EARLY HISTORY 115 



locality that much of this region is low and swampy, 

 and has only recently become land by the encroach- 

 ment of the rivers on the head of the Persian Gulf. 

 But if our Biblical authority really refers to palan- 

 thropic man, we must bear in mind that in the post- 

 glacial period the continents were higher than now, 

 and the Babylonian plain must have been a dry and 

 elevated district, in all probaoility forest-clad. We 

 must also bear in mind that Eden was a region of 

 country, and that the ' garden ' or selected spot ' east- 

 ward in Eden ' may have been some rich wooded 

 island surrounded by the river streams, and producing 

 all fruits pleasant to the taste and good for food. In 

 any case the modern objections to the site are based 

 on entire ignorance of its geological history, and only 

 serve to show how much better informed the ancient 

 writer was as to antediluvian geography than his 

 modern critics. 1 



It is scarcely necessary to say that this Biblical 

 environment of primitive man corresponds with the 

 requirements of the case. In a genial climate and 

 sheltered position, and supplied with abundance of 

 food, the first men would have the conditions neces- 

 sary for comfortable existence and for multiplying in 

 numbers. 



We have also in the description of one of the 

 rivers of Eden a hint as to a few of the wants of 

 early man beyond mere food and shelter. We are 



1 See, for full discussion of this, Modern Science in Bible Lands, by 

 the author. 



H 2 



