From the Daily Mail: "Long-lost rivers of the Bible found in satellite images point to the Garden of Eden." The headline is a bit misleading, however. Satellite imagery has revealed a dry river bed in Saudi Arabia that would have emptied out near the current mouths of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, suggesting that it might have been one of the lost rivers mentioned in the Biblical account of the Garden of Eden: the river Pishon. The article relates:
The data revealed a fossilized river up to three miles wide, active during a wetter Holocene era before drying between 2000 and 3500 BC due to climate shifts.
'These satellite images give us a window into landscapes that have vanished over millennia,' said Dr El-Baz.
'We can now trace rivers that once shaped human settlement and perhaps even inspired ancient biblical narratives.'
The alignment of these rivers with biblical text is striking, as together with the Tigris and Euphrates, Wadi al-Batin and the Karun would have converged into the Persian Gulf, forming a fertile cradle of civilization.
[snip]
James A Sauer, a biblical archaeologist who analyzed the satellite data, said that the dry riverbed’s features best match the biblical description of the Pishon, though he stops short of declaring this proof of Eden itself.
However, according to archaeologist Juris Zarins, satellite imagery showing ancient riverbeds near the Persian Gulf corresponds with descriptions from Genesis, suggesting the Eden narrative may reflect real ancient geography even if its spiritual elements remain interpretive.
Environmental data has also supported this theory, showing Arabia's arid transformation after the last Ice Age and rising sea levels that may have submerged parts of Eden's delta.
Related:
- "Spectacular Lost Highways of Ancient Arabia Discovered By Archaeologists"--Science Alert.
- "Archeologists Just Found a 4,000-Year-Old Town in Saudi Arabia"--Matador Network.
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