Dreams were classified into several
types. Those of rulers and leaders such as priests
were seen as one type, and those of common people
of another. There was also a division between good
dreams and bad dreams. If one goes into any large
book-store and looks at dream dictionaries written
before the advent of modern psychotherapy, one can
see that most definitions are still written in the
same style - that the dream will bring good or bad
luck regarding money, romance or health. In fact they
are derivations of the ancient Babylonian dream books.
These speculations, observations and collection of
folk beliefs were put into book form by the Babylonians,
and are thought to have contained texts on dreams
dating back to 5000 BC. These ancient Babylonian dream
dictionaries were copied and taken to the library
at Nineveh by King Assurbanipal. The great dream encyclopaedist
Artemidorus later drew on these records for his own
learning. The part of the Jewish Talmud which was
written during the Babylonian captivity is also full
of dream interpretations and ways of dealing with
dreams, and undoubtedly drew on the Babylonian library.
These dream dictionaries contained beliefs and observations
took note of any belief however bizarre. As an example
of some of the ideas presented in this collection
of works, we can read 'If a date appears on a man's
head, it means woe. If a fish appears on his head,
that man will be strong. If a mountain appears on
his head, it means that he will have no rival. If
salt appears on his head, it means that he will apply
himself to bald his house…'
Foreword
