Map in 1599 Geneva Bible locates Garden of Eden

A map found within a 1599 edition of the Geneva Bible provides a historical perspective on the potential geographic location of the Garden of Eden. Titled ‘The Situation of the Garden of Eden’, the illustration is a copy of a map originally created by Protestant reformer John Calvin for his 1554 commentary on Genesis.

The map places the biblical paradise in the region of Great Armenia, near mountains believed to represent Mount Ararat in present-day Turkey. It situates Eden near the headwaters of the Euphrates River and identifies several major landmarks, including Mesopotamia, Babylon, the Arabian Desert, the Persian Gulf, and the Caspian Sea.

The Geneva Bible was produced by English Protestant scholars who had sought refuge in Switzerland to escape persecution in England. Historians estimate that approximately 360,000 copies of this Bible were printed between 1560 and 1644.