Ancient CivilizationsPerchance To Dream: Oneiromancy Ancient History Of Dream Interpretation Posted on June 16, 2025 by Administrator Dreams and their ancient interpretations are documented in contemporary written sources such as official inscriptions, literature, even special dream books, called oneirocritics, from Mesopotamia and Egypt’s early civilizations. They demonstrate that dreams played an important role in government, religion and daily life. Despite the fact that early civilizations had a variety of ideas about what dreams were, they always seemed to place a high value on them.