The Garden of Eden & the Tree of Knowledge of Good & Evil according to the Book of Enoch

 

Book of Enoch Chapter XXXII (Greek version).  1-6. To the north-east I beheld seven mountains full of choice nard and mastic and cinnamon and pepper.  And thence I went over the summits of [all] these mountains, far towards the east [of the earth], and passed above the Erythraean sea and went far from it, and passed over [the angel] Zotîêl.  And I came to the Garden of Righteousness, and from afar off trees more numerous than these trees and great--[two] trees there, very great, beautiful, and glorious, and magnificent, and the tree of knowledge, whose holy fruit they eat and know great wisdom. 

[That tree is in height like the fir, and its leaves are] like (those of) the Carob tree: and its fruit is like the clusters of the vine, very beautiful: and the fragrance of the tree penetrates afar. Then I said: '[How] beautiful is the tree, and how attractive is its look!' Then Raphael the holy angel, who was with me, answered me [and said]: 'This is the tree of wisdom, of which thy father old (in years) and thy aged mother, who were before thee, have eaten, and they learnt wisdom and their eyes were opened, and they knew that they were naked and they were driven out of the garden.'

The Book of Enoch tells us that prophet Enoch was able to enter the Garden of Eden, and even gave us a step by step account of Enoch’s journey to the Garden. Join me as I follow Enoch’s steps in locating the Garden of Eden and see how it validates the conclusion I made in my previous video titled “The Garden of Eden was in the Black Sea! Biblical and Geological proofs provided!”.

In the Book of Enoch (Charles translation) chapter 26 verse 1, we find that Enoch’s journey to the Garden of Eden started in a place he called “the middle of the earth”.

 

Book of Enoch Chapter XXVI. 1. And I went from thence to the middle of the earth, and I saw a blessed place ⌈in which there were trees⌉ with branches abiding and blooming [of a dismembered tree].

I believe “the middle of the earth” refers to the geographical centre of Earth, or the geometric centre of all land surfaces on Earth. And many people, including myself, believe this geometric centre is located at the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt.

In the September 1919 issue of Trestle Board Magazine, Mason William Galliher stated that knowledge of the Great Pyramid being the geographical center was "determined by many years of scientific investigation"... Later on in chapter 32 of the Book of Enoch, I will be able to provide confirmation that indeed “the middle of the earth” being referred to was the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt, so for now and for the sake of discussion, please bear this assumption with me until we reach chapter 32.

Verse 1 of chapter 26 also mentioned “trees with branches abiding and blooming [out] of a dismembered tree”. Dismembered trees suggest wood cutting which was extensively practiced during the construction of the great Pyramid:

Wikipedia, Egyptian pyramid construction techniques, Building the pyramids from quarried stone blocks: As the stones forming the core of the pyramids were roughly cut, especially in the Great Pyramid, the material used to fill the gaps was another problem. Huge quantities of gypsum and rubble were needed. The filling has almost no binding properties, but it was necessary to stabilize the construction. To make the gypsum mortar, it had to be dehydrated by heating which requires large quantities of wood. 

According to Egyptologists, the findings of both the 1984 and 1995 David H. Koch Pyramids Radiocarbon Projects may suggest that Egypt had to strip its forest and scrap every bit of wood it had to build the pyramids of Giza and other even earlier 4th Dynasty pyramids.

Chapter 26 of the Book of Enoch continues with Enoch describing a mountain range near “the middle of the earth” or the Great Pyramid of Giza. It consisted of 3 mountains having differing elevations, with the eastmost mountain being the highest, the middle mountain the second highest and the westmost mountain being the lowest. It further describes the ravines between these 3 mountains as being formed of hard rock. 

Book of Enoch Chapter XXVI. 2-6. And there [the middle of the earth] I saw a holy mountain...  And I saw towards the east another mountain higher than this, and between them a deep and narrow ravine...  And to the west thereof [of the first mountain] there was another mountain, lower than the former and of small elevation, and a ravine [deep and dry] between them: and another deep and dry ravine was at the extremities of the three [mountains].  And all the ravines were deep [and narrow], (being formed) of hard rock, and trees were not planted upon them.  And I marveled [at the rocks, and I marveled] at the ravine, yea, I marveled very much.

