Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-08-25


tiquity that there
was a Garden of Eden other than the
biblical one and that Ii was in the Tigrfs-
Fnphrates region. That was the Garden
OF the Sons Of Men traced in the writ
ings of Sumner and Akkad known as the
Babylonian tablets of creation. and deal
ing with the ancient gods and shrines OF
Babylonia- The Garden Of Eden was at
the ancient junction Of the Tigris and
Euphrates, where the ruins Of the cities
of Exide and Ur have been found.
Those who contend that the BIBLICAL
Garden of Eden was a separate place be-
heve that 1t was situated on the Eu-
pirates between Hit and Anah. far above
this place The leading authority in this
contention has been Sir William Will
cocks. X. c. NJ. G.. advisory engineer to
the Turkish board of public works in
Constantinople. and the designer Of the
famous Assouan dam on the Nile as well
as other great engineering projects in
South Africa and India. He is regarded
as one Of the foremost engineering and
irrigation authorities Of the world. He
also has become a great authority and
profound student of Babylonia- For three
years he has been engaged In drawing
plans for the Turkish government for re-
claiming Lower Mesopotamia by regulat-
ing the flow of the Euphrates and Tisris
and making that vast barren regions
modern Garden of Eden. that is. "a great
fertile plain through irrigation. He be-
lieves, evidently, that there were two
ancient Gardens of Eden.
Nearly three years ago Sir William
in lecturing before the Royal Geo
graphical Society in London. declared
that the biblical Garden of Eden must
have been in the neighborhood of Hit
and Anah. He lectured June 10. but
before the same society on the other
Garden of Eden. that of the Sons Of
Men. and he gave these reasons for
believing that the biblical Garden Of
Eden was separate and distinct from
that Of the Sons of Men:
In my first lecture had stated that
the Garden Of Eden Of the Semites must
have been near an outcrop of hard
rock as We see it at Anah upstream OF
Hit where water could be led on from
above a rapid and utilized for irrigat-
ing. with free flow. gardens situated
little down stream and above the reach
Of the highest floods. Below Hit no
place could be found for garden with
out lifting apparatus or protecting
dykes: because. otherwise. any garden
irrigated in the time of low supply
would be inundated in food. and if
irrigated in flood 1T would be left high
and dry in the time of low supply.
Since then / have studied on the spot
the scriptures OF Sumner and Akkad. and
see that their earliest settlements were
made inside the level plain perennially
under water. where well protected
dykes kept out the floods which are
there never more than three feet above
wild beasts and desert Arabs. they
could build their cities and temples and
cultivate their lands, which could be
irrigated by free flow through openings
in the dykes. 1t was in the marshes
surrounding their settlements that they
encountered the giant brood of Tiamat
mentioned in the first tablet Of crea-
tion."
Sir William then went on at length to
describe the other Garden of Eden. that
of the Sons of Men, and he did it so well
that at the close the Rev. DIR. A. II.
Sayce. recognized as the greatest author
ity in Great Britain on Babylonia, and a
believer IN only one Garden Of Eden,
combined one of the Sons Of God and the
Sons OF Men, and situated at the site of
the latter. asserted that really Sir Will
liam had come around to the one-garden
idea. and had proved it by his paper
Sir William did not deny 1t specifically
but did so theoretically by his reference
10 ancient rivers He did agree with
Prof Sayce as to the situation of the
Garden of the Sons Of Men. saying:
The Garden of Eden of Sumer and
.&kkad could be placed nowhere but at
the junction of the ancient Tigris and
ancient Euphrates, as the professor has
always held
That was as far as Sir william would
20. but L. w. King took the view that
Sir William had come around to the
one-garden theory, and then he proceeded
20 back up the idea as follows:
Prof. Sayce has referred to the fact
that Sir William Willcocks has now
adopted his theory that Eden should
be set in the south of Babylonia in the
neighborhool Of Eridu. and / can bring
forward a piece of new evidence which
rather remarkably substantiates their
views. The British Museum has recently
acquired a Babyionian boundary stone
which records grant OF land made by an
early Babylonian TO one of his servants,
and this land was situated In Eden upon
the Eden canal. The existence of the
Edna, or Eden canal, has been known
for some years. and Sir William Will