3. MUSLIM CONTRIBUTION TO SCIENCE

~ 130 ~ that therein dwelt a mysterious spirit, which caused the water to move, and made it useful or harmful. 64 The river Skamandros in ancient Greece evidently was so personified, according to Aeshines, a fourth century B.C. Greek orator. Girls bathed in it before marrying and said: “Skamandros, accept my virginity.” Magical rites in which water serves as a substitute for semen or the fertility of men are numerous. 65 Because rivers were held to be sacred in ancient times (even to this day, some are still held sacred) people began to worship them and offer up sacrifices to them. It was this concept of holiness that hindered man in his conquest of nature. People saw rivers in the form of deities rather than in the form of physical objects to be exploited by common methods. That is why the use of river water in agriculture remained limited in antiquity. It is astonishing that the history of irrigation had its beginnings in relatively modern times. With the onset of the Islamic revolution based on monotheism, it was revealed to man that the river was a creature and not a creator, it was a servant