Artist: Javier Álvarez Mon
Date: 700
Museum: Macquarie University (Sydney, Australia)
Technique: Carved
Kul-e Farah relief IV reveals a distinctive artistic enterprise of extraordinary originality without precedent in the arts of the ancient Near East. In a single relief, it freezes in time a communal banquet in which participants partake in the ritual consumption of a morsel of food, probably meat, against a background of harp music. Structurally, it is a well-thought-out representation of a social order whose hierarchical zenith is a king surrounded by community leaders. The creative genius of this artistic production is the expression of the gravity of the ritual through a highly organized scheme of profound ideological significance. In this imagery it is possible to discern at least five attributes that also characterized the social institution of the Greco-Roman symposia: (1) the meal as an idealized model of the community; that is, an image of the community defining their view of themselves; (2) the sharing of a meal as a customary form of bonding, implying some degree of equality amongst participants; (3) the establishing of rank through proximity to the ruler, thus the noble and priestly class form the royal entourage; (4) the presence of musicians to mark a celebratory occasion; the culmination perhaps of a set of rituals leading to consumption of the “first portion” of the meal; (5) the idealized community represented by a group of select individuals sharing a meal, organized according to a sophisticated social structure, emphasizing the participatory nature of the performance (the sharing of the sacrificed animal). This does not necessarily reject the exaltation of the royal figure but reflects an equalizing aspect of a society. It is a collective ritual experience in which the individual establishes a meaningful connection with society and history.
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