Where did adam and eve live. Where are Adam and Eve buried? What is the Garden of Eden
The Garden of Eden is a biblical earthly paradise created by God for the residence of his first human creation - Adam and Eve. Some argue that the name "Eden" comes from the Akkadian term edinu, which means "simplicity". In biblical tradition, the garden is often referred to as a lush place by biblical authors, which is why it is sometimes referred to as the "Garden of God". However, this biblical definition of a garden is our problem here. Adam was the first man created by God in his image. After God saw Adam's loneliness as "not good", God caused a deep sleep on Adam and created Eve (the first woman) from Adam's rib as a helper (Genesis 2:20-23). In order to properly understand what a garden is for the narrator of Genesis, it is important to distinguish between its location, the characters who play roles in them, and what happened in it. All this contributes to our understanding of the biblical definition of the "Garden of Eden".
The story of Eden is told in Genesis 2:4b-3:24, in which the garden is located in the eastern part of Eden. Usually translations have "Garden of Eden" with the construction element "of", but the Hebrew text has "gan-beeden" which is not in construction form, and that the preposition "to be" in "beeden" is to be translated as "inch" . Therefore, it is grammatically incorrect to translate "gan-biden" as "Garden of Eden", but "Garden in Eden". The actual location of Eden is disputed among scholars, but a number of them have concluded that the garden is an extraterrestrial place - where the gods lived. The water from the garden was the source of water for two great rivers: the Tigris and the Euphrates, which are well known in ancient Mesopotamia for producing irrigation systems in the area. Its location must then be placed somewhere in Mesopotamia.
LOCATION AND FUNCTIONS
The description of the garden in Genesis 2:10-14 says that water from Eden watered four important areas: Pishon, which flows into the land of Havilah; Gihon, flowing into the land of Cush; the Tigris, which flows into the eastern side of Assyria; and the fourth is the Euphrates. The garden is also said to have "every tree that is pleasant to look at and good to eat." However, two trees stand out: the "Tree of Life" in the middle of the garden and the "Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil". However, at some point the account of Genesis is inconsistent, Genesis 2:8-9; 3:1-3 has both trees in the middle of the garden, while Genesis 3:22-24 gives the possibility that both trees were planted on the east side of the garden where Adam was originally placed.
Moreover, the description of the garden in Genesis does not match the description of other biblical texts that refer to the garden. For example, in Ezekiel 28, the lush materials found in the garden are not mentioned in Genesis 2:4b-3:24. For some of these considerations, the concept of the god(s) "garden" was a very common metaphor in the ancient Near East where the god resided ( s). For the narrator of Genesis, the "Garden at Eden" was ingeniously constructed for an etiological (origin or cause of things) purpose, not as a divine residence, but from the first man and woman on earth, Adam and Eve. As is customary in modern scholarship, Genesis 1-11 is designated "Primordial History," which includes mythologies and legends that were very common not only in Israel, but throughout the ancient Near East. These myths and legends are not Israelite in origin, but have been adapted by biblical writers for polemical or rhetorical purposes.
Some of the most important questions readers should be asking to correctly discern "The Garden at Eden" are: What is the purpose of Eden's narrative in Genesis? What was the narrator trying to achieve? It is important to note that in order to achieve this goal, readers should not refer to The Garden at Eden solely from the characters who play roles in the narrative, such as God, Adam, Eve, the serpent, highlighted trees: the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and especially the overall goal of the narrator. To focus solely on the "garden" without confirming that these characters would only break the plot of the story.
ANCIENT INFLUENCE
The use of symbols and metaphors in ancient literature was very common; they contain rhetorical elements to persuade readers to accept what has been conveyed. In other words, ancient literature is not aimless. Works provide a complete expression of something or something. Myths about the residence of the god(s) in the ancient Near East are usually found in gardens, according to the earliest discovered literature attributed to the Sumerians. In the book of Genesis, instead of God dwelling in the garden at Eden, God places Adam and Eve in it. This is enough to inform readers of a re-adaptation of the garden concept by the narrator of Genesis, which is easily overlooked by translators.
The most famous story that has been discovered about the garden as a lush place and where the gods live can be found in the Sumerian literature called "Enki and Ninhursag":
The land of Dilmun is pure, the land of Dilmun is pure;
The land of Dilmun is pure, the land of Dilmun is the brightest...
In Dilmun, the raven does not cry...
The lion does not kill, the wolf lacks the lamb,
Unknown is a child devouring a wild dog...
His old woman (says) is not "I am an old woman",
His old man (says) is not "I am an old man."
(at Pritchard 38)
The Sumerians are considered to be highly gifted non-Semitic people of unknown origin who settled in the lower Tigris-Euphrates valley around the 4th millennium BC. From a brief description of the idyllic island of Dilmun, this seems to be similar to Christianity's concept of a paradise where life never ends. The island or land is described as "pure", "pure" and "bright", where there is no old age. According to Sumerian literature, this island/land was brought up from the earth by the sun god Utu and turned into a real garden of the gods. Apparently, from the garden (Dilmun) in the Sumerian myth, this place was created by the god(s) for the gods.
GENESIS VERSION
The notion of a garden as an extraterrestrial place in Sumerian literature was apparently borrowed by the Genesis narrator for theological and etiological purposes. To understand the Genesis version, one must consider the place and the characters that play roles in the narrative: God, the Garden at Eden, Adam, Eve, the Serpent, and the two trees (the tree of life and the tree of knowledge). The narrator of Genesis has clearly perfected Dilmun Island to meet his agenda for his/them/their audience. However, in the Genesis version, death and problems between God and humanity were only pronounced by God as a result of the deliberate action of Adam and Eve to eat fruit from the forbidden "tree of knowledge". Apparently, the Garden at Eden, like the land of Dilmun, was a place of eternal joy without death. The provision of the "tree of life" by God, placing cherubim with a flaming sword in it to prevent access to it, was also the result of Adam and Eve's disobedience in seeking to become a god. Another important subtlety of Dilmun's Genesis narrator is that instead of the garden being God's place, God places Adam and Eve in it. Theological reflection here would be, unlike foreign gods, the God of Genesis not a selfish god, but a god who sought to establish a relationship with humanity.
Briefly, the purpose of Eden's narrative in Genesis can be interpreted in two ways. First, since Eden's narrative is preceded by the creation story in Genesis 1:1-2:4a, which ends with the statement, "And God saw all that he had done, and behold, it was very good." And there was evening and there was morning, on the sixth day", Eden's account presents a contrasting picture of completed creation as "very good" with transgression (Adam and Eve's disobedience in Genesis 2:4b-3:24). What readers can easily forget is that God placed two special trees in the middle of the garden: the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge. More emphasis was given to the "Tree of Knowledge" over the "Tree of Life". The mention of the "Tree of Life" also plays an important role in the narrative. God only forbade Adam and Eve to eat fruit from the "tree of knowledge." Critical Question: Why didn't God forbid Adam and Eve to eat the "tree of life"? God commanded them to eat from any tree except one: the "Tree of Knowledge" (Genesis 2:16-17).
