WHERE WAS THE GARDEN OF EDEN LOCATED?

          The biblical Garden of Eden location is described in the book of Genesis.  It is said to be located where four tributaries of water come together.  The four rivers that run through the Garden are:  Pishon, Gihon, Tigris and the Euphrates.  In Genesis it also mentions the Land of Cush, translated Ethiopia. The Greeks called the Pishon the Ganges and the Gihon as the Nile.  
          In Genesis 2:10-14 describes the location:  and a river went out of "Eden" to water the garden.  To me this says the garden was outside the city of Eden, and from there the river parted into four heads.  The name of the first is Pishon, that compasses the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; and the gold of that land is good; there is bdelluim and onyx stone.  In the Tables of Nations there are two individuals named Havilah and they are decedents of Noah.  The name also appears in Genesis 25:18, defining the territory of the Ishmaelites. 
          Extra-biblical literature mentions Havilah as a source of precious jewels used by the Amorites.  The "exact" location of Havilah is debated, with various scholars suggesting southwest of the Arabian Peninsula or Somalia.  It is mentioned that the Havilah in Genesis Chapter 2, refers certainly to Havilah in Asia.  
          The name Havilah has been associated with the ancient Macrobian Kingdom, whose inhabitants had close ties with the neighboring people of southern Arabia.  Others substitutes Havilah with Zeila in Somalia.  Hawiye could be an abbreviation of Havilah.  Hawiye is a Somali clan who inhabited central and southern Somalia.  The Cushite people are said to have colonized parts of the Arabian Peninsula and from there returned to Somalia (Genesis 25:18 Havilah). 
          W.W. Miller believes that biblical Havilah refers to two different locations in Arabia. Genesis 2 is a region in southwest Arabia.  The one in Genesis 25:18 is a northern location,  possibly in the Medina Province.  Since there are no clear findings of where the Garden of Eden was located and the bible isn't clear except to say a river ran out of Eden to water the garden, to those who have researched this it still is not clear where it was located in biblical times.   
          The Arabian hypothesis is strengthened by the curator of the Harvard Semitic Museum James A. Saver, he identifies the Pishon River encircles Havilah of the bible as the Wadi-al Rummah, a dry channel now, that begins in the Hijaz Mountains, near Medina, which runs northeast of Kuwait.  The Bible commentators believe that Havilah should be Arabian because the Ishmaelites who settled between Havilah and Shur, were ancestors of Arabia.  Sir Walter Raleigh appears to identify Havilah as Tibet, agreeing with Josephus' identification of the Pishon River as the Ganges River.
          I did this study because I was curious where the Garden of Eden was located.  Once, while I was looking at maps, I came across a city named Eden.  I have looked for it again, but cannot locate it now.  I sometimes wonder if I truly saw a city named Edin on that map.  I have came to the conclusion that if God thought it was important for us to know the exact location, he would have given a more clear description of where the garden was located. 

Thanks for reading.  If by chance someone comes up with the location of the Garden of Eden please let me know. My email address is oklibrarianc@yahoo.com.  

*Starlight*
          

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