The biblical story of Adam and Eve, the first man and woman created by God and placed in the Garden of Eden, has long been a cornerstone of Judeo-Christian belief.

According to the Book of Genesis, they are the original ancestors of all humanity. For centuries, this narrative has been viewed by many as a theological foundation, while others have dismissed it as a myth incompatible with modern science.

However, recent claims by scientists, as reported by Express News, suggest that there may be evidence supporting the existence of an Adam and Eve-like couple, reigniting debates about the intersection of faith and science.

Express News reports that archaeologists have uncovered indications that the Garden of Eden, described in the Bible as a lush paradise, could have been a real location in Mesopotamia, a region encompassing modern-day Iraq, eastern Syria, and northwestern Turkey.

This area, situated between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, is often referred to as the “cradle of civilization” due to its role in the emergence of early human societies.

Professor Eric Cline, a classical and biblical archaeologist from George Washington University, supports this theory, arguing that Mesopotamia aligns with the biblical description of Eden’s location, which mentions the Tigris and Euphrates rivers alongside the more mysterious Gihon and Pishon rivers.

While the exact locations of the latter two remain uncertain, the hypothesis that Eden was in Mesopotamia is gaining traction among scholars.

In addition to archaeological findings, genetic research has provided compelling insights. Scientists have identified a “Mitochondrial Eve,” a woman who lived approximately 200,000 years ago in Africa, from whom all living humans inherit their mitochondrial DNA, passed down through maternal lines.

Similarly, a “Y-chromosome Adam,” a male ancestor from whom all men inherit their Y-chromosomes, is estimated to have lived between 180,000 and 200,000 years ago.

A 2013 study at the University of Sassari in Italy, analyzing the Y-chromosomes of 1,200 men from Sardinia, helped establish this timeline. These findings suggest that all humans share common ancestors, lending some credence to the idea of a primordial couple.

However, Express News notes that these genetic ancestors were not necessarily the only humans alive at the time, nor is there evidence they were a couple or even lived contemporaneously.

The concept of Mitochondrial Eve and Y-chromosome Adam reflects the survival of their genetic lineages, as other lineages died out over time.

This distinction challenges the biblical narrative of a single, divinely created couple but does not entirely rule out the possibility of an ancestral pair.

The article highlights the work of Professor William Lane Craig, a philosopher from Houston Christian University, who argues that Adam and Eve could be identified as members of Homo heidelbergensis, a species considered the last common ancestor of Homo sapiens and Neanderthals.

Craig suggests that this couple lived between 750,000 and 1 million years ago, a timeline consistent with population genetics but far removed from the traditional biblical chronology of 6,000–10,000 years ago.

This interpretation requires reimagining parts of the Genesis account, such as abandoning the notion that Adam and Eve were the sole humans or created directly by God.

Dr. Joshua Swamidass, a biologist from Washington University, offers another perspective, proposing that Adam and Eve could have been a specially created couple whose descendants interbred with other humans existing outside the Garden of Eden.

This “Genealogical Adam and Eve” model, discussed in his book The Genealogical Adam and Eve: The Surprising Science of Universal Ancestry, suggests that their lineage could have spread universally without leaving detectable genetic traces, aligning with both evolutionary science and a historical reading of the biblical story.