Providence sometimes foreshews the future to men in dreams.
Achilles Tatius, Leucippe and Clitophon, Book 1, Chapter 4 (2d century AD) Loeb 1917

...an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there till I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him." And he rose and took the child and his mother by night, and departed to Egypt, and remained there until the death of Herod.
Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 2

Was Christianity new? Was Christianity unique? Let's talk about dreams. For the ancients, dreams weren't what your brain did when you slept; dreams were physical events—visions sent by God. People didn't have dreams, they saw dreams. Dreams were real. In ancient cultures around the Mediterranean, dreams were visions sent by God.

Pagans had prophetic dreams. Christians had prophetic dreams. Pagans had prophetic dreams first; Christians had prophetic dreams second. So do you think Christianity borrowed the idea of prophetic dreams from Paganism? Or did Christianity come up with the idea of prophetic dreams all on its own? Are Christian ideas new and unique, or did Christianity borrow ideas from Paganism?

Here at Pagan Ideas > Dreams, the ancient evidence shows that:

1	Prophetic, God-sent dreams are part of New Testament Christian theology and history
2	Prophetic, God-sent dreams are part of ancient Pagan theology, and literature, and folklore, and history, from the earliest written records all the way through the Christian extermination of Pagan civilization
3	Prophetic, God-sent dreams were part of ancient Jewish theology, and literature, and folklore, and history. You'll read, from the Jewish scriptures, that Pagan Pharaohs and Pagan Kings had dreams they themselves understood as divine, God-sent visions. And in the Jewish scripture, the Jewish guy in the story, and the Jewish guy writing the story, always saw those dreams the same way as the Pagan guys saw them: as magic God-sent visions. Ancient Jewish scripture makes no distinction between the Pagan idea of magic prophetic dreams and the Jewish idea of magic prophetic dreams. Because, of course, there was no difference.
4	From their earliest days, our Christian ideas about Jesus' divine origins included the magic dream-prophecy of the Jewish fellow Daniel. Daniel, the early Christians thought, had a magic prophetic God-sent dream about Jesus. A word about Daniel. In the Jewish scripture Daniel interprets dreams, both Jewish and Pagan. This is another on of those times Judaism sees Pagan magic dreams exactly and explicitly the same way Pagans saw them. In other words, our Christian history is based on a dream-prophecy first written down by people, read by people, copied, saved, treasured, canonized by people who understood Daniel's magic dream exactly and explicitly the way they understood Pagan magic dreams. Which was exactly and explicitly the way the Pagans understood their magic dreams. Christian ideas about dreams are Jewish ideas about dreams are Pagan ideas about dreams. The bible says so.
5	Finally, you'll see how the first century Judean Jew Josephus wrote the history he himself lived through. He wrote in magic prophetic dreams. That's how people in the ancient world, including first century Judea and Galilee, wrote "history."

We'll talk about what all these facts mean when we get to POCM's Reasons tab. For now, here are some quick thoughts for your cogitational pleasure.

The evidence is clear, the New Testament's idea of God-sent prophetic dreams is not unique or isolated. Pretty much everybody back then believed in prophetic God-sent dreams. POCM's question is,  How can those facts be explained? The point is not for me to tell you what to think. The point is to work out the possible explanations, and then look at the reasonableness of each one.

We want an explanation that is comprehensive, that explains all the facts. Jews, Egyptians, Romans, Greeks, Thracians, Carthaginians, Babylonians, Assyrians, Phoenicians, Macedonians all believed in magic dreams. Isis believers, Osiris believers, Attis believers, Dionysus believers, Apollo believers, Zeus believers, Adonis believers, Mithras believers, Kore believers, Samothrace believers, Serapis believers and Christ believers all believed in magic God-sent prophetic dreams. An "explanation" that plucks out one group, and pretends to understand it's magic dreams all by themselves, isn't really an explanation at all—it leaves most of the facts unexplained. POCM's question is, How did Christianity and everybody else back then develop the idea of prophetic, God-sent dreams?

We want an explanation that is consistent, that explains similar facts similarly. It's no good using one set of criteria to decide our magic prophetic dreams are real God-sent visions, and a different set of criteria to decide their magic prophetic dreams are primitive superstitions. Our conclusions are only believable if we pick one set of rules, one set of criterions, and stick with it. Otherwise, we're just fooling ourselves.

The old Babylonian histories tell stories about Babylonian kings seeing prophetic dreams. The Jewish Old Testament histories tell stories about Babylonian kings seeing prophetic dreams.

Where did the Jews (Did I mention they were captives in Babylon at the time, with Jewish guys working for the king? They were.) get their idea that Babylonian kings had prophetic dreams? Did they come up with this idea all on their own? Or did they borrow it from the Babylonians?

And where did the Babylonians get their idea that Babylonian kings had prophetic dreams?

	Please don't say, "From the Jews," because the evidence that Babylonians believed in magic dreams is way older than the evidence they'd even heard of the Jews.
	And please don't say, "Because it really happened. This proves the bible is true!" Babylonian Gods were appearing in Bablyonian dreams centruies before the time of the bible stories. And I know you don't believe for a minute the other Bablylonian magic dream stories really happened. The only way to get the answer "it really happened" is to carefully pick a set of criteria designed to give the answer you want, and to apply those criteria only to the set of facts you want to get that anwer with. That's just fooling yourself.

POCM's question is, By what criteria can we decide when a group invented the idea of magic, prophetic, God-sent dreams all on their own, and when a group just borrowed the idea from the culture around them? Where do those criteria come from? What answers do we get when we apply those criterions to the Jews, to the Babylonians, and to all the other ancient peoples who believed in magic dreams>

If you know any criteria that lead to the conclusion that the Christian idea of magic dreams developed all on it's own, we'd all love to hear it.

"Matthew" is the one gospeler who writes about divine dreams. Here's Jesus' father, Joseph, getting the news about Jesus' soon to be birth.  >>

God sends the dream in the form of an angel (the Greek word means "messenger").

The angel appears to Joseph and speaks in concise detail "Matthew" is somehow able to quote word for word.

Joseph wakes up, follows the instructions the God gave in the dream, and things turn out swell—an otherwise unmotivated plot line (why the groom didn't dump the pregnant fiancee) has been smoothed out, and "Matthew" has given you, gentle reader, a quick plot summary. Everybody's happy.

