What kind of book is the Book of Dreams in ancient Egypt?

Although dreams were recorded in ancient Egyptian inscriptions a long time ago, no conclusive evidence of Egyptian dream interpretation was found in the documents before the New Kingdom. Chester in Ramses' time? The Book of Dreams in Betty's No.3 papyrus is the earliest ancient Egyptian dream interpretation document discovered so far.

1. There are three reasons why there is no early documentary evidence: First, it may be that these documents are kept in different places, and many documents have not been handed down for various reasons.

Secondly, due to the different understanding of the value and function of dreams in different historical periods before the New Kingdom, there may be many theories about dream interpretation in ancient Egypt, but it is always difficult to form a coherent and complete system.

Thirdly, the ancient Egyptians were more and more influenced by foreign civilizations in the sense of divination or dream interpretation, so they had a deeper understanding, so there were more and more documents about dream interpretation in this period.

Second, the dream book is not a modern book? Books? Dream book is not a modern book? Books? It is a general term for this kind of dream interpretation literature by modern Egyptian scholars. Some Egyptian scholars call it? Dream interpretation handbook? . There are also some Egyptian scholars who think this kind of literature is like? Medical literature dedicated to the interpretation of dreams, that is, transforming the scenes in dreams into language. ?

Except Chester in the New Kingdom? Betty papyrus, other dream books are from the post-dynasty period, written in secular Egyptian. It is worth noting that in these secular documents, there is also a dream book that specifically explains women's dreams. For example, Carlsberg papyrus lists many women's dreams, including some erotic scenes, and explains them.

Third, the "dream book" appeared "Chester? Betty's papyrus No.3 is now in the British Museum with the number EA 10683, which was found in Dell? In a private grave in the ruins of Medina craftsman village. The papyrus scroll is 35cm wide and172cm long, written in Egyptian. The papyrus itself has been damaged, and only paragraphs 6 to 1 1 on the right page are well preserved.

1935, Gardiner arranged this papyrus for the first time in his works. On the right page of the text, paragraphs 1 to 10 are the main contents of the dream book, including 139? Ji Meng? And 83? A nightmare? . Lines 10 to 19 are spells to dispel nightmares. Lines 20 to 23 are the signature of the bookkeeper. Paragraph 1 1 on the right page records the characteristics of Seth worshippers and the dreams of four Seth worshippers. On the left page of papyrus, I also copied a poem Ode to Kadish and a letter to Wiesel.

Fourth, the age of the Dream Book and the author's question about the age of this papyrus, Gardiner believes that it was written in the early Ramses era, probably during the reign of Ramses II. Because he compared this article with Harris papyrus No.500, he found that many symbols in the two were similar in writing characteristics, and the latter was proved to come from this period.

In addition, for the author of this article, Gardiner thinks that its original owner is not the calligrapher Amen Nacht mentioned in the signature, but the drafter of The Letter to wiesel, Ken Herhorpo Scheffer. Because the handwriting signed by the last bookkeeper is very different from some symbols in the dream book, the papyrus text and the handwriting of the letter written to Vesil on the left are more like the same person's.

It is clearly recorded in ancient Egyptian literature that Kenkhopo rainbow attracts people. He lived from Ramses II to Malinputa. Since he had no children after his death, his wife remarried to Amunat's father Hamu, and he also owned this papyrus when he inherited the property. To show its ownership, Amon Nacht finally claimed that he wrote this papyrus. The language used in papyrus is standard Chinese and Egyptian, although the spelling of some words has the characteristics of the early Ramses era.

Fifth, the original content of papyrus may come from the period of the Middle Kingdom. Gardiner thinks that the original content of papyrus probably came from the Middle Kingdom period. It is not known whether this papyrus paper was used as a reference for dream interpretation by Ken Hehobo Seaver and his family in real life. Some Egyptian antiquarians believe that papyrus is likely to be regarded as some kind of writing material or collection according to its content and the condition at the time of discovery.

Because there are other documents with different styles unearthed together with this papyrus, including literary works, memos, medical prescriptions, spells, hymns and documents recording family and local affairs, etc. However, judging from the fact that Huo Po copied hymns and his letters on the right side of the papyrus, it seems that he didn't regard it as a very important document, and probably just regarded this papyrus as one of many collections.

Sixth, the dream interpretation items in the dream book adopt a fixed format, and the dream interpretation items in the text adopt a fixed format. Every paragraph begins with the same format:? When a person sees him in a dream, there are several dreams with a central word or an action as the theme.

What is the judgment of dreams? Ji? Or? Fierce? Finally, explain this dream? ? This means that after the words of dream interpretation are finished, there is also a spell to expel nightmares and protect dreamers. In addition, it is specifically mentioned in the literature? A follower of Seth? This is the first time that this title appeared in ancient Egyptian literature.

There is reason to believe that papyrus may appear in the first half of the destruction? Followers of Horus? . For what? A follower of Seth? Their character descriptions and the interpretation of their dreams are also unknown in many other ancient Egyptian documents. Will this work? Horus? And then what? Seth? As a person? Prototype? , is likely to be the ancient Egyptians at that time some primitive attempt to personality classification. This also makes this document more important for understanding ancient Egyptian civilization.

7. Some contents in the dream book are unimaginable for modern people. Dream Book, as a document with divination nature, has some contents that modern people can't imagine. However, by examining his sentences carefully, it is not difficult to find some special features.

The Book of Dreams often uses some puns in the process of dream interpretation. Word games? This phenomenon also appears in other Egyptian documents. As an Egyptian scientist said, pun? It represents the core view of the ancient Egyptians on the world, and also runs through the whole historical period as an inherent feature of ancient Egyptian culture. ?

Moreover, similar usage exists not only in ancient Egypt, but also in some documents with divination nature in the two river basins. However, in ancient society, especially in ancient Egypt, words were considered to be powerful, and random manipulation would bring a series of serious consequences, which led to different purposes for ancient people and modern people to use these rhetorical devices.

These appear in ancient documents? Word games? It is not only for the needs of literary rhetoric, but also closely related to specific historical background, religious customs and other factors.

Moreover, due to the differences between ancient language and modern language, its formation form is definitely different from what modern people are familiar with. Therefore, in the dream book, these unfamiliar rhetorical devices, such as puns, may often be the connection between the recorded dream and its interpretation. From this perspective, many strange sentences may have reasonable explanations.