Tristan Hughes

Hey, I hope you're doing well and welcome to this latest episode of The Ancients.

I'm just right next to my kitchen and making a cup of tea as I do this.

And today we are delving deep into that famous creation story that is that of Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden.

Naturally, as we do always on The Ancients, when we cover an Old Testament story, we'll be exploring the ancient historical context of

behind this tale linked to mesopotamia lots of different themes one that i found fascinating in this chat is that of immortality and whether adam and eve were they created mortal or immortal that and so much more is all to come i really enjoyed this chat with dr dylan johnson returning guest a good friend of mine who is a lecturer in ancient near eastern history at cardiff university let's get into the episode

Adam and Eve, the parents of the human race, formed from Earth's dust, a divine breath and a stolen rib.

A pair of innocents.

That is, until Eve, tempted by the evil serpent, ate the forbidden fruit.

Their transgression was met with bitter punishment from God.

The daughters of Eve were condemned to pain in childbirth and the sons of Adam would forever toil and sweat over the accursed ground for food.

We all know the story, but strip away the version you might have learned in Sunday School and what is left is a dark myth with deep links to the ancient world.

Today we will explore the Garden of Eden, its ties to the ancient Near East, and trace this foundational myth back to Mesopotamian epics that predate the Bible.

And I'm so pleased to be joined today by historian, biblical scholar, and expert in the ancient Near East, Dr. Dylan Johnson.

Dylan, always a pleasure.

Great to have you back on the show.

Great to be back.

Thanks for inviting me.

So what have we done now?

We've done Ark of the Covenant, Moses, Sodom and Gomorrah, the Ten Commandments.

But Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden.