t is with this memory of an original garden—one from which corrupt humanity was expelled—that the Bible opens. As I mentioned in my last video, the precise geography is difficult to pin down, but many details in Genesis point toward Africa—starting with the explicit mention of the land of Cush, which Jewish commentators have consistently associated with Africa. Yet there is another, lesser-known passage in Genesis (13.10) that sheds light on the possible location of the Garden of Eden:

And Lot lifted his eyes and saw all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere (before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah) like the garden of the LORD (GaN YHWH), like the land of Egypt as you go toward Tso’aR . Genesis 13.10

Here, the Garden of the Lord is directly linked to Egypt. And in the same passage we also encounter the enigmatic place-name Tso’aR — carrying within it the root TsaRa, the same root that evokes both oppression and Egypt.

The Book of Enoch – the other great « Biblical » source preserved by the churches and Jews of Ethiopia, along with the Book of Jubilees – gives us more details (P34). We learn that this Garden of God is located in the middle of the Earth, near a region where there are three mountains and a deep, dry fault in the middle of them. This ravine, this deep fault, is intended for those who curse the Lord. It is there that the wicked will be judged. On the contrary, the mountains surrounding the Garden of the Lord are enveloped in clouds that water rivers and streams. A little further on, on page 55, we learn that it is in this Garden that the Righteous and the chosen reside—all this taking place near the Red Sea on (P58).

Well, kids, here you have a fairly accurate description of the Great Rift and the Great Lakes region. And these chosen and Righteous who live in the garden do indeed exist. They are the Pygmies. That is why they are the Chosen People of the Paraklet.

This motif of the Hanging Gardens of the chosen ones should remind you of something:

Indeed, Allah will admit those who have believed and done righteous deeds to gardens beneath which rivers flow, but those who disbelieve enjoy themselves and eat as grazing livestock eat, and the Fire will be a residence for them. Surah 47.12

Ce motif est central dans le Coran, probablement le plus structurant de tous. Il n’a rien de chrétien, rien de juif, rien de musulman. Il nous provient d’Afrique, de la Région des Grands Lacs plus précisément.

This motif is central to the Quran, probably the most foundational of all. There is nothing Christian, nothing Jewish, nothing Muslim about it. It comes to us from Africa—more precisely, from the Great Lakes region.

According to Jean-Pierre Hallet and Alex Pelle, (P30), some Arab authors , also believed that Paradise was located at the source of the Nile, in the Great Lakes region. They also report that the English Egyptologist and Orientalist Wallis Budge noted in his Egyptian Book of the Dead:

From the earliest days they depicted to themselves a material heaven wherein the Isles of the Blest were laved by the waters of the Nile, and the approach to which was by way of its stream as it flowed to the north.

Jean-Pierre Hallet and Alex Pelle also report (P34) of Egyptian inscriptions that mention « little men from the land of trees and spirits, at the foot of the mountains of the moon. » They even go so far as to suggest – these madmen! – that the Euphrates of the Bible may not be the Euphrates of Mesopotamia. Yes, they even imagine – these fools! our ancestors reused identical toponyms across various regions and throughout the history of humankind.

But it's not just the Egyptians, The Masai people as well. This semi-nomadic ethnic group in East Africa (P35) believes that Pygmies are the closest to the ancestral humans of the origins. Jean-Pierre Hallet and Alex Pelle cite (P127) the Masai story of the first medicine man who descended from the sky and was found sitting on top of a mountain. He was so small that at first they thought he was a child. This story appears in the book « Les Masai » by Claud Hollis.

In short, you now understand why not only are there Christian churches in Ethiopia, but more importantly, what they teach us about our common origins: because our ancestors all passed through Ethiopia, which has always remained connected to the Arabian Peninsula for tens of thousands of years. This is why the Book of Enoch or the Book of Jubilees should not be considered derivatives of the Hebrew Bible—Definitely not, you unfortunate Pharisians!

