Chapter 5. ADAM AND EVE
The Book of
Genesis narrates the story of a tribe founded by Adam and Eve, described as the
"mother of all living." From a genetic perspective, they are depicted
as siblings, with an age difference of 18–25 years. According to the biblical
epic, they formed humanity’s first family, sustaining themselves on
pre-existing fruits and seeds. Their initial home was the "garden in
Eden," located "in the east" relative to the narrator. The text
identifies geographic markers for Eden’s location: lands like
"Asshur," "Cush," and "Havilah," and rivers named
"Pishon," "Gihon," "Hiddekel," and
"Phrath." The narrator also notes the region’s economic value,
mentioning "gold," "onyx," and "bdellium," a
fragrant resin, indicating awareness of valuable resources.
Per
Genesis, humans were tasked with cultivating and guarding their allotted land.
Initially, Adam and Eve lived without clothing, unashamed despite their
physical differences. Later, they fashioned garments from fig leaves, followed
by "coats of skins," suggesting a drop in temperature in Eden,
necessitating warmer attire. The narrative’s pivotal moment is their expulsion
from the garden to till the earth, interpreted as an ancient tale of a tribal
group’s deliberate migration to fertile lands suited for farming. The text
hints at a quest for arable fields, possibly for grain cultivation, as bread is
mentioned earlier. While their destination is unspecified, it’s implied they settled
in a region with ample water for crops and livestock. This is supported by
their sons’ roles: one a shepherd, the other a farmer.
References
to agriculture and specific animals allow reconstruction of the climate,
landscape, flora, and fauna of their new home, offering clues for
scientifically dating the "first humans." However, the historicity of
Adam and Eve remains uncertain. If they existed, questions arise: How did they
emerge, who were they, and where did they transform the earth? This chapter seeks
to unravel Genesis’s enigma by aligning its account with humanity’s past,
climate shifts, and biosphere changes.
Homo
sapiens evolved 690,000–425,000 years ago, diverging from close relatives. The
oldest fossils of anatomically modern humans, dated 315,000 ± 34,000 years ago,
were found in Morocco. Y-chromosome analysis indicates our latest common
ancestor lived in Africa 307,000–192,000 years ago. Outside Africa, the
earliest reliable Homo sapiens remains, aged 130,000–90,000 years ago, appear
in the Levant (33°49'12"N, 36°18'E). A global warming period
128,000–126,000 years ago raised temperatures 4–8°C above today’s, followed by
brief cooling events 75,000 and 45,000 years ago, causing localized
extinctions.
Mitochondrial
DNA studies reveal a common ancestor for non-African populations roamed Earth
around 160,000 years ago. The first phase of Homo sapiens’ migration from
Africa to the Levant occurred 130,000–71,000 years ago, with settlements there
from 130,000–80,000 years ago, but no further Eurasian expansion until around
50,000 years ago. Recent DNA analysis suggests another migration to the
"Persian Gulf Oasis" 65,000–50,000 years ago, followed by dispersals
to South Asia, northwest to Europe, and back to North Africa. Genetic sequencing
confirms westward movement from the Persian Gulf to the Middle East and Europe
55,000–24,000 years ago, with tribes bypassing the Mediterranean’s north,
possibly due to favorable conditions, impassable terrain, harsh weather, or
competition from Neanderthals.
A "southern
route" migration through the Persian Gulf is supported by similar
archaeological sites in the Horn of Africa (9°50'N, 49°10'E) and Arabia. This
aligns with crossings of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait (12°36'15"N,
43°20'8"E) during the Upper Pleistocene, 150,000–50,000 years ago. At
Jebel Faya (25°06'39"N, 55°50'10"E) in Musandam, evidence places
humans 125,000 years ago when the desert was a savanna. Comprehensive data
suggest migration from East Africa across the Red Sea to Asia 74,000–60,000 years
ago, possibly spurred by the Toba supervolcano eruption 74,000 years ago,
causing drought and famine in northwest Ethiopia.
