ABSTRACT
The river Nile, one of the four Rivers of Paradise, was a frequent theme in the decoration of churches in the Early Byzantine period. The Nile and the four rivers had, of course, many different meanings for different viewers. Apart from a few outright allegorists, such as Origen, who denied the physical existence of the trees of the Earthly Paradise altogether, most people believed that the Four Rivers actually flowed out of the Garden of Eden. The most remarkable aspect of the four Rivers of Paradise, as they were visualized both by early Byzantine writers and by artists, is that they flowed out of Paradise into the inhabited world as its four major rivers, and thus provided a tangible connection between Paradise with its blessings and mortal human beings. Once they reached our world, the four Rivers of Paradise took on the physical characteristics that are known and recognized by mortals.