Matthew 1: 18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child of the Holy Spirit; 19 and her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 20 But as he considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit; 21 she will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." 22 All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: 23 "Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel" (which means, God with us). 24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took his wife, 25 but knew her not until she had borne a son; and he called his name Jesus.
Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 1

In the next chapter "Matthew" shows details proving how important Jesus is....
— A star heralds His birth
— Mysterious men travel to worship Him.
— The local king, Herod, knows about His birth. And is worried. And wants to kill HIm.

But the wise men have met Herod, and (showing how important Jesus is) Herod has asked them to have their people set up a meeting with his people —and Jesus. If the meeting happens, Jesus will be killed. How can the story dig its way out of this hole? Re-enter the ancient tradition of Dream as Plot Device: A dream warns the wise men not to return to Herod. Problem solved.

Matthew 2: .... 7 Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star appeared; 8 and he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, "Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him bring me word, that I too may come and worship him."

9 When they had heard the king they went their way; and lo, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came to rest over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy; 11 and going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. 12 And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.

Right away another unmotivated plot detail is worked out with a divine dream.

God sends a dream in the form of an angel (the Greek word means "messenger"). The angel appears to Joseph and speaks in concise detail "Matthew" is somehow able to quote word for word. Joseph wakes up, follows the instructions the God gave in the dream.

Things turn out swell. Not only does baby Jesus get away from Herod, but a prophecy is fulfilled. Everybody's happy.

13 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there till I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him." 14 And he rose and took the child and his mother by night, and departed to Egypt, 15 and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, "Out of Egypt have I called my son."
Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 2

And when the story gets to the part where Jesus is on trial, with this Roman guy Pilate as the judge, "Matthew" puts in a bit about how Pilate's wife dreamed about Jesus. Jesus, said her dream was righteous, but Pilate ought 'a have nothing to do with him.

The dream confirms Jesus righteous-uosity. It also follows, as we'll see, the ancient tradition of important events being touched, through dreams, by the divine.

Matthew 27: ....11 Now Jesus stood before the governor; and the governor asked him, "Are you the King of the Jews?" Jesus said, "You have said so." 12 But when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he made no answer. 13 Then Pilate said to him, "Do you not hear how many things they testify against you?" 14 But he gave him no answer, not even to a single charge; so that the governor wondered greatly. 15 Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to release for the crowd any one prisoner whom they wanted. 16 And they had then a notorious prisoner, called Barab'bas. 17 So when they had gathered, Pilate said to them, "Whom do you want me to release for you, Barab'bas or Jesus who is called Christ?" 18 For he knew that it was out of envy that they had delivered him up. 19 Besides, while he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent word to him, "Have nothing to do with that righteous man, for I have suffered much over him today in a dream."
Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 27

The early Christian missionary Paul never met Jesus. So where did Paul get his stuff? Often in visions beamed directly into his head by God, or Jesus. Or, in this case from the New Testament book Acts, from a night time vision of a man standing over him, speaking in concise plot-relevant detail "Luke" is able to quote word for word.

Paul does what the dream tells him to. And things turn out swell.

Acts 16: And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedo'nia was standing beseeching him and saying, "Come over to Macedo'nia and help us." 10 And when he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedo'nia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.
Acts, Chapter 16

The evidence is clear. Early Christians believed in divine dreams in which:

	God gave advice.
	Through a divine messenger or a story-related person standing over the dreamer
	Speaking concise sentences the gospeler was somehow able to get down word for word, and
	Advancing the plot or motivating otherwise unmotivated actions and
	Proving the world historical importance of the event.

Now let's compare early Christian divine dreams with Pagan divine dreams.

Dreams in the other ancient religions
Like slavery and miracles and prophecies made and fulfilled, dreams are such a common part of ancient writing that what we've got room for here at POCM is just a smattering of the available ancient evidence—a few dream stories out of the thousands that survive. As your read, notice these features of ancient Pagan dreams:

1	Dreams are sent by a God. The God may appear Himself, or He may send a messenger. Sometimes a story-related character delivers the dream.
2	The God / messenger/ story-character often stands over the dreamer.
3	The God or His messenger speak words the writer is able to quote verbatim.
4	Important world events are accompanied by divine dreams. This works the other way: because they are sent by a God, dreams can show that an event is important.
5	Dreams are often plot devices that explain otherwise unmotivated actions.

Esarhaddon was the king of Assyria in the early 7th century BC.

A famous treaty of Esarhaddon, the Vassal treaties, survives. Here's a snippet from the treaty.>>

Esarhaddon was worried about sedition, about people plotting against him and his family. If people involved in the treaty heard any seditious talk, they were to report it.

	By the way
	Esarhaddon is mentioned in the Bible. Here's Ezra 4:2 Then they came to Zerubbabel, and to the chief of the fathers, and said unto them, Let us build with you: for we seek your God, as ye do; and we do sacrifice unto him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assur, which brought us up hither.

What kind of people might say reportable things? The treaty gives a list. The list included prophets and dream-interpreters.

Pagan magic dreams were so common, you could get a job as a dream interpreter.

.... 1.(1) (This is) the treaty of Esarhaddon, king of the world, king of Assyria, son of Sennacherib, likewise king of the world, king of Assyria, with Ramataya, city-ruler of Urakazabanu, with his sons, grandsons, with all the people of Urakazabanu, ....

10. (108) If any (of you) hears some wrong, evil, unseemly plan which is improper or detrimental to the crown prince designate Ashurbanipal, son of your lord Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, whether they be spoken by his enemy or his ally, by his brothers, by his sons, by his daughters, by his brothers, his father's brothers, his cousins, or any other member of his father's lineage, or by your own brothers, sons, or daughters, or by a - prophet, an ecstatic, a dream-interpreter, or by any human being whatsoever, and conceals it, does not come and report it to the crown prince designate Ashurbanipal, son of Esarhaddon, king of Assyria ....

Prophetic dreams in the middle east, 650 BC
Prophetic god-sent dreams go way back. Here's a dream about Nabonidus, a Babylonian king in the mid 6th century BC. Nabonidus' mommy drempt she had a meeting with the God named Sin.

The God appears to the queen, standing close enough to put his hands on her, and speaks in concise detail the queen is able to quote word for word.

And, get this, the prophecy the God gave in the dream came true!

I heeded the words which Sin, the king of all the gods, had spoken to me and I saw (them come true). Nabonidus, the only son whom I bore, performed indeed all the forgotten rites of Sin, Ningal, Nusku and Sadarnunna, he completed the rebuilding of the temple Ehulhul, led Sin, Ningal, Nusku and Sadarnunna in procession from Babylon (Shuanna), his royal city, installed (them again) in gladness and happiness into Harran, the seat which pleases them.

