Eurasian Feasting

Feasting played a large role in European and Middle Eastern culture in the Middle Ages. At Nishapur, the Iranian city famous for its ceramics, feasts were large celebrations with public rituals, dances, and performances. They were often used to mark the changes of seasons and to celebrate astronomical events (Pancaroglu 5). Feasts were also used to mark alliances between warring entities and were accompanied by gift-giving. The ornate bowls produced by craftsmen in Nishapur contain explicit reference to the feasts, often depicting people drinking or animals which people dressed up as for dances at the feasts (Pancaroglu 8). Thus, similar to the Maya cacao vessels, the Nishapur feasting pottery is self-referential.

The European treasures in this exhibit serve several purposes. The Attarouthi treasure contains religious chalices with images of saints and references to specific churches, while the Avar treasure contains ornate goblets for drinking. These represent an interesting transition from the religious sphere to the secular. Feasting in the Byzantine Empire was linked to specific religious holidays, as Saints have their own feast days which commemorate them. The Attarouthi treasure is a collection of liturgical objects that were presumably used during the celebrations of these feast days (St. Nicholas of Myra Church 2015).. However, the Avar treasure, created on the outskirts of the Byzantine Empire and thought to be imitations of the Attarouthi treasure, does not have an explicitly religious purpose. Thus, there is an interesting migration of feasting implements and prestige goods from the religious sphere to the secular sphere of society.