Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Vadim Cherny" <VadimCherny AT mail.ru>]

> This past weekend I was reminded of this verse as my
shoes squished in the mud. I live in a place where it
seldom rains from March through October, often the rains
start in December. But we often have heavy dew, even fog
in this area. Friday night and Saturday we had fog, which
condensed on tree leaves and on grasses and dripped to
the ground. The trail was actually mud under the trees.
The soil was damp in the grassy areas. Sunday morning
we a heavy dew. Though not as wet as on Saturday, it
certainly was not dry. No, we did not have an unusual
rainfall. Traditional plants, even forests, thrive in these
conditions. Grasses (and grains) usually put out their
seeds shortly after the last rains, before the dryness of
the summer.

Exactly what type of forests thrive without rain or snow?
Having lived in Israel and Egypt for considerable time, and being to Iraq 
(though not to the marshes), I don't recall a sufficiently heavy mist. Dew 
in the Nile region is very limited. Is there an agricultural system anywhere 
dependent upon the mist for considerable periods? Moreover, in Ukraine, for 
example, dew is more common in autumn, when its relevance for agriculture is 
nil.
Mist is likely to be imagined as descending, not as arising from ground.

> As for the conditions in Eden, it is very doubtful that it
was in a desert.

We have very clear indication of the location of Eden: at the point close to 
where one large river becomes four. Not where four rivers become one, as in 
Mesopotamia. Head water region of Nile is the prime candidate.

Vadim Cherny