Information signalée par Renaud Alexandre

Dining and Death Conference

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.



Saturday 25 September

8:15 – 9:00 registration and coffee

9:00 – 9:15 – Welcome, Catherine Draycott, Maria Stamatopoulou

9:15 – 10:00 – Keynote opening speech: Johanna Fabricius, Freie Universität, Berlin

10:10 – 11:00 – Petra Amann (University of Vienna, Bankett und Grab Projekt): ‘Banquet and Grave.' Methods, aims and first results of a recent research project.

11:00 – 11:30 coffee break



1: North Syria and Anatolia

Chair: Catherine Draycott, Somerville College, Oxford

11:30 – 11:55 – Eudora Struble (University of Chicago): Ritual Engraved: Rethinking the Meanings of Syro-Hittite Mortuary Feasts.

12:05 – 12:30 – Elizabeth P. Baughan (University of Richmond): Burial Klinai and ‘Totenmahl'?

12:40 – 1:05 – Sean Lockwood (Trent University): Family Matters: The Interpretation of Lycian “Funerary Banquet” Reliefs.


1:15 – 2:30 pm – sandwich lunch at the Classics Centre


2: Egypt

Chair: John Baines, University of Oxford

2:30 – 2:55 – Gay Robins (Emory University): Meals for the Dead: the image of the deceased seated before a table of offerings.

3:05 – 3:30 – Nicola Harrington (University of Oxford): The 18th Dynasty Banquet: ideals and realities.

3:40 – 4:15 – coffee break


3: The Hellenic World

Chair: Bert Smith, University of Oxford

4:15 – 4:40 – Maria Tsouli and Aris Papayiannis (Ephorate of Antiquities of Sparta): Testimonia on Funerary Banquets in Ancient Sparta (from the Archaic to the Roman Period)

4:40 – 5:05 – Myrina Kalaitzi (KERA, National Hellenic Research Foundation): The Theme of the Banqueter on Hellenistic Macedonian Tombstones.

5:15 – 5:40 – Maria Stamatopoulou (University of Oxford): Banquets in the Painted Stelai of Demetrias.


7 pm – conference dinner at Al Shami Restaurant (for those who have opted in)



Sunday 26 September


4: Etruria

Chair: Corinna Riva, University College London

9:30 – 9:55 – Antony Tuck (University of Massachusetts): Dining with the Dead: Practice and symbol in Etruscan funerary ritual.

10:05 – 10:30 – Tina Mitterlechner (University of Vienna, Bankett und Grab Projekt): The Banquet in Etruscan Funerary Art and its Underlying Meaning.


10:40 – 11:15 – coffee break



5: The Roman World

Chair: Susan Walker, Ashmolean Museum

11:15 – 11:40 – Katherine M.D. Dunbabin (McMaster University): “Merrily Reclining After his own Demise': the banquet in Roman funerary art.

11:50 – 12:15 – Eric Smith (University of Denver): The Eschatological Banquet: ‘Hidden transcripts' in the funerary symposium scenes of the Christian catacombs.

12:25 – 12:50 – Peter Stewart (Courtauld Institute of Art): Image and Reality in the Roman Totenmahl.



1 – 2 pm – lunch break



6: Han China

Chair: Craig Clunas, University of Oxford

2 – 2:25 – Michael Nylan (Berkeley): Funerary Banquets in Classical-era China.

2:35 – 3:00 – Lukas Nickel (SOAS/Institute of Archaeology, UCL): Banquets and Tombs in Han Dynasty China: Luoyang as a case study.

3:10 – Concluding remarks: Oswyn Murray, University of Oxford (tbc)

Audience Discussion

Programme complet

Source : liste de diffusion de Liverpool