In the ancient Greek philosophy, "arche" is the element and the first principle of existing things. This is considered as a permanent substance or nature (physis) either one or more which is conserved in the generation of rest of it. From this all things first come to be and into this they are resolved in a final state. This source of entity is always preserved. (Aristotle-Metaph.A, 983, b6ff). Anaximander was the first philosopher that used "arche" for that which writers from Aristotle onwards called "the substratum" (Simplicius Phys. 150, 22). The Greek philosophers ascribed to "arche" divine attributes. It is the divine horizon of substance that encompasses and values all things.