The narrator of Eden's story has a motive to show that the "tree of life" was also opened to Adam and Eve to eat, but Adam and Eve rather chose not to obey God's command. For the narrator, it is because of Adam and Eve's pride in becoming gods that evil entered a world that was made "very well". For the narrator's intended audience, they must choose life (obedience) over death (disobedience). This disobedience resulted in the disruption of God's relationship with mankind because of Adam and Eve. Death or evil (concept) entered a world that was "very good" by Adam and Eve, not God. Evil is a human product.
Secondly, Eden's narrative also functions as an etiological legend, seeking to answer questions about human origins. The creation story in Genesis 1:1-2:4a already confirmed the questions of cosmogony, which was God's work. As far as Eden's narrative is concerned, Adam and Eve were the first humans who were also the first parents to give birth to mankind. Like the cosmogonic literature of the ancient Near East, the legend of Eden is meant to reflect on the origin of mankind and its first residence. Apparently, what can be found in the "Primitive History" section of the Book of Genesis are legends about the beginning of human science, which, of course, would contradict the scientific discoveries of the 21st century AD.
CONCLUSION
The garden at Eden was the first residence of mankind, given by God himself. Unlike Sumerian mythologies, the Garden at Eden was created by God not for himself, but for Adam and Eve. The narrator narrator is obviously not a selfish but loving God. Genesis seemed to exalt God's divine status as needing no physical residence, because that would only violate the omnipresent character of God. From the above analysis, the Garden in Eden is not the garden of "Eden, but the garden" in "Eden". This suggests that this particular garden may not be the only garden in Eden based on the Hebrew translation of "gan-beeden" above.
13. WHERE DID ADAM AND EVE LIVE?
The two genetic markers of dioecious living beings are constant. They do not recombine during fertilization, but are passed on unchanged to offspring. The male Y chromosome is passed from father to son. Children of both sexes inherit from their mother her Mt-DNA. But only these daughters will pass on the same Mt-DNA to their children. These same-sex cells are called haploids, similar haploids of different individuals are called a haploid group (haplogroup), which goes back to one ancestral individual.
Changes in the Y-chromosome and Mt-DNA occur only through random mutations. As a result of a mutation, a new hapnogroup arises. A mutation is always unique and occurs in only one individual. Therefore, any haplogroup comes from one ancestor (Y-chromosomal - from the "forefather", Mt-DNA group - from the "foremother").
Comparing the Y-chromosomes and Mt-DNA from different human populations, geneticists found that it is possible to: 1) establish the sequence of occurrence of mutations, i.e., restore which hapnogroup comes from which, and on this basis build their "family tree"; 2) having estimated the approximate frequency of occurrence of mutations, determine when one or another hapnogroup arose.
Research of this kind can be carried out with almost any kind of living beings. But, it is clear that a person is most interested in the person himself.
The first results of the research amazed scientists, and after them they amazed the unscientific world. Although the latter took the news in his own way. Now it is already difficult to establish who was the first, in order to make the discovery more sensational, to say that scientists have irrefutably proved that all people descend from one single man and one single woman, from Adam and Eve.
It is clear that for many this discovery was the long-awaited triumph of the religious worldview and the final reconciliation of science and religion. Biblical myth received scientific confirmation at the level of molecular genetics!
True, scientists warned: the "genetic" Adam and Eve of mankind were not spouses. Moreover, they were separated by at least 50 thousand years, with Eve appearing first. But it didn't matter anymore. In addition, this discrepancy was also easily explained by the Bible: “... then the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful, and took them to be their wives... At that time there were giants on earth, especially since the time when the sons of God began to go in to the daughters of men, and they began to give birth to them” (Genesis 6:2,4). And only then God, it turns out, in addition to the descendants of Eve, created Adam. Such a small correction to the biblical tradition, moreover, it is quite feminist, and therefore, “politically correct” ...
A joke is a joke, but still: how does science explain this? Indeed, it turned out that all haplogroups, both male and female, are reduced to one ancestor. And since the cause of the haplogroup is the mutation of one individual, then all of humanity, it turns out, comes from a single ancestor of each sex. More precisely, all living people descended from one woman. We cannot say for sure whether all living women are descended from the same man, since women do not have a Y chromosome. But this somehow spoils the impressive overall result.
Even the lifetime of these first ancestors of mankind was named. "Y-chromosome" Adam lived, according to scientists, somewhere between 90-60 thousand years ago. And “mitochondrial Eve” (do not try to express it publicly!) could be found on Earth in an even wider range of time: from 280 to 140 thousand years ago (recent studies, however, allow it to be “rejuvenated” up to 108 thousand years).
But in this case, how could they give birth to the future humanity if they were separated by tens or even hundreds of thousands of years?! Very simple. It's like a common parent language. After all, we are not talking about the fact that all of humanity, not only modern, but also living before, was once a single pair, Adam and Eve, in the biblical sense. This means that in the long run, the descendants of only one woman survived in the direct female line, and the descendants of only one man survived in the direct male line. And for this they did not have to be contemporaries.
Purely theoretically, even one of our contemporaries can become such Adam and Eve. Let us imagine such a statistical situation that in modern humanity only half of the women will give birth to girls, and only half of the men will be able to give birth to sons. And that in each new generation this situation will be repeated. The total number of modern humanity is approaching 2 33 . Then after 32 generations, that is, after about 800 years, descendants will remain on Earth: in the female line - only one woman, in the male line - only one man!
Of course, the probability of such a scenario is practically zero. But the smaller the population of people, the higher the likelihood of such a scenario. Where there are only two pairs of people, this probability in the first generation is 50%. In a small population, which, moreover, does not grow or grows very slowly, after several generations, it is almost inevitable that there will be direct descendants of only one forefather and one foremother (and they could not necessarily have common children).
Apparently, humanity in its development went through such tragic episodes, when all of it turned out to be numerically very small. Scientists have come up with a name for this phenomenon - the “bottleneck effect”. There is also an obvious analogy with Noah's ark. At least once the most ancient mankind found itself in such a position.
In humanity, there certainly were other haplogroups that are not reducible to one first ancestor. But in modern humanity, moreover, in the humanity of the last 70-60 thousand years, they have disappeared. Perhaps we will still meet them among the oldest fossil remains of the first Homo sapiens? This possibility is not simply excluded. It is very likely if the method itself is correct (and so far it is only a hypothesis!), By which scientists have come to the aforementioned conclusions.
It seems that there is no reason to doubt the correctness of these conclusions. But the chronological linkage of the genetic Adam and Eve is in doubt. After all, genetic Eve also had a mother? And did genetic Adam have a dad? As childish as these questions sound, they are legitimate and require an answer.
In other words, which particular ancestor on this pedigree line do the given dates indicate to us? Let me explain. It cannot be said that this is the time of the appearance of that mutation, which meant the emergence of Homo sapiens as a species. A biological species arises in the process of accumulation of mutations, and not from one of them. There is no insurmountable line between closely related species. After all, the Mt-DNA of our Eve did not arise from nothing! Theoretically, it could still not belong to Homo sapiens in terms of morphological characteristics.
