and there are connections between paradise, the Garden of Eden and the forests of Lebanon (possibly used symbolically) within prophetic writings.Edward LipinskiandPeter Kyle McCarterhave suggested that thegarden of the gods,the oldestSumeriananalog of the Garden of Eden, relates to a mountain sanctuary in the Lebanon andAnti-Lebanon ranges.

Some religious groups have believed the location of the garden to be local to them, outside of the Middle East. Some early leaders ofMormonismheld that it was located inJackson County, Missouri.The 20th-centuryPanacea Societybelieved it was located at the site of their home town ofBedford,England,while preacher Elvy E. Callaway believed it was on theApalachicola Riverin Florida, near the town ofBristol.Some suggested that the location is inJerusalem.

Onhis third voyageto theAmericasin 1498,Christopher Columbusthought he may have reached the Earthly Paradise upon first seeing theSouth Americanmainland.

In his bookThe Creation, the Garden of Eden and the Origin of the Chinese,Tse Tsan-taiargued that the Garden of Eden was located in modern-dayXinjiang.

Blissful garden concept

Scholars have identified and proposed connections to similar concepts from ancient religions and mythologies, and have studied the post-scriptural evolution of the concept in religion and arts.

Sumeria and ancient Greece; Renaissance

A number of parallel concepts to the biblical Garden of Eden exist in various other religions and mythologies.Dilmunin theSumerianstory ofEnki and Ninhursagis a paradisaical abodeof the immortals, where sickness and death were unknown.Thegarden of the HesperidesinGreek mythologywas also somewhat similar to the Jewish concept of the Garden of Eden, and by the 16th century a larger intellectual association was made in theCranachpainting.

Canaanite origin theory

By studyinglate-13th-century BCE clay tabletsfromUgarit,Hebrew Bible scholars M.J.A. Korpel and J.C. de Moor reconstructed closeCanaaniteparallels, which they posit as being the origin of the biblicalcreation mythfrom the first chapters of Genesis including the Garden of Eden and Adam narrative.Their reconstructed texts talk about the creator deityEl,who lived in a vineyard or garden together with his wifeAsherahonMount Ararat.Another god,Horon,tries to depose El and when thrown down from the mountain, he transforms theTree of Lifefrom the garden into a Tree of Death.Horon also spreads around a poisonous fog, Adam is sent from the mountain to restore life on earth, Horon takes the shape of a large serpent and bites him, which leads to Adam and his wife losing their immortality.However,John Dayargues that these stories are not explicitly attested in the Ugaritic texts but are reconstructed on the basis of speculative and dubious suppositions.

Evolution of Old Iranian "paradise" concept

The word "paradise" entered English from theFrenchparadis,inherited from theLatinparadisus, paradisum,from theGreekparádeisos(παράδεισος). The Greek, in turn, was derived from anOld Iranianform, itself from theProto-Iranian*parādaiĵah-,'walled enclosure', which was derived from theOld Persian𐎱𐎼𐎭𐎹𐎭𐎠𐎶(p-r-d-y-d-a-m,/paridaidam/,whence from theAvestan𐬞𐬀𐬌𐬭𐬌⸱𐬛𐬀𐬉𐬰𐬀,pairi-daêza-.The literal meaning of this word is 'walled (enclosure)', frompairi-'around' (cognate with the Greekπερίand the Englishperi-,of identical meaning), and-diz,"to make, form (a wall), build" (cognate with the Greekτεῖχος,'wall'). The word's etymology is ultimately derived from aProto-Indo-European root,*dheigʷ,'to stick and set up (a wall)', and*per,'around'.

By the 6th/5th century BCE, the Old Iranian word had been borrowed into theAkkadian languageaspardesu,'domain'. It subsequently came to indicate the expansivewalled gardensof theFirst Persian Empire,and was later borrowed into a number of languages: into Greek asπαράδεισος(parádeisos), 'park for animals', cf.Anabasis,the most famous work ofXenophon;intoAramaicaspardaysa,'royal park'; and intoHebrew(see below).

