Places in the Bible Today:

Havilah 1

Data

Translated NameHavilah
Typeregion
Geo Data KML (for Google Earth)
GeoJSON (for GIS applications)

4 Possible Identifications

  1. in Babylonia (ancient): 35% confidence

    1. Ishtar gate from Babylonin Babylonia

  2. another name for Arabia 1 (ancient): less than 10% confidence

    1. desert in the Arabian PeninsulaArabian Peninsula

  3. about 200 km around Sanaa (modern): less than 10% confidence

    1. cityscape of Sanaaabout 200 km around Sanaa

  4. about 200 km around Zeila (modern): less than 10% confidence

    1. ruins at Zeilaabout 200 km around Zeila

Verses (1)

Gen 2:11

Linked Data Identifiers

SourceIdentifier
Logos FactbookHavilah (of Eden)
OpenBible.info (2007)Havilah 1
OpenBible.infoad7e819 (Havilah 1)
TIPNRHavilah@Gen.2.11
WikipediaHavilah (partial)

Sources

  1. Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary (1992): Havilah (place)
  2. Archaeological Encyclopedia of the Holy Land (1990): Havilah
  3. Baly, Atlas of the Biblical World (1971): Havilah
  4. Carta Bible Atlas, 5th Edition (2011)
  5. HarperCollins Bible Dictionary (2011): Havilah
  6. Tyndale Bible Dictionary (2001): Havilah (Place)
  7. Wenham, Genesis (1987, 1994): 2:11
  8. Wycliffe Bible Encyclopedia (1975): Havilah
  9. Zondervan Encyclopedia of the Bible (2010)

Confidence Trends over Time

This chart indicates how confidence in the identifications is changing over time. Each dot (connected by a dotted line) reflects the confidence of an identification over the preceding ten years (e.g., the 2009 dot reflects scholarship from 2000 to 2009), and the corresponding solid line reflects a best-fit line for the identification. Confidences that cluster near or below 0% indicate low confidence. Because of the small dataset, it's best to use this chart for general trends; if one identification is trending much higher than the others, for example, then you can probably have higher confidence in the identification. This chart only reflects the sources I consulted (listed above), not an exhaustive review of the literature.

Places with Similar Names

Thumbnail Image Credits

Radomir Vrbovsky, Peter Dowley, Ferdinand Reus, Walter Callens

About

This page attempts to identify all the possible locations where this biblical place could be. The confidence levels add up to less than 100%, indicating that the modern location is uncertain. It's best to think about the confidences in relative rather than absolute terms. Often they reflect different schools of thought, each confident in their identifications.

The isobands you see on the map (gray areas with dark borders) attempt to give you confidence where a region is. Because many ancient regions aren't precisely defined, I consulted atlases to determine where the biblical region is located and used that data to build the isobands. The smaller isobands reflect more confidence that the given isoband is in the region, while the larger isobands reflect less confidence. Isobands are a kind of contour line that here indicate confidence levels.