The Oneirocriticon of Achmet: A Medieval Greek and Arabic Treatise on the Interpretation of Dreams

Description

Any scholar interested in dreams will be in Oberhelman's debt. His lucid translation and helpful annotations have brought Achmet away from the private preserve of Byzantinists and into the academic mainstream. His thoughtful introduction not only persuasively argues for Achmet's relevance, but provides a modern, theoretically sophisticated introduction to the study of dreams in their historical context. The side connections that he draws between cultures, time periods, and methodologies of study should provide a valuable stimulus for future work; and, as a valuable bonus, this material could fit very well into the classroom (C. Robert Phillips, III). Achmet is an observer of culture as he analyzes hundreds of dreams in context of gender, politics, socioeconomic class, psychological and physical state, cultural upbringing and religion. PREFACE 7 ONE: The Oneirocriticon of Achmet I. The Author 11 II. The Text 14 III. Achmet's Sources 15 A. Arabic Material 15 B. Artemidorus 18 C. Byzantine Sources 19 TWO: Dreams in Greek Thought Before Achmet I. The Pre-Byzantine Background 23 A. The Literary and Philosophical Tradition 23 B. Medical Writers on Dreams 32 C. Dreams in Incubation 36 D. Popular Dream-Interpretation 38 II. Dreams and Christianity 41 A. Dreams and the Old Testament 41 B. Dreams in the Canonical New Testament 44 C. Dreams in Noncanonical Christian Literature 46 D. Dreams in the Christian World until A.D. 400 49 III. Dreams in Early and Middle Byzantium 53 THREE: Dream-Interpretation and the Oneirocriticon of Achmet I. Achmet's Theories on Dreams and Dream-Interpretation 65 II. Achmet and Modern Psychoanalysis, Cross-Cultural Studies, and Historical Sociology 73 A. Achmet and Freudian Psychoanalysis 74 B. Cross-Cultural Studies of Dreams 76 C. Historical Sociology 78 FOUR: The Oneirocriticon: a Translation 85 FIVE: Commentary to the Dream-Book 247 Appendix I: Chapter Titles of Achmet's Oneirocriticon 277 Appendix II: Contents of the Kitábu ’1 Tâbír Attributed to Ibn Sháhín 285 Appendix III: Comparison of the Dream-Symbols in Achmet and Artemidorus 289 Works Cited 297 Index: Words in Achmet's Dreams 307