An Oracular Dream Concerning Ashurbanipal: ANET 606

Ashurbanipal was another 7th century BC Assyrian king. Back then Ishtar was an important Goddess. Here's a report of a dream, seen by one of the king's priests, in which the Goddess tells Ashurbanipal She'll help him win a battle.

The priest lay down to dream. The Goddess caused him to have a vision in the night >>

The goddess Ishtar heard my anxious sighs and said "Fear not!" and gave me confidence, (saying) [page 171] "Since you have lifted your hands in prayer and your eyes have filled with tears, I have had mercy." During the night in which I appeared before her, (50) a sabru-priest lay down and had a dream. He awoke with a start and then Ishtar caused him to see a nocturnal vision.

He reported to me as follows: "The goddess Ishtar who dwells in Arbela came in. Right and left quivers were suspended from her. She was holding a bow in her hand, (55) and a sharp sword was drawn to do battle. You were standing in front of her and she spoke to you like a real mother.

Ishtar called to you, she who is most exalted among the gods, giving you the following instructions: 'Wait with the attack; (for) wherever you intend to go, I am also ready to go.' You said to her, 'Wherever you go, I will go with you, O goddess of goddesses!' She repeated her command to you as follows: 'You shall stay here where you should be. (65) Eat, drink wine, make merry, praise my divinity, while I go and accomplish that work to help you attain your heart's desire. Your face will not be pale, nor your feet shaky, and you need not wipe off your (cold) sweat in the height,of battle.' She wrapped you in her lovely babysling, protecting your entire body. Her face shone like fire. Then [she went out in a frightening way] to defeat your enemies, (75) against Teumman, king of Elam, with whom she was angry."

Are you with me so far? The ancients believed in prophetic dreams.

Prophetic Dreams in the earliest Greek writing
I like you, I really do. Please understand what I'm about to do, I'm doing for your own good. I'm going to have you read some old Greek poetry by Homer. This crap is important, prophetic magic dream wise, for a couple reasons. First, when you hold a book of Homer, you have in your hand the uttermost boundary of western history. Homer believed in magic dreams; magic dreams have been a part of western culture as far back as anyone can go.

Second, Homer was as close to a bible as ancient culture got. Everyone who could read read it, quoted it and believed it—or didn't. People who could read and write got that way by reading and writing Homer. From hundreds of years BC down to the Christian extermination of ancient culture, everybody who could read read from the book you're about to.

Ready? Here we go. From the Iliad...

Like the Babylonians, the Greeks believed prophetic dreams were so important, you could get a job as a dream interpreter.

Dreams came from God.

Now when they were all assembled in one place together,
Achilleus of the swift feet stood up among them and spoke forth:
'Son of Atreus, I believe now that straggling backwards
we must make our way home if we can even escape death, 60
if fighting now must crush the Achaians and the plague likewise.
No, come, let us ask some holy man, some prophet,
even an interpreter of dreams, since a dream also
comes from Zeus, who can tell why Phoibos Apollo is so angry,
if for the sake of some vow, some hecatomb he blames us, 65
if given the fragrant smoke of lambs, of he goats, somehow
he can be made willing to beat the bane aside from us.'
[Homer, Iliad 1.57- 67, 8th century BC]

Zeus sends a dream to Agamemnon.Dreams, the ancients believed, are sent by God.

Zeus sends the dream.

The dream came down from heaven.

And stood at Agamemnon's (the dreamer's) head.

And spoke in dactylic hexameter Homer was able to quote word for word.

Neleus' son, whom Agamemnon honoured beyond all
elders beside. In Nestor"s likeness the divine Dream spoke to him:
"Son of wise Atreus breaker of horses, are you sleeping?
He should not sleep night long who is a man burdened with counsels
and responsibility for a people and cares so numerous. 25
Listen quickly to what I say, since I am a messenger
of Zeus, who far away cares much for you and is pitiful.
Zeus bids you arm the flowing-haired Achaians for battle
in all haste; since now you might take the wide-wayed city
of the Trojans. For no longer are the gods who live on Olympos 30
arguing the matter, since Hera forced them all over
by her supplication, and evils are in store for the Trojans
from Zeus. Keep this thought in your heart then, let not forgetfulness
take you, after you are released from the kindly sweet slumber."
So he spoke and went away, and left Agamemnon 35
there, believing things in his heart that were not to be accomplished.
For he thought that on that very day he would take Priam"s city;
fool, who knew nothing of all the things Zeus planned to accomplish,
Zeus, who yet was minded to visit tears and sufferings
on Trojans and Danaalis alike in the strong encounters. 40
[Homer, Iliad, Book 2 (8th century BC)]

There are plenty more God-sent, vision-standing-over-the-dreamer, concise-converstation-quoted-word-for-word, prophecy-comes-true magic dreams in Homer. I expect you'll excuse me if I don't repeat them all.

Are you with me so far? The ancients believed in prophetic dreams.

Dreams mark a world event. Herodotus, 5th century BC.
For Herodotus, who grew up among veterans of Marathon and Salamis, the Greco-Persian wars of the early 5th century were a World Event. Just the sort of thing the Gods would be interested in. No surprise then, when Herodotus wrote his history of the Persian invasion of Greece, he included stories like this long bit showing how dreams, sent by God to Xerxes the Persian king, were the divine agent that settled Xerxes' mind on invasion.

This is a long passage, but since it comes from one of the coolest books ever written, I know you'll have fun. Or just skip it. No hard feelings. Here we go, from Herodotus...

Xerxes had been thinking about invading Greece, and getting advice from his advisors.

As Xerxes slept, a beautiful man stood over him, and spoke in concise prose Herodotus was able to quote word for word.

The next day Xerxes kept the dream on the QT.

And the same dream/ vision came back, and stood over Xerxes as he slept, and spoke concise prose Herodotus was able to quote word for word.

This time Xerxes tells his advisor about the dream, and they chat about what it means.

God sends dreams.

Blah, blah, blah.

So the advisor sleeps in the king's bed—and lo, the same dream appearethed to him. Stood over, concise prose, word for word, etc.

Blah, blah, blah.

So now even this advisor was for the invasion.

And thus is was that Xerxes, the great king of the great empire, determined to begin his war against the Greeks.

Herodotus and his readers believed that great world events are marked by God-sent dreams. You got that? There are plenty more God-sent, vision-standing-over-the-dreamer, concise-converstation-quoted-word-for-word, prophecy-comes-true magic dreams in Herodotus. I expect you'll excuse me if I don't repeat them all.

