Banquets, Reputation and Social Obligation in Roman Egypt: Some Notes on the Dinner Invitations in Papyri
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.3989/emerita.2022.06.2121Keywords:
papyri, invitations, feasts, commensality, Roman EgyptAbstract
This work aims at analyzing the invitations to feasts in papyri within the context of the social dynamics of commensality in Roman Egypt. Drawing upon Dietler’s concept of «commensal hospitality», this work examines the roles played by commensals at these banquets, as well as the implications of inviting and being invited to a feast. Its objective is to assess the extent to which the celebration of feasts, the issuing of invitations, and the attendance to these feasts may relate to an attempt made by hosts and guests to acquire and increase their prestige and reputation within the group.
Downloads
References
Alfani, G., & Gourdon, V. (2009): «Fêtes du baptême et publicité des réseaux sociaux en Europe Occidentale. Grandes tendances de la fin du Moyen Âge au XXe siècle», Annales de démographie historique 117 (1), pp. 153-189. https://doi.org/10.3917/adh.117.0153
Artz-Grabner, P. (2016): «Why Did Early Christ Groups Still Attend Idol Meals? Answers from Papyrus Invitations», Early Christianity 7, pp. 508-529. https://doi.org/10.1628/186870316X14803408318776
Ascough, R. S. (2008): «Forms of Commensality in Greco-Roman Associations», Classical World 102 (1), pp. 33-45. https://doi.org/10.1353/clw.0.0038
Berkes, L. (2018): «An Unusual Party Invitation from Graeco-Roman Egypt», in Bács, T. A., Bollók, Á., and Vida, T. (eds.), Across the Mediterranean -Along the Nile. Studies in Egyptology, Nubiology and Late Antiquity Dedicated to László Török on the Occasion of His 75th Birthday, Budapest, pp. 277-281.
Boak, A. E. R. (1937): «The Organization of Guilds in Greco-Roman Egypt», Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association 68, pp. 212-220. https://doi.org/10.2307/283265
Bourdieu, P. (1982): «Les rites comme actes d'institution», Actes de la recherche en sciences sociales 43, pp. 58-63. https://doi.org/10.3406/arss.1982.2159
Bray, T. L. (ed.) (2003): The Archaeology and Politics of Food and Feasting in Early States and Empires, New York. https://doi.org/10.1007/b100538
Bricault, L. (2013): «Sarapis au banquet: lectisternes d'Alexandrie et d'Égypte», Revue Numismatique 170, pp. 101-134. https://doi.org/10.3406/numi.2013.3200
Broux, Y. (2013): «Creating a New Local Elite: The Establishment of the Metropolitan Orders of Roman Egypt», Archiv für Papyrusforschung und verwandte Gebiete 59 (1), pp. 143-153. https://doi.org/10.1515/apf.2013.59.1.143
Bussi, S. (2003): «Selezione di élites nell'Egitto romano. Ἐπίκρισις ed εἴσκρισις tra I e III secolo d.C.», Laverna 14, pp. 146-166.
Chapa, J. (1998): Letters of Condolence in Greek Papyri, Florence. de Frutos García, A. (forthcoming): «La política de la comensalía de las asociaciones privadas del Egipto grecorromano», in Jiménez San Cristóbal, A. I. (ed.), De Fiesta por la Antigüedad, Madrid.
Dietler, M. (2001): «Theorizing the Feast. Rituals of Consumption, Commensal Politics, and Power in African Contexts», in Dietler, M., and Hayden, B. (eds.), Feasts. Archaeological and Ethnographic Perspectives on Food, Politics, and Power, Washington, pp. 65-114.
Dietler, M., & Hayden, B. (eds.) (2001): Feasts: Archaeological and Ethnographic Perspectives on Food, Politics, and Power, Washington-London.
Donahue, J. F. (2004): The Roman community at the Table during the Principate, Ann Arbor. https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.22968
El-Mofatch, R. H. (2016): «Where is the Party?», in Derda, T., Latjar, A., Urbanik, J., Mironczuk, A., and Ochala, G. (eds.), Proceedings of the 27th International Congress of Papyrology, Warsaw, 1993-2012.
