"Naptan ḫudûtu aškun". Practice and ideology of neo-Assyrian banquets

The purpose of this study is to examine Neo-Assyrian banquets and shared meals. While providing a complete study on Neo-Assyrian feasting, investigated through an analysis of every kind of textual and archaeological evidence available today, my research also aims to present this topic with a new approach, characterized by a tight connection between anthropology and history. I start with an overview of nutritional anthropology, then Sumerian and Akkadian literary texts which describe feasts are discussed. In the third chapter, the discussion gets into the heart of the matter and investigates meals offered by the Neo-Assyrian king. After the king’s table, the gods’ table is treated. Chapter five deals with the “Protocol for the royal banquet”, that fixed the rules for a ritualized meal of the ruler with his sons and officers. In the sixth chapter, more concrete aspects of feeding in Assyria will be discussed. The work is integrated with charts and a translation of selected sources.