In the biblical creation stories*, the ‘Garden of Eden’ is where four rivers are named: Pishon, Gihon, Tigris, and Euphrates. The first river mentioned, Pishon, is not identifiable with certainty, but most believe it could be the Ganges. The Bible notes that Gihon is in the “land of Cush” which was in northeast Africa—primarily in what was later called Ethiopia. What is most interesting here is that the first two rivers have little to do with what is now “Mesopotamia” or the land “between two rivers”—the Tigris and Euphrates. What science has determined recently is that humans began in east Africa thus strengthening the case for the biblical river Gihon.
In other words, today’s science supports the idea that humans began in east Africa and that the Gihon is the Blue Nile of today, which begins in Ethiopia and meets the White Nile at Khartoum in today’s Sudan. The White Nile’s origins are in equatorial east Africa—a mystery to the ancients and a major theme in Europe’s nineteenth century exploration of Africa.**The Nile is the longest river on earth(over 4,ooo miles) though some argue that the Amazon is longer. The Nile is the ‘largest’ river since it holds about 20% of the Earth’s fresh water.
The Nile’s ‘secret ingredient’( black silt from basalt) was deposited during annual floods which is key for agriculture. Today, 95% of Egypt’s 100 million people live within a few miles of the Nile evoking the affirmation that “Egypt is the Nile.”
Famous for its papyrus ( source for the word paper), the Nile sourced mats, sails, cloth, cords, and more, and sustained life for millennia. The Aswan dam since 1970 can release water where it is needed most, but it has lessened the much needed ‘secret ingredient.’
Since 2011, the Ethiopians have been constructing on their Blue Nile the “Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam” which raises problems with Sudan and Egypt where water shortages already exist. The dam on the Blue Nile will create a reservoir over twice the size of the one behind the Hoover Dam in the USA. The many issues raised in this part of Africa are close to issues in other parts of the world where talks are taking place on comprehensive, cooperative, and sustainable agreements about water shortages.***
With the two Niles meeting at what is today, Khartoum, could this have been the “Garden of Eden”? Statements from science and the Bible make this a real possibility. Meanwhile, back on the ‘proverbial ranch’ where specialists in African languages debate such questions, the most reasonable of many suggestions, given what we know today, is that Khartoum is derived from the Nubian word Agartum (“the abode of Atum”). Atum is the Nubian god of creation!!****
*Genesis 2:10-12 for this op-ed
**David Livingstone, Henry Stanley, and may others tried to find the Nile’s origin. Some French believed that the large estuary in Gabon (equatorial west Africa) would lead to the Nile’s origin. It didn’t, so Count Savorgnan De Brazza went up the Ogowe River just below the equator in today’s Gabon—no success here either.
***Russell McLendon, “9 Interesting Facts about the Nile River,” Treehugger, January 27, 2020.
****From 6000 BCE to 3,500, the confluence of the Blue and White Nile was in an area called Cush, in upper Nubia. Egypt conquered Nubia around 3,000 BCE for its gold.
Wikipedia is my source for some of the data in the above op-ed.