Feasts: Archaeological and Ethnographic Pespectives on Food, Politics, and Power

14. Feasting in the Ancient Near East

FEASTING IN THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST Denise Schmandt-Besserat [n the ancient Near East, the feast was a leitmotif in art (Collon 1992; Pinnock 1994) and cuneiform texts (Bottero 1994). [mages carved in stone illustrate banquets of 4,500 years ago and economic tablets record the movement of goods they occasioned. [n this paper, I draw information from both art and texts to assess the role of feasting in Sumer in the third millennium B.C. I argue that the feast was a significant factor in the Mesopotamian redistribution economy. I also contend that the economic function of feasting was maximized by the fact that festivals were religiOUS and sociopolitical events. THE MESOPOTAMIAN CITY STATES Before starting my discussion on the feast, I summarize briefly the sociopolitical and economic conditions of Mesopotamia in the third millennium B.C. Situated 391 Demse Schmandt Besserat in present-day southern Iraq, the country of Sumer was a low alluvial plain, made of silt and lacking the most elementary raw materials such as stone, metal, or even timber wood. As it is today. it was cursed in summer by a scorching heat and would have been a barren desert if not watered by two rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates. It is along the banks of the Euphrates, the less unpredictable of the two rivers, that the Sumerians first settled. They transformed the dry silt by irrigation and drained swamps into rich fertile soils. They could thus engage in farming. They specialized in the cultivation of dates and barley, as well as the raising of sheep and cattle. The population was clustered where irrigation was possible along the river and the canals. The first settlements were villages, but around 3500 fl.C. the first cities, such as Uruk and Girsu. appeared in the south. The process spread to the north and along the Tigris with the rise of Nippur, Kish, Shuruppak, and Khafaje. Each city with its surrounding villages was separated from the next by long stretches of swamps and desert. The hinterland was a desert where nomadic tribes were probably roaming. This geographic situation, in which each settlement was confined to relative isolation, favored the development of small political units called city-states. In the third millennium, individual city-states may have had populations of 5,000 to 10,000 people. The political leadership of the city-states was first in the hands of high priests of the powerful Mesopotamian temple. However, by 2900 Il.c.. a king ruled from a royal palace, built next to the sacred temple area. The king's main function was to build and keep in good repair the temples of the gods, to plan, oversee and maintain the irrigation system and the defensive fortification wall surrounding the city. He was also in charge of raising and supplying the army, including costly metal armaments. Finally, we may assume that the king and his queen played an important ceremonial role, in particular, during the monthly festivals, which, I will argue, generated the capital to support the royal endeavors. FEASTING IN ART The famous "Standard of Ur," which features the most detailed image of a Near Eastern feast, illustrates the Sumerian king hosting a banquet (Moorey 1982:98-102: Fig. 14.1). The panel, inlaid with shell, limestone, and lapis lazuli, shows the ruler as the largest figure of the top register, and sporting a kilt with multiple tiers of fringes, The six guests facing him are identical in size, wear the same garment with a single fringe, sit on similar wooden stools, make the same gesture, and hold similar cups. A harpist and a singer entertain the elegant assembly while attentive servants are busy helping. Below, nineteen offering bearers , organized in five delegations led by ushers, stand in a long line stretching over two registers. Unlike the stereotyped banquet guests, the gift bearers have 392 r:;:::::> ~ 0" Figure 14.1. Standard of Ur. After Denise Schmandt-Besserat. Before Writing. p. 173. fig. 104 (Austin: University of Texas Press. 1992). Demse Schmandt .Besserat individual features and assume different positions. Sumerians with shaven heads and wearing fringed kilts lead the procession. Some of them pull or push a cow. one escorts a small flock of goats and rams while another carries bundles of fish. Foreigners follow wearing skirts overlapping in front. They are depicted with curly hair. bearded or clean-shaven. and occasionally with a headdress. One of the men...