Dreaming
a neurological view
pp. 351-387
in: Mauro Mancia (ed), Psychoanalysis and neuroscience, Berlin, Springer, 2006Abstract
In ancient culture dreams were often considered to be of supernatural origin, allowing direct communication with the gods and capable of providing hints of the future (prophetic and premonitory dreams). Among Egyptians, Greeks and Romans, dream interpreters, working in such places as the oracles of Delphi, were valued, powerful figures. The Egyptians (the oldest known book about dreams dates back to the twelfth dynasty, 2000 BC), when suffering from disease or infertility, used to go to these so-called incubation sites, e.g., the Temple in Memphis, the Temple of Thoth at Khimunu or the Temple of Hathor at Sinai, in order to get meaningful and, hopefully, helpful dreams. This concept of prophetic dreams reappears in the Bible, for example in the Book of Genesis, where Joseph interpreted correctly the dreams of the Pharaoh.