Are you with me so far? The ancients believed in prophetic dreams.

Pliny T. Younger and Suetonius worry about their own dreams, Rome, first - second century AD

Pliny T. Younger and Suetonius were Roman guys. They were born so rich they didn't get up in the morning and have to go to work. Being rich gave them time to write books and stuff. Suetonius wrote a history of the Roman emperors. Pliny wrote, for example, letters to friends, which he kept in a box (the letters) for later. Eventually Pliny published his letters in a book, which you can buy and read.

Here's a letter from Pliny T. Younger to his pal Suetonius. They're discussing their dreams—by which I mean their actual night time dreams, not their someday-I-hope dreams.

Pliny is a little to sophisticated to think the Iliad's verse about dreams coming from Zeus is inerrant scripture, but he's still certain some dreams are magically prophetic. I'll let you enjoy the letter yourself. >>

1.18 To Suetonius Tranquillus
So you have had an alarming dream which makes you fear the case which is coming on may go against you; and you want me to apply for an adjournment to get you off for a few days, or one day least. It isn't easy but I will try, 'for a dream comes from Zeus'.[Iliad 1.63] But it makes a difference whether your dreams usually come true or not, for to judge by a dream of my own, the one which has frightened you might well foretell that you will be successful. I had undertaken to act on behalf of Junius Pastor when I dreamed that my mother-in-law came and begged me on her knees to give up the case. I was very young at the time and I was about to plead in the Centumviral Court against men of great political influence, some of them also friends of the Emperor; any one of these considerations could have shaken my resolve after such a depressing dream, but I carried on, believing that 'The best and only omen is to fight for your country - or in my case for my pledge to Pastor, if anything can come before one's country. I won my case, and it was that speech which drew attention to me and set me on the threshold of a successful career.

See then if you can follow my example, and give a happy interpretation to your dream; but if you still think there is more safety in the warning given by all cautious folk, 'when in doubt do nothing', you can write and tell me. I will find some way out and deal with the case so that you can take it up when you wish. I admit that your position is different from mine; adjournments are never granted in the Centumviral Court, but in your case it is possible though not easy.

Are you with me so far? The ancients believed in prophetic dreams.

To Sun unconquerable Mithras, just as he himself ordered in a dream his image (?) to be repaired, Victorinus a slave steward of our emperor undertook its repair for the ever present deity at his own expense and dedicated it. Hail < Namal> to all. The attendant was. . . Ilius Magnus.

Are you with me so far? The ancients believed in prophetic dreams.

Dream interpretation as a profession
You've already read a couple ancient references to the profession of dream interpreter. Here are a few more.

Aristides grandson (late 5th century BC) made his living as dream interpreter. This is reported by Plutarch, in the 2d century AD.

And the Phalerean says, in his "Socrates," that he remembers a grandson of Aristides, Lysimachus, a very poor man, who made his own living by means of a sort of dream-interpreting tablet, his seat being near the so-called Iaccheium.

Plutarch, Plutarch's Lives: Aristides 27 (1st or 2d century AD), -- which you can find in: Perrin, Bernadotte. Plutarch's Lives II (1914), pg. 297

Here's Herodotus again, this time describing the Athenian leader Hipparchus' dream that foretold his assassination in 514 BC.

55. When Aristagoras left Sparta he hastened to Athens, which had been freed of its tyrants in the way that I will now describe. After the death of Hipparchus (the son of Pisistratus, and brother of the tyrant Hippias), who, in spite of the clear warning he had received concerning his fate in a dream, was slain by Harmodius and Aristogeiton (men both of the race of the Gephyraeans), the oppression of the Athenians continued for the space of four years; and they gained nothing, but were worse used than before.

56. Now the dream of Hipparchus was the following: The night be- [page 314] fore the Panathenaic festival, he thought he saw in his sleep a tall and beautiful man, who stood over him, and read him the following riddle:
Bear thou unbearable woes with the all-bearing heart of a lion, Never, be sure, shall wrong-doer escape the reward of wrong-doing.

Worried by the dream, he consulted dream interpreters. But their help didn't do him any good.

5th century BC Greeks belief in dreams was so widespread, you could make a living interpreting them.

As soon as day dawned he sent and submitted his dream to the interpreters, after which he offered the averting sacrifices, and then went and led the procession in which he perished.
[Herodotus, The Persian Wars, 5.55- 6 (c 440 BC), -- which you can find in: Godolpin, Francis. The Greek Historians (1942), pg. 313- 4]

Here's the Old Testament book Jeremiah, quoting God (!), confirming that like the powerful people who conquered and ruled them, the Jews had magic prophets and diviners who dreamed magic dreams.

Jeremiah 29:8 For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams which they dream, 9 for it is a lie which they are prophesying to you in my name; I did not send them, says the LORD.
[Old Testament, Jeremiah 29]

Chaldea was part of Babylon, in Mesopotamia. Chaldean astrologers, soothsayers and dream interpreters were famous throughout the ancient world for the excellence of their prophetic art. Here's the Greek historian Diodorus of Sicily describing the powers and abilities of Chaldean astrologers...

...which included the interpretation of dreams.

2.28.29. But to us it seems not inappropriate to speak briefly of the Chaldaeans of Babylon and of their antiquity, that we may omit nothing which is worthy of record. Now the Chaldaeans, belonging as they do to the most ancient inhabitants of Babylonia, have about the same position among the divisions of the state as that occupied by the priests of Egypt; for being assigned to the service of the gods they spend their entire life in study, their greatest renown being in the field of astrology. But they occupy themselves largely with soothsaying as well, making predictions about future events, and in some cases by purifications, in others by sacrifices, and in others by some other charms they attempt to effect the averting of evil things and the fulfilment of the good. They are [page 447] also skilled in soothsaying by the flight of birds, and they give out interpretations of both dreams and portents. They also show marked ability in making divinations from the observation of the entrails of animals, deeming that in this branch they are eminently successful.

Are you with me so far? The ancients believed in prophetic dreams.

	The Asclepium at Pergamum. This was for centuries one of the most famous places in the world.

Incubation
Ancient Gods cared about people. Ancient Gods communicated with people through dreams. Ancient Gods were best accessed at sacred temples. Looking back, you can see how the idea of "incubation"—of getting the guidance of a God by sleeping in His sacred temple, and seeing the dream He sent—was pretty much inevitable. Incubation just made too much sense for any rational person not to believe in.

