The Garden of Eden was in the Black Sea! Biblical and Geological proofs provided!
The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone.
And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia.
And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates.
And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.
To properly locate Eden and the Garden of Eden, one has to correct several misconceptions about them, and in this video I will be discussing the three most serious misconceptions of all.
Firstly, many people believe the garden is located inside Eden itself and on its east side, when in fact, the garden is located only towards East of Eden, but outside of it.
How do I know that? Genesis talked about a river that went out of Eden:
Genesis 2: 10 And a river went out [Hebrew: yaw-tsaw'] of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads.
The Hebrew word “yaw-tsaw'” means to go out, to come out of, exit, or depart. Notice that it did not use the Hebrew words “naw-zal'” which means to flow forth, nor “zoob” which means to flow, gush, issue, or discharge, which by the way were the words used in the following verse:
Isaiah 48: 21 And they thirsted not when he led them through the deserts: he caused the waters to flow out [Hebrew: naw-zal'] of the rock for them: he clave the rock also, and the waters gushed out [Hebrew: zoob].
Thus, while the river from Eden may have gushed out [Hebrew: zoob] and flowed out [Hebrew: naw-zal] from Eden, it also went out [Hebrew: yaw-tsaw] of Eden. And only after exiting Eden, did this river water the garden. However, since the river connected the Garden with Eden even after exiting it, one can also view Eden and the Garden as one greater holistic location or river system. Thus the terms “a garden eastward in Eden” and “the Garden of Eden” still apply.
Genesis also tells us that “from thence it was parted, and became into four heads”. So where was this river from Eden parted and became into four heads? Genesis 2: 10 mentioned only two places where this could have happened, namely Eden, and the garden. So did the river part into four heads from Eden or from the garden?
Genesis already told us that only a single river went out of Eden and not four. And this means the single river coming from Eden that entered the garden, branched out into 4 river heads after exiting the garden.
And this is important, because surprising as it may sound, there are some who wrongly interpret this verse to mean: that the garden was located in only one of the four branches of the river that went out of Eden, and that the other 3 branches of the river were located outside of the garden and did not exit from it.
The second misconception about the Garden of Eden is that many people believe it is just a small plot of land, whereas this is very far from the truth based on how Genesis described the garden. How do I know that? The distances between the 4 heads or branches of the river that went out of the Garden of Eden, determines the size of the garden. And I will now identify the heads or sources of 2 of these 4 river branches to give you an idea of just how big the Garden of Eden really was.
One of the four rivers mentioned in Genesis was the Euphrates [Hebrew: per-awth']. This Hebrew word occurs 19 times in 19 verses in the Hebrew concordance of the King James Version. And the context of its use suggests that this river, along with the Nile river of Egypt, were to be the boundaries of the land promised by God to Abraham and his offspring, implying that these 2 rivers could not have been too far away from the territories occupied by the children of Abraham in the Middle East:
Genesis 15: 18 In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates [Hebrew: per-awth'] ...
Looking at a map of ancient Israel at the height of its power, one can easily see that the river which ancient Israel occupied and served as an eastern border for its kingdom could have only been the Euphrates river, as this river is the farthest river from its western border, the river Nile. Thus, the river Perawth of the Garden of Eden must have been the Euphrates river.
Now there are 2 identified sources for the Upper Euphrates river namely, the Karasu river and the Murat river. And these 2 river sources converge into one at lake Keban.
Another river mentioned in Genesis was the Gihon river which bordered the entire land of Ethiopia [Hebrew: Koosh]. The Hebrew word Koosh occurs 30 times in 30 verses in the Hebrew concordance of the King James Version. And the context of its use suggest that Koosh is located near the land of Egypt, at one of its borders:
Ezekiel 29: 10 Behold, therefore I am against thee, and against thy rivers, and I will make the land of Egypt utterly waste and desolate, from the tower of Syene even unto the border of Ethiopia [Hebrew: Koosh].
Looking at a map of the ancient Egyptian empire, one can see that its southernmost border occupied a small portion of the northern part of modern day Ethiopia. And this is why Ethiopia is believed by many Biblical scholars to be the land of Koosh bordered by the Gihon river mentioned in Genesis. Now which river bordered the land of Ethiopia? Some people suggest it was the Blue Nile which is one of two sources of the Nile river, and which is located in Ethiopia. However, Wikipedia has this to say about this topic:
Wikipedia, Gihon: The author of Genesis describes Gihon as "encircling the entire land of Cush", a name associated with Ethiopia elsewhere in the Bible. This is the reason that Ethiopians have long identified the Gihon (Giyon) with the Abay River (Blue Nile), which encircles the former kingdom of Gojjam. From a geographical standpoint this would seem impossible, since two of the other rivers said to issue out of Eden, the Tigris and the Euphrates, are in Mesopotamia [which is too far away].
