<P> And Jacob set up a Pillar in the place where he had spoken with him, a Pillar of Stone; and he poured out a drink offering on it, and poured oil on it . </P> <P> Isaiah uses libation as a metaphor when describing the end of the Suffering Servant figure who "poured out his life unto death". (53: 12) </P> <P> Libation was a central and vital aspect of ancient Greek religion, and one of the simplest and most common forms of religious practice . It is one of the basic religious acts that define piety in ancient Greece, dating back to the Bronze Age and even prehistoric Greece . Libations were a part of daily life, and the pious might perform them every day in the morning and evening, as well as to begin meals . A libation most often consisted of mixed wine and water, but could also be unmixed wine, honey, oil, water, or milk . </P> <P> The form of libation called spondē is typically the ritualized pouring of wine from a jug or bowl held in the hand . The most common ritual was to pour the liquid from an oinochoē (wine jug) into a phiale, a shallow bowl designed for the purpose . After wine was poured from the phiale, the remainder of the contents was drunk by the celebrant . A libation is poured any time wine is to be drunk, a practice that is recorded as early as the Homeric epics . The etiquette of the symposium required that when the first bowl (krater) of wine was served, a libation was made to Zeus and the Olympian gods . Heroes received a libation from the second krater served, and "Zeus the Finisher" (Zeus Teleios) from the third, which was supposed to be the last . An alternative was to offer a libation from the first bowl to the Agathos Daimon and from the third bowl to Hermes . An individual at the symposium could also make an invocation of and libation to a god of his choice . </P>

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