WATER, CONSECRATION OF, IN THE GREEK CHURCH: The consecration of water is a custom so early that its beginnings can not be traced. Cyprian (Epist., L·ax. [lxx. in Oxford ed.]; ANF, v. 376) mentions the requirement that the water of baptism be purified and sanctified by the priest, a requirement enforced by a synod at Carthage in 256; the water then became a miraculous agency. The Apostolic Constitutions (vii. 43; Eng. transl. in ANF, vii. 477) preserve a prayer of thanksgiving for the water of baptism, the ceremony corresponding to the thanksgiving preceding the Lord's Supper, though. the conception hardly invaded the realm of dogmatics. Yet Ambrose and Augustine, as well as Chrysostom, held that water so blessed was restricted in its use to sacramental purposes. After the ninth century Holy Water (q.v.) became a permanent institution, the consecration of it at first taking place at the usual baptismal seasons at Easter, Whitsuntide, arid Epiphany, and then later consecration for the year took place at Easter or Whitsuntide. The Greek Church used Epiphany for this ceremony, in commemoration of the baptism of Christ, and it has long been a tradition that water so treated would never become foul. The practise still continues and is accompanied with great solemnity, while the streams and sources of the water are also the objects of blessings and ceremonies in which processions have their part. The Greek Church observes a " greater " and a " lesser " sanctification of the water. The former takes place at Epiphany, either in the church porch or at the stream, and the liturgy recalls the early ecclesiastical symbolism. Homilies and sermons at this period bear upon the subject, and the mystical doctrines of the church center much on this season. The lesser consecration takes place before a vessel of water and is attended with incensing and touching of the water with a cross. The liturgy invokes the endowment of the water with power to heal soul and body. This corresponds to the employment of holy water in the Church of Rome.

(Philipp Meyer.)

Bibliography: Bingham, Origines, XT., x.; J. Goar, Euchologion, sive rituale Gra'corum, pp. 353 sqq., 387, Paris, 1847; J. M. Heineccius, Abbildung der alten and neuen griechischen Kirche, ii. 244-247, Leipsic, 1711- J. C. W. Augusti, Denkwlirdigkeiten, 1208, Leipsic, 1818; DCA, i. 777-779.

WATER SUPPLY IN PALESTINE: With the exception of Galilee or the plain of Jezreel, Palestine is insufficiently supplied with water. Moreover, since the dry season lasts nearly six months, the inhabitants have ever been urgently pressed to husband their natural water supplies. The sources of supply are as follows:

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(1) Artificial devices for the better economy of water, for protecting springs from choking or filth, may still be found at many places, especially since the Roman occupation. Thus, the fountain of Rae el-`Ain, near Tyre, is encompassed by a basin of masonry twenty-four and a half feet in height; thereby serving to bring the water to the proper conduit level. Similar contrivances exist in the plain of Gennesaret. The springs which feed Solomon's Pools are provided with reservoir chambers. (2) Wells (be'er) were artificial pits, in which either the surface water or that of some underground spring was stored. From the latter came the characteristic term, " wells," or fountains, of " living water " (Gen. xxvi. 19). They were frequently quite deep; thus, Jacob's well, below Mount Gerizim (John iv. 12), shows still a depth of over seventy-three feet. These wells were of more or leas adequate masonry, the mouth being covered with stone slabs, while the aperture for drawing was also securely closed (Gen. xxix. 3 sqq.; cf. Ex. xxi. 33). The water was drawn up in a pitcher or bucket with a long rope, and there were troughs for the cattle (Gen. xxx. 38). Such wells were especially provided in the arid pasture country (Gen. xxix. 2 sqq.; II Chron. xxvi. 10); or about appropriate sites for caravans (Gen. xxiv. 62; Num. xxi. 16 sqq.; Deut. x. 6). The best-known among the many wells still preserved are those of Beersheba and Jacob's well. (3) Cisterns (b&r) are used for storing rain-water. They are capacious underground cavities. They existed in almost all the old cities: Megiddo, Taanach, Gezer (q.v.); and notably in Jerusalem, where, indeed, every house still has its own cistern. In earlier times, they were hewn out of the rock; later, they were also, sometimes, walled up with masonry. Natural cavities were preferred where available. Particularly renowned are the great cisterns about the square of the Temple, many of which probably date back to the time of Solomon's fortifications. The largest, called the "King's Cistern," is forty-two feet deep and 406 feet in circuit. (4) The "pools" (berekha) are uncovered artificial reservoirs. Where it was feasible, they were hewn out of rock. Topographical depressions were utilized, as, in this case, the construction was simpler, and the water more easily collected. Yet again, the pools are formed by dame made by carrying two stout stone walls across the valley, and then excavating the intervening area down to rock bottom. This was the plan of the socalled "Solomon's Pools." The dams were filled with rain-water and with spring water, if such was available. In the case of Solomon's Pools, the water was conveyed in aqueducts from three remote springs. Some idea of the size of the dams may be gained from the dimensions of the nethermost of the three "Solomon's Pools," which is 580 feet long on the lower aide, 206 feet broad, and 49 feet in maximum depth. Not a few of Palestine's numerous dams antedate the Israelitiah era. (5) Of the aqueducts, the oldest are the tunnel of Siloam, and "Solomon's" conduit (see Jerusalem, II., V., § 3). The latter work is probably Herodian. To this period, in turn, belong moat of the other constructions of the kind yet surviving in ruins. The Romans, and, following their example, the contem-

porary Jewish princes, expended great pains in behalf of adequate water supplies. The conduits, for the most part, were above ground, merely open gutters, which ran along the surface and often made wide d6toura to avoid depresaion§. However, the principle of the siphon was also employed with some of the older aqueducts of Jerusalem for spanning a lesser valley, a water-tight carrier being contrived by laying a line of perforated (and cemented) quarry atones across the gap. On the other hand, the Roman conduits, . borne by great aqueducts, cleared larger valleys. Hezekiah's tunnel of Siloam is, of course, underground; and, all in all, a plumb level was maintained, the vertical differential between entrance and exit being about one foot.

I. Benzinger.

Bibliography: C. Schick, in ZDPV, i. (1878). 132-178;

Perrot and C. Chipies, Hist. de fart daps l'antiquitk, v iv., Paris, 1887; G. Ebeis and H. Guthe, Palicsatima in Bild and Wont, i. 11Q-128, 150-154, Stuttgart, 1883; Ben

zinger, Archaeologie, pp. 207-208.