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Abstract: The Garden of Eden
Between two great rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates, lies the fertile plain of
Eden.
site of one of Man's earliest civilizations, the Sumerian civilization> Adam was put there to cultivate it and to keep watch over the Garden of Eden. The soil was fertile, and life was both pleasant and easy. God also created a companion (woman) so that Adam would not be lonesome.
According to
Genesis - the first book of the Bible - Adam and Eve were asked to leave Eden because they disobeyed God's command not to eat the fruit of
knowledge. The serpent is cursed for tempting Adam and Eve into disobeying God's wishes.
As a result of this disobedience, enemity grew between the serpent and mankind. As for the woman, she experienced pain in childbirth, and her husband became her lord and master (instead of her companion).
Eve eats the fruit of the tree of knowledge because the fruit tasted good to eat; and because she desired to gain wisdom (and be as the gods). Adam also tastes of the fruit, only because his wife offered it to him. The wife, in turn, blames the serpent for tempting her...
Having tasted the fruit of the tree of knowledge, Adam is barred from eating the fruit of the tree of life. Exiled from the Garden of Eden, the way back (to the tree of life) is barred by angels - and by a flaming sword.
The Book of Genesis (thought, by some, to have been written by Moses) reaches back into the hoary past. It describes the origins of the earth, and the earliest peoples who lived upon it. Within it are contained some of the most important stories to be found in the Bible.