As you'll see in the blue boxes, many Gods sent dreams to folks sleeping in their temples, but the God Asclepius institutionalized the rite. Asclepius sent visions to people at big time Vision Centers ("Asclepia") in cites like Cos, Epidaurus, and Pergamum, and in smaller Asclepia around the Mediterranean: Thessaly, Attica, the Peloponnese, Bythnia, Phonecia, Egypt, Carthage, Spain, Sicily, Rome. [for primary evidence of these, see Edelstein Emma & Ludwig. Asclepius: Collection and Interpretation of the Testimonies (1945 / 1998), T 707 - 861]

Many sick people traveled to Asclepius Vision Centers and, sleeping in Asclepius' sacred precincts, dreamed the God came to them, and cured them. And lo, many awoke to discover the God had in fact cured them. Some people the God had cured were grateful enough to carve their stories in stone monuments. Some of those monuments survive.

Here are some healing-dream miracle stories, recorded (with the help of professional stone carvers) by the very people the God cured. Here we go, from Inscriptiones Graecae, IV...

1. Cleo was with child for five years. After she had been pregnant for five years she came as a suppliant to the God and slept in the Abaton. As soon as she left it and got outside the temple precincts she bore a son who, immediately after birth, washed himself at the fountain and walked about with his mother. In return for this favor she inscribed on her offering: " Admirable is not the greatness of the tablet, but the Divinity, in that Cleo carried the burden in her womb for five years, until she slept in the Temple and He made her sound."

2. A three-years' pregnancy. Ithmonice of Pellene came to the Temple for offspring. When she had fallen asleep she saw a vision. It seemed to her that she asked the God that she might get pregnant with a daughter and that Asclepius said that she would be pregnant and that if she asked for something else he would grant her that too, but that she answered she did not need anything else. When she had become pregnant she carried in her womb for three years, until she approached the God as a suppliant concerning the birth. When she had fallen asleep she saw a vision. It seemed to her that the God asked her if she had not obtained all she had asked for and was pregnant; about the birth she had added nothing, and that, although he had asked if she needed anything else, she should say so and he would grant her this too. But since now she had come for this as a suppliant to him, he said he would accord even it to her. After that, she hastened to leave the Abaton, and when she was outside the sacred precincts she gave birth to a girl.

3. A man whose fingers, with the exception of one, were paralyzed, came as a suppliant to the God. While looking at the tablets in the temple he expressed incredulity regarding the cures and scoffed at the inscriptions. But in his sleep he saw a vision. It seemed to him that, as he was playing at dice below the Temple and was about to cast the dice, the God appeared, sprang upon his hand, and stretched out his [the patient's] fingers. When the God had stepped aside it seemed to him [the patient] that he [the patient] bent his hand and stretched out all his fingers one by one. When he had straightened them all, the God asked him if he would still be incredulous of the inscriptions on the tablets in the Temple. He answered that he would not. " Since, then, formerly you were incredulous of the cures, though they were not incredible, for the future," he said, " your name shall be ' Incredulous.' " When day dawned he walked out sound.

4. Ambrosia of Athens, blind of one eye. She came as a suppliant to the God. As she walked about in the Temple she laughed at some of the cures as incredible and impossible, that the lame and the blind should be healed by merely seeing a dream. In her sleep she had a vision. It seemed to her that the God stood by her and said that he would cure her, but that in payment he would ask her to dedicate to the Temple a silver pig as a memorial of her ignorance. After saying this, he cut the diseased eyeball and poured in some drug. When day came she walked out sound.

5. A voiceless boy. He came as a suppliant to the Temple for his voice. When he had performed the preliminary sacrifices and fulfilled the usual rites,' thereupon the temple servant who brings in the fire for the God, looking at the boy's father, demanded he should promise to bring within a year the thank offering for the cure if he obtained that for which he had come. But the boy suddenly said, "I promise." His father was startled at this and asked him to repeat it. The boy repeated the words and after that became well.

6. Pandarus, a Thessalian, who had marks on his forehead. He saw a vision as he slept. It seemed to him that the God bound the marks round with a headband and enjoined him to remove the band when he left the Abaton and dedicate it as an offering to the Temple. When day came he got up and took off the band and saw his face free of the marks; and he dedicated to the Temple the band with the signs which had been on his forehead.

7. Echedorus received the marks of Pandarus in addition to those which he already had. He had received money from Pandarus to offer to the God at Epidaurus in his name, but he failed to deliver it. In his sleep he saw a vision. It seemed to him that the God stood by him and asked if he had received any money from Pandarus to set up as an offering an Athena in the Temple. He answered that he had received no such thing from him, but if he [the God] would make him well he would have an image painted and offer it to him [the God]. Thereupon the God seemed to fasten the headband of Pandarus round his marks, and ordered him upon leaving the Abaton to take off the band and to wash his face at the fountain and to look at himself in the water. When day came he left the Abaton, took off the headband, on which the signs were no longer visible. But when he looked into the water he saw his face with his own, marks and the signs of Pandarus in addition.

8. Euphanes, a boy of Epidaurus. Suffering from stone he slept in the temple. It seemed to him that the God stood by him and asked : "What will you give me if I cure you ? " "Ten dice," he answered. The God laughed and said to him that he would cure him. When day came he walked out sound.

9. A man came as a suppliant to the God. He was so blind that of one of his eyes he had only the eyelids left-within them was nothing, but they were entirely empty. Some of those in the Temple laughed at his silliness to think that he could recover his sight when one of his eyes had not even a trace of the ball, [232] but only the socket. As he slept a vision appeared to him. It seemed to him that the God prepared some drug, then, opening his eyelids, poured it into them. When day came he departed with the sight of both eyes restored.

10. The goblet. A porter, upon going up to the Temple, fell when he was near the ten-stadia stone. When he had gotten up he opened his bag and looked at the broken vessels. When he saw that the goblet from which his master was accustomed to drink was also broken, he was in great distress and sat down to try to fit the pieces together again. But a passer-by saw him and said: "Foolish fellow, why do you put the goblet together in vain? For this one not even Asclepius of Epidaurus could put to rights again." The boy, hearing this, put the pieces back in the bag and went on to the Temple. When he got there he opened the bag and brought the goblet out of it, and it was entirely whole; and he related to his master what had happened and had been said; when he [the master] heard that, he dedicated the goblet to the God.

11. Aeschines, when the suppliants were already asleep, climbed up a tree and tried to see over into the Abaton. But he fell from the tree on to some fencing and his eyes were injured. In a pitiable state of blindness, he came as a suppliant to the God and slept in the Temple and was healed.