I believe the mountain range consisting of 3 mountains with differing elevations refers to the Mokattam hills located approximately 17 kilometers north-east of the Great Pyramid. The Arabic name Mokattam, which means cut off or broken off, refers to how the low range of hills is divided into three sections. In the past the low mountain range was an important ancient Egyptian quarry site for limestone, used in the construction of temples and pyramids. And this limestone quarry was the hard rock in the ravines which Enoch saw.

In the scientific paper titled “Engineering geology of Mokattam city and vicinity, eastern Greater Cairo, Egypt” written by Moustafa, El-Nahhas, and Abdel Tawab, we are provided a map of the Mokattam hills including a cross section that shows the relative elevation of the 3 sections of these hills. 

In the cross section map, one can see that the Middle Plateau refers to the lowest and westmost mountain mentioned in the Book of Enoch, while the Upper Plateau refers to the middle mountain, and finally the Northern Cuesta refers to the eastmost mountain which is also slightly higher than the middle mountain or the Upper Plateau. 

Note that in Dr. Laurence’s translation of the Book of Enoch, the eastmost mountain was described as being “as high as” the middle mountain:

Book of Enoch Chapter XXV (Dr. Laurence translation). 1. From thence I proceeded to the middle of the earth... There I saw a holy mountain... I saw also on the east another mountain as high as that;

And in fact, upon inspection of the cross section map of the Mokattam hills, one can see that the Northern Cuesta located east of the Upper Plateau can be described as either slightly higher or just as high as the Upper Plateau.

Note that a cuesta (from Spanish cuesta "slope") is a hill  with a gentle slope on one side, and a steep slope on the other.

Moving on to the next chapter, or chapter 27 of the Book of Enoch, there is mentioned an accursed valley between the blessed land (which was the middle of the earth described in chapter 26 verse 1 as a blessed place in which there were trees) and the Mokattam hills that were described in detail from verses 2 upto 6 of chapter 26:

Book of Enoch Chapter XXVII. 1-2. Then said I: 'For what object is this blessed land, which is entirely filled with trees, and this accursed valley [between]?' [Then Uriel, one of the holy angels who was with me, answered and said: 'This] accursed valley is for those who are accursed for ever: Here shall all [the accursed] be gathered together who utter with their lips against the Lord unseemly words and of His glory speak hard things. Here shall they be gathered together, and here shall be their place of judgement.

I believe this accursed valley refers to the Nile valley or Nile river, that is located between “the middle of the earth” or the Great Pyramid of Giza and the Mokattam hills. The Book of Enoch is here giving a prophecy of what will be God’s judgment against the people of Egypt via the 10 plagues, the first 2 of which originated from the Nile river, namely: the turning of the water of the Nile into blood, and the plague of frogs which came out of the Nile.

Note that in chapter 27 Enoch was still in the accursed valley, or the Nile river, and still hasn’t crossed it yet to reach the Mokattam hills which is located east of the Nile river. Although in chapter 26, Enoch already saw these hills while he was still from “the middle of the earth” or the Great Pyramid of Giza. 

In chapter 28, we now see Enoch going towards the east of the accursed valley “into the midst of the mountain range of the desert”. This mountain range was of course the Mokattam hills.

 

Book of Enoch Chapter XXVIII. 1. And thence I went [towards the east], into the midst [of the mountain range of the desert]…

Standing in the midst of the mountain range, Enoch saw a wilderness, and in that wilderness, a waterfall, or “water that gushed forth from above” and whose river flow runs north-west. This waterfall was particularly tall since it creates waterfall clouds to ascend on every side:

Book of Enoch Chapter XXVIII. 1-3. … and I saw a wilderness and it was solitary, full of trees and plants. [And] water gushed forth from above.  Rushing like a copious watercourse [which flowed] towards the north-west it caused clouds and dew to ascend on every side.

Looking at a map of the Mokattam hills and looking towards the east, one can see that the only watercourse flowing to the north-west is the Gulf of Suez. Now you might ask, was there any waterfall in the Gulf of Suez? I actually believe that at the time of Enoch, the Gulf of Suez was a deep canyon or valley having 3 waterfalls in its path with differing elevations. And its highest waterfall was located near its junction with the Red Sea in the south, while its lowest waterfall was located near its junction with the Great Bitter Lake in the north. Allow me to explain.

