The Garden of Eden - Possible Modern Day Location

To begin with, I would like to start with a short disclaimer about the Garden of Eden…

No one really knows where the exact location of the Garden of Eden was. The book Insight on the Scriptures says “it’s location is lost to man except for the divine record of its existence.”

But it’s interesting that it also says this,

“The traditional location for the garden of Eden has long been suggested to have been a mountainous area some 225 km (140 mi) SW of Mount Ararat and a few kilometers S of Lake Van, in the eastern part of modern Turkey.”

Insight on the Scriptures – 1, p.677

 

This explains why the Garden of Eden is marked where it is on the map above. Of course this is an older Bible version and there is a question mark beside it’s location. But it arouses curiousity. Why was this place chosen?

So why is this location suggested?

Again, the book of Genesis and the Insight book give a clue. Here it is:

Genesis 2:11 – Now there was a river flowing out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it divided into four rivers.

This one sentence gives us a place to start looking. The Tigris and Euphrates river sources come from this region. Since these two rivers have their origin in this vicinity of Lake Van, Turkey, this makes it a likely candidate. The location of the other two rivers mentioned in the verses, Pishon and Gihon, are unknown. Probably due to changes in landcaspe because of the flood.

So we drove to the exact spot of the “X” on the map

My wife and I went on a little road trip with nothing more than this map and that sentence in the Insight book. We also found some information about a site near that marker that many revere as a possible location of the Garden of Eden. Likely the “traditional location” referred to in the Insight book.

We drove to this EXACT location.

Looking at the picture above, we see that the New World Translation used to label it’s possible location with a question mark. So we were ready to drive anywhere around the vicinity of this area.

X marks the spot – not really…

First we went to the EXACT location of the “X”. The map isn’t meant for navigation. Obviously this was going to be a wide area.

Here is what we came up with. Using this pinpoint on the map from the old green Bible, and going by the quote from the Insight book which says, “a few kilometers south of Lake Van,” we came to the exact spot of the “X”. Here is a picture of it.

The location of the X on the map.

Of course that “X” was not meant to be used for navigation. It was an approximate location. But this is where it led us.

We were hoping to find something that fit the description in Genesis – a natural barrier in every direction except from the east where the angel was guarding the entrance. But such was not to be found. The mountains in the background are 10’s of kilometers away and so did not fit the wording of the Insight book.

This led us to explore the terrain underneath the lettering “The Garden of Eden” from the map in the green Bible. So we started to drive around the area shown below.

This is where things got more interesting. Further research revealed that there is a location “just a few kilometers” from Lake Van (just as Insight on the Scriptures says) that some revere to fit the description of the Genesis account. It is located just above the question mark on the map after the word “Eden”. It is called Nemrut Crater (or Nemrut Krateri in Turkish). Here is a picture of it from an airplane and here is it’s location on google maps.

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Notice the terrain in the picture above and compare it with the wording of Genesis 3:24. It says,

“So he drove the man out, and he posted at the east of the garden of Eden the cherubs and the flaming blade of a sword that was turning continuously to guard the way to the tree of life.”

Genesis 3:24 – New World Translation (2013 Revision)

There seems to have been a natural barrier around the garden that made it necessary to gaurd the eastern entrance. Hence, Jehovah had to post a cherub there.

The picture above shows that the right hand side (the east) lacks a natural barrier. It allows an easy entrance. In fact if you look closely, you will see roads entering the crater from this direction. The North, South and West, on the other hand, all have a natural cliff formed by this ancient crater.

Today this crater is a beautiful natural park. The entrance to the park is, you guessed it, from the east. Here are a few pictures inside the crater.

The cliffs form a natural barrier to the North, West and South.

There is beautiful nature, several lakes and campgrounds.

The Turks call this crater a ‘campers paradise’ because of all the beauty and geological variety.

In Conclusion: Why this location is a likely candidate

1. The natural barriers. As Insight on the scriptures says, there seemed to have been a natural barrier around the garden. This location definitely fits that description as has been explained.
2. The rivers mentioned in Genesis have their origin in this vicinity. The location of two of the rivers is unknown, but the Tigris and Eurphrates have their origins in this region. (Genesis 2:11-14)
3. The gold in the region. Genesis 2:11 says that the Pishon river which issued from the Garden encircled the land of Havilah. The location of Havilah is unknown, but it is noteworthy that the region above this location has major gold deposits. In fact this one was discovered just recently.

This is probably one of the most adventurous driving trips we have ever done. If there were roads leading to the center of the crater, I most certainly would have taken a picture of my wife picking some fruit from a tree “in the middle of the garden”. Alas, it was not meant to be. To be honest though, I don’t think she would have posed for such a picture.

Again, there is no certainty if this was the real Garden of Eden. I’m sure others have strong opinions about it. I just wanted to share a little sight-seeing nugget in Turkey that is hardly mentioned.

To conclude.... I couldn't resist. I just had to take an Adam picture. Enjoy at my expense.

If you every manage to make your way out to this corner of Turkey, I also recommend a few more places not far away.

Other sights in the area

Lake Van

I strongly suggest swimming in Lake Van if it is warm enough. It’s only a few kilometers away from the crater.

It’s a funny feeling. The water is very “slippery”. The lake is very alkaline (around 9.8). You will likely see women washing their clothes along the shorline as they wash out well with this alkalinity.

Swiming in Lake Van.

Armenian Church

There is also a 1000 year old Armenian church on an island in the lake.

This small island in the lake has a 1,000 Armenian church on it with interesting frescoes inside.

Mount Ararat

At the base of Mount Ararat. The snow cap was quite melted.

Yes. The traditional resting place of Noah’s ark. This picture goes back a few years. Once again, it is not known for sure, but there are been many books written by those who say they climbed the mountain and discovered it.

These days the mountain is off limits to those wanting to climb it.

Please share the article if you enjoyed. Feel free to peruse other places we have explored in Turkey.