Dreams In Ancient Egypt

There is no denying that culture is ever changing. Trends frequently come and go, technology continues to advance, and beliefs constantly shift. However, there is one thing that has been a constant in human life, occurring even as early as in the womb. Not only do humans dream every night, but dream interpretation has been a constant practice cross-culturally and religiously. For many, dreams are regarded as prophetic and symbolic. Ancient spiritual insights have even lended themselves to more modern, scientific studies. For example, 3,000 years ago, Hindu research recorded the existence of two distinct sleep stages. In the 1950’s, Western researchers rediscovered this fundamental fact and helped establish dream studying as a scientific branch.

They were viewed as divine messages from the gods and therefore were carefully analyzed and manipulated in order to extract a deeper meaning. These religiously influential dreams are even embedded in stories of Egyptian history. For example, Pharaoh Thutmosis IV became pharaoh because he was visited by a god in a dream. The god told Thutmosis IV that he would become pharaoh if he helped preserve the Sphinx, which was mostly buried in sand. Upon awakening, Thothmes acted upon the dream, restoring the Sphinx, and was able to ascend the throne as promised. “The direction of the affairs of the nation by the gods was a serious matter in Egypt. The relation was mutual: if the ruler failed to consult the god, the god would not give orders for the state” (Simpson et al. 169). Thutmosis IV’s story shows the religious significance of dreams in Ancient Egyptian culture. Not only did the fate of a people and their ruler depend on a god, but the existence of a higher power was clearly acknowledged in Egyptian culture. Additionally, the Ancient Egyptians practiced methods of dream analysis and manipulation that were based in religion. First, they identified symbolic dream archetypes that connected dream events to waking life. These symbols were recorded in valuable cuneiform texts that still stand today, which again “show the importance attached to dreams by these people” (“Dreams”) Second, incubation was a method of

They were seen as “one of the chief means whereby the gods communicated with men, and men might learn the future” (Tedlock). But the emergence of classical Greek philosophy countered the traditional meaning of dreams found in Greek mythology. Around the same time that Zhuang Zhou wrote the Zhuangzi, greek philosophers Plato and Aristotle began investigating dreaming as well. First, Plato proposed the possibility that humans do not truly exist, but are creations of a dream world. His dialogue Theaetetus shows a young man being questioned by Socrates until the young man wonders whether he is sleeping or awake. Like Zhuang Zhou, Plato promotes the idea that humanity only exists in a dream world, thus confronting existential questions of existence and creation. Moreover, Aristotle examined the connection between the conscious and subconscious, theorizing that dreams are figments of the imagination based on waking experiences. He also challenged the cultural notions of prophetic dreams by calling most of the perceived prophetic events that occurred from dreams coincidences. In his report “On Prophesying by Dreams,” Aristotle concludes, “dreams are not sent by God, nor are they designed for this purpose [to reveal the future]. They have a divine aspect, however, for Nature [their cause] is divinely planned, though not itself divine” (“On Prophesying by Dreams”). The emergence of classical