Guests of the Gods: Ritualized Meals in First-Millennium Assyria

This article examines the role of food and commensality within the Neo-Assyrian religious experience. The daily cult in a Mesopotamian temple focused on the maintenance and care of the gods: this included serving regular repasts, the procedures of which are investigated in the first paragraph. Despite being prepared and served by men, divine meals in Neo-Assyrian shrines were usually eaten by the gods alone; there certainly were, however, a few instances when a restricted and privileged group of men was invited to share such repasts. All the more so, then, the rare written sources describing these moments, discussed in the central part of this article, appear as pivotal. Finally, the issue of how the Mesopotamian gods could enjoy the food which was presented to their material effigies is investigated. It will be proved that commensality was an undeniably crucial moment of the Neo-Assyrian rituals and that feasting was considered as one of the most significant manifestations of worship.