Cradle of Humanity

The term Cradle of Humanity refers to a geographic region that includes fifteen countries falling within a 1,000 mile radius of the location described in Genesis as the birthplace of mankind.

The fifteen nations/territories that comprise the "Cradle of Humanity" are, in alphabetical order: Bahrain, the Gaza Strip, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, United Arab Emirates, the West Bank and Yemen.

According to this belief, the "birthplace of mankind" is in the Tigris-Euphrates Valley region; more precisely, the point where, according to Genesis 2: 8-14,

"A river watering the garden flowed from Eden, and from there it divided. It had four headstreams. The name of the first is Pishon. It winds through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold. The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin and onyx are also there. The name of the second river is Gihon; it winds through the entire land of Cush. The name of the third river is Tigris; it runs along the east side of Asshur. And the fourth river is the great river Euphrates."

These words, written by Moses, describe rivers which still exist and flow today in much the same way as they flowed when Genesis was written. Those who interpret the Bible literally thus identify the location of Eden as the point just west of the border between Iraq and Iran and just above the northern shore of Persian Gulf.

An alternative position, based on scientific research, suggests the origin of mankind to have been in Africa. See the article evolution of Homo sapiens for more details.