Of course, this unspoken response by scientists to perfectly logical and pertinent questions serves as a welcome confirmation of creationist views for many. "I believe, because it's absurd." Yes, they will say, our genetic Eve was directly created by the Almighty. But if individuals with scientific degrees can be satisfied with such an explanation, then the scientific worldview, of course, cannot.
Let's try to explain sensibly. These dates, firstly, are very approximate (what a spread: from 280 to 108 thousand years!); secondly, they show only the maximum depth that can be reached by comparing the available haplogroups. At the end of this line we have one, the oldest of which has not been preserved. She, of course, also had ancestors, but we do not know the form in which the mutation occurred that directly gave birth to it. There is nothing else to compare with, we are at an impasse.
Now about the picture of the settlement of people, which is formed according to the results of genetic studies. The relative value of their results in this area must be stated at once. The geography of the distribution of haplogroups can only presumably indicate the place of their origin. The vast majority of haplogroups, both female and male, have a broken area. Moreover, this spread sometimes reaches tens of thousands of kilometers! The chronology of the emergence of haplogroups is relative, and the absolute numbers here are just as approximate as in the example with genetic Adam and Eve. And also very important: There is no direct genetic correspondence between haplogroup and race. The first does not determine the second.
Which of these results is certain? Humanity is divided into three genetic lines of Mt-DNA. One of them - L - is found only among the so-called. "native" Africans, the other two - M and N - only on other continents (except for the descendants of those who already came to Africa in historical time). From M and N came many other genetic clusters, denoted by different letters of the Latin alphabet (with the addition of numbers to distinguish divisions). One should not think that the one and only letter L, which serves to designate the genetic clusters of Africans, speaks of his poverty. In fact, within cluster L, the genetic diversity is higher than in all the others combined. Together with the latter circumstance, the origin of the M and N haplogroups from the L cluster, which is obvious to geneticists, serves as an argument in favor of the theory of the African origin of modern humanity.
Obviously, the M and N groups arose still relatively close, as they say, “after the exit” of people from Africa, since their ancestor - the L3 group - does not occur outside of Africa. That is, the direct female line of its carriers was soon interrupted, which was possible only if the number of people who left Africa was small. But the occurrence of mutations in this limited population suggests a more or less long residence of the first "immigrants" from Africa in comparative proximity to it. And, as we have already emphasized, the links between the African and Eurasian populations of Homo sapiens for a long time after this "eviction" were only random.
In the study of Y-chromosome haplogroups, a similar picture emerges. Groups A and B are found only in Africa, group CT - both in Africa and in other parts of the world. Moreover, among the subgroups of the latter, subgroup E is found only in Africa, subgroups C and D are localized in different places in Asia (the first is also in North America), and cluster F is distributed everywhere, except for Africa.
But wasn't the picture the reverse of what is drawn here? Could it be that modern humans originated outside of Africa, but at some point all of its populations died out, except for the one that once settled in Africa? And the subsequent resettlement of people took place already from Africa, while people repopulated their original ancestral home. Theoretically, such an explanation is not excluded. And to resolve this issue, geneticists cannot do without paleoanthropology.
Less than half a century ago, anthropologists considered the immediate ancestor of Homo sapiens to be the so-called. "Sapient Neanderthals" who lived in Palestine about 90-100 thousand years ago. But now it is in Africa that the remains of the most ancient representatives of Homo sapiens, up to 165-190 thousand years old, have been found. Morphologically, they were much more like us than "sapient Neanderthals". True, the results of the genetic analysis of Homo sapiens idaltu (see above) are still silent (apparently, he still did not belong to the descendants of the "genetic Eve"). But it is clear that while outside of Africa they will not find the skulls of Homo sapiens more ancient than idaltu, the question of the priority of the two ancestral homelands of mankind - the African and the Middle East - will be decided in favor of Africa. However, the Asian Middle East has undoubtedly become at least an "intermediate" ancestral home for most of humanity.
Summarize. Archaeogenetics and genogeography can be auxiliary means of studying the most ancient migrations of mankind. But they can by no means claim a monopoly in reconstructing a complete picture of these migrations. The more important word here still belongs to paleoanthropology.
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garden of eden
garden of eden or did the earthly paradise really exist? How does this affect each of us and what should we know about the future?
Eden - the cradle of mankind?
Imagine that you are in a beautiful garden. There is no hustle and bustle here. Harmony reigns in this spacious garden. And what's the most
pleasant, you are not burdened by worries and experiences, and your body is full of health.
Nothing prevents you from enjoying the beauty of the surrounding nature.Your attention is drawn to the bright colors of flowers, the sun's rays sparkling in the ripples of a transparent river, and the dense greenery of the trees, casting curly shadows on a carpet of lush grass.
A light breeze, caressing your skin, brings the sweet aromas of a flowering garden. You hear the rustling of leaves, the sonorous murmur of water running over stones, the melodious trills of birds, the buzzing of insects. Wouldn't you like to live in such a place?
All over the world, people believe that the cradle of mankind was a place like this. For centuries, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam have taught that God placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.
According to the Bible, they enjoyed a happy life. They lived in peace with each other, as well as with the animals, moreover, they had a good relationship with God, who in his kindness made it possible for them to live in this wonderful garden forever (Genesis 2:15-24).
In Hinduism, too, there are certain ideas about paradise that existed in ancient times. Buddhists believe that in an era of prosperity, a great spiritual mentor, or buddha, appears, and the world becomes like a paradise. And in many religions in Africa, there are stories that are strikingly similar to the story of Adam and Eve.
The idea of an ancient paradise is widespread in the religions and traditions of different peoples. One historian notes: “In many civilizations people believed in
a pristine paradise that was characterized by perfection, freedom, peace, happiness, abundance, and the absence of violence, friction and conflict. […] This
faith gave rise in the minds of people a deep nostalgia for the lost, but not forgotten paradise and an ardent desire to find it again.
Do not all these stories and legends come from the same source? Is it possible that in the "minds of people" lives the memory of something that was in reality?
Did the Garden of Eden really exist in the distant past, where Adam and Eve lived?
Skeptics do not take this idea seriously. In this age of scientific progress, many people think that such stories are nothing more than legends and fiction.
Surprisingly, not everyone who thinks so is atheist. The idea that the Garden of Eden existed is rejected by many religious leaders. They claim there has never been such a place. According to them, the biblical message is just a metaphor, a myth, a parable.
The Bible does contain parables. Jesus Christ spoke the most famous of them. However, the message of Eden in the Bible is not presented as
parable, but as a true story. If it were not true, how could the rest of the Bible be trusted?
Let's look at why some people don't believe the Garden of Eden existed and see if their doubts are justified. And then we'll think
how it affects each of us.
Garden of Eden. Did he exist?
Do you know the story of Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden? It is familiar to people all over the world. Why not read it? This story is recorded in Genesis 1:26-3:24. Here is her summary.
Jehovah God creates man from the earth's dust, gives him the name Adam and settles him in a garden in the area of Eden. This garden was planted by God himself. The garden is well irrigated and has many beautiful fruit trees.