The Blue Nile, located too far from the source of the Euphrates river, is not the only reason why this Ethiopian river cannot be the Gihon river mentioned in Genesis. Another reason is the fact that the Nile river in general, flows to the North and empties at the Mediterranean sea, while the Euphrates river in general flows to the south and empties at the Persian Sea. So clearly, the Nile river and the Euphrates river could not have originated from a common source.
So which river surrounds Ethiopia, that flows to the South like the Euphrates river, and whose source is located near the confluent source of the Euphrates at lake Keban?
To answer this question, one has to correct a third misconception regarding the Garden of Eden, namely, that the garden and its rivers are all visible still and are all above sea level.
In this video, I will be showing you that:
1. The Garden of Eden has sunk under the sea.
2. Parts of the main river that flowed eastward out of Eden and towards the garden are still visible and above sea level, however parts of it have sunk under the ocean, while parts of it have dried up, leaving behind only a visible depression on the ground.
3. The same can be said of the 4 rivers that branched out of the garden as what I just said about the main river that flowed eastward out of Eden. But in addition, I will also be showing in this video that some tributaries and branches of these 4 rivers have reversed the direction of their flow. And finally:
4. As for Eden itself, it is still visible but parts of it are now below sea level, and this is because the current sea level on Earth is higher than the sea level at the time of Adam and Eve.
So let me now answer the question, “what could have been the Gihon river that according to Genesis, bordered the land of Koosh?”
I believe a part of the Gihon river which bordered the land of Koosh is now currently the East African Rift, an active continental rift zone in East Africa. The rift, a narrow zone, is a developing divergent tectonic plate boundary where the African Plate is in the process of splitting into two tectonic plates, called the Somali Plate and the Nubian Plate. The East African Rift transects through Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Zambia, Tanzania, Malawi and Mozambique. And all these countries, together with Somalia, comprised the ancient land of Koosh mentioned in Genesis.
At a rate of 6–7 mm annually, and as extension continues, the crustal rupture caused by the East African Rift will occur within 10 million years; wherein the Somali Plate will break off and a new ocean basin will form.
In the past the East African Rift was considered to be part of a larger Great Rift Valley that extended north to Asia Minor, also known as Anatolia. Now remember, the 2 identified sources of the Euphrates river namely, the Karasu river and the Murat river merge into one source in lake Keban, which is located in Eastern Anatolia.
And this is why I believe the Gihon river is now currently the East African Rift together with the larger Great Rift Valley that extended north to Asia minor. As this is the only way the 2 river heads coming from the Garden of Eden, namely the Gihon river and the Euphrates river, can be located within a reasonable distance from each other.
Now in addition to the East African Rift, the Great Rift Valley is also composed of 3 other rifts, namely, the Red Sea Rift, the Dead Sea Rift, and the Jordan Rift Valley.
The East African Rift connects with the Red Sea Rift to the north. The Red Sea Rift is a spreading center between two tectonic plates, the African Plate and the Arabian Plate. Also, note that unlike the Nile river, the Red Sea which submerges entirely this rift flows south just like the Euphrates river, and its primary outflow is at Bab-el-Mandeb which connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden.
The northern end of the Red Sea Rift is located just offshore of the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula. From there the Red Sea Rift connects with the Dead Sea Rift via the Gulf of Aqaba at its northeast. The Dead Sea Rift then continues from the Gulf of Aqaba towards the Dead Sea.
From the Dead Sea, the Dead Sea Rift connects with the Jordan Rift Valley by passing through the Sea of Galilee and the Hulah Valley via the Jordan River which flows south, just like the Euphrates river. And the Jordan River’s primary outflow is the Dead Sea. Now, did John the baptist choose to baptise in the Jordan river because this river used to flow from the Garden of Eden?
The upper (or northern) Jordan River has 2 main sources or tributaries, namely, the Hasbani River, and the Banias River. However, I believe, the upper Jordan River once had a third main tributary, namely, the Litani River.
But if you look at the current map of the Litani River, one notices that this river does not connect with the Jordan River, or any of its 2 tributaries, the Hasbani River and the Banias River. Also, one can see that the flow of the Litani River moves west towards the Levantine Sea and away from the Jordan River instead of east towards the Hasbani River or the Jordan River. So why do I believe that the Litani River was once a major if not the most important source of the Jordan River?
If you look at a fault map of the Litani River, one can see that the part of the Litani River that drains towards the Levantine Sea, is located very near the Roum Fault marked RoF in the map. Also, several other faults can be seen along the path which the Litani River takes, namely the Rachaiya Fault, the Serghaya Fault, and the Yammouneh Fault. But most importantly, the part of the Litani River that connects with the Levantine Sea is located at the southernmost tip of the Mount Lebanon Thrust marked MLT in the map.
