Banquets (communal meals) usually have several functions, apart from feeding the hungry: to dispose of superfluous and perishable food (necessary in a society of hunters), to enhance the status of the generous host, to accompany a religious sacrifice, to strengthen the bonds between the members of a community, or to celebrate events in the life of the community or its individual members. Presumably all human societies have such meals, and some of the types of meals seen in Islamic societies can be traced back to pre-Islamic customs. Early Arabic