That Northern Koordistan is the country represented as having been, in the first instance, the cradle of the human race, the Eden of the Bible, is proved by a comparison of the Scriptural text with the topographic features and climate of that region. It is stated, in the second chapter of Genesis, that there was in the Garden of Eden a " river" from which diverged four streams, the Pison, the Gihon, the Hiddekel, and the Euphrates. Of these four streams or rivers three have their source in the mountainous region of Northern Koordistan, the province of Van, and are known in our days by similar names.