Finally, but at this point it's just a detail, Jean-Pierre Hallet and Alex Pelle recount on (P27, P119) that the myth of the creation of humanity resembles the biblical account in many ways, with a single god, a paradise garden, a forbidden tree, a man created from the dust of the earth, and a wicked woman who, through her cries and invectives, forces her poor husband to pick the forbidden fruit. This account even includes the instructions « be fruitful and multiply  », which Genesis (1.28) emphasizes so much. And it concludes with the end of immortality and paradise, the pains of childbirth, and the curse of women’s toil under male dominance.

Come on, I'll read you that story too, while we're at it (P145):

 One fine day, in heaven, God told his chief helper to make the first man . The angel of the moon descended.

Yes, we even have an angel and an assistant—just like in Hawaii, , which echoes the criticism of those who believe in divine assistants in the Quran, even though the Quran « at the same time » presents belief in angels as one of the essential components of faith in God. But let's continue:

He molded the first man from earth, wrapped a skin around earth, poured blood into the skin and punched holes for the nostrils, eyes, ears, and mouth. He made another hole in the first man's bottom and placed all the organs in his inside. Then he breathed his own life force into the little earthen statue. He entered into the body.

Here we find the motif of man created from the earth and animated by the divine breath like in Genesis.

But let's continue:

t moved… It sat up… It stood up. It walked. It was Efé, the first man and father of all who came after. God said to Efé, « Beget children to people my forest. I shall give them everything they need to be happy. They will never have to work. They will be the lords of the earth. They will live forever. There is only one thing I forbid them. Now—listen well—give my words to your children, and tell them to transmit this commandment to every generation. The tahu tree is absolutely forbidden to man. You must never, for any reason, violate this law.  » Efé obeyed these instructions. He, and his children, never went near the tree. Many years passed. Then God called to Efé, « Come up to heaven. I need your help!  » So Efé went up to the sky.

Here the story changes a little, because the first man created by the Angel of the Moon, Efe, the father of all men, is called by God and goes directly to Heaven. We will come back to this in a moment.

After he left, the ancestors lived in accordance with his laws and teachings for a long, long time. Then, one terrible day, a pregnant woman said to her husband, « Darling, I want to eat the fruit of the tahu tree.  » He said, « You know that is wrong.  » She said, « Why?  » He said, « It is against the law.  » She said, « That is a silly old law. Which do you care about more—me, or some silly old law?  » They argued and argued. Finally, he gave in. His heart pounded with fear as he sneaked into the deep, deep forest. Closer and closer he came. There it was—the forbidden tree of God. The sinner picked a tahu fruit. He peeled the tahu fruit. He hid the peel under a pile of leaves. Then he returned to camp and gave the fruit to his wife. She tasted it. She urged her husband to taste it. He did. All of the other Pygmies had a bite. Everyone ate the forbidden fruit, and everyone thought that God would never find out. Meanwhile, the angel of the moon watched from on high. He rushed a message to his master: « The people have eaten the fruit of the tahu tree!  » God was infuriated. « You have disobeyed my orders,  » he said to the ancestors. « For this you will die!  »

Finally, Jean-Pierre Hallet and Alex Pelle also report (P67) a myth similar to that of the Tower of Babel. In the beginning, the first humans lived happily and peacefully, speaking the same language.

Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. Genesis 11.1

But eventually, they began to argue among themselves. For this reason, God mixed their languages and scattered them. As I mentioned in my video S2, the Forest has always hated the sound of arguments between Pygmies…

7) Efe's ascent to Heaven and descent into Hell

Okay, let’s recap. Many traditions link the Lost Paradise to the sources of the Nile and to the Mountains of the Moon in the Great Lakes region of East Africa. The Pygmy Efe also have many myths with strong biblical echoes – starting with the creation of man in the Garden of Eden and original sin. This supports the idea of an East African origin for these myths and their later spread across Eurasia after Homo sapiens left Africa.