Relief - Palace Banquets

The finest wines, oils, honey and fruit were brought to the Assyrian table from far and wide to satisfy royal appetites. The vast amount of food and drink served at palace banquets is recorded in texts. These describe how different regions were associated with particular products of outstanding quality. This panel is part of a series that lined a corridor in the South-West Palace at Nineveh. The panels show attendants carrying baskets of fruit, hares, game birds and a delicacy of dried locusts fastened on rods, for what was probably a victory feast. Here, attendants carry low tables piled with grapes, pomegranates and dates. From the South-West Palace, Nineveh, IraqScanned at the 'I Am Ashurbapinal' Exhibition at The British Museum, London (2019)