A wetland in southeast Iraq, thought to be the biblical Garden of Eden and almost completely drained during Saddam Hussein’s rule, has become a UNESCO world heritage site, Iraqi authorities said on Sunday. Fed by the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, the marshlands of Mesopotamia are spawning grounds for Gulf fisheries and home to bird species such as the sacred ibis.
They also provide a resting spot for thousands of wildfowl migrating between Siberia and Africa. Saddam Hussein, who accused the region’s Marsh Arab inhabitants of treachery during the 1980-1988 war with Iran, dammed and drained the marshes in the 1990s to flush out rebels hiding in the reeds. CONTINUE
It appears that it was located in in the Middle East as the Tigris and the Euphrates Rivers still run through Iraq but of course rivers can change course over time so whether it was in Iraq, as we know it today, we cannot be 100% certain. Scientists have discovered that crude oil forms from dead and decaying vegetation and so it stands to reason that the oil reserves found in much of the Middle East could have come from the decay of millions and millions of plants over thousands of years in the area that may have been the location of the Garden of Eden. But of course, the Flood or as it is sometimes called, the Deluge, must have destroyed the Garden of Eden and so there is likely not even a trace of it left. We can only speculate that the Flood was the cause of the voluminous oil reserves found in the Middle East today but again, the circular Garden could have been millions of square miles in circumference and so this many millions of plants could have produced billions of gallons of crude oil. The Bible doesn’t specifically say what size Eden was but just looking at the present day Tigris and Euphrates Rivers it is not hard to believe that the Garden may have been the size of a large nation. I do believe it was in a desert place such as the areas of North Africa and South West Asia
Unless I missed the verse which said “Then Jehovah decided to remove the flaming sword and the Cherubim from guarding the garden of Eden”, I would even consider this claim. Lets not forget that the Tree of life in is Eden, hence it was guarded by an angel with a flaming sword. Some even believe that it was taken to Heaven when the world was destroyed by the flood, safely in Heaven until the final judgement when everyone that is worthy will have access to eat it (Revelations 2:7 and 22:2).