Ancient history
Ancient history
The Dreaming is a common term within the animist creation narrative of indigenous Australians for a personal, or group, creation and for what may be understood as the “timeless time” of formative creation and perpetual creating.[14]
The ancient Sumerians in Mesopotamia have left evidence of dream interpretation dating back to at least 3100 BC.[15][16] Throughout Mesopotamian history, dreams were always held to be extremely important for divination[16][17] and Mesopotamian kings paid close attention to them.[16][15] Gudea, the king of the Sumerian city-state of Lagash (reigned c. 2144–2124 BC), rebuilt the temple of Ningirsu as the result of a dream in which he was told to do so.[16] The standard Akkadian Epic of Gilgamesh contains numerous accounts of
the prophetic power of dreams.[16] First, Gilgamesh himself has two dreams foretelling the arrival of Enkidu.[16] Later, Enkidu dreams about the heroes’ encounter with the giant Humbaba.[16] Dreams were also sometimes seen as a means of seeing into other worlds[16] and it was thought that the soul, or some part of it, moved out of the body of the sleeping person and actually visited the places and persons the dreamer saw in his or her sleep.[18] In Tablet VII of the epic, Enkidu recounts to Gilgamesh a dream in which he saw the gods Anu, Enlil, and Shamash condemn him to death.[16] He also has a dream in which he visits the Underworld.[16]
The Assyrian king Ashurnasirpal II (reigned 883–859 BC) built a temple to Mamu, possibly the god of dreams, at Imgur-Enlil, near Kalhu.[16] The later Assyrian king Ashurbanipal (reigned 668–c. 627 BC) had a dream during a desperate military situation in which his divine patron, the goddess Ishtar, appeared to him and promised that she would lead him to victory.[16] The Babylonians and Assyri
ans divided dreams into “good,” which were sent by the gods, and “bad,” sent by demons.[17] A surviving collection of dream omens entitled Iškar Zaqīqu records various dream scenarios as well as prognostications of what will happen to the person who experiences each dream, apparently based on previous cases.[16][19] Some list different possible outcomes, based on occasions in which people experienced similar dreams with different results.[16] Dream scenarios mentioned include a variety of daily work events, journeys to different locations, family matters, sex acts, and encounters with human individuals, animals, and deities.[16]
In ancient Egypt, as far back as 2000 BC, the Egyptians wrote down their dreams on papyrus. People with vivid and significant dreams were thought to be blessed and were considered special.[20] Ancient Egyptians believed that dreams were like oracles, bringing messages from the gods. They thought that the best way to receive divine revelation was through dreaming and thus they would induce (or “incubate”) dreams. Egyptians would go to sanctuaries and sleep on special “dream beds” in hope of receiving advice, comfort, or healing from the gods.[21]
