Dream breath hut
" Dream Breath Hut " ( Babylonian Ezaqiqu ; House of Dream Breath ) is the name of a Mesopotamian hut, which was built as a dream catcher place by dream interpreters in order to be able to look into the future through dreams. The Babylonian term zaqiqu corresponds to the meaning wind, breath, spirit and dream god . The dream breath hut served as a replacement building in the wild, in case the dream interpretation could not be carried out in a nearby temple.
In the Gilgamesh epic , among other things, Enkidu appears as the interpreter of Gilgamesh's dreams , who had previously climbed a mountain so that the sun god Šamaš might send him a dream. Gilgamesh then lay down in the hut built by Enkidu, which was able to receive the dream brought about by the storm wind. To keep out the influence of evil demons , the dream breath hut was given an outer circle of white flour. In Babylonian ritual texts the ban circle made of flour is documented several times. The demons could not reach the dreaming in this way.
Enkidu acts in the Gilgamesh epic as a person belonging to the dream breath hut and thus also as a dream catcher. The wording used, like a safety net thrown to the ground, refers to Enkidu, who, like a safety net, lies on the ground immediately in front of the dream breath hut in order to attract the dream, to capture it and to pass it on to Gilgamesh while sleeping.
“Enkidu built him (Gilgamesh) a dream-breath hut. He fastened a door for the storm wind in their entrance. He made him bed in a circle, the line was made of flour. But he himself, thrown to the ground like a safety net, lay down in her entrance. "
literature
- Stefan M. Maul: The Gilgamesh Epic . Beck, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-406-52870-8