Foto ⒸMavlink
An ancient, now-dry riverbed of the Wadi al-Batin River has been recorded in Saudi Arabia, which some researchers believe may correspond to the biblical Pishon River.
According to the Book of Genesis, Eden was irrigated by one river, which was then divided into four: the Pishon, the Gihon, the Tigris and the Euphrates. The last two rivers are well known and still flow through modern day Iraq. The Pishon and Gihon, on the other hand, have long been the subject of controversy and speculation.
The Wadi al-Batin stretches from the western highlands of the Hijaz in Saudi Arabia to the northern Persian Gulf near Kuwait. Radar images taken back in the 1990s during NASA’s space shuttle Endeavour missions and republished in 2025 showed that this river was up to five kilometers wide in ancient times and was active during the wetter Holocene period.
Geologist Farouk El-Baz of Boston University notes that such “fossilized” rivers indicate the existence of green and fertile landscapes in a region now considered desert. According to him, such rivers could have played a key role in the development of early human settlements and preserved in the collective memory of ancient peoples.
Some researchers also suggest that Iran’s Karun River may correspond to the biblical Gihon. However, scientists emphasize that it is not a question of proving the existence of Eden as a specific place, but a possible reflection of the real ancient geography in the biblical text.
Despite the ongoing controversy, the discovery has renewed interest in the study of the climatic history of the Middle East and the origins of ancient civilizations.