Migration
to Arabia likely intensified after 65,000 years ago. Modeling shows late
Pleistocene humans could cross Bab el-Mandeb without advanced technology,
relying on passive drifting. Paleoecological, archaeological, and genetic
evidence confirms the Persian Gulf Oasis as a demographic refuge 129,000–8,800
years ago, cradling Eurasian populations over 50,000 years ago.
The Red Sea
joined the Indian Ocean 5–4 million years ago, forming Bab el-Mandeb. Whether
Africans crossed without boats is unclear, but 140,000 years ago, sea levels
were 140 meters lower. A shallow ridge northwest of Bab el-Mandeb, dubbed the
"southern bridge," stretched from the Hanish Islands to Haycock
Islands, with depths up to 137.3 meters. This land corridor, formed 140,000
years ago, enabled crossings to Arabia. Seabed analysis reveals a winding path
among cliffs, with possible water-filled wells navigable without vessels.
Wooden structures in Zambia, dated 476,000 ± 23,000 years ago, suggest early
hominins built rafts, making such crossings feasible nearly 500,000 years ago.
Fossils
from Herto, Ethiopia (10°17'13"N, 40°31'47"E), dated 154,000–160,000
years ago, and Omo River (4°26'41"N, 35°59'12"E), 195,000 ± 5,000
years ago, confirm Homo sapiens’ presence near Bab el-Mandeb. African baboons,
now in Arabia, likely used the same route. The "southern bridge,"
with volcanic terrain like Great Hanish Island, suited climbing primates like
humans, not hoofed animals. Human traces at Jebel Faya 125,000 years ago affirm
the bridge’s brief existence.
Sea levels
rose 129,500 years ago, peaking 127,000 years ago, submerging the bridge.
Fossils from China’s Fuyan Cave (120,000–80,000 years ago) and Zhiren Cave
(106,200 ± 6,700 years ago) support early Asian migrations. A Greek skull,
blending sapiens and Neanderthal traits from over 210,000 years ago, suggests
earlier European incursions, possibly via Neanderthal interbreeding in the
Levant.
Favorable
Red Sea crossing conditions recurred 26,500–19,000 years ago (130 meters below
current levels), 48,000 years ago (100 meters), and 65,000 years ago (108
meters). Brief intervals 68,000–61,000 years ago saw narrow channels at Hanish
and Haycock Islands. At 100 meters below today’s levels, a large landmass,
"Big Haycock Island" (13°32'29"N, 42°37'35"E), emerged,
measuring 5,700 by 3,100 meters, flanked by two straits: 1,700 meters wide to
the northeast and 800 meters to the southwest. Another landmass, "Huge
Haycock Island," 1.5 times larger, lay 3.5 kilometers southeast.
Simulations confirm an archipelago of rocky outcrops minimized open water
during dry spells.
With no
major rivers feeding the Red Sea, currents were weak, intensifying during
African and Arabian rains or low tides. Tribes likely built rafts, paddling to
Asia. At 65,000–30,000 years ago, Bab el-Mandeb spanned 4 kilometers, but with
seas 108 meters lower, its minimal width was 3,400 meters across 140
kilometers, favoring crossings north of the strait.
Mitochondrial
DNA indicates rapid Middle Eastern, European, and Indian settlement around
65,000 years ago via the southern route, post a 80,000–75,000-year cooling.
Y-chromosome shifts confirm Eurasian and Oceanian colonization 52,000–47,000
years ago during the last Ice Age (120,000–20,000 years ago). Climate favored
southern, not northern, exits from Africa.
Homo
sapiens and Neanderthals interbred, as evidenced at Mandrin Cave, France
(44°28'10"N, 4°46'16"E), where sapiens appeared 56,800–51,700 years
ago, possibly via a western Gibraltar Strait crossing (35°56'44"N,
5°47'43"E), 21 kilometers wide today but 10 kilometers 140,000 years ago.
