I agree that the customs and laws portions of Genesis are a major part and, if I read you correctly, I have also always thought that the Garden of Eden was an idealization of the more fertile regions surrounding the ancient Israeli desert. I have wondered if the story of Adam and Eve came from some sort of expulsion or migration of a group of people from those areas
it's a vague connection, possibly the influence of some sort of traditional or cultural memory, i suspect. the area i'm thinking of, specifically, is the fertile crescent. two of the four rivers that surround eden are the tigris and euphrates. literally, eden is "in the east" but this is much more likely an idiom than a direction. "east" is also used, in hebrew, to describe the concept of antiquity. then again, that might be another vague connection too.
on a literal level, there is another story that directly describes the hebrews mesopotamian origin: the journey of abram. he leaves "ur of the chaldees" (an anachronism, btw, but it indicates the region) and ventures to the west, into the wilderness.
or, more likely, that there was a group (the ancient Hebrews) that tried to continue on in the nomadic ways when the majority of the people were settling down in the fertile arable land and developing agriculture and found that they were eventually excluded from the best lands that were being "settled" by the others who partoook in the agricultural revolution earlier on. They would have possibly created stories to justify their decision and the fact that the land they had to till was "cursed" and harder to work than the Fertile Crescent surrounding them.
it's actually sort of a thematic thing, than any one specific story. for instance, we have in the next chapter a very literal struggle between agriculture and nomadic herding in the story of cain and abel.
genesis 3 seems to be more about the birth of conciousness and morality, and a result of that, suffering, hard work, and emotional pain. agriculture is part of the literal curse, though you will find that not many of the patriarchs were farmers.
You have prompted me to re-read Genesis and try to connect it with this possibility in order to make a more coherent analogy to history
i've thought about it for a while, and paid attention on my last read-through of genesis. i doubt you will find any coherent analogy, but rather cultural traditions stemming from vague memories.
You seem like a knowledgeable debater
thank you.
Edited by arachnophilia, : typo