Did you dream last night? I don’t really need to ask, because I know the answer. Dream researchers say we dream every night—often five or more times. But dreaming is not new!
As evidenced by paintings on cave walls from the Neanderthal period and clay tablet journals dating back to 3000 B.C., dreams have been recognized as an important aspect of human experience since the beginning of time.
Since early times, dreams have contributed to the development of culture and history. Dream researcher, Robert L. Van De Castle notes, “The cultural paths of these ancient civilizations were lit, not by electricity, but by the internal illumination provided by dreams” (Our Dreaming Mind).
Let’s take a whirlwind tour through the ancient world of dreams and then you can decide if dreams should be important to today’s seekers of truth.
Mesopotamia—Sumer, Assyria, Babylonian Empires (3100-539 BC)
The first known recorded dreams date from c. 2500 BC in Mesopotamia—5000 years ago. Knowledge about their interest in dreams is based upon the fragmentary written material unearthed by various archaeological expeditions.
Nearly 2500 clay tablets collected from many historical eras (Assyrian & Babylonia) were found in a royal library in Nineveh. Excavators also found broken clay tablets describing the sequential dreams of the legendary Sumerian warrior, Gilgamesh. Interestingly, his mother assisted in interpreting his dreams — perhaps the first dream therapist on record.
The Mesopotamians recognized the value of dreams and took them seriously, even elevating dream interpretation to the status of a religion. They believed pleasant dreams could be a sign of divine favor and good health, and bad dreams, the presence of demonic forces.
The Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar dreamed of a great tree which grew large and an angel shouting: “Chop down the tree and cut off its branches,” saying that this was a command of the holy ones, so that “the living may know that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind (Daniel 4:18).
Ancient Egyptian Culture (3100-30 BC)
Egyptian dream records date back to 2000 B.C. One papyri collection contains 143 good and 91 bad dreams, plus details of interpretation methods, similar to principles used today. An early prophetic dream was recorded on a sheet of granite, held between the paws of the great sphinx of Giza.
Egyptians suggested dreams were simply a different form of seeing, even training dreamers to help plan battles and provide insight on state decisions. They practiced dream incubation in order to encourage a special dream from the gods.
Alexander the Great found strength for battle in a dream, enabling him to capture the city of Tyre and go on to conquer most of the known world while a young man.
Remember the imprisoned cupbearer & baker and how dreams revealed their immediate future (Gen 40:1-23)? The cupbearer dreamed of a grape vine with three branches that shot forth blossoms, buds, and fruit. Pressing the grapes, he presented the cup of wine to Pharaoh. The baker dreamed of three white baskets stacked on his head, filled with baked goods for Pharaoh. However, the birds got there first and ate the goodies.
Ancient Hebraic Culture (2000-37 BC)
The ancient Hebrews valued dreams as a way for God to speak to them, offering both knowledge and gifts. The Old Testament is replete with stories of Hebrew patriarchs whose very approach to life came from the dreams God gave them.
After fleeing home, Jacob dreamed of angels traversing a ladder stretched between heaven and earth and God promising him: “I am with you, and will keep you wherever you go” (Genesis 28: 11-16). Appearing in numerous paintings, stories, and songs, Jacob’s religious experience reveals dreams as a way to receive guidance and direction from God.
The prophet Daniel asked God for interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dreams:” There is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries…what will take place in the latter days… this was your dream and the visions in your mind while on the bed…that you may understand the thoughts of our mind” (Dan. 2:28-30).
Ancient Greek Civilization (c. 600 BC—600 AD)
The Greeks believed dreams offered revelations of the greatest consequence to mankind— including both a prediction of the future, and visits from loved ones lost. They practiced dream incubation as a way to prompt an especially informative dream.
A fellow by the name of Artemidorus wrote an extraordinary encyclopedia of dreams with 3000 dream reports, considered to be the great-grandfather of all dream books. He claims he was instructed in a dream to write this book.
Plato placed high value on experiences of the non-rational side of life, including dreams and the way to look at them.
Homer, author of the Iliad and Odyssey, regarded dreams as communications from the Divine. In the Odyssey, Penelope dreams she has twenty geese that she joyously feeds in her house; a great eagle comes from the mountain, breaks the necks of the geese with his crooked beak and throws them in a heap.
Hippocrates, father of modern medicine, used the symbolism of dreams as an aid to diagnosing his patients As a result of a dream, Galen, a renowned Greek physician, shifted his studies from philosophy to medicine as a result of his dream at the age of 17.
Ancient Roman Civilization (750 BC–476 AD)
The Romans took dreams seriously as a way to receive guidance from God. They left dream records including a 5-volume dream dictionary with 3000 dreams.
Constantine, the Roman emperor, in his quest to liberate Rome in 312 AD, was instructed in a dream to paint the sign of a cross on his soldiers’ shields, which led to victory in the historic Battle of the Milvian Bridge.
Both Greeks and Romans valued dreams as way to gain insight into a dreamer’s mind, but the Romans were especially fascinated with prophetic dreams.
Julius Caesar’s wife, Calpurnia, dreamed of his death the night before Brutus actually did the deed. And before he was assassinated, Caligula had a dream with symbolic indications of impending death.
Remember Pilate’s wife? She received a dream that warned not to have anything to do with Jesus because he was a righteous man (Mt. 27:19).
Early Jewish Culture (c. 500 BC— 300 AD)
Some Jewish scholars believed dreams express the struggle between good and higher inclinations in personality, giving insight into the heart. Others dealt with dreams as a source of prophecy.
According to the Talmud, “Dreams which are not interpreted are like letters which have not been opened.”
Why do we ignore dreams?
Ancient civilizations all had something in common: they took their dreams seriously. They recorded and shared dreams, sought dreams from gods, interpreted dreams, often elevating interpretation to a religion. Most importantly, they recognized the close affinity between dreams and the realm of the divine.
Since earliest times, dreams have been a source of wisdom and guidance, “giving us a basis for believing that there is a nonmaterial component to our existence, as well as a continuity of existence which is not interrupted by physical death (Van De Castle, p. 11).
If these civilizations thought so highly of dreams, then why do we ignore them?
The Dream Time of the native peoples of Australia are also particularly fascinating – combining oral history with dreamlike imagery as a way of teaching children.
Thanks you for your good thoughts! Absolutely, our imagination is another great gift from our Creator. Do you like the thought that God is a dreamer?
Thanks for your in-depth commentary on dreams. I invite you all to read my dream poem online on poetry.com entitled “The Alienist and the Patient.”
I wrote something on your page. I did what they asked, but but not sure if it was accepted.