Incubation (ritual)

As Enkoimesis (Greek ἐγκοίμησις ), incubation (from the Latin incubatio ) or German temple sleep refers to a documented since ancient practice in which a patient visited the shrine of a god or a hero and there ( sometimes in conjunction with an appropriate ritual and more or less elaborate preparation) it was hoped that he would receive an indication of an effective treatment of his illness in a dream sleep. In a more general sense, a term for the sleep in the temple, in the hopes of an oracle seeking an answer to his question. The content of the dream was usually not immediately understandable, but required the interpretation by a priest of the particular sanctuary.

The God of the sanctuary was often the Greek god of healing, Asclepius, but by far not the only one. The Sleeping Lady, a figurative sculptures in Malta is interpreted as a representation of the temple sleep.

Sanctuaries, where the Enkoimesis is occupied, were: