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Perhaps the earliest fountains date to the beginnings of urbanism, around 3000 BCE, where they were used as early palace and garden decoration, as well as bringing water into these buildings. Often, fountains were associated with sacred, religious areas where gardens had important religious meaning and water played an important role in ritual. Fountains were first discovered in southern Mesopotamia, in modern Iraq, where a series of basins were utilized in the ancient city of Lagash that likely tapped water from irrigation networks and canals nearby. Gods, such as Ea, were associated with water, thus fountains were made to represent water flowing out from the god. In the palace of Mari, from around 1800 BCE, a fountain of a goddess has been found and, in many ways, similar to much later fountains, where she holds a vase that then has water flowing out, perhaps suggesting how the goddess provides life giving water (Figure 1). Ancient Egypt had likely similar fountains, although relatively little has been depicted of ancient fountains there.<ref>For more on ancient fountains in the Middle East, see: Gates, C. (2011) <i>Ancient cities: the archaeology of urban life in the ancient Near East and Egypt, Greece, and Rome</i>. 2nd ed. Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, Routledge, pg. 65.</ref>

Gods, such as Ea, were associated with water, thus fountains were made to represent water flowing out from the god. In the palace of Mari, from around 1800 BCE, a fountain of a goddess has been found and, in many ways, similar to much later fountains, where she holds a vase that then has water flowing out, perhaps suggesting how the goddess provides life giving water (Figure 1). Ancient Egypt had likely similar fountains, although relatively little has been depicted of ancient fountains there.<ref>For more on ancient fountains in the Middle East, see: Gates, C. (2011) <i>Ancient cities: the archaeology of urban life in the ancient Near East and Egypt, Greece, and Rome</i>. 2nd ed. Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, Routledge, pg. 65.</ref> As gardens developed with improved water technologies by the early 1st millennium BCE, more elaborate fountains and gardens were created, such as at Nineveh in northern Iraq. Aqueducts were now introduced and later Greeks began adopting this technology. However, what differed from Mesopotamia is that rather than using fountains as royal or religious architecture specifically, fountains began to have a more civic meaning. For instance, at Athens, the sixth century BCE ruler Peisistratos built <i>Enneacrounos</i>, which became a symbol for the city. The name for this fountain means nine spouts, suggesting a large fountain with nine spouts. Its place in the agora of Athens suggest it was intended to be a public feature, although to this day the feature has not been found.  Most likely, the fountain utilized a nearby natural spring to feed it, thus it may have also had a practical purpose in providing water for Athenians. Thus, while fountains became adorned as public symbols of cities, they also served as potentially practically useful water springs. The Athenian fountain, along with those from Mesopotamia and others, likely used gravity flow and even pressurized water through narrow pipes. It is not clear if water coming out was always recycled or how this would have been done in early fountains. Water pumps powered by wind were utilized in cities in the Mediterranean by the Classical period, including Alexandria, Rome, and cities in Greece. <ref>For more on how Greek and classical fountains developed, see: Margaret Melanie Miles (ed.) (2016) <i>A companion to Greek architecture</i>. Blackwell companions to the ancient world. Chichester, West Sussex, Wiley Blackwell, pg. 13.</ref>

[[File:5487278337 195b335491 b.jpg|thumbnail|300px360px|left|Figure 2. The Trevi Fountain is perhaps among the most famous mountainsfountains, which was built in the 18th century.]]The tradition of fountains in the Middle East never went away after the arrival of Islam in the early Medieval period. In fact, gardens and fountains became more elaborate. Fountains became part of what conceptually represented paradise in Islam. This is similar to the ancient Persian concept, where the word paradise derives from gardens. Pumps now were utilized, including wind-powered pumps similar to those developed by Greek engineers in the Classical period. Underground channels and pipes helped to pressurize and distribute water within enclosed areas, while pumps helped to circulate water around gardens. Fountains now also became designed so that water would come out forming different shapes, including geometric designs. Siphoned water, where the world siphon derives from a Persian word, appear to have been developed to allow water to come out similar to natural springs.  Fountains were designed as part of the irrigation network for gardens, where water would be brought out of fountains and distributed to a variety of trees and plants growing in palatial gardens. Ritual washing has for thousands of years been associated with religious activity. By the Islamic period, however, fountains now were placed in public areas so that worshipers could use them to wash before entering sacred areas of mosques and performing their prayers.<ref>For more on Medieval Islamic fountains, see: Lindsay, J.E. (2008) <i>Daily life in the medieval Islamic world</i>. The Greenwood Press ‘Daily life through history’ series. Indianapolis, IN, Hackett Pub. Co, pg. 125.</ref> <dh-ad/>