The fiery bed dream was considered bad as it meant the dreamer was likely driving his wife away.
These beliefs were deeply influential on early Jewish ideas about the nature and interpretation of dreams. The early Hebrew interest in dreaming can be found in the Old Testament. However, in this monotheistic religion, the many gods of Mesopotamia and Egypt had been superseded by a single God who, it was claimed, either appeared to make his will known or to predict future events. Many passages in the Old Testament refer to God appearing to people in dreams. Two of the most well-known biblical dreamers were Joseph and Daniel. Joseph is said to have experienced prophetic dreams, and went on to become the dream interpreter for the Pharaoh of Egypt. According to some sources, Daniel is said to have interpreted a dream for the king of Babylon who then promoted him to a high station. The Talmud, the central sacred Jewish text, provided some guidance on how dreams were to be interpreted. .
Dream interpretation also appeared in the earliest Buddhist writings. Dreams were categorised by the ancient Buddhists, as omens, divine messages and diagnoses of the dreamer's spiritual, mental and physical health. Also dreams were used as a metaphor for the ultimate emptiness Buddhists believe lie at the heart of all material things. In ancient China, dreams were also treated seriously. During the Shang Dynasty, c. 1600 – 1046 BCE there were special court officials who divined the dreams of the Emperor and the aristocracy. One ancient book classified dreams and their symbols into different meanings. Later Chinese philosophers would widen the study of dreams to investigate ideas of how people recognise when they are asleep or awake.
The ancient Middle Eastern traditions seeped into the Greek practices of dream interpretation. Like their forebears the ancient Greeks emphasised the divinely inspired nature of dreams.
