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Symbolism of waterIn Religion, Mythology and Philosophy

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Moses – Crossing the waterOne of the most famous stories

of the Bible is God’s parting of the Red Sea to save the Israelites from the Egyptian army and the subsequent drowning of soldiers and horses in hot pursuit.

“And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.” (Exodus 14:21)

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Noah’s arkNoah's Ark  is a vessel

appearing in the Book of Genesis (chapters 6–9) and the Quran (surahs Hud and Al-Mu’minoon). These narratives describe the construction of a large, seagoing ark by the Patriarch Noah at God's command to save himself, his family, and the world's animals from the worldwide deluge of the Great Flood.

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Jesus – Walking on waterWalking on water is one of the

many miracles Jesus Christ was believed to have performed. This miracle is recorded in the Gospels of John (6:16 �24), of Matthew (14:22-33) and of Mark 6:45-52. According to the Gospel of Matthew and of Mark, this miracle occurred directly after "feeding the five thousand" miracle took place. However, the Gospel of John narrates the miracle of walking on water occurred in the evening after the feeding of the five thousand people.

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IchthysIchthys, from Koine Greek: ἰχθύς,

(capitalized ΙΧΘΥΣ or ΙΧΘΥϹ) is the Greek word for "fish". In English, this refers to a symbol consisting of two intersecting arcs, the ends of the right side extending beyond the meeting point so as to resemble the profile of a fish, used by early Christians as a secret Christian symbol and now known colloquially as the "sign of the fish" or the "Jesus fish.

ΙΧΘΥΣ (Ichthys) is an acronym for "Ἰησοῦς Χριστός, Θεοῦ Υἱός, Σωτήρ", which translates into English as "Jesus Christ, God's Son, Savior".

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BaptismBaptism (from the Greek noun Βάπτισμα baptisma; itself derived from

baptismos, washing)is a Christian rite of admission (or adoption), almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also a particular church tradition. Baptism has been called a sacrament and an ordinance of Jesus Christ.

In some traditions, baptism is also called christening, but for others the word "christening" is reserved for the baptism of infants.

The New Testament reports that Jesus was baptized. The usual form of baptism among the earliest Christians was for the naked candidate to be immersed totally (submersion) or partially (standing or kneeling in water while water was poured on him or her).While John the Baptist's use of a deep river for his baptism suggests immersion, pictorial and archaeological evidence of Christian baptism from the 3rd century onward indicates that a normal form was to have the candidate stand in water while water was poured over the upper body. Other common forms of baptism now in use include pouring water three times on the forehead.

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Holy Water

Water is the natural element for cleansing, and hence its use was common in almost every ancient faith, to denote interior purification. Among the Greeks and Romans the sprinkling of water, or "lustration," was an important feature of religious ceremonies. Cities were purified by its use, in solemn processions. Fields were prepared for planting by being blessed with water. Armies setting out for war were put under the protection by being sprinkled in a similar manner.  have always attached great importance to ceremonial purification by means of water. In Christianity water has been sanctified by a priest for the purpose of baptism; the blessingof persons, places, and objects, or as a means of repelling evil.

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Poseidon’s tridentParallel to its fishing origins,

the trident is associated with Poseidon, the god of the sea in Greek Mythology.

In Greek myth, Poseidon used his trident to create water sources in Greece and the Horse. Poseidon, as well as being god of the sea, was also known as the "Earth Shaker" because when he struck the earth in anger he caused mighty earthquakes and he used his trident to stir up tidal waves, tsunamis and sea storms

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Aphrodite’s birthAphrodite, the

ancient Greek goddess of love, was born of the sea. When Cronus castrated his father Uranus, he threw the severed genitals into the ocean, which began to foam. From the Aphros ("sea foam") arose Aphrodite.

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Alexander the Great’s sister-mermaidA popular Greek legend talks about a mermaid who lived

in the Aegean for hundreds of years who was thought to be Alexander's sister Thessalonike. The legend states that Alexander, in his quest for the Fountain of Immortality, retrieved with great exertion a flask of immortal water with which he bathed his sister's hair. When Alexander died his sister attempted to end her life by jumping into the sea. Instead of drowning, however, she became a mermaid. To the sailors who encountered her she would always pose the same question: "Is Alexander the king alive?", to which the correct answer would be "He lives and still rules

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AtlantisAtlantis (in Greek, Ἀτλαντὶς νῆσος, "island of Atlas") is a

legendary island first mentioned in Plato's dialogues Timaeus and Critias, written about 360 BC.

