Festive Meals in Ancient Israel

This study investigates the festive meals in Deuteronomy's laws in comparison to depictions of meals in other biblical texts, as well as ancient Near Eastern texts and iconography. Its eclectic, interdisciplinary approach includes discussion of the archaeology of meals in the ancient Levant and recent anthropological findings on meals in order to emphasize the centrality of meals for identity formation as well as for political and religious rhetoric in the texts of Deuteronomy.

Autorentext

Peter Altmann, University of Zurich, Switzerland.

Zusammenfassung

The festive meal texts of Deuteronomy 1226 depict Israel as a unified people participating in cultic banquets a powerful and earthy image for both preexilic Judahite and later audiences. Comparison of Deuteronomy 12:1327, 14:2229, 16:117, and 26:115 with pentateuchal texts like Exodus 2023 is broadened to highlight the rhetorical potential of the Deuteronomic meal texts in relation to the religious and political circumstances in Israel during the Neo-Assyrian and later periods. The texts employ the concrete and rich image of festive banquets, which the monograph investigates in relation to comparative ancient Near Eastern texts and iconography, the zooarchaeological remains of the ancient Levant, and the findings of cultural anthropology with regard to meals.