Underneath the Gulf of Suez  was a continental rift zone that represented a continuation of the Red Sea Rift. This Red Sea Rift (located between the African plate and the Arabian plate) causes the African plate and the Arabian plate to move away from each other. So if the Gulf of Suez Rift is a continuation of the Red Sea Rift, then the Gulf of Suez Rift (which was located between the Sinai subplate and the African plate) must also cause the Sinai subplate or the Sinai Peninsula to move away from the African Plate. And in the time of Enoch, the Sinai subplate or Sinai Peninsula was completely detached from the African plate and the Gulf of Suez rift runs all the way to the Mediterranean Sea allowing the waters of the Red Sea to drain at the Mediterranean Sea via the Gulf of Suez. 

Thus,  at the time of Enoch the water level of the Gulf of Suez, which was a deep canyon then, was not as high as it is today wherein its 3 waterfalls are totally submerged under sea water coming from the Red Sea. Instead, the Gulf of Suez at the time of Enoch looked like a series of 3 waterfalls having differing heights, with water originating from the Red Sea, and its river cascading downwards and north-west until it exits at the Mediterranean sea.  

If we now look at a fault map of the Gulf of Suez provided by Khamis Farhoud in his paper titled “Accommodation zones and tectono-stratigraphy of the Gulf of Suez ...” one can see that there are 3 shear zones along the gulf. A shear zone is a structural discontinuity surface in the Earth's crust and upper mantle, and is characterized by a strong deformation that usually comes in the form of a sudden drop in elevation along the zone. A waterfall is a good example of a shear zone in which a river flows on top of its surface.

Thus, at the time of Enoch, when the Sinai Peninsula was detached from the African Plate, and the Gulf of Suez was freely discharging its waters into the Mediterranean Sea, the 3 shear zones along its path were actually waterfalls of differing heights, with shear zone I having the lowest elevation, and shear zone III having the highest elevation.

So if the Sinai Peninsula was detached from the African Plate at the time of Enoch, why is the Sinai Peninsula attached to the African Plate now?

Wikipedia tells us that the Gulf of Suez rift that causes the Sinai Peninsula to move away from the African Plate, suddenly became inactive when the Dead Sea Rift also known as the Dead Sea Transform became active. 

And that sometime after the Gulf of Suez rift became inactive, that was when its topography has been filled by the sea, with its water level rising to the same elevation as the Red Sea.

Wikipedia, Gulf of Suez Rift: The Gulf of Suez Rift is a continental rift zone that was active between the Late Oligocene and the end of the Miocene. It represented a continuation of the Red Sea Rift until break-up occurred in the middle Miocene, with most of the displacement on the newly developed Red Sea spreading centre being accommodated by the Dead Sea Transform. During its brief post-rift history, the deepest part of the remnant rift topography has been filled by the sea ...

The Dead Sea Transform causes the Sinai Peninsula or subplate to move in a southwestern motion, and thus closer to the African Plate. This southwestern motion of the Sinai Peninsula caused by the Dead Sea Rift eventually led the Sinai Peninsula to attach itself with the African Plate, and thus completely closing the path of the Gulf of Suez towards the Mediterranean Sea. This in turn  resulted in the rising of the water level of the Gulf of Suez and totally submerging its 3 waterfalls under the waters of the Red Sea. The attachment of the Sinai Peninsula with the African Plate must have taken a considerable amount of time, so much so that at the time of Enoch, which was just around 5,000 years ago, the Sinai Peninsula was still detached from the African Plate. 

And it must have taken an unprecedented global catastrophe such as the Great Flood of Noah to accelerate this process, and thus causing the Sinai Peninsula to suddenly connect itself with the African Plate like we see today.

Now going back to Chapter 28 of the Book of Enoch, the waterfall which Enoch saw and described in this chapter was the waterfall in the Gulf of Suez that was nearest the Mokattam hills where he was located at that time. And this was the waterfall in Shear Zone I of the gulf. Chapter 29 tells us that from the Mokattam hills, Enoch went farther east. Chapter 30 verses 1 & 2 tells us that Enoch continued journeying even farther east until he saw a valley full of water. This valley full of water was the river underneath the second waterfall in the Gulf of Suez located in Shear Zone II.