In the middle of the garden is the "tree of the knowledge of good and evil." God forbids people to eat the fruit of this tree and warns them that disobedience will lead to death.
After some time, Jehovah God creates a helper for Adam from his rib, a woman named Eve. God commands them to take care of the garden, and to multiply and replenish the earth.
When Eve is left alone, a snake turns to her and convinces her to eat the forbidden fruit. According to the serpent, God is deceiving her and hiding something good from her - something that can make her like a god.
Succumbing to the deception of the snake, she eats the forbidden fruit. Adam later joins her. Jehovah God pronounces judgment on Adam, Eve, and the serpent. Then he drives people out of the Garden of Eden, and puts angels at the entrance.
Once upon a time, among scientists, thinkers and historians, it was customary to confirm the historicity and reliability of the events described in the biblical book of Genesis.
Now it is fashionable to question such reports.
Why do some people distrust the biblical story of Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden? Let's take a look at four of the most common
objections.
1. A Place Called the Garden of Eden Didn't Exist
Why do people think so? Perhaps philosophy played a role. For centuries, theologians believed that God's garden still existed somewhere.
However, the church fell under the influence of Greek philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle, who argued that nothing on earth can be perfect - perfect can only be in heaven. Then theologians came to the conclusion that the primordial Paradise should be closer to
heaven.
Some said that this garden is located on the top of a very high mountain, which rises above the limits of the sinful earth; others that it is at the North or South Pole; still others - that he is on the moon or near it.
No wonder the stories of Eden have become like legend. Today, some scholars consider it absurd to claim that a place like
Eden really existed.
However, the Bible describes Paradise quite differently. From Genesis 2:8-14 we learn some details.
It was located in the east of the Eden area and was irrigated by the river, which was divided into four branches. Genesis gives the name of each of these rivers and indicates where they flowed.
For a long time, these details haunted many scholars who scrupulously studied this biblical passage, trying to find a modern
the location of the ancient paradise. But these studies were not successful, but only gave rise to many conflicting hypotheses. Does this mean that
geographical description of Eden, its garden and rivers - a lie or fiction?
It is worth taking into account the following. The events in the Garden of Eden took place 6,000 years ago. Moses, who wrote them down, could have used information passed down orally from generation to generation, or even written sources. Yet he described those events almost 2,500 years later.
By that time, Eden was no more. Couldn't landscape features, such as riverbeds, have changed over the millennia? In addition, the earth's crust is in constant motion. And the area where, apparently, was the Garden of Eden, is in a zone of high seismic activity: about 17 percent of the largest earthquakes occur there.
In such regions, the landscape is constantly changing. Moreover, it is quite possible that the terrain of that area changed very much as a result of the Flood of the days of Noah.
Be that as it may, we know the following for sure. In the book of Genesis, the Garden of Eden is referred to as a real place. Two of the four rivers mentioned in the biblical account, the Euphrates and the Tigris, or Hiddekel, flow to this day, and some of the springs that feed them are very close to each other.
Genesis even names some of the lands through which these rivers flowed, as well as the minerals that the area was known for. The Israelis, to whom this message was addressed in the first place, knew these details well.
Is this how myths and fairy tales are built? Or is it customary to omit details that can be easily confirmed or refuted? Usually a fairy tale begins with the words: “Once upon a time in a certain kingdom, in a certain state ...” However, it is customary to indicate significant details in historical reports. This is what characterizes the story of Eden.
2. It's hard to believe that God created Adam from the dust of the earth, and Eve from his rib
Modern science confirms that all the chemical elements that make up the human body, such as hydrogen, oxygen and carbon, are contained in the earth's crust. But how could a living being be formed from these elements?
Many scientists put forward hypotheses that life arose spontaneously. They say that the simplest forms of life for millions of years
gradually became more and more difficult. However, the term "simple" can be misleading, as all life forms, even microscopic single-celled organisms, are incredibly complex.
There is no evidence that any form of life could have appeared by chance. On the contrary, all living things serve as irrefutable confirmation
the existence of a Creator whose mind is far superior to ours (Romans 1:20).
Imagine that you are listening to a wonderful symphony, or admiring a beautiful painting, or marveling at an ingenious invention. Will you become
claim that all this appeared by itself? Of course not! But not a single masterpiece can be compared in complexity and beauty with the human body.
Is it possible to admit the idea that he did not have a Creator? Moreover, the message from Genesis says that of all living beings on earth, only
man is made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26).
It is quite understandable why only people have the desire to create, which is inherent in God, and sometimes they create outstanding inventions or impressive works in music and art. Is it any wonder that God's creations are far superior to those of humans?
As for the creation of a woman from the rib of a man, should this be puzzling? God could have created a woman in another way, however
the way he did it makes a lot of sense. He wanted a man and a woman to form a family and, as if "one flesh", be united by an unbreakable bond (Genesis 2:24).
Isn't the wonderful way a man and a woman can complement each other, forming a strong union, a powerful evidence of the existence of a wise and loving Creator?
Moreover, modern geneticists recognize that all people most likely descended from the same progenitors. So is it possible to say that the message from
Genesis has nothing to do with reality?
3. The mention of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and the tree of life is like a myth
The biblical account does not say that these trees themselves had any special or supernatural properties. On the contrary, they were ordinary trees, which Jehovah God endowed with a symbolic meaning.
Don't people sometimes act like that? For example, when a judge makes a remark about contempt of court to a criminal, he means by
the court is not a building, but the system of justice that the court represents.
Similarly, the scepter and crown of the monarch serve as symbols of his power.
What did these two trees symbolize? Many complex theories have been put forward. But the real answer to this question, on the one hand, lies on the surface, and
on the other hand, it has a deep meaning. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil represented God's exclusive right to decide what is good and what is evil (Jeremiah 10:23).
No wonder tampering with the fruit of this tree was a crime! The tree of life, in turn, represented the gift of eternal life that only God could give (Romans 6:23).
4. The story of the talking snake is more like a fairy tale.
Of course, this part of the Genesis story may seem confusing, especially if you don't take into account the rest of the Bible. However, the Sacred
Scripture gradually reveals this mystery.
What could make the snake "speak"? The ancient Israelites knew some facts that helped them understand the role of that serpent.
For example, they knew that although animals do not have the gift of speech, a spirit being can give the impression that an animal is speaking.
Thus, Moses wrote about Balaam and that God sent an angel to make Balaam's donkey speak like a man under his influence (Numbers 22:26-31; 2 Peter 2:15, 16).
Can spirit creatures, including enemies of God, perform miracles? Moses saw how the Egyptian priests, who practiced magic, repeated some of the miracles performed by the power of God, such as turning staffs into snakes. The power with which they did this could only come from spirits opposing God (Exodus 7:8-12).
Moses most likely wrote the book of Job. It tells a lot about the main adversary of God, Satan, who unreasonably questioned
the integrity of all servants of Jehovah (Job 1:6-11; 2:4, 5).