The idea of a walled enclosure was not preserved in most Iranian usage, and generally came to refer to a plantation or other cultivated area, not necessarily walled. For example, the Old Iranian word survives aspardisin New Persian, as well as its derivativepālīz(orjālīz), which denotes a vegetable patch.

Hebrew Bible and Jewish literature

The word entered the Hebrew language with the meaning ofpardes(פַּרְדֵּס), 'orchard', appearing thrice in theTanakh:in theSong of Solomon(4:13),Ecclesiastes(2:5), andNehemiah(2:8).

The wordpardesoccurs three times in the Hebrew Bible, but always in contexts other than a connection with Eden: in theSong of Solomon4:13:"Thy plants are an orchard (pardes) of pomegranates, with pleasant fruits; camphire, with spikenard ";Ecclesiastes2:5:"I made me gardens and orchards (pardes), and I planted trees in them of all kind of fruits "; and inNehemiah2:8:"And a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the king's orchard (pardes), that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace which appertained to the house, and for the wall of the city ". In these examples,pardesclearly means 'orchard' or 'park', but in the Jewishapocalyptic literatureand in theTalmudparadisegains its associations with the Garden of Eden and its heavenly prototype, a meaning also present in theNew Testament.

Italian historianMario Liveraniargues that the Garden of Eden was modeled on Persian royal gardens,while John Day argues that linguistic and other evidence indicates that theyahwisticEden story was composed before the Persian period.US archaeologistLawrence Stagerposits that the biblical Eden narrative drew from aspects ofSolomon's palace and temple compoundandJerusalem.

Septuagint and New Testament

In theSeptuagint(3rd–1st centuries BCE), the Greekπαράδεισος(parádeisos) was used to translate both the Hebrewפרדס(pardes) andגן(gan), meaning 'garden' (e.g.Genesis 2:8,Ezekiel 28:13): it is from this usage that the use ofparadiseto refer to the Garden of Eden derives.

In the New Testamentparadisebecomes the realm of the blessed (as opposed to the realm of the cursed) among those who have already died,with literaryHellenisticinfluences.

Koran

The same usage as in the Septuagint also appears inArabicand in theQuranasfirdawsفردوس.

Other views

Jewish eschatology

The Garden of Eden in the left panel ofBosch'sThe Garden of Earthly Delights

In theTalmudand the JewishKabbalah,the scholars agree that there are two types of spiritual places called "Garden in Eden". The first is rather terrestrial, of abundant fertility and luxuriant vegetation, known as the "lowerGanEden "(ganmeaning garden). The second is envisioned as being celestial, the habitation of righteous, Jewish and non-Jewish, immortal souls, known as the "higherGanEden ". Therabbisdifferentiate betweenGanand Eden. Adam is said to have dwelt only in theGan,whereas Eden is said never to be witnessed by any mortal eye.

According toJewish eschatology,the higherGanEden is called the "Garden of Righteousness". It has been created since the beginning of the world, and will appear gloriously at the end of time. The righteous dwelling there will enjoy the sight of the heavenlychayotcarrying the throne of God. Each of the righteous will walk with God, who will lead them in a dance. Its Jewish and non-Jewish inhabitants are "clothed with garments of light and eternal life, and eat of the tree of life" (Enoch 58,3) near to God and his anointed ones.This Jewish rabbinical concept of a higherGanEden is opposed by the Hebrew termsgehinnomandsheol,figurative names for the place of spiritual purification for the wicked dead in Judaism, a place envisioned as being at the greatest possible distance fromheaven.

Some modern Orthodox Jews believe that history will complete itself and the ultimate destination will be when all mankind returns to the Garden of Eden.

Legends of the Jews

In the 1909 bookLegends of the Jews,Louis Ginzbergcompiled Jewish legends found inrabbinic literature.Among the legends are ones about the two Gardens of Eden. Beyond Paradise is the higherGanEden, where God is enthroned and explains the Torah to its inhabitants. The higherGanEden contains three hundred and ten worlds and is divided into seven compartments. The compartments are not described, though it is implied that each compartment is greater than the previous one and is joined based on one's merit. The first compartment is for Jewish martyrs, the second for those who drowned, the third for "Rabbi Johanan ben Zakkai and his disciples," the fourth for those whom the cloud of glory carried off, the fifth for penitents, the sixth for youths who have never sinned; and the seventh for the poor who lived decently and studied the Torah.

