A team of botanists from Poland, Iran and Armenia has discovered the archetype of the Garden of Eden described in the Old Testament. Based on clues from the Mosaic work (tree of life, tree of wisdom, eastern direction, presence of incense, confluence of four rivers, mountains of gold beyond paradise, abundance of forage species, medicinal, culinary, security, etc.), analyzing approx. 1,000 patches of various plant communities from Sicily, Sudan, Mesopotamia, Iran to Tajikistan, Afghanistan and the Indus Valley Civilization area), we selected the two vegetation types that most fit the description, which became the image of paradise for our ancestors some 7-8 thousand years ago. They saw it as pistachio groves (Pistacia khinjuk or Pistacia vera). Interestingly, the most species-rich type of such grove fitting the description was found on the southwestern slopes of the Zagros Mountains in Iran, and the site is only about 50-100 km from ancient Susa. It is likely that pistachio groves, rich, fertile, luminous and safe, were an asylum for people living in river valleys in case of wars and disasters.
Unfortunately, the forecast carried out by botanists for the preservation of the "paradise" vegetation is very pessimistic. Climate warming means that perhaps in about 50 years, the archetype of the land of happiness will disappear from the face of the Earth in front of the world's 8 billion people.
DOI:10.1007/s10113-022-01929-9
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2022-06-02 09:23:31
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