Could the Israelites of those times conclude that in Eden, through a serpent, Satan turned to Eve and deceived her into unfaithfulness to God? Quite possible.
Did Satan really speak through the serpent? Jesus Christ said that Satan is "a liar and the father of lies" (John 8:44). Doesn't the expression "father of lies" refer to the one who uttered the first lie?
The first lie was the serpent's words to Eve. Although God warned the people that if they ate the forbidden fruit they would die, the serpent said, “No, you will not die” (Genesis 3:4).
Jesus knew that Satan was behind the serpent. The revelation Jesus gave to the apostle John finally clarifies this issue by calling Satan "the old serpent" (Revelation 1:1; 12:9).
Is it hard to believe that a powerful spirit person could make it appear that the serpent is talking? Even people who do not have the power of spiritual creatures can master the art of ventriloquism, create various illusions, show tricks and performances with special effects.
The most compelling evidence
Don't you find that doubts about the authenticity of the Genesis account have no solid foundation? About the veracity of this message
strong evidence shows.
For example, the Bible calls Jesus Christ “the faithful and true witness” (Revelation 3:14).
Being a perfect man, he never lied or distorted the truth. Moreover, Jesus said that he lived long before he came to earth and was close to his Father, Jehovah, “before the world was” (John 17:5).
It means that it existed when all life on earth was created. What was this most reliable witness talking about?
Jesus spoke of Adam and Eve as real people. Explaining that monogamy is Jehovah's established norm, he cited the marriage of Adam and Eve as evidence.—Matthew 19:3-6.
If they never existed, and if the garden they lived in was just a fantasy, then either Jesus was deceived or he deceived others. Neither one nor the other
impossible. Jesus watched from heaven as the dramatic events unfolded in the Garden of Eden. Can anyone's testimony be more
convincing?
In fact, mistrust of the Genesis message undermines faith in Jesus. In addition, without trust in this account, it is impossible to understand the essential teachings of the Bible and believe in the encouraging promises of God. Let's find out why this is so.
How events in Eden affect you
One of the most absurd objections raised by some scholars is that the Eden report is not supported by
the rest of the Bible.
For example, professor of religious studies Paul Morris wrote: "Nowhere in the Bible are there direct references to Eden." His statement may be liked by some "experts", but it clearly contradicts the facts.
In fact, the Bible contains many references to the Garden of Eden, Adam, Eve, and the serpent.
But the above error of individual scholars pales in comparison to the more serious error of religious leaders and biblical scholars.
critics. In effect, by questioning the Genesis account of the Garden of Eden, they are opposing all of Scripture. Why is it possible
to tell?
Understanding what happened in Eden is the key to understanding the entire Bible. God's Word contains the answers to the most difficult and important
questions that concern people. These answers are closely related to the events that took place in the Garden of Eden. Let's look at a few examples.
● Why do we grow old and die?
Adam and Eve could live forever if they remained obedient to Jehovah. They would only die if they rebelled against God. When Adam and Eve raised
rebellion, they began to age and eventually died (Genesis 2:16, 17; 3:19).
Having lost perfection, they could pass on to their descendants only sin and imperfection. Here is what the Bible says about it: “Through one man
sin entered into the world, and through sin death, and thus death spread to all men, because they all sinned” (Romans 5:12).
• Why does God allow evil?
In the Garden of Eden, Satan called God a liar who hides something good from his creatures (Genesis 3:3-5). So he raised the question of the legitimacy
reign of Jehovah. Adam and Eve took the side of Satan.
Thus they rejected the dominion of Jehovah and decided that man himself can determine for himself what is good and what is evil. Since Jehovah God has perfect justice and wisdom, he understood that there was only one way to properly answer this question, and that was to allow time for the people to establish their own forms of government.
Wickedness began to spread, not without the participation of Satan, and gradually it made clear an important truth: people cannot govern themselves without God (Jeremiah 10:23).
• What did God intend for the earth?
Jehovah God created the Garden of Eden as an example of beauty and harmony. He gave Adam and Eve the task of filling the earth and tilling it so that the whole planet would become like Eden (Genesis 1:28). God wanted the paradise earth to be inhabited by a close-knit family, consisting of the perfect descendants of Adam and Eve. Much of the Bible is devoted to how God will fulfill his original purpose.
• Why did Jesus Christ come to earth?
For the rebellion in Eden, Adam and Eve were given a death sentence that extended to their descendants. However, out of love, God gave people hope. He sent his Son to earth to provide what the Bible calls a ransom (Matthew 20:28).
What buyout are we talking about? Jesus, called "the last Adam" in the Bible, did what the first Adam failed to do. Jesus Remained Obedient to Jehovah
and kept it perfect. He willingly gave his life as a sacrifice or ransom, making it possible for all faithful people to receive the remission of their sins and ultimately have a life similar to that enjoyed by Adam and Eve before they sinned (1 Corinthians 15:22, 45). ; John 3:16).
In this way, Jesus gave a firm basis for believing that Jehovah God's plan to turn the earth into an Eden-like paradise would surely be fulfilled.
God's plan is not a vague theory or an abstract theological idea. He is real. Just as there is no reason to doubt that on earth
Indeed, there was a Garden of Eden, where animals lived and people lived, we have no reason to doubt that God's promise of a future paradise will be fulfilled and will soon become a reality. Will heaven be your future too?
To a large extent it depends on you. God wants as many people as possible to have such a future. This applies even to those who do not yet keep God's commandments (1 Timothy 2:3, 4).
Dying, Jesus spoke to a man whose life was not the best. That man was a criminal and knew he was getting what he deserved
punishment. Yet he turned to Jesus for comfort and hope. What did Jesus say to him? “You will be with me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43).
Just think: Jesus wanted the former criminal to be resurrected and given the opportunity to live forever. Doesn't Jesus want to see you there too?
Surely he wants to! This is what his Father wants! If you want to live in paradise, do your best to learn about the God who created the Garden of Eden.
Life is the most wonderful gift
Probably, the majority of Orthodox people, kissing the Crucifixion of Christ the Savior, paid attention to the iconography of this image, namely, in the lower part, under the base of the Calvary Cross, a skull and two crossbones are traditionally depicted.
Tradition has preserved the story according to which the Savior of the world, the Lord Jesus Christ, was crucified on the site of the ancient grave of the forefather Adam, and the blood of the God-Man, flowing down the base of the Cross, fell on the head of the first person buried here, which washed away the sin of the forefather committed in the Garden of Eden.
Any church-going person who carefully listens to the liturgical texts of the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy and Life-Giving Cross, Holy Week (3rd Sunday of Great Lent) and Holy Week is familiar with the narration of this tradition.
But I encountered a certain bewilderment when I presented the first book-guide about the Holy Land, written after repeated trips to Israel, only after taking it from the printing house, to my teacher, a professor at the Kyiv Theological Academy. His attention was riveted by a photograph taken by me in Hebron on the grave of the forefathers, or rather not a photograph, but a caption to it, which said: "A canopy over the burial place of Adam."