Book of Enoch Chapter XXX. 1-2.  And beyond these, I went afar to the east, and I saw another place, a valley (full) of water. And ⌈therein there was⌉ a tree, the colour (?) of fragrant trees such as the mastic. 

Chapter 30 verse 3 now talks about “valleys”, or more than one valley, and this means Enoch also went to the valley, or the river underneath the third waterfall in the Gulf of Suez located in Shear Zone 3 and which was closest to the junction between the Gulf of Suez and the Red Sea.

Book of Enoch Chapter XXX. 3. And on the sides of those valleys I saw fragrant cinnamon. And beyond these I proceeded to the east.

Now going beyond the waterfall in Shear Zone III and proceeding to the east takes Enoch at the west bank of the northernmost tip of the Red Sea, where also the junction between the Gulf of Suez and the Red Sea is located. 

From this junction at the west bank of the northernmost tip of the Red Sea, Chapter 31 tells us that Enoch saw other mountains.

Book of Enoch Chapter XXXI. 1. And I saw other mountains, and amongst them were ⌈groves of⌉ trees, and there flowed forth from them nectar, which is named sarara and galbanum. 

The mountains which Enoch saw were the mountains of the Sinai Peninsula located north east of the west bank of the northernmost tip of the Red Sea, where Enoch was located at this point of the story.  Later on in chapter 32, we will get confirmation of this.

In verse 2 of chapter 31, Enoch mentioned seeing another mountain “to the east of the ends of the earth”, which means that he saw a mountain at the eastmost ends, or the eastmost border of the Sinai Peninsula which is bounded to the east by the Gulf of Aqaba.

Book of Enoch Chapter XXXI. 2-3. And beyond these mountains I saw another mountain ⌈to the east of the ends of the earth⌉, ⌈⌈whereon were aloe trees⌉⌉, and all the trees were full of stacte, being like almond-trees. And when one burnt it, it smelt sweeter than any fragrant odour.  

And this mountain is Hashem El Tarif, a mountain located in the northeast Egyptian Sinai Peninsula, close to the border of modern Israel. Hashem El Tarif, the eastmost mountain in the Sinai Peninsula, contains several ancient stone shrines all around it, as well as graves of apparently prominent persons near its summit. It is interesting to note that Enoch mentioned the trees full of stacte in its mountain that when burnt “smelt sweeter than any fragrant odour”. This is because there is a plateau in Hashem El Tarif which contains one of the largest concentrations of ancient open-air fire pits in the region (many of which are still visible as ruins).

Chapter 32 now gives us more details about the mountains Enoch saw in chapter 31. This chapter now tells us that Enoch saw 7 mountains and that these mountains were located north-east of where Enoch was located in chapter 31, which as I mentioned a while ago was at the west bank of the northernmost tip of the Red Sea, or near the junction between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Suez.

Book of Enoch Chapter XXXII (Greek version).  1. To the north-east I beheld seven mountains full of choice nard and mastic and cinnamon and pepper 

Verse 2 of chapter 32 tells us that Enoch went over the summits of these 7 mountains, and that he visited the eastmost mountain of the Sinai Peninsula, or Hashem El Tarif last. And that by going over these mountains, Enoch passed “above” the Erythraean sea.

Book of Enoch Chapter XXXII. 2. And thence I went over the summits of ⌈all⌉ these mountains, far towards the east ⌈of the earth⌉, and passed above the Erythraean sea and went far from it, and passed over ⌈⌈the angel⌉⌉ Zotîêl.

The Erythraean Sea (Greek: Erythrà Thálassa, which literally means "Red Sea") was a maritime designation of ancient Greek geography that always included the Gulf of Aden ... and was frequently extended—as in the famous 1st-century Periplus of the Erythraean Sea—to include the present-day Red Sea.

And this was the confirmation in chapter 32 I was talking about in the beginning of my discussion: that Enoch’s journey that started in “the middle of the earth” and mentioned in chapter 26, was in the Great Pyramid of Giza. And that his journey that took him to the 7 mountains  as mentioned in chapter 32, was in the Sinai Peninsula that is located “above” or north of the Erythraean Sea, which is currently known today as the Red Sea.