In chapter two,Legends of the Jewsgives a brief description of the lowerGanEden. The tree of knowledge is a hedge around the tree of life, which is so vast that "it would take a man five hundred years to traverse a distance equal to the diameter of the trunk". From beneath the trees flow all the world's waters in the form of four rivers: Tigris, Nile, Euphrates, and Ganges. After the fall of man, the world was no longer irrigated by this water. While in the garden, though, Adam and Eve were served meat dishes by angels and the animals of the world understood human language, respected mankind as God's image, and feared Adam and Eve. When one dies, one's soul must pass through the lowerGanEden in order to reach the higherGanEden. The way to the garden is the Cave of Machpelah that Adam guards. The cave leads to the gate of the garden, guarded by a cherub with a flaming sword. If a soul is unworthy of entering, the sword annihilates it. Within the garden is a pillar of fire and smoke that extends to the higherGanEden, which the soul must climb in order to reach the higherGanEden.

Christian views

Atemporal fall view

For some Christians, especially in theEastern Orthodoxtradition, Eden is considered a reality outside of empirical history that affects the entire history of the universe as seen in the idea of anatemporal fallwhich separates humanity's current reduced form of time from the divine life enjoyed in Eden. This idea of an atemporal separation from Eden has been most recently defended by theologiansDavid Bentley Hart,John Behr,andSergei Bulgakovas well as having roots in the writings of several early church fathers, especiallyOrigenandMaximus the Confessor.

Islamic view

Mozarabicworld map from 1109 with Eden in the East (at top)

The termjannāt ʿadni( "Gardens of Eden" or "Gardens of Perpetual Residence" ) is used in theQuranfor the destination of the righteous. There are several mentions of "the Garden" in the Quran,while the Garden of Eden, without the wordʿadn,is commonly the fourth layer of the Islamicheavenand not necessarily thought as the dwelling place ofAdam.The Quran refers frequently over variousSurahabout the first abode of Adam and Hawwa (Eve), including suratSad,which features 18 verses on the subject (38:71–88), suratal-Baqara,suratal-A'raf,and suratal-Hijralthough sometimes without mentioning the location. The narrative mainly surrounds the resulting expulsion of Hawwa and Adam after they were tempted byIblis(Satan).

Despite the biblical account, the Quran mentions only one tree in Eden, the tree of immortality, from whichGodspecifically forbade Adam and Eve. Someexegesisadded an account, aboutSatan,disguised as a serpent to enter the Garden, repeatedly told Adam to eat from the tree, and eventually both Adam and Eve did so, resulting in disobeying God.These stories are also featured in thehadithcollections, includingal-Tabari.

Quranic scripture of story

Quranic verses Q. 2:35–38, are believed to tell the story of Adam disobeying God's command and eating the Forbidden Fruit, and of God ordered him out of the Garden. One translation (the Clear Quran) that indicates that the Garden of Eden was in Heaven goes:

• We cautioned, "O Adam! Live with your wife in Paradise (lit." the Garden ") and eat as freely as you please, but do not approach this tree, or else you will be wrongdoers." (2:35)
• But Satan deceived them—leading to their fall from the [blissful] state they were in,1 and We said, "Descend from the heavens [to the earth] as enemies to each other.2 You will find in the earth a residence and provision for your appointed stay." (2:36)
• Then Adam was inspired with words ˹of prayer˺ by his Lord, so He accepted his repentance. Surely He is the Accepter of Repentance, Most Merciful. (2:37)
• We said, "Descend all of you! Then when guidance comes to you from Me, whoever follows it, there will be no fear for them, nor will they grieve. (2:38)

Location

Quranic verses describe Adam was being expelled fromal-Jannah,"the garden", which is the commonly used word for paradise in Islam. However, according toIbn Kathir(d. 1372) and Ar-Razi (d. 1209), (exegetes of the Quran), four interpretations of the location of the garden prevailed among early Muslims:

• that the garden was Paradise itself,
• that it was a separate garden created especially for Adam and Eve,
• that it was located on Earth,
• that it was best for the Muslims not to be concerned with the location of the garden.

