Did we plough up the Garden of Eden?

First Post ^ | October 17, 2006

[From many - one.]

A few concerns:

1. The reptile looks like a mammal to me. There's a difference in the way the legs are set.

2. The Tigris and Euphrates are two rivers and I didn't see a desrciption of a third riverbed.

3. Although we like to see grain agriculture as a good thing, I doubt it was seen that way back then. More a way of shifting to an efficient way of preventing starvation when the good stuff (fruits, meat) became hard to find in an increasingly overcrowded world.

[JamesP81]

Has anyone considered that if we did find Eden that the explorers might want to be careful of that big flaming sword God left there? Seems like that could cause some unpleasantness...

[From many - one.]

ping

looks like your kind of thing

[Starboard]

Great line! LOL.

[Old_Mil]

Eden is in Iraq; Noah's ark is in Iran.

[Starboard]

Farming is a much more secure and easy way to get sustenance.

It also provides a more convenient basis for taxation. :)

[Thermalseeker]

I always heard Eden was in Iraq, which is also almost the most-mentioned country in the Bible, second only to Israel.

Iraq proper wasn't even a recognized country until 1932. Are you sure you don't mean Babylon?

[Inyo-Mono]

1. The reptile looks like a mammal to me. There's a difference in the way the legs are set.

Me too. Look at the rib cage and the way the eyes set in the head. I think it represents a dog.

[Inyo-Mono]

If you ever do extended survival training, you'll find that it takes a lot of work to get food by finding it here and there throughout the year. Plus, it is not assured that you'll find enough in any one place.

Anyone who has ever gone hunting knows that it would be a rigorous lifestyle if you had to live off of your kill.

[SlowBoat407]

Call me when they find the apple core....

Apple only uses dual cores these days.

[DBrow]

lol

And surely that leads to advanced civilization, with a census, a tax, tax collectors, census takers, inspectors, and buildings with guards...

You are so right, even being tongue in cheek- you can't really have formal taxes in a hunter-gather economy.

[70times7]

The story of King David is about switching from a nomadic life to one of agriculture- of finding a spot and settling there, growing food there, and flourishing.

Huh? Your statement suggests he was just wandering about looking for something to do, and eventually decided on farming. Forgive the slam, but I'm more used to such sideways inaccuracies in the liberal media. David was being hunted by Saul. Until Saul died he was always on the run in spite of his attempts to reconcile the relationship. When Saul was dead David took the throne. I don't think he did much "gardening" then, it was done for him.

[From many - one.]

The problem I see with dog is the feet. More bear-ish than dog-ish. Maybe chimera? Or dog-faced baboon?

The bird panel is somewhat weird, too. The upper one looks ibis-like.

If the mammal is a baboon and the bird an ibis it could be pre-cursor to Egyptian deities. Yes, I know the geography would be wrong but people and ideas move around.

[Pharmboy]

I learned way back in Hebrew school that the Garden of Eden was where the Tigris and Euphrates rivers met in the south (I know--they both go to the sea).

[beckysueb]

I think the best guess is that Eden is near where Basra is today.

I know it is between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.

[twigs]

The Bible also mentions two other rivers which have disappeared from sight today. But they can be detected from space in satellite images. If you take the Bible and match up the info there to these images and the current Tigris and Euphrates, it lands you near modern-day Basra.

[LachlanMinnesota]

Anyone find the program for decoding the Bible code yet?

[DBrow]

I didn't mean that King David was a farmer himself. I looked at the story in very general terms. I'm sorry if I offended you; that surely was not my intent.

If you look at climate data for the region and the time, the climate had begun to be more stable and predictable (it was not that long after the end of the last Ice Age). A more stable climate meant that agriculture was possible.

The tribe, like many tribes in the area, was nomadic (for a number of reasons, not just Saul). When David took the throne, the tribe began to settle down, and started an agricultural existence with a fixed location and permanent buildings.

If I remember the story, the tribe did flourish under King David.

[Starboard]

It must have taken lots of tax dollars to construct those statues! Maybe even a temporary surtax was imposed. :)