ect became accentuated the same deity could
become a Vedic _deva_ or an Avestan _daeva_, a _deus_ or a devil, a god
of kindness or a demon of wickedness.

The acts which the earliest "gods" were supposed to perform were not at
first regarded as supernatural. They were merely the boons which the
mortal ruler was supposed to be able to confer, by controlling the
waters of irrigation and rendering the land fertile. It was only when
his powers became apotheosized with a halo of accumulated glory (and the
growth of knowledge revealed the insecurity of the scientific basis upon
which his fame was built up) that a priesthood reluctant to abandon any
of the attributes which had captured the popular imagination, made it an
obligation of belief to accept these supernatural powers of the gods for
which the student of natural phenomena refused any longer to be a
sponsor. This was the parting of the ways between science and religion;
and thenceforth the attributes of the "gods" became definitely and
admittedly superhuman.

As I have already stated (p. 23) the original object of the offering of
libations was thus clearly for the purpose of animating the statue of
the deceased and so enabling him to continue the existence which had
merely been interrupted by the incident of death. In course of time,
however, as definite gods gradually materialized and came to be
represented by statues, they also had to be vitalized by offerings of
water from time to time. Thus the pouring out of libations came to be an
act of worship of the deity; and in this form it has persisted until our
own times in many civilized countries.

But not only was water regarded as a means of animating the dead, or
statues representing the dead, and an appropriate act of worship, in
that it vitalized an idol and the god dwelling in it was thus able to
hear and answer supplications. Water also became an essential part of
any act of ritual rebirth.[53] As a baptism it also symbolized the
giving of life. The initiate was re-born into a new communion of faith.
In scores of other ways the same conception of the life-giving
properties of water was responsible for as many applications of the use
of libations in inaugurating new enterprises, such as "baptising" ships
and blessing buildings. It is important to remember that, according to
early Egyptian beliefs, the continued existence of the dead was wholly
dependent upon the attentions of the living. Unless this animating
c