Gallazi, C., & Wagner, G. (1983): «Un lot d'ostraca grecs inédits au Musée du Caire: une archive d'un domaine privé en Thébaïde au début du Ve siècle», Bulletin de l'Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale 83, pp. 171-189.
Gardner, C., Marshall, C. W., & Nelson, M. (2018): «P.Brit.Col.Inv. 1 and Invitations to Sarapis Dinners», Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 205, pp. 207-212.
Gibbs, M. (2011): «Trade Associations in Roman Egypt: their Raison d'être», Ancient Society 41, pp. 291-315.
Gilliam, J. F. (1976): «Invitations to the Kline of Sarapis», in Hanson, A. E. (ed.), Collectanea Papyrologica. Texts Published in Honor of H.C. Youtie, Bonn, vol. I, pp. 315-324.
Grignon, C. (2001): «Commensality and Social Morphology: An Essay of Typology», in Scholliers, P. (ed.), Food, Drink and Identity. Cooking, Eating, Drinking in Europe since the Middle Ages, Oxford-New York, pp. 23-32. https://doi.org/10.5040/9781350044845-ch-002
Hayden, B., & Villeneuve, S. (2011): «A Century of Feasting Studies», Annual Review of Anthropology 40 (1), pp. 433-449. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-anthro-081309-145740
Huebner, S. R. (2009): «Female Circumcision as a Rite de Passage in Egypt -Continuity through the Millennia?», Journal of Egyptian History 2, pp. 149-171. https://doi.org/10.1163/187416509X12492786609249
Kim, C.-H. (1975): «The Papyrus Invitation», Journal of Biblical Literature 94 (3), pp. 391-402. https://doi.org/10.2307/3265160
Kloppenborg, J. S. (2020): Greco-Roman Associations: Texts, Translations, and Commentary. Volume III, Ptolemaic and Early Roman Egypt. Berlin-Boston. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110710397 PMid:31693771
Koenen, L. (1967): «Eine Einladung zur Kline des Sarapis (P. Colon. inv. 2555)», Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 1, pp. 121-126.
Legras, B. (1993): «Mallokouria et mallokourètes: un rite de passage dans l'Égypte Romaine», Cahiers du Centre Gustave Glotz 4 (4), pp. 113-127. https://doi.org/10.3406/ccgg.1993.1374
Maravela, A., & Stolk, J. V. (2018): «Bringing Together the Family for a Daughter's Wedding. P. Yale 1.78 Reconsidered», Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists 55, pp. 275-280.
Martín Rodríguez, D. (2000): «'Tarjetas' y cartas de invitación en papiros griegos», in Barrios Castro, M. J., and Crespo, E. (eds.), Actas del X congreso español de estudios clásicos (21-25 de septiembre de 1999), Madrid, Vol. 1, pp. 485-490.
Mauss, M. (1990): The Gift. The Form and Reason for Exchange in Archaic Societies, translated by W.D. Halls, New York-London.
Milne, J. G. (1925): «The Kline of Sarapis», Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 11, pp. 6-9. https://doi.org/10.1177/030751332501100103
Monson, A. (2006): «The Ethics and the Economics of Ptolemaic Religious Associations», Ancient Society 36, pp. 221-238. https://doi.org/10.2143/AS.36.0.2017836
Montserrat, D. (1990): «P. Lond. Inv. 3078 Reappraised», Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 76, pp. 206-207. https://doi.org/10.1177/030751339007600132
Montserrat, D. (1991): «Mallocouria and Therapeuteria: Rituals of Transition in a Mixed Society?», Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists 28, pp. 43-49.
Montserrat, D. (1992): «The 'Kline' of Anubis», Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 78, pp. 301-307. https://doi.org/10.1177/030751339207800126
Montserrat, D. (1993): «The Representation of Young Males in 'Fayum' Portraits», Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 79, pp. 215-225. https://doi.org/10.2307/3822166
Montserrat, D. (1996): Sex and Society in Graeco-Roman Egypt, London-New York. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203821893
Montserrat, D. (1997): «Death and Funerals in the Roman Fayum», in Bierbrier, M. L. (ed.), Portraits and Mask: Burial Customs in Roman Egypt. London.
