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The present book is divided into two parts: the first, Dreams and Their Interpretation in the Ancient Near East, includes as a final section a translation of all extant dream reports from the Ancient Near East. The first part is represented by an excellent, scholarly essay written by Oppenheim. The second part is a presentation of all fragments of the Assyrian Dream Book as well as of other texts of this genre coming from Mesopotamia. Its concluding section contains the complete transliteration of the text of the dream book with photographs of the fragments of the tablets which have been utilized to establish the text.
Oppenheim points out that in the Ancient Near East dream experiences were recorded on three clearly differentiated planes: dreams as revelations of the deity which may or may not require interpretation; dreams which reflect symptomatically the state of mind, 'spiritual and bodily health' of the dreamer which are only mentioned but never recorded; and, dreams in which forthcoming events are prognosticated. The way in which the dreams are reported does not reflect in any way the extent and variety of moods which