According to T. O. Shanavas however, contextual analysis of Quranic verses suggests the Garden of Eden could not have been in Paradise and must have been on earth. (For example, a sahih hadith reports Muhammad said: "Allah says: I have prepared for my righteous servants that which has neither been seen by eyes, nor heard by ears, nor ever conceived by any man." i.e. no man has ever seen Paradise. Since Adam was a man, he could not have seen paradise, therefore he could not have lived there.)

Doctrine of "The Fall of Man"

Islamic exegesis does not regardAdam and Eve's expulsion from paradiseas punishment for disobedience or a result from abused free will on their part.Instead,ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya(1292–1350) writes,God's wisdom(ḥikma) destined humanity to leave the garden and settle on earth. This is because God wants to unfold the full range of his attributes.If humans were not to live on earth, God could not express his love, forgiveness, and power to his creation.Further, if humans were not to experience suffering, they could neither long for paradise nor appreciate its delights.Khwaja Abdullah Ansari(1006–1088) describes Adam and Eve's expulsion as ultimately caused by God.Nonetheless, despite the paradoxical notion that man has no choice but to comply to God's will, this does not mean that humans should not blame themselves for their "sin" of complying.This is exemplified by Adam and Eve in the Quran (Q. 7:23 "Our Lord! We have wronged ourselves. If You do not forgive us and have mercy on us, we will certainly be losers" ), in contrast to Iblis (Satan) who blames God for leading him astray (Q. 15:37).

Latter Day Saints

See also:Adam and Eve (LDS Church)

Followers of theLatter Day Saint movementbelieve that after Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden they resided in a place known asAdam-ondi-Ahman,located in present-dayDaviess County, Missouri.It is recorded in theDoctrine and Covenantsthat Adam blessed his posterity there and that he will return to that place at the time of thefinal judgmentin fulfillment of a prophecy set forth in the Bible.

Numerous early leaders of the Church, includingBrigham Young,Heber C. Kimball,andGeorge Q. Cannon,taught that the Garden of Eden itself was located in nearby Jackson County,but there are no surviving first-hand accounts of that doctrine being taught by Joseph Smith himself. LDS doctrine is unclear as to the exact location of the Garden of Eden, but tradition among Latter-Day Saints places it somewhere in the vicinity of Adam-ondi-Ahman, or in Jackson County.

Gnosticism

The 2nd-centuryGnosticteacherJustinheld that there were three original divinities, a transcendental being called the Good, an intermediate male figure known asElohimand Eden who is anEarth-mother.The world is created from the love of Elohim and Eden, but evil later is brought into the universe when Elohim learns of the existence of the Good above him and ascends trying to reach it.

Art and literature

Art

One of oldest depictions of Garden of Eden is made inByzantine styleinRavenna,while the city was still under Byzantine control. A preserved blue mosaic is part of the mausoleum ofGalla Placidia.Circular motifs represent flowers of the garden of Eden. The Garden of Eden motifs most frequently portrayed inilluminated manuscriptsand paintings are the "Sleep of Adam" ( "Creation of Eve" ), the "Temptation of Eve" by the Serpent, the "Fall of Man"where Adam takes the fruit, and the" Expulsion ". Theidyllof "Naming Day in Eden" was less often depicted.Michelangelodepicteda sceneat the Garden of Eden on theSistine Chapel ceiling.

