ancient life giving water..

*taken from notes in my journal written december 2011

im no anthropologist. in fact it is in my envy of anthropology and the collection of all information gathered through the years that i am propelled to explore the ancient world to the best of my learning and understanding.

as ive been told we must first create a myth as to why we are here and where we have been before we can understand our purpose today. somewhere in our mythology we have pinpointed many great rivers and other bodies of fresh water to which we credit what would perhaps be the greatest advancement our kind has made: the agricultural revolution. as i sit by the banks of the Tigris River (Dicle Nehri) i dip my fingers into its waters and can almost feel the life this water has offered seep into my skin. i take a splash of it to my face. it was at these banks that our kind first assembled a more sustainable form of life known as farming. we no longer we a wandering species, at least not in the same sense that we once were. our numbers grew as we developed a means of storing food known as the granary.

with the safety of stability we were allowed to expand both outwardly and introspectively; the sense of self. life expectancy became longer and we developed means of caring for our sick instead of leaving the weak behind to be consumed by nature. families grew and we were given different roles and tasks to perform. it was in this selection that our character grew as well as our sense of place from within the community.

perhaps the most curious thing of all was the way that this seemed to happen simultaniously in many places around the world essentially at the same time. great bodies of fresh water offered life and refuge in the same way that it has drawn many animals of different kingdoms since life itself began. as we took these waters into dry land we built farms and its of no surprise that we began to look to the sky in realization that without the great burning star that watches over us none of this would be possible. it is also of no surprise that we began to worship this burning star and make offerings of grain to it as our farms would not survive without the light coming from above.

we began to live in harmony with the earth and we took from it only that which we could give back. our kind was once a very thankful species and its of no wonder that we saw the value of life in such purity. we even made offerings of blood from our own kind that it may soak into the earth and appease whatever forces have allowed us to continue our growth in peace.

i am absolutely humbled by the experiences ive had in this last few days on my quest to touch the waters which advanced my kind into what it is today.