In Geology, a thrust fault is a break in the Earth's crust, across which older rocks are pushed above younger rocks.
And it is believed that unabated thrusting on the Mount Lebanon thrust likely drove the growth of Mount Lebanon Range since the late Miocene.
And the sudden rise in elevation of the coastline near where the Litani River connects with the Levantine Sea, was what caused the direction of flow of the Litani River to reverse from eastward coming from the Levantine Sea towards the Jordan River, to its current flow westward away from the Jordan River and towards the Levantine Sea. Because remember, rivers always flow from higher elevation to lower elevation.
Now the presence of multiple earthquake faults near the path of the Litani River, as well as the general movement towards the northwest of the Arabian Plate, may have caused the drying up of what once was a channel allowing the Litani River to flow southeast and connecting itself to where both the Hasbani River and the Banias River join the Jordan River.
Wikipedia, Litani River, Southern flow: After heading south parallel to the Syrian border, the course of the river bends dramatically westward. Near this bend, the Litani comes within five km of the Hasbani River.
This effect of earthquakes on rivers is also shared by an article on the icimod.org website titled “How big earthquakes rattle spring dynamics” by Santosh Nepal.
Now the Litani River was the most important source or tributary of the Jordan River. This is because I believe the Litani River is the connection between the Lower Gihon River, or that part of the Gihon River that runs from the Jordan Rift Valley all the way south until the East African Rift, and the Upper Gihon River, or that part of the Gihon River that is currently submerged under the Levantine, Aegean, Marmara, and Black Sea.
Furthermore, the part of the Gihon River that is currently submerged under the Levantine Sea connects to the north until it reaches the Bosporus submarine canyon which is located near the southwestern coast of the Black Sea. And the Bosporus submarine canyon is also where the head, or the main source of the Gihon River was located.
Now a submarine canyon is a steep-sided valley cut into the seabed of the continental slope having nearly vertical walls. Just as above-sea-level canyons serve as channels for the flow of water across land, submarine canyons serve as channels for the flow of turbidity currents across the seafloor.
An early and obvious theory of their formation was that some submarine canyons present today were carved during glacial times, when sea level was about 125 meters below present sea level, and that rivers flowed to the edge of the continental shelf. Having this in mind, let me now show you the submerged portion of what used to be the Upper Gihon River.
From the Litani River, the Gihon River connects northwards to the Sayniq submarine canyon.
And from the Sayniq submarine canyon the Gihon River connects northwards to the Beirut submarine canyon which is right next to the Beirut Escarpment.
Now an escarpment, or scarp, is a steep slope or long cliff that forms as an effect of faulting or erosion and separates two relatively level areas having differing elevations. Faulting is the movement of the Earth's crust at a geologic fault, and the presence of an escarpment next to the Beirut submarine canyon proves that the elevation of this portion of the Gihon River has sunk below sea level due to faulting.
From the Beirut submarine canyon, the Gihon River connects to the Zahrani and Saint Georges submarine canyons before moving northwards to the Junieh submarine canyon. Note that all these aforementioned submarine canyons were once part of Nahr Menashe, an ancient river deposit recently discovered submerged under the eastern Mediterranean Sea, or the Levantine Sea. Nahr Menashe flowed for only about 100,000 years when the Mediterranean Sea was diminished and isolated from the Atlantic Ocean. And from the Junieh submarine canyon, the Gihon River connects northwards to the Latakia Basin.
In hydrology, Oceanic basins are large geologic basins that are below sea level and are deeper than submarine canyons. While submarine canyons are considered part of the continental margin, oceanic basins are considered part of the oceanic crust. Also, while submarine canyons may have been river beds that have sunk under the sea due to rising sea levels, oceanic basins may have also been river beds that have sunk under the ocean due to subduction caused by convergent tectonic plates, wherein one plate moves under another and is forced to sink due to gravity into the mantle.
Note that the aforementioned submarine portions of the Gihon river, namely, the Sayniq, Beirut, Zahrani, Saint Georges, and Junieh submarine canyons, as well as the Latakia Basin are all located south of the Cyprus arc offshore in the Mediterranean Sea where the African Plate is subducting beneath the Anatolian Plate. And this explains perfectly well why this portion of the Gihon River is currently submerged under the sea. From the Latakia Basin, the Gihon River connects westwards to the Adana Trough. In geology, a trough is a linear structural depression that extends laterally over a distance, and it can be a narrow basin or a geologic rift. Thus, the only difference between an oceanic basin and an oceanic trough, is that troughs are narrower than a basin.
From the Adana Trough, the Gihon River connects westwards to the Antalya Basin, then the Antalya submarine canyon, and then the Rhodes Basin.
Note that the Adana Trough and the Antalya and Rhodes Basins are all considered to be fore-arc basins. And this kind of basin is naturally formed between a subduction zone and a continental volcanic arc.
