From the Dust of the Ground to the Cradle of Eden: A Unified Model of Abiogenesis, Paleoclimatic Shifts, and Human Cognitive Evolution

This paper presents an integrated framework connecting ancient scriptural texts with modern empirical science, resolving apparent contradictions between biblical narrative and contemporary geochronology. By examining the Genesis account of human creation through the lens of modern abiogenesis, the paper establishes a phenomenological parallel between ancient mineral-catalyzed chemistry ("dust of the ground") and atmospheric activation ("breath of life"). It introduces the "material age versus formation age" principle to reconcile ancient geological substrates with recent environmental structures. Furthermore, the model identifies the ancient Sahara during the African Humid Period as the historical physical counterpart to the Garden of Eden—a hyper-fertile basin featuring extensive lake networks and river systems prior to rapid desertification. Grounded in Hebraic linguistic analysis (treating adam as a collective lineage and erets as a localized territory) and cognitive development frameworks, this paper demonstrates how specialized environmental design catalyzed the evolution from proto-consciousness to higher-order moral reasoning.