“And who then was buried on Calvary, under the place where the Savior was crucified?” - this question of the venerable professor prompted me to create a specific commentary on this signature, since information about the burial of the forefather Adam in Hebron is inaccessible in the Christian tradition. Although, on the other hand, for monotheistic Judaism, it is the cave of the forefathers in Hebron that is the place where the remains of the first person are to this day.
How to reconcile the Christian tradition and the tradition of the Midrash (Midrash - laמִדְרָשׁ, literally “study”, “interpretation”, a genre of literature of a homiletic nature, presented in the Mishnah, Tosefta, and then in the Gemara. However, very often under the name midrashi is meant a collection of texts which includes biblical exegesis, public sermons, etc., forming a consistent commentary on the books of the Holy Scriptures of the Old Testament).
To do this, we will offer to visit ancient Hebron and reveal the secret of the Cave of the Forefathers - Mearat ha-Machpelah.
Hebron streets
"Gate of the South"
“Gate of the South” - this is the name Hebron received from the nomadic Semitic clans, who, driving their herds in search of new pastures, would definitely get on the road from Jerusalem, heading to Beersheba (Beersheba), Azot (Ashdot), Ashkelon, to this an ancient metropolis with guaranteed comfortable parking for nomads with numerous wells needed for livestock.
Hebron is located in the southern part of mountainous Judea in a flourishing mountain valley, located at an altitude of 925 m above sea level and surrounded by high mountains. There are many Muslim villages around modern Hebron, whose inhabitants are engaged, as in the distant past, in agriculture and cattle breeding. You can get to Hebron today from Jerusalem along the ha-Minaro highway, bypassing Bethlehem, and then, continuing along the Okef Halkhul highway, after 16 km you will be met by gray-haired Hebron.
Under the sniper scope
Visiting this city today is fraught with certain difficulties. In modern Hebron, clashes between Jewish settlers and Arabs are very frequent. Being in the administrative subordination of the Palestinian Authority, the city is surrounded by Israeli army checkpoints, which complicates its visit. Hebron is clearly not the place where you can shine with knowledge of Hebrew. Moreover, “this is the only place in the West Bank where you should not stay overnight,” as many guidebooks of intrepid tourists and pilgrims to this biblical city warn.
If according to the modern idiom "Israel is a litmus test for the whole world", then modern Hebron is a litmus test of the Arab-Israeli confrontation. Today the city is divided into two parts: the Arab quarter and the quarter where the Jewish settlers live.
When we move from the checkpoint to the famous Cave of the Forefathers, we are a little disturbed by the close attention to any movements (in this case, yours) of Israeli patrols located almost every 50 meters. Raising your head, it is not difficult to spot snipers on the roofs of houses and on observation towers. As soon as you deviate from the route, out of nowhere, a bulletproof jeep or a dusty military Hummer with protruding antennas appears, from which you will be asked to show documents. In general, everything is intended to hint to the guest of Hebron that for the sake of his own safety, the route of the pilgrim or tourist is thought out to the smallest detail, and therefore it is not worth improvising.
It is noteworthy that there is no free communication between the quarters of Jews and Arabs, and only a foreigner, using his neutral position, can visit both parts of Hebron. Moreover, once in the Palestinian part of the city, he draws attention to the fact that here Hebron lives the usual life of Middle Eastern Arab cities with traditional traffic jams, the noise of car horns, the singing of muezzins, the inviting of street vendors, etc. Concrete barriers disappeared somewhere, patrols, snipers and miles of barbed wire...
The first real estate in the Holy Land
Among the four biblical cities of Israel (Shechem (Shechem), Bethel (Bethel), Jerusalem, Hebron) that have survived to this day, Hebron is the most ancient. Patriarch Abraham chose Hebron - Kiryat Arba as the first place to settle in the Holy Land. It was in Hebron that he bought the first plot of land - the cave of Machpelah - for the burial of his wife Sarah (Gen.23:8-17). In this cave, Abraham bequeathed to bury himself.
The text of the Holy Scripture conveys in detail the process of acquiring ownership of this particular site with a grotto in Hebron. For the patriarch Abraham, it was of fundamental importance to acquire this particular cave for the burial of Sarah. Why?
Cenotaph over the tomb of the foremother Sarah Midrash - Oral Torah, complements the biblical narrative: “Abraham discovered the secret of the cave when he was chasing an ox, which he wanted to slaughter for his three mysterious guests - angels. The ox led him straight to the cave of Machpelah. Inside, Abraham saw a bright light, part of that primordial light that God had prepared for the righteous, and breathed in the sweet fragrance emanating from the Garden of Eden. Abraham heard the voices of angels: “Adam is buried here. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob will also rest here. Then Abraham realized that this cave was the entrance to the Garden of Eden, and it was from then on that he wanted to get it for burial.
The book "Zohar" confirms the narratives of the Midrash, reporting how the forefather Adam, after being expelled from the Garden of Eden, once passed by and recognized the light of Paradise in the light emanating from the cave. He realized that there was a tunnel connecting our earthly world and the Heavenly world, a tunnel through which our prayers rise to God, and souls enter Eternity after the death of the body. Therefore, Adam bequeathed to bury himself only in this cave.
Selling the cave of Machpelah, the Hittite Efron did not know about its holiness. He did not see anything of value in this cave and initially even wanted to give it to Abraham for free, without any payment. But the acquired property was endowed with a guarantee that in the future the descendants of Abraham could own this place and be considered full owners. In the presence of all the Hittites, Abraham signed an agreement with Efron, and the exact location of the land and its boundaries were determined.
Only after the deal was in writing, and the legal ownership of the cave was determined for all future times, Abraham buried his wife. Moreover, the Midrash describes in detail the burial of Sarah, which was accompanied by miraculous phenomena: “As soon as Abraham entered the cave with the body of Sarah, Adam and Eve rose from their graves and went to meet. At the same time, they said that they felt shame for their sin: “Now that you have come here, our shame has become even greater, because we see your virtues.” “I will pray for you that you will no longer suffer from shame,” Abraham told them. Hearing these words, Adam calmed down and returned to his grave, but Eve resisted until Abraham buried her again.
Interior of Mearat HaMachpelah The Mystery of the Cave of Machpelah
The Hebrew name מַּכְפֵּלָה "Machpelah" is interpreted in rabbinical literature as referring to a double cave or referring to couples buried there.
In the burial grotto of Machpelah, according to Talmudic sources (Babylonian Talmud: Bava-Batra, 58a; Bereshit Rabbah, 58), the forefathers Adam and Eve, as well as the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and their wives-foremothers: Sarah, Reveka or me. The burial of four pairs of forefathers in Hebron is expressed in another Hebron name of Hebron - קִרְיַת־אַרְבַּע "Kiryat-Arba".
And the very word חֶבְרוֹן "Hebron" goes back to the root, consisting of the letters het, bet, resh. The words haver, hibur, etc. are formed from the same letters. All of them are close in meaning and mean - "association". That is, it turns out that Kiryat Arba is the place where four couples unite (in Hebrew אַרְבַּע "arba" - four). Thus, initially Hebron in the minds of the Israelites established itself as the "city of the Forefathers."
