The purpose of the book of Genesis is to provide an etiology, i.e. an explanation of the origin of the world and of the Hebrew people, also called Israelites, under a theological point of view.
The narrative of the biblical text consists of events, characters, plots, and a space and time where these events took place. Reading the Scriptures without paying attention to these elements will prevent you from grasping all that the author meant to convey when he wrote the text.
I don’t see much importance given to biblical geography nowadays but it is fundamental not only in Genesis but also in the entire Bible. One of the reasons Geography is so significant resides in the fact that the Jewish people exist because of the land and because of God. It is not possible to break the trilogy God-people-land. The Bible is perhaps the only argument the Jews have to legitimate their right to live in the Holy Land.
Below are some examples of biblical texts related to actual geography in the Middle East. No one knows where the Garden of Eden was, but there are references in Genesis to the rivers Tigris and Euphrates (Gen. 2:14) that still flow from Turkey to Iraq, passing by Syria, towards the Persian Gulf.
Another example is the journey of Abraham from Mesopotamia to Canaan, which follows the natural route called Fertile Crescent that consist of an arc connecting Northern Egypt to the area where the rivers mentioned above are. The flow of people and goods between Egypt and Mesopotamia followed this path to avoid the inhospitable desert which is in between.
Edom is a hilly and rocky place in the east side of Jordan river, in Jordania, and it is characterized by red dirt and red rocks. Curiously, the Bible describes Esau, the father of the Edomites, as red since he was born (Gen. 25:25), even the food that caused him to lose his birthright was red (Gen. 25:30).
Where exactly where Sodom and Gomorra? Again, it cannot be determined, however considering that Lot chose fertile plain of Jordan to live (Gen. 13:10) gives us a hint. The fact that Lot’s wife became a pillar of salt when they were fleeing the city (Gen. 19:26), connects with the fact that the Dead Sea is surrounded by salt rocks and its water contains thirty-three percent of salt; so the cities would have been somewhere in that area.
The conflicts about the wells in Beer Sheva that Abraham (Gen. 21:25…) and Isaac (Gen. 26:17…) faced are illustrated by the fact that water is like gold in that desertic area of Negeb and controlling it means power.
Even the description that the Promised Land would flow with honey and milk (Ex. 3:8) has to do with geography. Israel, or Canaan in biblical times, is very fertile in the north and very dry in the south, so its climatic variety is favorable either for herding or raising crops.
It is fundamental to consider Middle-East geography as you read the text. Consulting the maps in your Bible and checking places and names on the internet can provide a scenario to the stories and enhance your reading experience. Enjoy it!