Royal Persian banquet? Think fine dining with luxurious items! The kings of Achaemenid Persia (550–330 BC) drank from ornate gold and silver vessels at their banquets. These valuable objects also served as symbols of their power and status. Characteristic vessels at Persian banquets included a type of drinking horn that terminated in the head and forepart of an animal (known as a rhyton in Greek) and wine jars (amphorae) decorated with figures of mythical beasts. Shallow cups and bowls (phialai) were the drinking vessel of choice, typically ornamented with embossed lobes and stylized floral patterns. Swipe to the last image to see a large phiale with an inscription around its interior rim written in the Old Persian language. The inscription records that this vessel was made in a royal workshop of King Artaxerxes I. “Persia: Ancient Iran and the Classical World” is on view at the Getty Villa Museum through August 8. . . . #GettyMuseum #GettyVilla #GettyPersia #PersianEmpire #Ancient...