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In early Sumerian civilization, deriving from ancient Mesopotamia, the gods were seen as living in a garden secluded from humans.<ref>For more on gardens and Sumerian beliefs, see: Kramer, Samuel Noah. 1995. ''The Sumerians: Their History, Culture, and Character''. 12. [pr.]. Chicago: The Univ. of Chicago Press.</ref> In the story of Gilgamesh, one of the world’s first epic tales, it describes the hero Gilgamesh traveling to a garden, far away from human civilization, to find the Utnapishtim. This man is the equivalent and likely influenced the development of the Biblical Noah, as in both stories he was saved from a great flood by building a large boat to save himself, his family, and various animals.<ref>For more on the Epic of Gilgamesh, see: Sandars, N. K., ed. 1977. ''The Epic of Gilgamesh. '' Revised ed., incorporating new material. Penguin Classics. Harmondsworth ; New York [etc.]: Penguin.</ref> In the case of Gilgamesh, as Utnapishtim was allowed to live forever, Gilgamesh travels to see him so that he too can find eternal life. Paradise is also described not just as a place of plants and gardens but also having precious stones and pearls. In summary, it is a place filled with luxurious objects and beautiful. A very early tablet that discuses the domain of the gods describes it as a garden, reflecting that gardens and paradise were linked at the outset.<ref>For more on this early tablet from c. 2600 BCE Kish, see: Barton, George Aaron. 1918. ''Miscellaneous Babylonian Inscriptions''. Yale University Press. p. 52.</ref> In different mythologies and stories, potential locations of the gods could be in Mesopotamia, Dilmun (now Bahrain), Lebanon, or perhaps other places. While it is debatable what the region was or where it is in the minds of the Sumerians, it is clearly associated as a peaceful and beautiful setting where the gods reside away from humans. <ref>For information on the location of paradise in the minds of Sumerians, see: Luttikhuizen, Gerard P., ed. 1999. ''Paradise Interpreted: Representations of Biblical Paradise in Judaism and Christianity. Themes in Biblical Narrative'', v. 2. Leiden ; Boston: Brill.</ref>

This concept of garden and a sacred place for the gods continued from the 3rd to 1st millennium BCE and influenced practical architectural developments in sacred structures. Very likely temples built during this time often had gardens within their compounds, although the gardens have not preserved where temples have been excavated. <ref>For more on temple gardens, see: Wiseman, D. J. 1983. “Mesopotamian Gardens.” ''Anatolian Studies '' 33 (December): 137–44</ref> Despite the lack of preservation, we often see large spaces between the physical temple structure, in this example a ziggurat to the god Marduk at Babylon, and an enclosure wall (Figure 1). This could suggest that the space between the temple structure and wall was a garden that likely represented the sacred dwellings area of the gods and the holy structure inside was the inner sanctuary where the god resided. Additionally, in this garden, although little is still known about its meaning, the concept of a sacred Tree of Life is developed in Sumerian mythology. This concept is likely to have been very similar to the Tree of Life found later in the Bible (Figure 2).<ref>For more on the Tree of Life, see: James, E.O. 1966. ''Tree of Life: An Archaeological Study''. Studies in the History of Religion. Brill.</ref>