AQUARIUS

Water carrier Wassermann Vízöntő

Aquarius is an equatorial constellation of the zodiac. It is one of the oldest recognized constellations, yet because of its fainter stars it is somewhat insignificant compared to other constellations. It lies in a region often called the Sea due to its profusion of constellations with watery associations such as Cetus the whale, Pisces the fish and Eridanus the river.

In ancient Mesopotamia the constellation had a significant role as it lies on the yearly path of the Sun. It was identified as GU.LA "The Great One" in the Babylonian star catalogues. It represented the god Ea in the Akkadian religion (also known as Enki in the sumerian legends), the god of water, crafts and creation, also one of the Annunnaki, a group of deities of the ancient Sumerians, Akkadians, Assyrians and Babylonians.
In Greek mythology, Aquarius is sometimes associated with Deucalion, who built a ship with his wife Pyrrha to survive a flood, that Zeus sent to the world to wipe out the evil mankind. They sailed for nine days before washing ashore on Mount Parnassus, and recreated humanity with the help of the gods by throwing Gaia's bones behind their backs. Aquarius also appeared in the ancient Egyptian astronomy, and was associated with the annual flood of the Nile.