So what are the names of these 7 mountains of the Sinai Peninsula, and where exactly are they located? If we take a look at a list of all the mountains in Egypt, and identify only those mountains that are specifically located in the Sinai Peninsula, we get a total of 8 mountains, namely: Mount Catherine, Hashem El Tarif, Jabal al-Halāl or Mount Helal, Ras Kouroun or El-Kas, Mount Serbal, Gabal Sin Bishar, Mount Sinai, and finally, Willow Peak or Ras es-Safsafeh. Of these 8 mountains in the Sinai Peninsula, Ras Kouron or El-Kas was described as a small mountain or a hill, and therefore, Enoch most likely did not count this hill as one of the seven mountains that he saw.

Verse 2 of chapter 32 tells us that after going over the eastmost mountain in the Sinai Peninsula, which was Hashem El Tarif, and “passing above” or passing north of the Erythraean or Red Sea, and going far from it, Enoch eventually passed over the angel  Zotîêl. And that after passing over Zotîêl, Enoch finally entered the Garden of Righteousness, or the Garden of Eden:

Book of Enoch Chapter XXXII.  3. And I came to the Garden of Righteousness, and from afar off trees more numerous than these trees and great--†two† trees there, very great, beautiful, and glorious, and magnificent, and the tree of knowledge, whose holy fruit they eat and know great wisdom.

If we now trace the path taken by Enoch to the Garden of Eden, starting from where he stood at the west bank of the northernmost tip of the Red Sea, or near the junction between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Suez, and connecting this point to Hashem El Tarif, the eastmost mountain in the Sinai Peninsula, and extend this northeast path or “go far from it” until we reach the Black Sea where I believe the Garden of Eden was located, then we can see specifically where in the Black Sea Enoch entered the Garden and passed over the angel Zotîêl. Please note and remember that Enoch entered the Garden at the eastmost side of the Black Sea, as I will be recalling this fact later on when I discuss chapter 77 of the Book of Enoch.

Verse 3 of chapter 32 tells us that from where Enoch entered the Garden of Eden, he can see from afar trees more numerous and greater in beauty, glory and magnificence than the trees where he is located, and that he singled out two outstanding trees, one of which he called the “tree of knowledge”.

Verses 4 to 6 of chapter 32 gives us a more detailed description of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil:

Book of Enoch Chapter XXXII. 4-6. ⌈That tree is in height like the fir, and its leaves are⌉ like (those of) the Carob tree: and its fruit is like the clusters of the vine, very beautiful: and the fragrance of the tree penetrates afar. Then I said: '⌈How⌉ beautiful is the tree, and how attractive is its look!' Then Raphael the holy angel, who was with me, answered me ⌈⌈and said⌉⌉: 'This is the tree of wisdom, of which thy father old (in years) and thy aged mother, who were before thee, have eaten, and they learnt wisdom and their eyes were opened, and they knew that they were naked and they were driven out of the garden.'

Later on in chapter 77 of the Book of Enoch, I will be able to provide a more precise location of where the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, as well as the Tree of Life were located in the Garden of Eden. So hold on.

Now moving on to chapter 33, we see Enoch leaving the Garden of Eden and going farther east until he reaches “the ends of the earth”. 

Book of Enoch Chapter XXXIII. 1-2. And from thence I went to the ends of the earth and saw there great beasts, and each differed from the other; and (I saw) birds also differing in appearance and beauty and voice, the one differing from the other. And to the east of those beasts I saw the ends of the earth whereon the heaven rests, and the portals of the heaven open.

Now some people are claiming recently that the Garden of Eden was located in the Far East. These verses from the Book of Enoch clearly shows that this cannot be true, as Enoch had already left the Garden of Eden before he even went to “the ends of the earth” located in the Far East. Later on in chapter 77, I will identify exactly where “the ends of the earth” in the Far East Enoch travelled to. So hold on till the very end of my video.

Now in addition to chapter 32, the Book of Enoch mentioned the Garden of Righteousness a second time in chapter 77.