• 
  The Garden of EdenbyLucas Cranach der Ältere,a 16th-century German depiction of Eden
• 
  Fifth-century "Garden of Eden" mosaic inmausoleum of Galla PlacidiainRavenna,Italy. UNESCOWorld Heritage Site.
• 
  The Garden of EdenbyThomas Cole(c. 1828)
• 
  After wandering through the Garden of Eden, Eve takes the forbidden fruit whileLilithspeaks to Adam (byCarl Poellath,c. 1886)
• 
  The Garden of EdenbyAdi Holzer(2012)

Literature

For many medieval writers, the image of the Garden of Eden also creates a location for humanloveandsexuality,often associated with the classic and medievaltropeof thelocus amoenus.

In theDivine Comedy,Dante Alighieriplaces the Garden at the top ofMt. Purgatory.Dante, the pilgrim, emerges into the Garden of Eden in Canto 28 ofPurgatorio.Here he is told that God gave the Garden of Eden to man "in earnest, or as a pledge of eternal life," but man was only able to dwell there for a short time because he soon fell from grace. In the poem, the Garden of Eden is both human and divine: while it is located on earth at the top of Mt. Purgatory, it also serves as the gateway to theheavens.

Much ofMilton'sParadise Lostoccurs in the Garden of Eden.

The first act of Arthur Miller's 1972 playCreation of the World and Other Businessis set in the Garden of Eden.

See also

• Epic of Gilgamesh
• Golden Age
• Heaven in Judaism
• Hesperides
• Jannah
• Mazandaran (Shahnameh)
• Persian gardens
• Purgatorio
• Sacred garden
• The Summerland
• Tamoanchan
• Utopia
• Atemporal fall

Bibliography

• Brown, John Pairman (2001).Israel and Hellas, Volume 3.Walter de Gruyter.ISBN9783110168822.
• Cohen, Chaim (2011)."Eden".In Berlin, Adele; Grossman, Maxine (eds.).The Oxford Dictionary of the Jewish Religion.Oxford University Press.ISBN9780199730049.
• Curtius, Ernst Robert(1953).European Literature and the Latin Middle Ages.Princeton University Press.ISBN978-0-691-01899-7.Translated by Willard R. Trask.
• Davidson, Robert(1973).Genesis 1–11(commentary by Davidson, R. 1987 [Reprint] ed.). Cambridge, England:Cambridge University Press.ISBN9780521097604.
• Day, John (2014)."Problems in the Interpretation of the Story of the Garden of Eden".From Creation to Babel: Studies in Genesis 1-11.Bloomsbury Publishing.ISBN978-0-567-37030-3.
• Levenson, Jon D. (2004). "Genesis: Introduction and Annotations". In Berlin, Adele; Brettler, Marc Zvi (eds.).The Jewish Study Bible.Oxford University Press.ISBN9780195297515.
• Mathews, Kenneth A. (1996).Genesis.Nashville, Tennessee: Broadman & Holman Publishers.ISBN9780805401011.
• Smith, Mark S. (2009)."Introduction".In Pitard, Wayne T. (ed.).The Ugaritic Baal Cycle, volume II.BRILL.ISBN978-9004153486.
• Speiser, E. A. (1994)."The Rivers of Paradise".In Tsumura, D. T.; Hess, R. S. (eds.).I Studied Inscriptions from Before the Flood.Eisenbrauns.ISBN9780931464881.
• Stordalen, Terje (2000).Echoes of Eden.Peeters.ISBN9789042908543.
• Swarup, Paul (2006).The self-understanding of the Dead Sea Scrolls Community.Continuum.ISBN9780567043849.
• Tigchelaar, Eibert J. C.(1999). "Eden and Paradise: The Garden Motif in some Early Jewish Texts (1 Enoch and Other Texts Found at Qumran)". InLuttikhuizen, Gerard P.(ed.).Paradise Interpreted.Themes in Biblical narrative. Leiden: Konninklijke Brill.ISBN90-04-11331-2.
• Willcocks, Sir William; Hormuzd Rassam.Mesopotamian Trade. Noah's Flood: The Garden of Eden,in:The Geographical Journal 35Archived2021-12-22 at theWayback Machine,No. 4 (April 1910).DOI: 10.2307/1777041.

External links

• Many translations of II Kings 19:12
• "Eden".The American Cyclopædia.1879.