Though all true cast iron is brittle, in the sense that it is not usefully malleable, i.e.
I feel I've spent a couple of hours very usefully.
We know, in short, that the water is not being usefully employed.
The related literature is enormous (see the bibliographies to the special articles); it is indexed annually in Orientalische Bibliographie (Berlin), and is usefully summarized in the Theologische Jahresbericht (Berlin).
Reading overall as a cultural and political analysis, it usefully complements and refreshes a field which will welcome this contribution to the debate.