12. Euhippus had had for six years the point of a spear in his jaw. As he was sleeping in the Temple the God extracted the spearhead and gave it to him into his hands. When day came Euhippus departed cured, and he held the spearhead in his hands.

13. A man of Torone with leeches. In his sleep he saw a dream. It seemed to him that the God cut open his chest with a knife and took out the leeches, which he gave him into his hands, and then he stitched up his chest again. At daybreak he departed with the leeches in his hands and he had become well. He had swallowed them, having been tricked by his stepmother who had thrown them into a potion which he drank.

14. A man with a stone in his membrum. He saw a dream. It seemed to him that he was lying with a fair boy and when he had a seminal discharge he ejected the stone and picked it up and walked out holding it in his hands.

15. Hermodicus of Lampsacus was paralyzed in body. This one, when he slept in the Temple, the God healed and he ordered him upon coming out to bring to the Temple as large a stone as he could. The man brought the stone which now lies before the Abaton.

I hope you'll forgive me for stopping early. Ludwig's sourcebook goes on reciting these first hand dream-healing miracle accounts for sixteen pages.

The contest thus begun in two places, the Lacedaemonians were first to repulse the Persians. Mardonius was slain by a man of Sparta named Arimnestus, who crushed his head with a stone, even as was foretold him by the oracle in the shrine of Amphiaraus. Thither he had sent a Lydian man, and a Carian besides to the oracle of Trophonius. This latter the prophet actually addressed in the Carian tongue; but the Lydian, on lying down in the precinct of Amphiaraiis, dreamed that an attendant of the god stood by his side and bade him be gone, and on his refusal, hurled a great stone upon his head, insomuch that he died from the blow (so ran the man's dream). These things are so reported.
[Plutarch, Plutarch's Lives: Aristides 19 (1st or 2d century AD), -- which you can find in: Perrin, Bernadotte. Plutarch's Lives II (1914), pg. 271]

The king, troubled by the portents, goes to visit the oracle of Faunus, his prophet father, and consults the groves beneath lofty Albunea - greatest of forests, resounding with its holy cascade and exhaling its deadly vapour from the darkness. Here the Italian tribes and all the land of Oenotria seek counsel in times of uncertainty. Here the priest brings offerings, lies beneath the silent night on the outspread fleeces of the sheep killed in sacrifice and woos slumber; he sees many visions flying about him in wondrous fashion [page 102] and hears voices of all kinds, as he holds converse with the gods and addresses Acheron in deepest Avernus.

The God speaks in concise prose Virgil is able to quote word for word.

Here then too the venerable Latinus himself came to seek counsel; and after duly sacrificing a hundred sheep laden with wool, he lay couched on their hides and outspread fleeces. Suddenly from deep in the grove a voice came: 'Seek not to join your daughter in marriage to a man of the Latin race, o my son, and trust not in the wedding that is to hand. Strangers will come to wed our daughters and carry their name into the stars by union with us. The descendants of this line shall behold the whole world turning obediently beneath their feet - wherever the sun looks down upon in its course."

Having purged the Ephesians of the plague, and having had enough of the people of Ionia, he [Apollonius] started for Hellas. Having made his way then to Pergamum, and being pleased with the temple of Asclepius, he gave hints to the supplicants of the god, what to do in order to obtain favourable dreams; and having healed many of them he came to the land of Ilium.

Dream messages from Gods were so much a part of the ancients' world view, the practice was institutionalized.

Wow.

Formal Analysis
Dreams were so important to the ancients that philosophers like Plato analyzed their prophetic power, and some folks devoted whole books to explaining prophetic dreams. Here are a couple examples...

And more than this, as a faculty of divination by means of dreams, which is the divinest and most god- like of human faculties, the soul detects the truth all the more easily when it is not muddied by wine, but accepts the message unstained and scans it carefully. Anyhow, the explainers of dreams and visions, those whom the poets call interpreters of dreams, will never undertake to explain any vision to anyone without having first asked the time when it was seen. For if it was at dawn and in the sleep of morningtide, they calculate its meaning on the assumption that the soul is then in a condition to divine soundly and healthily, because by then it has cleansed itself of the stains of wine. But if the vision was seen in the first sleep or at midnight, when the soul is still immersed in the lees of wine and muddied thereby, they decline to make any suggestions, and they are wise.

Aristotle wrote a long analysis of dreams in general, then another long analysis of how dreams got their prophetic power.

The point here isn't what Aristotle wrote. The point is that he thought dreams were important enough to write about at all. I'll just link you to a modern translation.
Go nuts.  >>

[Beard, Mary. Religions of Rome, Volume 2, A Sourcebook, (1998 / 2003), pg. 192]

Artemidorus, Dream Book, 1.79 (2d century AD), -- which you can find in: Beard, Mary. Religions of Rome, Volume 2, A Sourcebook, (1998 / 2003), pg. 192- 3

How Dreams Worked
Dream analysis wise, most people weren't as fancy as Aristotle. For most writers, dreams were simply and obviously messages sent from a God. they'd mention that fact in passing, as needed to push the story along. Here's a smattering...

Here's Philostratus in his book about Apollonius.

Dreams were messages from god...

Dreams foretold great events

Philostratus explaining the miraculous birth of Apollonius.

And here's how our bible explains dreams—messages from our God.

Matthew 1: 18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child of the Holy Spirit; 19 and her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 20 But as he considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit; 21 she will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." 22 All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: 23 "Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel" (which means, God with us). 24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took his wife, 25 but knew her not until she had borne a son; and he called his name Jesus.
Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 1

Dreams in folklore
Many surviving ancient "histories" include lots of pre-historical folklore. In their travels Herodotus, Plutarch, Pausanias and others took time to write down each area's oral history. They got a lot of tribal stuff. And a lot of old magical legends. In those legends, one thing that comes up over and over is dreams. Dreams were part of ancient folklore. Here's a smattering...

Lucian, writing about his native land, includes this dream miracle of a woman ordered by the Goddess to build a temple. She disobeyed the order, got sick, obeyed the order, and immediately got well again.

In this one, about 5th century BC Greece, was recorded by Plutarch in the 1st or 2d century AD, no doubt from earlier written accounts. Athena appeared to a town clerk in a dream, telling him—in concise prose the story gets word for word—that she'll help win the battle.

Sure enough, a storm destroyed the invader's army.

After the battle, Athena appears to many townsfolk in dreams, telling them what she's just done.

