essence of life was contained in
water. The god of Eridu was the source of the "water of life". He
fertilized parched and sunburnt wastes through rivers and irrigating
canals, and conferred upon man the sustaining "food of life". When
life came to an end--

Food of death will be offered thee...
Water of death will be offered thee...

Offerings of water and food were made to the dead so that the ghosts
might be nourished and prevented from troubling the living. Even the
gods required water and food; they were immortal because they had
drunk ambrosia and eaten from the plant of life. When the goddess
Ishtar was in the Underworld, the land of the dead, the servant of Ea
exclaimed--

"Hail! lady, may the well give me of its waters, so that I may
drink."

The goddess of the dead commanded her servant to "sprinkle the lady
Ishtar with the water of life and bid her depart". The sacred water
might also be found at a confluence of rivers. Ea bade his son,
Merodach, to "draw water from the mouth of two streams", and "on this
water to put his pure spell".

The worship of rivers and wells which prevailed in many countries was
connected with the belief that the principle of life was in moisture.
In India, water was vitalized by the intoxicating juice of the Soma
plant, which inspired priests to utter prophecies and filled their
hearts with religious fervour. Drinking customs had originally a
religious significance. It was believed in India that the sap of
plants was influenced by the moon, the source of vitalizing moisture
and the hiding-place of the mead of the gods. The Teutonic gods also
drank this mead, and poets were inspired by it. Similar beliefs
obtained among various peoples. Moon and water worship were therefore
closely associated; the blood of animals and the sap of plants were
vitalized by the water of life and under control of the moon.

The body moisture of gods and demons had vitalizing properties. When
the Indian creator, Prajapati, wept at the beginning, "that (the
tears) which fell into the water became the air. That which he wiped
away, upwards, became the sky."[50] The ancient Egyptians believed
that all men were born from the eyes of Horus except negroes, who came
from other parts of his body.[51] The creative tears of Ra, the sun
god, fell as shining rays upon the earth. When this god grew old
saliva dripped from his mouth, and Isis mixed the vitalizing moisture
with dust, and thus