Achmet, son of Seirim ( grc, Αχμέτ υιός Σειρείμ), the author of a work on the interpretation of dreams, the ''
Oneirocriticon of Achmet'', is probably not the same person as
Abu Bekr Mohammed Ben Sirin
Muhammad Ibn Sirin ( ar, محمد بن سيرين) (born in Basra) was a Muslim Tabi'un, tabi' who lived in the 8th century CE. He was a contemporary of Anas ibn Malik. He is claimed by some to have been an interpreter of dreams, though others r ...
, whose work on the same subject is still extant in
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
in the Royal Library at
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
, and who was born AH 33 (AD 653-4) and died AH 110 (AD 728-9).
The two names Ahmed or Achimet and Mohammed consist in Arabic of four letters each, and differ only in the first.
There are many differences between Achmet's work, in the form in which we have it, and that of
Ibn Sirin
Muhammad Ibn Sirin ( ar, محمد بن سيرين) (born in Basra) was a Muslim tabi' who lived in the 8th century CE. He was a contemporary of Anas ibn Malik. He is claimed by some to have been an interpreter of dreams, though others regard th ...
, as the writer of the former (or the translator) appears from internal evidence to have been certainly a Christian, (c. 2, 150, &c.) It exists only in
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
, or rather it has only been published in that language.
It consists of three hundred and four chapters, and professes to be derived from what has been written on the same subject by the
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
ns,
Persians
The Persians are an Iranian ethnic group who comprise over half of the population of Iran. They share a common cultural system and are native speakers of the Persian language as well as of the languages that are closely related to Persian.
...
, and
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
ians. It was translated out of Greek into
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
about the year 1160, by
Leo Tuscus Leo Tuscus (or Leo the Tuscan, fl. 1160/66–1182/83) was an Italian writer and translator who served as a Latin–Greek interpreter in the imperial chancery of the Byzantine Empire under Emperor Manuel Komnenos.
Leo was born in the first half of t ...
, of which work two specimens are to be found in Gasp. Barthii ''Adversaria.'' Around 1165, it was used as a source by
Pascalis Romanus for his ''Liber thesauri occulti'', a Latin compilation on dream interpretation that also draws on
Artemidorus. It was first published at Frankfort, 1577, 8vo., in a Latin translation, made by
Leunclavius
Johannes LeunclaviusOther name variants: Hans Lewenklaw, Löwenklau, Joannes Leunclavius, John Leunclavius (c. 1533/1541 – 1594) was a German historian and orientalist. He was an expert in Turkish history, republishing and annotating Ottoman sou ...
, from a very imperfect Greek manuscript, with the title "Apomasaris Apotelesmata, sive de Significatis et Eventis Insomniorum, ex Indorum, Persarum, Aegyptiorumque Disciplina."
The word Apomasares is a corruption of the name of the famous Albumasar, or
Abu Ma'shar, and Leunclavius afterwards acknowledged his mistake in attributing the work to him. It was published in Greek and Latin by
Rigaltius, and appended to his edition of the ''
Oneirocritica
''Oneirocritica'' ( el, Ονειροκριτικά) (''The Interpretation of Dreams'') is an ancient Greek treatise on dream interpretation written by Artemidorus in the 2nd century AD,"Artemidorus Daldianus" in ''The New Encyclopædia Britannica' ...
'' of Artemidorus, Lutet. Paris. 1603, 4to., and some Greek various readings are inserted by
Jacobus De Rhoer
A Jacobus is an English gold coin of the reign of James I of England, James I, worth 25 shillings. The name of the coin comes from the Latin inscription surrounding the King's head on the obverse of the coin, IACOBUS D G MAG BRIT FRA ET HI REX ("J ...
in his ''Otium Daventriense''. It has also been translated into Italian, French, and German.
Teachings
In a dream, a tall, kind
eunuch
A eunuch ( ) is a male who has been castrated. Throughout history, castration often served a specific social function.
The earliest records for intentional castration to produce eunuchs are from the Sumerian city of Lagash in the 2nd millenni ...
represents an angel.
Notes
References
Achmetfrom Smith's ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'' (1867), from which this article was originally derived
Oneirocriticon of Achmet Mavroudi, Maria : ''A Byzantine Book on Dream Interpretation''. Brill, 2002.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Achmet (Oneiromancer)
Divination
Dream
Occultists