There are three indispensable elements necessary
for the creation and sustenance of life in general and human life
in particular-food, air, water. We cannot conceive of human life
existing without even one of the above elements.
The original man, in line with the rest
of the animal world, satisfied his need at the outset by partaking
of water from sources that nature provided for him in the form
of rivers, lakes, streams, and springs. The same nature provided
for him food in the form of roots, fruits from trees and bushes,
nuts and other edibles without any effort on his part to plant
or care for these gifts. This state of affairs continued for a
long period of time until man developed-slowly and by degrees-and
rose above the rest of the animal world.
The instinct of self-preservation inherent
in creatures of nature and particularly in those of the human
species forced man to seek the companionship of those like him.
Thus the nomadic life made its appearance in its most primitive
form, that of living in caves and hunting for food. The struggle
for existence was always fierce, uninterrupted and deadly. Only
the hardiest survived. The struggle was conducted not only against
the natural forces which were never hospitable to human life but
also against the many animals that were neither respectful nor
tolerant of his presence. From the primitive and food-gathering
life and the development of elementary forms of communication
in what we may today call language, man moved steadily through
thousands of years to a sort of private village, a communal form
of living and simple forms of agriculture.
In the long journey that characterized man's
march to the present day the basic, most powerful, propelling
force that shaped his action was the need to secure food and water.
Air was beyond his control. This is shown practically in all excavations
of prehistoric human habitations. They all had one thing in common;
all were located near sources of water-spring, river, lake or
stream.
When the human mind overcame the barriers
of nature and man was no longer a total slave to its uncontrolled
powers; when man had risen to a position that enabled him to harness
or manipulate the forces of nature, the basis for a well-conceived
and fairly systematic social organization made its appearance.
Water could be brought from long distances by human effort by
detouring streams, using ditches as channels and gradually by
constructing cisterns, digging wells or building aqueducts.
The Bronze Age, approximately from 9000
to 1500 B.C., was characterized by a high degree of human organization.
The excavations of the archaeologist have revealed for us the
social life and organization of the Summerians, Assyrians, Babylonians
and other Mesopotamian peoples in addition to that of the Hittites
in Asia Minor and the Egyptians along the Nile River.
The spectacular discoveries of Harappa,
Mahenjo Daro and Lathom in the Indus Valley (present day West
Pakistan) have revealed elaborate systems of drains and water
supply methods going back to 2500 B.C. All the above riverine
civilizations, thriving as they did between the Euphrates, Tigris,
Nile and Indus rivers, blossomed within that long period known
to us by the cryptic term of "Bronze Age."
There is an intriguing similarity between
the lives of these people in spite of the distances that separated
them. Water canals for drinking purposes and irrigation of the
land were very much in use by them. Incidentally and perhaps by
coincidence they were the first to use the land and developed
early forms of agriculture instead of depending on nature alone
to provide food for them as was the case with the primitive man.
We find similar man-made water canals and other water-saving devices
in ancient Egypt as early as 4000 years B.C.
The Egyptians believed in life after death
and spoke freely about it. They prepared themselves all through
life for what they would do or what they would say when the time
came to go to that unknown after-death world. Water was sacred
to the Egyptians. On one of the stone slabs unearthed was inscribed
the "confession" of a man who was readying himself for
that journey and who was prepared to say that he had not "held
up water in its season" nor had ever "built a dam against
running water."
The Minoan and Mycenian Bronze Age civilizations
show the same degree of skill and knowledge in regard to water.
They built their cities almost exclusively on high elevations
and hillsides and provided them with an intricate system of water
supply and distribution from springs or streams coming down from
higher mountains often miles away. Cisterns and wells to conserve
rain water are also much in evidence.
Leaving behind us the prehistoric periods,
it is wise to also examine briefly how better-known and better-organized
civilizations handled the very same problem-namely that of water.
Rome received its water in ample supply by means of aqueducts
45 miles in length. The water of more than one river was channeled
into those aqueducts. The Greco-Roman historian, Strabo, informs
us that "water is brought into the city in such quantities
that veritable rivers flow through the city and the sewers. Eleven
aqueducts carry 200 million gallons daily to Rome."
Elaborate public baths were constructed
in Rome and other cities as far back as the third century B.C.
The baths built by Emperor Caracalla in that century covered 33
acres of land and accommodated 1600 bathers daily. The same Romans
also built the famous aqueducts of Segovia that decorate the Spainsh
landscape so majestically to the present day. Thirteen miles long,
they are considered to be an engineering marvel.
Outside Rome a visitor even today can view
with wonder the remnants of the Claudian aqueduct. Massive and
imposing, silhouetted against the fair Italian sky, it is a monument
to man's intelligence and his ability to defy nature. It was 45
miles long and was constructed in about 50 A.D.
The city of Constantinople presents us with
a similar picture. A list preserved since 400 A.D. shows that
that city, relatively small then, had "eight public baths,
153 private baths including' the renowned baths of Zeuxippus,
eight aqueducts and many cisterns." This was almost 100 years
before Constantinople became the second capital of the Roman Empire,
in 330 A.D.
The Arabs, Turks, Mohammedans or Moslems
known collectively as Islamic peoples being primarily desert dwellers
had a very high degree of appreciation for water. It was intimately
associated with their religion. Mohammed, their prophet, reputedly
said that "prayer is like a stream of water that flows past
the door each one of you." Asked once to name the act of
greatest merit he is quoted as replying, "to give people
water!"
The above bits of historical information are presented in order to show the preoccupation of human beings with the need for water even many centuries ago. Our age has learned much from the experiences of people who preceded us.