Eating Flesh in Egyptian and Babylonian Dreams

     The Egyptians and Babylonians were two ancient cultures that analyzed
dreams and recorded them in "Dream Books," texts that we now are able to
study in translation. Two such books from these cultures are similar in
that they both discuss dreams in which the dreamer eats different types of
flesh. These dreams, and their interpretations, show that these cultures
were very conscious of what they ate and how it affected their lives.
     The Egyptian Dream Book uses a very simple "If *.., then **" format, in
which the immediate interpretation is a judgment of whether a dream is
"good" or "bad."  The author gives relatively few examples of flesh eating
dreams, but these few are quite mysterious and thought provoking. The first
such example is "eating ox-flesh," which the author deems "good; it means
something will accrue to him" (Egyptian 11).  While this interpretation is
very vague, some conclusions may be drawn from it. The inherent goodness in
ox-flesh tells us that oxen were considered valuable and perhaps even
godlike animals. The suggestion of monetary or material gain also implies
that the eating of ox-flesh was considered lucky. Or perhaps not, for the
same dream appears again later in the dream book, and this time it is "BAD;
a fight awaits him" (Egyptian 15). Whether or not these two interpretations
are meant to be separate, as indicated by their distance in the text
itself, or as two parts of the same fortune is unclear. This ambiguity
tells us that the interpretation of the dream might rely on other
conditions, such as the social status of the dreamer, or that no good
fortune is without some innate bad fortune. The only other example of flesh
eating in this text is "eating hot meat," which is "BAD; it means his not
being found innocent" (Egyptian 11). Since the specific type of meat is not
given, nothing may be concluded about the meat's origin as it relates to
the dream's repercussions in waking life. A possible explanation is that
hot meat is seen as a sort of "smoking gun," the incriminating piece of
evidence against the dreamer, revealing a guilty conscience.
     The Babylonian Dream Book, in contrast, interprets many dreams involving
the eating of different kinds of meat or flesh.  Some of these dreams are
fairly vague, mentioning meat of "some wild animal" or "some foreign wild
animal" (Babylonian 17). Almost at once, though, the bull shows up: "If he
eats the meat of a wild bull, his days will be long. . ." (Babylonian 17).
As in the Egyptian interpretation, eating the flesh of a bull (a creature
similar to the ox) is a good thing and indicative of a long life. There are
other interpretations involving eating animal flesh, but what is unusual
about the Babylonian Dream Book is that there are many discussions of
dreams involving the eating of human flesh. The general guidelines of these
dreams seem to be that eating one's own flesh means something bad, and
eating the flesh of another yields a good result. For example, if a man
"eats his own flesh . . . he will live with a disturbed mind" and "If he
eats his penis, his son will die" (Babylonian 17). However, "If he eats the
flesh of his friend, he will enjoy a large share" (Babylonian 17), and "If
he eats his friend's penis, he will have a son" (Babylonian 18). These
interpretations are highly unusual, suggesting that dreams about
cannibalism predict lucky and good occurrences, while eating of any part of
the self is damaging and even fatal. There is no appearance of any such
dreams in the Egyptian text, so these interpretations are the only to
exist, leaving them a mystery.
    Both Egyptian and Babylonian Dream Books mention the eating of flesh in
dreams and give interpretations. While of the two the Babylonian text gives
many more examples of this incidence, both texts suggest that what a man
eats in his dream is indicative of what may happen to him in life. Overall,
they reveal a high level of consciousness of what these ancient cultures
ate and the effect of their food on their lives.