And again, the goddess appeared in a dream to Aristagoras, the town-clerk, saying : "Lo, here am I, and I bring the Libyan fifer against the Pontic trumpeter. Bid the citizens therefore be of good cheer." While the Cyzicenes were lost in wonder at the saying, at daybreak the sea began to toss under a boisterous wind, and the siege-engines of the king along the walls, the wonderful works of Niconides the Thessalian, by their creaking and cracking showed clearly what was about to happen; then a south wind burst forth with incredible fury, shattered the other engines in a short space of time, and threw down with a great shock the wooden tower a hundred cubits high.

It is related, too, that the goddess Athena appeared to many of the inhabitants of Ilium in their sleep, dripping with sweat, showing part of her peplus [dress] torn away, and saying that she was just come from assisting the Cyzicenes. And the people of Ilium used to show a stele which had on it certain decrees inscriptions relating to this matter.

[Plutarch, Plutarch's Lives: Cimon and Lucullus, Lucullus 10 (1st or 2d century AD), -- which you can find in: Perrin, Bernadotte. Plutarch's Lives II (1914), pg. 501-3]

Here's Diodorus recounting an old legend from Egypt, about a legendary early king named Sabaco.

The set up is, Sabaco was a good guy.    >>

In fact, he was such a good guy that when the God of Thebes told him, in a dream, he'd have to cut up some priests, Sabaco wouldn't do it.

Not al legends were old. In the 2d century Philostratus wrote down the "history" of the 1st century godman Apollonius. Philostratus said he got his stuff from the writing of one of Apollonius disciples, but over and over what you get is clearly legend.

Dreams in Judaism
Ancient Jewish religion shared rites and theologies with other ancient religions, so it won't surprise you to learn one of the ideas in ancient Jewish thought was the magic/ prophetic dream. Read the blue boxes below, you'll see that ancient Jewish writers confirm that.

Pagans had prophetic dreams. Jews had prophetic dreams. Does that mean there was a connection between Pagan and Jewish ideas about prophetic dreams? Conservative believers say, "No, similarity doesn't prove connection. Jewish ideas developed independently, parallel, separately, etc." —all the regulation no-Christian-borrowing reasons, polished up to defend Jewish uniqueness.

The evidence says otherwise. The evidence says Pagan and Jewish ideas about magic, God-sent prophetic dreams overlapped. Sure, Jews had dreams other Jews thought were divine messages. But so did Pagans. I mean, Pagans had dreams that were understood as magic God-sent visions by Pagans and by Jews.

In a minute you'll read stories from the Jewish scriptures. These stories record that Pagan Pharaohs and Pagan Kings had dreams they themselves understood as divine. And in the Jewish scripture the Jewish guy in the story, and the Jewish guy writing the story, always saw those dreams the same way, as magic God-sent visions. Ancient Jewish scripture makes no distinction between the Pagan idea of magic prophetic dreams and the Jewish idea of magic prophetic dreams. Because, of course, there was no difference.

Ready? Here we go, from the Old Testament...

Near Athens, Jews sought the guidance of Pagan Gods by sleeping in their sanctuary, hoping the Pagan God would send them a magic dream.

What? You mean they didn't tell you this in Sunday school?

We read in Genesis that...

...like the savage brown peoples' Gods, our God also visited people at night, in dreams, speaking in concise prose Moses (who wasn't there) was somehow able to write down word for word.        >>

God-sent dream, concise, word for word.         >>

[Old Testament, Genesis 20]

In the book Numbers is this tale of God traveling down from Heaven and standing in front of Aaron and Miriam,
speaking in concise prose the storyteller is somehow able to quote word for word.

This particular vision isn't a dream, but what God says explains how ancient Jewish prophets got their prophecy—God spoke to them in dreams. Sound familiar?

The story ends with a little magic flourish.

[Old Testament, Numbers 12]

The book Jeremiah confirms it: ancient Jewish prophets got their stuff through dreams.        >>

[Old Testament, Jeremiah 23]

Pagan Dreams in Jewish Scripture
Pagan Pharaohs and Pagan Kings had dreams they themselves understood as divine. Jewish scripture agrees—the dreams the Pagans had that the Pagans thought were divine, they were divine. Ancient Jewish scripture makes no distinction between the Pagan idea of magic prophetic dreams and the Jewish idea of magic prophetic dreams.

Because, of course, there was no difference.

Anyway, here we go, from the famous story in Genesis about the Jewish lad named Joseph.

The Pagan officers have magic dreams, which they don't know how to interpret.

The Jewish lad (our hero, did I mention?) shares the Pagan's notion that dreams are just the sort of thing that need interpreting.

The butler tells his dream. Joseph interprets it.

Joseph—and the Jews who added this story to scripture—shared the Pagan's notion that dreams are magic visions that can be interpreted.

BTW, are you noticing all this word for word quoting? How do you think the author got the exact words?

Ditto the baker.

Now Pharaoh is dreaming...

..but no one can interpret the dream.

Genesis 41: 1 After two whole years, Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing by the Nile, 2 and behold, there came up out of the Nile seven cows sleek and fat, and they fed in the reed grass. 3 And behold, seven other cows, gaunt and thin, came up out of the Nile after them, and stood by the other cows on the bank of the Nile. 4 And the gaunt and thin cows ate up the seven sleek and fat cows. And Pharaoh awoke. 5 And he fell asleep and dreamed a second time; and behold, seven ears of grain, plump and good, were growing on one stalk. 6 And behold, after them sprouted seven ears, thin and blighted by the east wind. 7 And the thin ears swallowed up the seven plump and full ears. And Pharaoh awoke, and behold, it was a dream. 8 So in the morning his spirit was troubled; and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt and all its wise men; and Pharaoh told them his dream, but there was none who could interpret it to Pharaoh.

The butler tells Pharaoh he knows a good dream interpreter. You wanna guess?

Joseph!!

Joseph and the Pharaoh—and the Jews who added this story to scripture—share the Pagan's notion that dreams are magic visions that can be interpreted.

9 Then the chief butler said to Pharaoh, "I remember my faults today. 10 When Pharaoh was angry with his servants, and put me and the chief baker in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, 11 we dreamed on the same night, he and I, each having a dream with its own meaning. 12 A young Hebrew was there with us, a servant of the captain of the guard; and when we told him, he interpreted our dreams to us, giving an interpretation to each man according to his dream. 13 And as he interpreted to us, so it came to pass; I was restored to my office, and the baker was hanged."

14 Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon; and when he had shaved himself and changed his clothes, he came in before Pharaoh. 15 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I have had a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it; and I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it." 16 Joseph answered Pharaoh, "It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer."

