People have used geothermal water and mineral waters for bathing and their health for many thousands of years. Balneology, the practice of using natural mineral spring water for the treatment and cure of disease, also has a long history. Based on archeological finds in Asia, mineral water has been used for bathing since the Bronze Age, about 5000 years ago. Many hot springs sources have been used in connection with religious rites in Egypt and by the Jews in the Middle East. The Greeks, Turks and Romans were famous for their spa development and use from Persia to England. The word "spa" traces its origin to a town near Liege in southern Belgium near the German border. Here a spring, of iron bearing water, was used by an ironmaster in 1326 to cure his ailments. He founded a health resort at the spring called Espa (meaning fountain in the Walloon language). Espa became so popular, that the word known in English as spa, became the common designation for similar health resorts around the world