Garden of Eden

"The land of Dilmun is holy, the land of Dilmun is pure. In Dilmun no cry the raven utters, nor does the bird of ill-omen foretell calamity. The lion kills not, nor does the ravening wolf snatch away the defenseless lamb. Unknown is the wild dog who tears the kid. The dove does not conceal its head. No one here says, ''My eyes are sick,'' No one here says, ''My head is sick,'' No one here says, ''I am an old woman,'' No one here says, ''I am an old man.'' The maiden walks here in innocence. No lustrations need to be poured. The somber death priest walks not here. By Dilmun's walls he has no cause for lamentations. "

Words from a 4000+ year old poem written in the Sumerian city of Nippur talking about the doings of the gods at the dawn of time in a sacred island where death and sickness did not exist and sweet waters flowed. An island paradise called Dilmun, a place closely resembling the Garden of Eden. Dilmun, described as the “place where the sun rises” and the “Land of the Living” has developed such a reputation as a long lost garden of exotic perfections, which has drastically influenced the story of the Garden of Eden. Even interpreters continuously tried to establish an Edenic garden at the trading center of Dilmun.

The hero and our most famous historical figure, Gilgamesh arrives at Dilmun to obtain the the “flower of immortality” from the Ziusudra aka Atrahasis, Utnapishtim, Xisuthros, and Noah. Ziusudra is the sole survivor of the great flood among mankind, after successfully building an ark following instructions from lord of the Abyss and ruler of the sweet waters under the earth, Enki. With stones attached to his feet, Gilgamesh dives into the sea and brings up the flower. In similar fashion to the story of Adam and Eve, he allows a serpent to eat the flower, cheating mankind of its benefits.

What is really interesting about the story of Ziusudra and Gilgamesh is the fact that the Sumerian word KUR, found on the 140th line of the Gilgamesh Flood myth was interpreted to mean mountain in Akkadian, whereas in Sumeria, it didn’t mean mountain; rather a country, especially a foreign country, and Dilmun was a foreign country. This suggests that Ziusudra's boat floated down the Euphrates river into the Persian Gulf and not up onto a mountain.
I hope you (especially those who don’t know much about Bahrain) enjoyed this small piece of history about Dilmun. I’ll write more later about the rich history of this tiny island :).