The tables were plated or inlaid with silver and gold.

Splendid couches, spread with gorgeous coverlets, invited the inmates to repose at their ease; and, the better to insure their comfort, the legs of the couches were made to rest upon carpets, which were sufficiently elastic to act as a sort of spring, rendering the couches softer and more luxurious than they would otherwise have been.

Gold and silver plate, especially in the shape of drinking-cups, was largely displayed in all the wealthy mansions, each household priding itself on the show which it could make of the precious metals.
In respect of eating and drinking, the Persians, even better sort, were in the earlier times noted for their temperance and sobriety.

Their ordinary food was wheaten bread, barley-cakes, and meat simply roasted or boiled, which they seasoned with salt and with bruised cress-seed, a substitute for mustard.

The sole drink in which they indulged was water.
Moreover, it was their habit to take one meal only each day.