If the banquet was of a private character the master of the house presided, but on ot casions of public festivity a governor of the feast was selected and it was his duty to see that the banquet was not only properly con ducted but that the company present preserved at least a semblance to order. Appointment to this office was always regarded as a great honor, and, among the Greeks and Romans, the position was prized so highly that the choice of the individual to fill it was often decided by chance, as by the throw of the dice.
The positions of the guests at the tables were not fixed b7 inviolable rule. Sometimes they selected their own places, while, at other times, they were arranged by seniority of family, or even according to the whim of the host who might desire to assign the most dis tinguished guests to places near his own person. In the earhest days, as is shown by the habits of the ancient Israelites, guests sat cross-legged around a low table and the custom of reclining while eating was not introduced umil about the last of the Old Testament days. At least, it was about this time that the Jews adopted this custom, as well as the habit of having but two-thirds of the table spread with a cloth, the portion where the food was to.stand being left bare. In ancient Egypt and Persia the tables were arranged along the sides of the room and guests faced the wall.
At this time such articles as spoons, knives and forks were unknown and those who ate obtained the morsel they desired by dipping their slices of bread in the dish before them,. folding the piece of meat or other food sub stance within it by the use of the thumb and two fingers. Later centuries saw the invention of the spoon but many hundred years elapsed before any other substitute for the fingers was suggested. Naturally the hands became be smeared with grease but they were cleaned by being rubbed on slices of bread, kept for that purpose. This bread was then thrown to the dogs who waited beneath the tables for just such morsels from the feast. If the fingers became too badly soiled, however, servants ap peared with water and assisted the guests to wash by pounng a stream over the hands into a basin.
When the party was a large one it was the custom for two persons to eat from one dish and the host often showed the height of hos Tlitality by dipping his hand into his own dish, lifting a portion of the food, and offering sop to :his guest To decline such an attention was a breach of etiquette that stamped one as being extrnmely ill-bred. In order that the hands
should be always clean from dirt, however the rabbis enjoined the "first water)) and the "last water,4 or the washing before and after eating, and, in the case of travelers at least, the "first water>) included the washing of the feet. After the adoption of the reclining posture guests lay with their faces toward the table, the left arm resting upon a cushion and the feet stretched out behind, while during the progress of the banquet both head and feet were fre quently spnnkled with perfume to overcome any unpleasant odor that might arise from too copious perspiration.
The foods served at these ancient banquets consisted of flesh, fish, fowl, melted butter, bread, honey and fruit, all of which were brought to the table at one time, the service being accomplished by the use of trays, the number and quality of the dishes varying under different circumstances. In ordinary cases the portion of each guest consisted of four or five dishes, but if the guest was a person of great distinction this portion was increased until the dishes became so numerous that they were piled one upon another, completely covering the table. All this food, which was usually pre pared in liquid or with a sauce, as in a stew, had been cut into conveniently small pieces before it was served.
From the earliest days within the recollec tion of history sacrificial occasions have always included a banquet, however crude a festival it may have been, and it was the adoption of this custom that gave a religious as well as a social significance to so many of the Hebrew feasts. As the Lord's Supper, of the Christians was de rived from the Passover, so all the great reli gious festivals had, as their accompaniment, a domestic feast. On the occasion of the religious banquets, however, the wine was mixed accord ing to rabbinical regulation, or with three parts water; four brief benedictions • being pro nounced over the cup before it was passed by the master of the feast.