When we talk about מְעָרַת הַמַּכְפֵּלָה “Mearat ha-Makhpelah”, or in the Russian tradition - the Cave of the Forefathers, as a rule, we mean a grandiose structure above the caves themselves. In the entire history of Hebron, only a few people had a chance to go down inside, into the caves themselves, where the biblical patriarchs were buried.
It is noteworthy that the construction of this monumental structure, located in the central part of modern Hebron with walls 12 m high, belongs to the king of Judea - Herod the Great. This majestic building consists of stone blocks (the largest of them is 7.5 x 1.4 m). Each subsequent block hangs on the previous one by only 1.5 cm. The upper edge of the blocks is wider than the bottom. The surface of the walls of Mearat HaMachpela resembles the Western Wall of the Temple Mount (Wailing Wall) in Jerusalem.
Initially, the building was, in all likelihood, without a roof. During the Byzantine era, the southern end of the building was turned into a church, consecrated in honor of Patriarch Abraham. This did not affect the ability of Jews to visit this shrine. Christians entered through one gate, Jews through another. In the VI century. according to R.H. galleries were built on all four sides. Having conquered Palestine, the Arabs entrusted the Jews, in gratitude for their support, with the supervision of the cave. The overseer of the shrine received the title "servant of the fathers of the world."
During the period of the Arab conquest, Hebron was renamed Masjid Ibrahim (Mosque of Abraham). Muslims to this day revere the Machpela Cave not only as the tomb of Abraham, but also as the place over which the prophet Muhammad flew during his journey to heaven. According to Arabic legend, when the Prophet Muhammad was flying on a horse to Jerusalem, over Hebron he heard the voice of the archangel Jabril (Gabriel): "Come down and pray, for here is the tomb of your father Abraham."
Cenotaph over the grave of Patriarch Abraham In the ninth century according to R.H. the building of the cenotaph of Joseph (according to the Muslim tradition, Joseph the Beautiful, whose body was taken out of Egypt during the Exodus, was also buried in the Cave of the Forefathers) blocked the central entrance, and later it was cut from the eastern side of the wall. The time of the existing structure dates back to 1118-1131. according to R.H. (reign of Baldwin II).
Some records of pilgrims who visited Hebron in the early Middle Ages have survived to this day. Here, for example, is what the Jewish pilgrim Benjamin of Tudella recorded in 1173: “And in the valley there is an elevation called Abraham. The Gentiles erected six tombs there, naming them after Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob and Leah, and they tell the erring that these are the tombs of the forefathers. If a Jew pays an Ismaili watchman, he will open the iron gate to the cave for him. From there you need to go down with a candle in your hand to the third cave, where there are six graves. On one side are the graves of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and opposite the graves of Sarah, Rebekah and Leah.
Petahya from Regensburg, as well as Yaakov ben Nathaniel Cohen testify that for the "baksheesh" it was possible to penetrate into the burial crypt of the forefathers. Thanks to the records of pilgrims, it can be concluded that the burial crypt of the forefathers was a double cave connected by a passage, it is possible that there is another, inner cave.
But in 1267, the Mamluk sultan Baibars I forbade Christians and Jews from entering the prayer halls of Mearat ha-Makhpela, although Jews were allowed to climb five, and later seven steps along the outer side of the eastern wall and lower notes with requests to God into the hole in the wall near the fourth step. This hole, passing through the entire thickness of the wall of 2.25 m and leading into the caves under the floor of the building, was first mentioned in 1521 and, apparently, was made at the request of the Jews of Hebron upon payment of a significant amount.
The decree of Sultan Baybars I on the ban on visits by infidels-non-Orthodox Mearat ha-Makhpela was observed until the 20th century. Although there were exceptions, in 1862, due to the specific relations between Turkey and Great Britain, the Ottoman authorities of Hebron allowed Prince Edward of Wales to visit the cave of Machpela, who had the personal permission of Sultan Abdulazis I himself. Thus, he became the first Christian who six centuries later (since 1267) was able to get to Mearat ha-Machpelah.
Cenotaph over Rebekah's Tomb Only in 1967, after the Six-Day War, the access of the heterodox (Jews and Christians) was officially reopened after a 700-year break. Today, the territory of the monument is run by the Muslim community, but part of the complex functions as a synagogue.
The burial crypt of the biblical patriarchs itself has been surrounded by riddles since archaic times. The stories and legends that began to take shape around the cave of the forefathers in Hebron are permeated with mysticism and mystery.
So, in one of the stories it is reported that after the fall of the First Temple in Jerusalem, the Lord sent the prophet Jeremiah to Hebron to the grave of the forefathers with news of what had happened, and then, having learned about the fall of the Temple, the forefathers tore their clothes and wept bitterly.
In 1643, the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire visited Mahpelu. While inspecting the mosque, the sultan accidentally dropped his saber into a hole in the floor, through which it fell into the burial grotto of the patriarchs. By order of the Sultan, several servants were lowered on ropes for a saber, but all of them were taken out of the cave dead. Local Muslim residents, even under pain of death, refused to go down into the grotto. Then one of the Sultan's advisers advised him to demand that the Jews get a saber.
Avram Azulai (author of several books, including the most famous "Chesed le Abraham") took on this mission and descended into the cave. There he met Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, and other forefathers, who announced to him that he must leave the earthly world. However, in order to prevent the Sultan's wrath from provoking the persecution of the Jews of Hebron, Abraham Azalai was allowed to be the first person in history to return from the cave of the forefathers. The saber was returned to the Sultan, and a day later Abraham Azulai died.
Geographically, Hebron is included in the so-called "Jerusalem speleorion". This region impresses with its variety of speleoforms. So, the limestones of Ofra are huge karst fields cut by vertical fireplaces up to 50 meters deep, the limestones of Beit Shemesh are developed horizontal caves, the area of Bethlehem and Hebron are whole karst systems, often flooded with underground collectors.
Since ancient times, the caves in this area have been used by man as warehouses, housing, livestock pens, workshops, etc. Today, at the corner of the majestic Mearat ha-Machpela, you can see a classic karst sinkhole with a diameter of 6 meters and a depth of 5 meters. The bottom of the sinkhole is cemented, and the guides, when asked what kind of deepening it is, have been answering for several decades that it is a “pool”. In fact, according to the geological map, this is an exposed fragment of a fault, which, 30 km to the east, ends with an active stream flowing into the Dead Sea.
After Hebron was captured by the IDF on June 8, 1967 during the Six-Day War, and non-Muslims were again allowed to enter the building above the burial vault of the patriarchs, many speculated that attempts to enter the burial chamber through a narrow opening in the floor of the mosque (which, when - the saber of the Sultan fell). The diameter of the opening did not exceed 30 cm.
Moshe Dayan (ex-Minister of Defense of Israel) narrates about the first visit to the burial vault after a 700-year break in his book “Living with the Bible”: not afraid not only of spirits and demons, the existence of which has not been proven, but also of snakes and scorpions, which are a very real danger. ... Having descended into the cave with a flashlight and a camera, she took photographs and sketches of what she saw with a pencil. It turned out that there are tombstones in the dungeon, Arabic inscriptions of the 10th century. according to R.Kh., niches, steps that lead upstairs, although the entrance is sealed up, moreover, no traces of the door were visible in the photographs.
