The Beginning of Agriculture

 ...

Genesis 3 17-19 And unto Adam He said: 'Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying: Thou shalt not eat of it; cursed is the ground for thy sake; in toil shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life. 18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field. 19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken; for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.' 

The Bible informs us that agriculture was the punishment meted out to Adam for his disobedience. 

Biblical scholars date Adam to have existed anywhere between 4,000 -10,000 years ago. 

Agriculture is generally dated to have started around 7,000 - 9,000 years ago. 

There seems to be an overlap, if the above assumed dates are correct. However, there are many differences of opinions. The common theme is that:

• humans existed before Adam (Genesis 1, Quran 15:26), 
• Adam was created later (Genesis 2, Quran 15:28),
• agriculture came into existence later 

The Bible and The Quran inform us that initially Adam had been placed in a comfortable Garden where all his needs were provided for. The cultivated Garden pre-existed Adam. 

In Genesis 2 15-17, God had commanded and warned Adam thus: 

Screenshot from arabicbible.com

Genesis 2 15 And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying: 'Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.'   

Reading the narrative in Surah TaHa, we learn: 

وَلَقَدْ عَهِدْنَا إِلَىٰ آدَمَ مِن قَبْلُ فَنَسِيَ وَلَمْ نَجِدْ لَهُ عَزْمًا

وَإِذْ قُلْنَا لِلْمَلَائِكَةِ اسْجُدُوا لِآدَمَ فَسَجَدُوا إِلَّا إِبْلِيسَ أَبَىٰ

فَقُلْنَا يَا آدَمُ إِنَّ هَـٰذَا عَدُوٌّ لَّكَ وَلِزَوْجِكَ فَلَا يُخْرِجَنَّكُمَا مِنَ الْجَنَّةِ فَتَشْقَىٰ

إِنَّ لَكَ أَلَّا تَجُوعَ فِيهَا وَلَا تَعْرَىٰ

وَأَنَّكَ لَا تَظْمَأُ فِيهَا وَلَا تَضْحَىٰ

 And verily We made a covenant of old with Adam, but he forgot, and We found no constancy in him

And when We said unto the angels: Fall prostrate before Adam, they fell prostrate (all) save Iblis; he refused

Therefor we said: O Adam! This is an enemy unto thee and unto thy wife, so let him not drive you both out of the Garden so that thou come to toil

It is (vouchsafed) unto thee that thou hungerest not therein nor art naked

And that thou thirstest not therein nor art exposed to the sun's heat
[Al-Quran 20:115-119, Translation: Pickthal]

Adam's being thrown out of the Garden, and the earliest traces of Agriculture, seem to coincide with the scriptural history of the world.    

And Allah knows best. 

...