WAS ARMENIA IN THE GARDEN OF EDEN?
The Book of Genesis tells us that God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed. God knew that it was not good that man should be alone so He also created woman from the rib of man. This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of man. Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh (Genesis 2:23-24).

The couple lived in a magnificent garden paradise, unlike any the world has seen since. Though the exact location is unknown there are a few descriptions provided that give us an indication. 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 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. Today it is identified as the Tigris. The fourth river is the Euphrates.

The location of the Gihon and Pishon Rivers has been the subject of great speculation. It is assumed however they would have been found in the general vicinity of the two other rivers. The Garden of Eden is therefore placed by most Biblical scholars in either the Northern or Southern region of today’s Iraq, which was known as Mesopotamia, which was the most fertile land of the region. The area of Mesopotamia stretches Northwest engulfing the area of Ancient Armenia in the time of Darius I in 500 BC. The cities of Dikranagerd and Edessa as well Lakes Van and Lirmir are within the Mesopotamia region.

The word Eden in Hebrew means delight, luxury, pleasure, as well as paradise. However, a similar word in Sumerian edin, and in Akkadian edinu, means plain, such as the flat area between two rivers. The similarities between the two words suggest a possible historical link between the two concepts. In the ancient world the areas of the great plain between the Tigris and the Euphrates were considered to be the location of sacred gardens and were identified in several regional epics as the actual location of a Garden of Eden. So to in Jewish teaching the land of Adam and Eve is the land surrounded and fed by the waters of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, which flow through the land of ancient Armenia.

The delicious fruits and vegetables of the region were truly blessed by God as they were grown and cultivated in the soils of His garden.

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