Book of Enoch Chapter LXXVII. 1-3. And the first quarter is called the east, because it is the first: and the second, the south, because the Most High will descend there, yea, there in quite a special sense will He who is blessed for ever descend. And the west quarter is named the diminished, because there all the luminaries of the heaven wane and go down. And the fourth quarter, named the north, is divided into three parts: the first of them is for the dwelling of men: and the second contains seas of water, and the abysses and forests and rivers, and darkness and clouds; and the third part contains the garden of righteousness. 

According to chapter 77 of the Book of Enoch, the planet earth is divided into four quarters, namely, the east, south, west, and north. Verse 3 tells us that the north is further divided into 3 parts, and that the third part of the northern quarter was where the garden of righteousness was contained.

Now where was the point of origin which was used to divide the planet into four quarters? I believe the point of origin was where “the middle of the earth” was also located, namely, the Great Pyramid of Giza. And this explains why the alignment of the Great Pyramid is nearly perfect, only 0.067 degrees counterclockwise from perfect cardinal alignment with the east, south, west and north.

But, if the Great Pyramid of Giza was used to define north and south of the planet, then why isn’t the Great Pyramid located at the equator which defines the northern and southern hemisphere of the planet? I do believe that at the time of Enoch, the Great Pyramid was located precisely at the equator, and that its alignment was precisely at the 4 cardinal points of the planet, namely the east, south, west, and north. That is until the Great Flood of Noah occurred sometime later.  And this means that during the Great Flood, a pole shift occurred that caused the equator during Enoch’s time to displace by 29° 58′ 45″ and moved the Great Pyramid’s location from the equator to its current latitude position at 29° 58′ 45″ N.

Now by simply projecting the four corners of the base of the Great Pyramid starting from its apex until it covers the entire planet earth, one can easily see the 4 quarters east, south, west, and north, with each quarter having exactly 90 degrees. And by further dividing the northern quarter into 3 parts, each having 30 degrees, we now get the western-north, the middle north, and the eastern-north.

Although chapter 77 did not say it, we can conclude from chapter 76 of the Book of Enoch that the other quarters, namely, the east, south, and west, were each divided into 3 parts as well just like the north. And all the 4 quarters of the earth each divided  into 3 parts give us the 12 portals mentioned in chapter 76:

Book of Enoch Chapter LXXVI. 1-2. And at the ends of the earth I saw twelve portals open to all the quarters (of the heaven), from which the winds go forth and blow over the earth. Three of them are open on the face (i.e. the east) of the heavens, and three in the west, and three on the right (i.e. the south) of the heaven, and three on the left (i.e. the north).

Now going back to chapter 33 where Enoch was described as travelling to “the ends of the earth” and to the east, let me now identify the exact location of this place. But first let me define the equator at the time of Enoch. To do this, I simply placed a circular hoop that connects the Great Pyramid ( located at 29° 58′ 45″ N, 31° 8′ 3″ E) with its antipode (located at 29° 58′ 45″ S, 148° 51′ 57″ W). In geography, the antipode of any spot on Earth is the point on Earth's surface diametrically opposite to it.

Using this equator as a guide, and projecting the entire height of the Black Sea or the Garden of Eden eastwards, we can now see a more defined path of Enoch’s journey to “the ends of the earth” in the east. Now what did Enoch mean by “the ends of the earth”? 

Remember that in the Book of Enoch, the entire planet earth was being divided into 4 quarters as well as 12 portals, with the Great Pyramid at the very center or origin of these quarters and portals. Thus, in my opinion, “the ends of the earth” refer to the circular boundary or meridian on earth’s globe that divides the visible half of the earth or the Yang (looking at it with the Great Pyramid as the origin and in the front center) with the invisible half of the earth or Yin, (which is the back side of the earth with the Great Pyramid as the origin and in the front center).

Thus, if we define the Prime Meridian where the Great Pyramid was located at the equator in Enoch’s time, then this circular boundary or meridian, is simply the meridian that is either 90° west or 90° east of this Prime Meridian. Now the current meridian at the Great Pyramid, with Greenwich defined as the Prime meridian, is at 31° 8′ 3″ E longitude, so that “the ends of the earth” east of the Great Pyramid must be located at 121° 8′ 3″ E longitude, or exactly 90° east of the Great Pyramid.

