The Feast - old

Curator: Nurith Goshen
Curator assistants: Shir Hoory, Debra Bernstein, Dafna Israel
Designer: Shirley Yahalomi
Designer assistant: Netanel Dahan
Bella and Harry Wexner Gallery

The exhibition will explore banquets, feasts, and food in the Ancient Near East in the 3rd-1st millennium BCE, presenting them as the ideal setting for the negotiation of ideologies, and as a symbol of political and social status. Such festive events were employed by religious and royal institutions as a means to establish and reaffirm their political power, and consolidate the prevailing ideology. Elements of the feast, such as the sending of invitations, the financing of the event, the presentation of gifts, and aspects of inclusion and exclusion, which may at first appear trivial, are revealed in this exhibition to be potent tools in the hands of the initiators and organizers of the event.

This exhibition will showcase selected archaeological artifacts, iconographic representations, organic materials, and textual evidence, from the Land of Israel and neighboring cultures, primarily from the Israel Museum’s own rich holdings. Through a lavish display of artifacts, The Feast will highlight the social mechanisms that surrounded the communal consumption of food, offering visitors a sense of the motivations at play around the table in antiquity, and their reflection in contemporary culture.

	Rhyton, Anatolia, c. 2000–1500 BC, Al Thani Collection, Gold, carnelian, white stone, ATC455 Provenance: Sam Dubiner collection, Tel Aviv, 1955-1993; private collection, Israel, 1993-2001; private collection, Switzerland, 2001-2010; acquired 2013
	Gold Mycenaean cup, 1500BC (circa) Mycenaean, British Museum, Gold, 1900,0727.1 Acquisition name Purchased from: Rollin & Feuardent Previous owner Previous owner/ex-collection: Forman Acquisition date 1900
	Silver cup, Enkomi, Cyprus, 1400BC-1300BC Late Helladic IIIA, British Museum, Silver, 1897,0401.506 Excavator/field collector Excavated by: Turner Bequest Excavations, Enkomi Findspot Excavated/Findspot: Enkomi Europe: Cyprus: Famagusta (district): Enkomi Acquisition name From: Turner Bequest Excavations, Enkomi Funder name Funded by: Emma Tourner Turner (bequest) Acquisition date 1897
	Ivory cup (?) decoration, South East Palace (Nimrud), British Museum, Ivory, 118112 Excavator/field collector Excavated by: Sir Austen Henry Layard Findspot Excavated/Findspot: South East Palace (Nimrud) Asia: Middle East: Iraq: Iraq, North: Nimrud: South East Palace (Nimrud)
	Queen Pu-abi’s cylinder seal, Early Dynastic III, 2600BC, Royal Cemetery (Ur), Iraq, British Museum, Lapis lazuli, 121545 Excavator/field collector Excavated by: Sir Leonard Woolley Findspot Excavated/Findspot: Royal Cemetery (Ur) Asia: Middle East: Iraq: Iraq, South: Royal Cemetery (Ur) Curator's comments The jewellery was found by the right arm of Queen Pu-abi herself, who lay outstretched on her back upon a bier; other items are now preserved in the Iraq Museum in Baghdad and the University Museum in Philadelphia.
	Perforated stone relief, Banquet scene, Early Dynastic Period (Around 2750-2600), Mesopotamia, Louvre Museum, limestone (?), alabaster (?), AO 31015 Place of discovery Irak = Mésopotamie Collector / Previous owner / Commissioner / Archaeologist / Dedicatee Erlenmeyer Acquisition details achat Acquisition date date : 1997 Owned by Etat Held by Musée du Louvre, Département des Antiquités orientales
	Perforated stone relief, Banquet scene (Fragment), Old Elamite period IA = Suse IV A (-2600 - -2400) Mesopotamia, Louvre Museum, alabaster, Numéro principal: SB 42; Autre numéro d'inventaire: AS 7170 Collector / Previous owner / Commissioner / Archaeologist / Dedicatee: Morgan, Jacques Jean Marie de (Fouilleur/Archéologue) (mission) Acquisition details partage après fouilles Owned by Etat Held by Musée du Louvre, Département des Antiquités orientales Current location Richelieu, [AO] Salle 231 - Iran - Suse au IIIe millénaire av. J.-C., Vitrine 1 Le mobilier des temples. Suse IVA (2700 - 2340 avant J.-C.). Tell de l'Acropole. Category relief Name affixe - fragment - sculpture - relief - relief perforé Materials matière minérale - pierre - pierre commune - albâtre Techniques relief - bas-relief Description/Features animé - scène - banquet - banquet liturgique Imagery scène de genre/vie quotidienne/travail PLACES AND DATES H