Michal herself later described her speleological expedition:
“On Wednesday, October 9, 1968, my mother asked me if I would agree to go down into the dungeon under Mearat ha-Machpelah. …
The car started, and soon we were in Hebron ... I got out of the car, and we went to the mosque. I saw an opening through which I had to go down. They measured it, its diameter was 28 cm. They tied me with ropes, gave me a lantern and matches (to determine the composition of the air below) and began to descend. I landed on a pile of papers and paper money. I ended up in a square room. Opposite me were three headstones, the middle one taller and more ornate than the other two. There was a small square opening in the wall opposite. At the top, the rope was loosened a little, I climbed through it and found myself in a low, narrow corridor, the walls of which were carved into the rock. The corridor was in the shape of a rectangular box. At the end of it there was a staircase, and its steps rested against a sealed wall ... I measured out the narrow corridor with steps: it was 34 steps. When descending, I counted 16 steps, and when ascending, only fifteen. I went up and down five times, but the result was the same. Each step was 25 cm high. I climbed the steps for the sixth time and knocked on the ceiling. There was an answering knock. Came back. They gave me a camera, and I went down again and photographed the square room, gravestones, corridor and stairs. She got up again, took a pencil and paper and went down again and made sketches. She measured the room in steps: six by five. The width of each tombstone was equal to one step and the distance between the tombstones was also one step. The width of the corridor was one step, and its height was about one meter.
They pulled me out. While climbing, I dropped the flashlight. I had to go down and up again. Michal".
In addition to this description of the burial crypt under Mearat ha-Machpelah, there is simply no more detailed one. Thanks to this modest description, we, at least approximately, will be able to imagine the interior of the burial grotto of the patriarchs.
Today, the opening through which Michal descended into the crypt is closed with a stone slab, no one else descended into the dungeon, this is closely monitored by the mosque guards and the Israeli police. The only hole in the grotto that is open is the hole located under the canopy on four pillars, into which, according to Muslim custom, an unquenchable lamp is lowered. The flickering of a burning lamp can be seen by looking inside the hole. The light of the lamp is intended to remind all visitors of Mearat ha-Machpel about the light of the Garden of Eden, which, according to legend, the forefather Adam saw here.
Canopy over Adam's tomb Controversy over the burial place of the forefather Adam
The early Christian tradition about the burial of Adam, as we indicated above, is connected with the elevation outside the Jerusalem fortress wall, where the Lord Jesus Christ was crucified. This place was called Mount Golgotha. Origen wrote about this, saying that “on the Place of the Skull, where the Jews crucified Christ, the body of Adam rested, and the shed blood of the Savior washed the bones of Adam, reviving the whole human race in his face.”
In the IV century. according to R.H. this tradition has become almost universally accepted. In Pseudo-Athanasius we can read that Christ suffered in the place "where, as the Jewish teachers say, was the tomb of Adam." St. Epiphanius in Panarion even pointed out that the skull of Adam was indeed found on Golgotha. The same tradition was carried on by St. Basil the Great and St. John Chrysostom and many other Fathers of the Church.
In the Gospel, the Lord often calls Himself the Son of Man, which in Hebrew sounds like בֵן-אָדָם "Ben Adam" - "Son of Adam". The Church develops the doctrine of Christ as a typological correspondence to the first man. The Apostle Paul speaks of Christ as a "new", "second" Adam. “The first Adam was created by a living soul,” wrote St. Ambrose of Milan, the second is the life-giving Spirit. This second Adam is the Christ.” The Lord Jesus Christ was comprehended in the patristic teaching as a kind of antitype of Adam. If the biblical forefather fell into original sin and doomed mankind to death, then Christ, the second Adam, cleansed people from sin and delivered them from death.
The typological rapprochement between Christ and the forefather Adam led to a rapprochement, as well as the identification of the holy places associated with them. In parallel, two traditions began to exist, each of which claimed that the biblical forefather Adam was buried, according to one version, in Hebron, and according to another, in Jerusalem on Mount Golgotha. Not only that, bliss. Jerome of Stridon, in his commentary on Ephesians 5:14, even expressed doubt that Adam's tomb was at the site of Christ's crucifixion. Other church writers were equally critical of this version. The English pilgrim Zewulf, who visited Jerusalem during the era of the Crusaders, as well as John of Würzburg, who described the holy places of Palestine, who were undoubtedly familiar with the tradition of honoring Golgotha as the tomb of Adam, nevertheless claimed that Adam was buried in Hebron.
How to reconcile these two traditions that have the right to exist? Light is shed by the apocryphal manuscript "The Cave of Treasures", dated to the 7th century BC. according to AD, written in Syriac. This manuscript tells that the patriarch Noah saved the remains of Adam and Eve from the flood and after the completion of the flood they were again buried in Hebron. Patriarch Noah bequeathed only the skull and two bones to Shem, his son, to be buried in Jerusalem, where, according to the archaic idea, the center of the earth was located.
It should be noted that the Talmudic sources identify the son of Noah Shem and Melchizedek, king of Salem, arguing that this is one and the same person (in the original language מלכי-צדק "Malki-Tzedek" means "my righteous king" or "king of righteousness", which according to some exegetes, cannot be a proper name). Well, if we compare the years of the life of Shem and Abraham, we can see that Shem really could live in the time of Abraham, which allowed their legendary meeting to take place after Abraham's victory over the coalition of monarchs of Mesopotamia.
And this fact allows for the hypothesis that Sim personally confirmed to Abraham, on the one hand, the return of the remains of Adam and Eve to the burial grotto of Machpel after the Flood, and on the other hand, the transfer, according to the will of the father, Patriarch Noah, of the head and two bones to ancient Salem ( Jerusalem), where he himself settled after the Flood and was "a priest of the Most High God (Gen. 14:18)".
Thus, the ancient name of the mountain "Golgotha" is also explained, which in Hebrew sounds like "Gulgolet" (גוּלגוֹלֶת), which translates as "skull". Consequently, the two traditions do not contradict one another - being buried in Hebron, the head of the forefather Adam was transferred to Jerusalem and buried in the ground at the place where the Lord Jesus Christ would later be crucified, whose Blood, falling on the remains of the biblical forefather, would wash away original sin.
In fact, this little-known Syrian apocrypha explains where the icon-painting tradition of the Orthodox Church adopted the image of the skull and bones at the base of the Calvary Cross.
Adam's chapel. Cleft under Golgotha. Church of the Resurrection Today, in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, in the aisle of the Crucifixion in the rock, you can see a crevice (a consequence of the earthquake that accompanied the death of the Savior), through which the Blood of the Son of God, according to Tradition, having fallen on the skull of the forefather Adam, washed away the sin of the first person. It was here, back in the time of the Crusaders, in the Church of the Resurrection that a chapel-chapel was consecrated in honor of the forefather Adam.