Looking back at the map showing the eastward path of Enoch’s journey to “the ends of the earth”, the meridian having 121° 8′ 3″ E longitude, and falling within the path of Enoch’s journey, is the Philippine island of Luzon. And Enoch noted the great beasts and birds inhabiting this island.

The wildlife of the Philippines includes a significant number of endemic plant and animal species. The country's surrounding waters reportedly have the highest level of marine biodiversity in the world. The Philippines is considered as one of the seventeen megadiverse countries as well as global biodiversity hotspot. 

The term megadiverse country refers to any one of a group of nations that harbor the majority of Earth's species and high numbers of endemic species. There are 612 species of birds in the Philippines, of which 500 are endemic, and according to the EDGE or Existence Programme of the Zoological Society of London, the Philippines has the highest bird endemism in the world.

The Philippines had a large and diverse group of mammalian species in the past. They are widely distributed across the archipelago. However, they became extinct due to several factors. The list of extinct animals of the Philippines include the Asian elephant, Stegodon luzonensis, Palawan fossil Sirenia, Panthera tigris, Philippine rhinoceros, Cebu warty pig, Palawan Cervus,     Cebu tamaraw, Luzon giant tortoise, Luzon buffalo, and the Dhole. Now going back to Chapter 77 of the Book of Enoch, it  tells us that the garden of righteousness was contained in one of the 3 parts of the northern quarter.  

Although chapter 77 did not specify where in the northern quarter the garden of righteousness was located, I believe it was located in the north-east part of the northern quarter. Because if you still recall when I discussed chapter 32, Enoch saw the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil when he entered the eastmost side of the garden of righteousness. And in agreement with this, Genesis also tells us that this tree, as well as the Tree of Life, were both located at the midst and also specifically at the east side of the Garden of Eden:

Genesis 2: 8-9 And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst [Hebrew: tavek] of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

Genesis 3: 23-24 So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side [Hebrew: keh'-dem] of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.

Genesis tells us that the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil were both located “in the midst of the garden” and on the east side of the Garden of Eden as well. Note that the meaning of the Hebrew word keh'-dem, which is commonly translated as east, can also have the special meaning of both ancient and eternal. 

The Hebrew word “Tavek”, translated as midst, in its most basic meaning comes from an unused root meaning to sever or to divide. And in the case of Genesis 1:6, this division is not about two equal parts but about distinction between two different kinds of parts instead:

Genesis 1: 6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst [Hebrew: tavek] of the waters, and let it divide [Hebrew: badal] the waters from the waters. 

The Hebrew word “badal” means: to divide, separate, sever, set apart, to make a distinction, or difference. So how was the Garden of Eden divided into two distinct kinds of parts? I believe the Garden of Eden, or the entire Black Sea, was divided in the same way God divided the Temple into two different and unequal kinds of parts, namely: the Holy and the Most Holy or Holy of Holies.  

Thus in the same manner, God also divided the Garden of Eden into two distinct and unequal parts between its west side and its east side. And although the entire Garden was a holy place, its east side, considered both ancient and eternal, was really its most holy place. 

This is why the Book of Enoch called the eastern part of the Garden, or the eastern part of the Black Sea, as the “garden of righteousness” in order to distinguish it from its western part. Note also that after Adam and Eve’s fall from grace, God placed cherubim only on the east side of the Garden. Because I believe that whenever the Lord God was walking in the Garden, He was doing it only in its east side, so that when Adam and Eve were hiding from God after they sinned, they did so in its west side:

Genesis 3: 8-10 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”

Genesis 3: 24 mentions a way or road of the Tree of Life:

Genesis 3: 24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way [Hebrew: derek] of the tree of life.

I believe “the way of the Tree of Life” refers to the Kerch Strait which is a naturally formed, narrow, typically navigable waterway that connects the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. The Sea of Azov is an extension of the Black Sea, and is therefore an extension of the Garden of Eden as well. And while the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil was located at the east side of the Black Sea, the Tree of Life was located at the east side of the Sea of Azov. 

And from the Black Sea, one has to pass through “the way of the Tree of Life” or the Kerch Strait, to be able to eat the fruit of the Tree of Life and thus live forever. Now you might ask, what happened to the Garden of Eden? How did it disappear? I will be discussing this and much more in my next video.