Montserrat, D., Fantoni, G., & Robinson, P. (1994): «Varia Descripta Oxyrhynchita», Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists 31 (1-2), pp. 11-80.
Murray, O. (ed.) (1990): Sympotica: A Symposium on the Symposion, Oxford.
Nelson, C. A. (1979): Status Declarations in Roman Egypt, Amsterdam.
Perpillou-Thomas, F. (1993): Fêtes d'Égypte ptolémaïque et romaine d'après la documentation papyrologique grecque, Leuven.
Pruneti, P. (2016): «Alcune considerazioni sui biglietti d'invito», Analecta Papyrologica 28, pp. 117-129.
Rea, J. (1986): «A Letter of Condolence: CPR VI 81 Revised», Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 62, pp. 75-78.
Rowlandson, J., & Lippert, S. (2019): «Family and Life Cycle Transitions», in Vandorpe, K. (ed.), A Companion to Greco-Roman and Late Antique Egypt, Hoboken, pp. 327-345. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118428429.ch21
Schmitt Pantel, P. (1992): La cité au banquet: histoire des repas publics dans les cités grecques, Rome.
Skeat, T. C. (1975): «Another Dinner-Invitation from Oxyrhynchus (P.Lond. Inv. 3078)», Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 61, pp. 251-254. https://doi.org/10.1177/030751337506100134
Smith, D. E., & Taussig, H. (eds.) (2012): Meals in the Early Christian World. Social Formation, Experimentation and Conflict at the Table, New York.
Stroppa, M. (2022): «BIG & Small: The Size of Documents as a Semiotic Resource for Graeco-Roman Egypt», in Bentein, K., and Amory, Y. (eds.), Novel Perspectives on Communication Practices in Antiquity. Towards a Historical Social- Semiotic Approach, pp. 29-38. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004526525_004
van den Eijnde, F., Blok, J., & Strootman, R. (eds.) (2018): Feasting and Polis Institutions. Leiden-Boston. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004356733
van Minnen, P. (2002): «AI AΠO ΓΥΜΝΑΣΙΟΥ: Greek Women and Greek Elite in the Metropoleis of Roman Egypt», in Melaerts, H., and Mooren, L. (eds.), Le rôle et le statut de la femme en Egypte hellénistique, romaine et byzantine: actes du colloque international, Bruxelles-Leuven, 27-29 novembre 1997, Paris, pp. 337-353.
Vandoni, M. (1964): Feste pubbliche e private nei documenti greci, Milan.
Venticinque, P. (2010): «Family affairs: guild regulation and family relationship in Roman Egypt», Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies 50, pp. 273-294.
Venticinque, P. (2016): Honor Among Thieves: Craftsmen, Merchants, and Associations in Roman and Late Roman Egypt, Michigan. https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.8846491 PMid:27757421 PMCid:PMC5061472
Wecowski, M. (2014): The Rise of the Greek Aristocratic Banquet, Oxford. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199684014.001.0001
Welles, C. B. (1967): «85. Invitation to Dinner», in Oates, J. F., Samuel, A. E., and
Welles, C. B. (eds.), Yale Papyri in the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library I, New Haven, pp. 260-264.
Wilcken, U. (1912): Grundzüge und Chrestomathie der Papyruskunde. Erster Band: Historischer Teil. Erste Hälfte: Grundzüge, Leipzig-Berlin.
Youtie, H. C. (1948): «The Kline of Sarapis», Harvard Theological Review 41 (1), pp. 9-21. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0017816000019325
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2022 Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
© CSIC. Manuscripts published in both the print and online versions of this journal are the property of the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, and quoting this source is a requirement for any partial or full reproduction.
All contents of this electronic edition, except where otherwise noted, are distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence. You may read here the basic information and the legal text of the licence. The indication of the CC BY 4.0 licence must be expressly stated in this way when necessary.
Self-archiving in repositories, personal webpages or similar, of any version other than the final version of the work produced by the publisher, is not allowed.
Funding data
Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades
Grant numbers PGC2018-096572-B-C22
Agencia Estatal de Investigación
Grant numbers PGC2018-096572-B-C22
European Regional Development Fund
Grant numbers PGC2018-096572-B-C22
