When is a ‘funerary banquet’ a funerary banquet?

The term ‘funerary banquet’ is often generally used to describe images in and on tombs, which show people feasting and drinking, or in settings associated with such activities.  Such images were widely used in tomb adornment in numerous areas in the ancient world, where they take various forms and have different meanings. 

These meanings can be areas of debate: in Classical archaeology, for instance, a traditional interpretation of images generally termed ‘Totenmahl’ (usually showing single figures reclining on couches) as depictions of funerary rites or the heroised deceased in the afterlife is now countered by those who see portrayals of aspirational worldly activities.  Others, seeing an impasse, and/or disagreeing with that approach adopt another method of looking at the images, assessing them as indicators of cultural preferences in self-representation.  Still, questions linger about whether some, if not all of the ‘Totenmahl’ type images have any eschatological significance, and whether it matters.  As well, there has been little direct interdisciplinary dialogue: what are the approaches to and interpretations of banquet images in tombs in other cultures/regions/periods?

This conference’s aim is to gather the current state of thinking about interpretations of the ‘funerary banquet’ theme in a range of disciplines, with special consideration of the question of eschatological meaning.  A two-day programme will consist of a number of twenty-five minute papers presented by archaeologists specializing in Ancient Egypt, the Near East, ancient China, Etruria and the Greek and Roman worlds, each of whom will consider the banqueting theme, details of the images and their meaning in various funerary contexts. 

Organisers:

Catherine M. Draycott

Katherine and Leonard Woolley Junior Research Fellow, Somerville College, Oxford

Maria Stamatopoulou

University Lecturer in Classical Art and Archaeology, University of Oxford

Inquiries: dininganddeath.conference@arch.ox.ac.uk

Sponsored by:

• The John Fell Memorial Fund
• Somerville College, Oxford
• The University of Oxford Classics Faculty
• The School of Archaeology, Oxford
• The Craven Committee
• The Griffith Egyptological Fund

Heading thumbnail image: Detail from the grave relief of Menelaos, AD 100, Ashmolean Museum ANMichaelis.91, Reproduced with thanks to the Ashmolean Museum.