The location of the Garden of Eden has long piqued the curiosity of many believers, and several have attempted to piece together its location using identifying clues found in Scripture—namely, the river that flowed out of Eden, watered its garden, and split into four other rivers beyond the garden.
Genesis 2:10-14 says, “Now a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it parted and became four riverheads. The name of the first is Pishon; it is the one which skirts the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. And the gold of that land is good. Bdellium and the onyx stone are there. The name of the second river is Gihon; it is the one which goes around the whole land of Cush. The name of the third river is Hiddekel; it is the one which goes toward the east of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates.”
Out of the four rivers mentioned in Genesis, two with the same names exist today and are located in the Middle East: the Euphrates and the Tigris River (aka the Hiddekel). The current Euphrates River originates in eastern Turkey and flows through Syria and Iraq before joining the Tigris River and discharging into the Persian Gulf. The current Tigris River also originates in eastern Turkey, running somewhat parallel to the Euphrates and joining it before emptying into the Persian Gulf.
Many have speculated that these two modern-day rivers (with the same names as those that flowed out of Eden) and the location of their originating water sources indicate that the Garden of Eden was situated somewhere in the vicinity of modern-day Turkey. This theory is interesting, considering that God restarted humanity in Turkey after the worldwide flood, having the Ark and its inhabitants rest on Mt. Ararat in eastern Turkey.
Others have surmised that the Garden of Eden was located somewhere in modern-day Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, or Ethiopia, based on Genesis’ descriptions of the surrounding landscape that flanked each river that flowed out of Eden. However, neither the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers of today, nor Genesis’ descriptions of the vivid landscape surrounding the four rivers flowing out of Eden can be used to determine the precise location of the Garden of Eden for one simple reason: the flood.
The 40 days and nights of continual rain and an outpouring of water from the deep fountains of the earth swiftly submerged the entire earth underwater, covering its tallest mountain by 22 feet (see Genesis 7:11-20). The amassed floodwaters remained intact and unmoved on the earth for an additional 110 days before God allowed them to gradually recede (see Genesis 7:24 through Genesis 8:12). However, it took several more months before the earth returned to completely dry land, having been besieged with water for a total of one year and ten days. [Note: Noah was 600 years, two months, and 17 days old when the flood began, according to Genesis 7:11, and he was 601 years, two months, and 27 days old when the earth was completely dry once again, according to Genesis 8:13-14.]
Consequently, the influx and outflow of the massive worldwide floodwaters radically altered the earth’s topography and waterways. As a result, the location of the original Euphrates and Tigris Rivers, which flowed from Eden, and the Garden of Eden itself, is and remains unknown. Additionally, the current Euphrates and Tigris Rivers cannot be assumed to be the same waterways that existed before the flood, despite having the same names.
I hope this information sheds light on the Garden of Eden’s location and equips you to explain it to others.
