Being able to enjoy eight hours’ straight slumber is today seen as something of a superpower. But, as Justin Pollard reveals, attitudes to sleep and its medical importance have evolved over the centuries
LIFE HACK #05
In our modern 24/7 world, it can sometimes seem as if we’ve finally finished the job Macbeth started, and murdered sleep. But surely the lazy days of history can provide some tips for enjoying a restful night of slumber?
One advantage enjoyed by our ancestors was that nights were darker and quieter in the past. Even so, people did suffer from sleep problems. We know from Egyptian medical papyri that drugs extracted from the opium poppy, belladonna and nightshade were available, all of which could help with slumber – but also, if taken incautiously, cause a more final and permanent rest.
ANCIENT IDEAS
The ancient Greeks thought a lot about the subject, too. Hypnos, the god of sleep, makes his first known appearance in Book 14 of Homer’s Iliad. Sleep also formed the basis of medical treatment at the temples of Asklepios. The sick were brought to sleep at these sites where, during the night, they would be treated with drugs by priests. Dreaming of Asklepios, patients would wake up cured. Or so the theory went.
The ancient Greeks also pondered the factors that make for a good night’s sleep. Aristotle thought that ingested food emitted fumes, which entered the brain through blood vessels, causing sleepiness. (Interestingly, recent studies of several foods such as walnuts and fatty fish suggest that they do promote sleep.) Democritus of Abdera thought that insomnia was caused by an unhealthy diet – and modern sleep specialists also urge us to avoid consuming some substances, particularly in the hours before bed. As long ago as the 17th century, English physician Sir Thomas Willis noticed that strong coffee seemed to keep him awake. Assuming we’ve dosed up on walnuts and avoided coffee, how long should we sleep? In the late 12th century, Moses ben Maimon – also known as Maimonides, and the most influential Jewish physician working in the Arab world – suggested that a single period of eight hours’ sleep, ending just before sunrise, was the perfect amount.
Recent studies suggest that, through much of the pre-modern period, the norm was not one sleep a night but two. The idea of ‘first sleep’ and ‘second sleep’ appears in numerous medieval and early modern diaries and letters, and