Neanderthal fires at Gibraltar’s caves, like Saint Michael’s (36°7'34"N,
5°20'44"E), were visible from Africa’s Jebel Musa (35°53'56"N,
5°24'47"E). From Ceuta (35°53'18"N, 5°18'15"E), Neanderthal
caves Vanguard and Gorham’s (36°07'18"N, 5°20'31"E) lay 25 kilometers
across, visible per the horizon formula (d≈3.57√h).
Curiosity
about distant fires may have spurred Gibraltar crossings on dugout canoes
during glacial maxima. Modeling suggests the strait posed challenges without
rafting skills, but rare successes seeded small European groups, like
Mandrin’s.
A northern
route from Egypt to the Levant significantly shaped non-African genomes. In
Jordan’s Rift Valley, Homo sapiens settled 55,000–37,000 years ago, later
spreading along Mediterranean coasts due to population growth, resource
depletion, and favorable climates. From the Levant, migrations headed south to
North Africa or north to Anatolia, constrained by deserts and seas.
Levant’s
caves, like Misliya (194,000–177,000 years ago), Es-Skhul (119,000 ± 18,000
years ago), and Qafzeh (115,000 ± 15,000 years ago), confirm early sapiens
presence. Over 200 Levantine Paleolithic sites, including Lebanon’s Ksar Akil
(44,000 ± 1,200 years ago), show sapiens and Neanderthal coexistence. Northern
migration hit the Taurus Mountains, a 800–1,500-meter barrier, with peaks at
3,000–5,165 meters, merging into the 2,000–4,000-meter Zagros Mountains, ideal
for herding and farming.
The Zagros
hosted Neanderthals, as at Shanidar Cave (36°48'1"N, 44°14'44"E),
where Shanidar 3’s rib injury, likely from a sapiens’ projectile 50,600 ±
3,000–33,900 ± 900 years ago, suggests conflict during interbreeding
49,000–45,000 years ago. Kaldar and Yafteh Caves (49,200 ± 1,800–40,000 years
ago) show sapiens replacing Neanderthals, aided by humid conditions
65,000–55,000 years ago.
Genesis’s
Eden, "in the east," aligns with the Zagros and Mesopotamian plains,
watered by the Tigris and Euphrates. The text’s rivers and lands—Asshur
(Assyria), Cush (Ethiopia), Havilah (northeast Arabia)—place the narrator west,
possibly in Sinai, traditionally linked to Moses. Humid conditions 130,000 years
ago deterred Mesopotamian settlement, but tribes crossing the Red Sea 140,000
years ago via the "southern bridge" reached the Persian Gulf Oasis,
avoiding Neanderthals. A second wave 65,000 years ago crossed north of Bab
el-Mandeb, entering Mesopotamia via a re-emerged Hormuz Strait land bridge,
thriving in a lush climate.
These settlers, resembling African ancestors, adapted over 50,000 years, influenced by Neanderthal genes and Asia’s environment, possibly resembling modern Indigenous Australians—perhaps the visage of Adam and Eve.
Retelling done by Grok, an artificial intelligence developed by xAI.
Author:
Arkhipov S.V. – candidate of medical sciences, surgeon, traumatologist-orthopedist.
Citation:
Архипов С.В. Дети человеческие: истоки библейских преданий в обозрении врача. Эссе, снабженное ссылками на интерактивный материал. 2-е изд. перераб. и доп. Йоэнсуу: Издание Автора, 2025.
Arkhipov S.V. Human Children: The Origins of Biblical Legends from a Physician's Perspective. An essay with references to interactive materials. 2nd revised and expanded edition. Joensuu: Author's Edition, 2025. [Rus]
Purchase:
PDF version is available on GooglePlay & Google Books
Keywords
ligamentum capitis femoris, ligamentum teres, ligament of head of femur, history, first patient, injury, damage, Bible, Genesis
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