According to Plato, Atlantis was a naval power lying "in front of the Pillars of Hercules" that conquered many parts of Western Europe and Africa 9,000 years before the time of Solon, or approximately 9600 BC. After a failed attempt to invade Athens, Atlantis sank into the ocean "in a single day and night of misfortune".

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NymphsThe Nymphai (or

Nymphs in English) were minor nature goddesses which populated the cosmos. Although they were ranked below the gods, they were still invited to attend the assemblies of the gods on Olympus.

The Nymphai presided over various natural phenomena: from springs, to clouds, trees, caverns, meadows, and beaches. They were responsible chiefly for the care of the plants and animals of their domain, and as such were closely associated with the prime gods of nature such as Hermes, Dionysus, Artemis, Poseidon and Demeter.

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River StyxIn ancient Greece,

the souls of the dead were ferried to rest across the dark waters of the River Styx. This river separates the world of the living from the world of the dead.

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Water ( classical element )Water is one of

the elements in ancient Greek philosophy.In contemporary esoteric traditions, it is commonly associated with the qualities of emotion and intuition

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Usage of waterThroughout the history

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Archimedes – Golden CrownAccording to Vitruvius, a golden

crown had been made for King Hiero II, and Archimedes was asked to determine whether some silver had been substituted by the dishonest goldsmith. Archimedes had to solve the problem without damaging the crown. While taking a bath, he noticed that the level of the water in the tub rose as he got in. By dividing the mass of the crown by the volume of water displaced, the density of the crown could be obtained. This density would be lower than that of gold if cheaper and less dense metals had been added. Archimedes then took to the streets naked, so excited by his discovery that he had forgotten to dress, crying "Eureka.

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Aqueduct An aqueduct is a water supply or navigable channel constructed to

convey water. In modern engineering, the term is used for any system of pipes, ditches, canals, tunnels, and other structures used for this purpose. In a more restricted use, aqueduct (occasionally water bridge) applies to any bridge or viaduct that transports water—instead of a path, road or railway—across a gap. Large navigable aqueducts are used as transport links for boats or ships. Aqueducts must span a crossing at the same level as the watercourses on each end. Although particularly associated with the Romans, aqueducts were devised much earlier in Greece and the Near East and Indian subcontinent, where peoples such as the Egyptians and Harappans built sophisticated irrigation systems. Roman-style aqueducts were used as early as the 7th century BCE, when the Assyrians built an 80 km long limestone aqueduct, which included a 10 m high section to cross a 300 m wide valley, to carry water to their capital city, Nineveh

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Watermills

A watermill is a structure that uses a water wheel or turbine to drive a mechanical process such as flour, lumber or textile production, or metal shaping (rolling, grinding or wire drawing). There are two basic types of watermill, one powered by a vertical waterwheel via a gearing mechanism, and the other equipped with a horizontal waterwheel without such a mechanism. The former type can be further divided, depending on where the water hits the wheel paddles, into undershot, overshot, breastshot and reverse shot waterwheel mills.

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Dam A dam is a barrier that impounds water or underground

streams. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees (also known as dikes) are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions. Hydropower and pumped-storage hydroelectricity are often used in conjunction with dams to generate electricity. A dam can also be used to collect water or for storage of water which can be evenly distributed between locations.The word dam can be traced back to Middle English,and before that, from Middle Dutch, as seen in the names of many old cities . Early dam building took place in Mesopotamia and the Middle East. Dams were used to control the water level, for Mesopotamia's weather affected the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, and could be quite unpredictable.

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Hydroelectric Plant Hydroelectricity is the

term referring to electricity generated by hydropower ; the production of electrical power through the use of the gravitational force of falling or flowing water. It is the most widely used form of renewable energy , accounting for 16 percent of global electricity consumption, and 3,427 terawatt-hours of electricity production in 2010, which continues the rapid rate of increase experienced between 2003 and 2009.


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