Psychoanalytic dream interpretation and Waldhorn (1967) have downgraded Freud's classical view of dreams from extremely important to being on a level playing field with other psychological phenomena. Developments in REM research (Ellman and Antrobus, 1991) have also played a part in diminishing dreams importance in both clinical and theoretical psychoanalysis. For psychoanalysts dreams can present a challenge as their interpretation often can overwhelm other aspects of a patients problem and take up much of the time spent on the patient, and in many cases interpretations served the interpreter and not the patient. Dream discussion has taken a back seat to the discussion of
Dream interpretation waking beliefs and desires. The ancient Sumerians in Mesopotamia have left evidence of dream interpretation dating back to at least 3100 BC. Throughout Mesopotamian history, dreams were always held to be extremely important for divination and Mesopotamian kings paid close attention to them. Gudea, the king of the Sumerian city-state of Lagash (reigned 2144–2124 BC), rebuilt the temple of Ningirsu as the result of a dream in which he was told to do so. The standard Akkadian "Epic of Gilgamesh" contains numerous accounts of the prophetic power of dreams. First, Gilgamesh himself has two dreams foretelling the arrival of Enkidu.