The garden is an archetypal setting. An archetype is an element that is easily understood or recognized universally. Other archetypal settings might be a forest, a cave, the ocean and many more. Characters can also be archtypes, called archetypal characters, such as the kindly king, a mother figure, a wicked stepmother, a giant, a villian, and even a hero. These characters and settings are elements that can be easily understood across time and many cultures.
Noah's Ark and the Flood
Chapters six through nine of the Old Testament book, Genesis, give an account of a flooding of the Earth. In this story, The flood is the result of 40 days of rain brought on by God in order to destroy all humanity for its sins. This Biblical narrative, an example of an ancient text, has its own hero, Noah. Noah, his sons, their wives and children and two of every kind of living creature spend forty days and nights on the ark. God at last allows Noah's family to once again step on dry land when the flood water recede, beginning anew the Earth's peopulation.