And in the case of the Adana Trough and the Antalya and Rhodes Basins, it corresponds to the area between the Hellenic and the Cyprus subduction zones and the Aegean volcanic arc. And this explains why this portion of the Gihon River is currently deeply submerged under the sea, as it was sunk as a result of collisions between convergent tectonic plates.
From the Rhodes Basin, the Gihon River connects northwards to the Aegean Sea coming from the East Mediterranean Sea where it merges with the under the sea or submarine path of the Maritsa River. The Maritsa River is the longest river that runs solely in the interior of the Balkans, and portions of its river bed had sunk under the Aegean Sea.
The sinking of a portion of the Maritsa River under the Aegean Sea can be explained by the southwestern motion of the Aegean Plate that is being opposed by the northeastern motion of the African Plate, resulting to the sinking of the northeastern African Plate and the rising of the southwestern Aegean Plate. The southwestern motion of the Anatolian Plate on the other hand tries to move the Aegean Plate in a counterclockwise motion, but since the movement of the Aegean Plate is being opposed by the African Plate in the southwestern portion of the Aegean Plate, the result is the sinking of the northeastern portion of the Aegean Plate which is where the sunken portion of the Maritsa River runs its course.
From the sunken portion of the Maritsa River, the Gihon River separates itself from the Maritsa near the Edremit Trough, and from that trough, the Gihon River connects northwards to the Sea of Marmara via the Dardanelles Strait.
It is interesting to note that the North Anatolian Fault runs through the Sea of Marmara, and here is what Wikipedia has to say about this fault.
Wikipedia, North Anatolian Fault: The North Anatolian Fault is similar in many ways to the San Andreas Fault in California. Both are continental transforms with similar lengths and slip rates. The Sea of Marmara near Istanbul is an extensional basin similar to the Salton Trough in California, where a releasing bend in the strike-slip system creates a pull-apart basin.
Wikipedia, Pull-apart basin: A pull-apart basin is a structural basin where two overlapping faults create an area of crustal extension undergoing tension, which causes the basin to sink down.
And this explains why this portion of the Gihon River is currently submerged under the Marmara sea. Also, Geological and geomorphological data indicate that a branch of the Maritsa river was flowing into the Marmara Sea, until it was diverted into the Aegean Sea following coseismic uplift along the North Anatolian Fault. And finally, from the Sea of Marmara, the Gihon River connects northwards to the Bosporus submarine canyon via the Bosporus Strait. And as I mentioned before, the Bosporus submarine canyon is where the head, or the original source of the Gihon River was located.
Looking at a combined map of the Upper Gihon river and the Euphrates river, one can see that the head of the Gihon river, namely, the Bosporus submarine canyon, is relatively close to the two main sources or tributaries of the Upper Euphrates river, namely, the Karasu river and the Murat river. However, I believe the Upper Euphrates river used to have a third, and also the most important source, namely the Kizilirmak river, which is also known as the Halys river.
The Kizilirmak river is the longest river entirely within Turkey, and its sole source is located in the town of Imranli.
Now there is a stream named Karabudak Cayi, whose northern portion is very close to the source of the Kizilirmak river.
Also, the southern portion of Karabudak Cayi connects with the Euphrates river through its tributary, the Karasu river near the town of Ilic.
And this is why I believe the Kizilirmak river and the Euphrates river were once connected via the Karabudak Cayi.
Now the current flow of the Kizilirmak river and the Karabudak Cayi are both northwards and opposite the flow of the Euphrates which is southwards.
However, the flow of the Kizilirmak river and the Karabudak stream was reversed, and that it used to flow southwards when the elevation of the seafloor of the Black Sea was much higher than it currently is. And this elevated seafloor of the Black Sea made the Kizilirmak canyon, located at the Black Sea and connecting the Black Sea with the Kizilirmak river that in turn connects with the Euphrates river, as the true head, or the original source of the Euphrates river. Also, note that the distance between the head of the Gihon river, namely the Bosporus canyon, and the head of the Euphrates river, namely the Kizilirmak canyon is now just approximately 532 kilometers.
But remember, Genesis mentioned 4 river heads and not just two. And yet, I believe that the heads of the 2 remaining rivers of the Garden of Eden, namely, the Hiddekel River and the Pison River were both located at the elevated seafloor of the Black Sea as well. In part 2 of this video, I will be explaining why the seafloor of the Black Sea used to be higher than its surrounding coasts, and why this elevated seafloor of the Black Sea, in its entirety, was the Garden of Eden. I will also identify in that video the location of the heads or the sources of the Hiddekel River and the Pison River, as well as where the Tree of knowledge of good and evil and the Tree of life were planted in the garden. Finally, I will conclude part 2 of this video by identifying the location of Eden, as well as identifying the main river that flowed out of Eden and which watered the Garden located east of Eden.
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