Pharaoh tells his dream.

Joseph interprets.

[Old Testament Genesis 40, 41]

I'm not sure I mentioned this. Did you notice how Joseph and the Pharaoh—and the Jews who added this story to scripture—share the Pagan's notion that dreams are magic visions that can be interpreted? They did.

Prophetic dreams were part of ancient culture, Pagan and Jewish.

This next Old Testament story has the same theme, our God is better than your God, but slightly different details. Here we go, from the book Daniel...

King Neb. had dreams...
... which all the king's horses and all the king's men, magicians, sorcerers, and Chaldeans, couldn't put together with an interpretation.

Only the Gods can interpret the king's dream.

(Our) God revealed the interpretation of the king's dream to Daniel—in a dream.

Daniel is so good at this, he tells the king what the king's dream was. How cool is that?

Daniel interprets.

Neb says, "Your God is coolest," or words to that effect.

And they all lived happily ever after.

Did you notice how Joseph and Neb.—and the Jews who added this story to scripture—share the Pagan's notion that dreams are magic visions that can be interpreted? They did.

Pagan and Jewish prophetic dreams, and the origin of the Christian myth.
Here's another long bit from the Old Testament, another story about the Jewish prophet Daniel. When we left him in Chapter Two, Daniel was interpreting Pagan dreams for the Pagan King. By Chapter Seven, Daniel is having his own dreams. Before you say, "Yeah, him and everybody else. Enough already!" , have a look towards the end of this next passage. You see verse 13?" It runs: "I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a Son of Man"

You've heard Jesus call the Son of Man, right? This is where that comes from. Two or three centuries after Daniel was written, early Christians read the Jewish scriptures and saw this prophecy and decided it might, probably, must refer to Jesus.

From their earliest days, our Christian ideas about Jesus divine origins included this magic dream-prophecy. Our Christian dream-prophecy was first written down by people, read by people, copied, saved, treasured, canonized by people who understood Daniel's magic dream exactly and explicitly the way they understood Pagan magic dreams. Which was exactly and explicitly the way the Pagans understood their magic dreams. Christian ideas about dreams are Jewish ideas about dreams are Pagan ideas about dreams.

Wow

Dreams in Judea and Galilee, 1st century AD
Outside the New Testament legends, few facts about first century Galilee survive. What people thought there and then, we generally don't have local contemporary evidence one way or the other. Josephus is an exception. He was a first century Jew who lived in Judea and fought, on the Roman side, in the Jewish War. Josephus' book about the war includes first hand accounts of Jewish—Judean and even specifically Galilean—ideas in the century when the Jesus legends were forming.

In this snippet, Josephus tells a bit of recent local history. Alexander was the son of the Jewish king Herod. Alexander's first wife was Glaphyra.

Glaphyra died—a historical fact. And here's how Josephus recounts this historical fact. With a magic dream.          >>

A magic dream in which the vision stood over the dreamer, spoke is pertinent precise prose Josephus was somehow able to quote word for word. Sound familiar?

[Josephus, War, Ch 2, Book 7 . 4]

In the first century AD people all around the ancient world, including Jews in Judea, believed in magic dreams—and wove them into their legends and their histories.

Here Josephus recounts the history of the death of king Herod's brother.

The death was clearly foretold to Herod in a magic dream.

In the first century AD people all around the ancient world, including Jews in Judea, believed in magic dreams—and wove them into their legends and their histories.

Josephus himself had prophetic dreams.

Book 3 chapter 8 ....
3. Now as Josephus began to hesitate with himself about Nicanor's proposal, the soldiery were so angry, that they ran hastily to set fire to the den; but the tribune would not permit them so to do, as being very desirous to take the man alive. And now, as Nicanor lay hard at Josephus to comply, and he understood how the multitude of the enemies threatened him, he called to mind the dreams which he had dreamed in the night time, whereby God had signified to him beforehand both the future calamities of the Jews, and the events that concerned the Roman emperors. Now Josephus was able to give shrewd conjectures about the interpretation of such dreams as have been ambiguously delivered by God. Moreover, he was not unacquainted with the prophecies contained in the sacred books, as being a priest himself, and of the posterity of priests: and just then was he in an ecstasy; and setting before him the tremendous images of the dreams he had lately had, he put up a secret prayer to God, and said, "Since it pleaseth thee, who hast created the Jewish nation, to depress the same, and since all their good fortune is gone over to the Romans, and since thou hast made choice of this soul of mine to foretell what is to come to pass hereafter, I willingly give them my hands, and am content to live. And I protest openly that I do not go over to the Romans as a deserter of the Jews, but as a minister from thee."
[Josephus, War, 3.8.3]

In the first century AD people all around the ancient world, including Jews in Judea, believed in magic dreams—and wove them into their legends and their histories.

Ancient Science and Dreams
Oneirology in Greco-Roman Antiquity
by Andrew Holowchak

What you'll find:

	A readable scholarly survey of ancient ideas about dreams.
	The dream related ideas of Plato, Aristotle, Lucretius, Stoic philosophy, Artemidorus, Synesius.
	Dreams in ancient medicine. Hippocrates, Roman secular medicine, ancient religious incubation.
	A nice bibliography of ancient sources.

An excellent, readable, evidence based survey of the basic facts. Highly recommended.

Asclepius
Collection and Interpretation of the Testimonies
by Emma & Ludwig Edelstein

What you'll find:

	This is the definitive scholarly work on the God Asclepius. You get two volumes in one book.
	Volume 1: 450 pages of primary source material: ancient literature, history, and inscriptions mentioning the God Asclepius.
	Volume 2: 260 pages describing and analyzing the evidence. The Hero, the God, Temple Medicine, Cult, Image, Temples.

Primary evidence assembled in the 1940s, still in print because no one since has done better.

Ancient Near East, Volume 1:
An Anthology of Texts and Pictures
Edited by James Pritchard

The Ancient Near East, Volume II)
A New Anthology of Texts and Pictures (Paperback)
Edited by James Pritchard

Ancient Near East in Pictures Relating to the Old Testament. With Supplement
Edited by James Bennett

Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament with Supplement
Edited by James Bennett Pritchard ISBN: 0-691-03503-2

What you'll find:

	Egyptian, Syrian, Hittite, Assyrian, Babylonian texts relevant to our Old Testament -- because of the clear parallels.
	Primary evidence, with marginal notations referring you to the verses in the Bible that later expressed the same ideas.

A famous scholarly work, accessible to laymen.