Eden Nature Park

The Garden of Eden (Hebrew גַּן עֵדֶן, Gan ʿEdhen) is the biblical "garden of God", described most notably in the Book of Genesis (Genesis 2-3), but also mentioned, directly or indirectly, in Ezekiel, Isaiah and elsewhere in the Old Testament.^[1] In the past, the favoured derivation of the name "Eden" was from the Akkadian edinnu, itself derived from a Sumerian word meaning "plain" or "steppe", but it is now believed to be more closely related to an Aramaic root meaning "fruitful, well-watered."^[1]

The Eden of Genesis has been variously located at the headwaters of theTigris and Euphrates in northern Iraq, in Africa, and in the Persian Gulf. The Eden in Ezekiel, however, is unequivocally located in Lebanon. For many medieval writers, the image of the Garden of Eden also creates a location for human love and sexuality, often associated with the classic and medieval tropeof the locus amoenus.^[2]