Banquets, Power, and Identity - Mediation of Power and Identity through Royal Feasts and Banquets in Persia

Feasting and banquets played a significant role in defining and strengthening cultural identity. Archaeological-historical studies demonstrated that feasting and banquets were more than a time for celebration and consuming food and wine, they could be of political importance and they have played a major role in the negotiation of power and identity. Indeed, they have contributed to historical transformations. The richest source of banquets in ancient Persia dates back to ‘Chogha Mish’, the largest pre-Sassanian site in the Susiana area, in the western province of Khuzestan, a state located in today’s Iran. Artifacts from ancient Persia, especially from the Achaemenid (539–330 BC) and its successor the Sassanid Empire, have proven to contain extremely valuable information to shine light on the nature of the royal banquets. This paper examines artefacts and a mural from different Persian eras depicting such royal banquets. It focuses on these remnants of culture which allow a glimpse into the Persian past.