Hammurabi
Amorite ruler of Babylon (r. 1792-1750 B.C.E.). He conquered many city-states in southern and northern Mesopotamia and is best known for a code of laws, inscribed on a black stone pillar, illustrating the principles to be used in legal cases. (p. 34)
Assyrians
Known as a warrior people who ruthlessly conquered neighboring countries; their empire stretched from east to north of the Tigris River all the way to centeral Egypt; used ladders, weapons like iron-tipped spears, daggers and swords, tunnels, and fearful
Lamassu
a colossal winged human-headed bull in Assyrian art
Achaemenid (Persian) Empire
The name of an ancient Persian Empire (c. 550-330 BCE) which was composed of many smaller kingdoms. The realm was divided into twenty-three satrapies whose administration and taxation was managed by subordinate local rulers.
Predynastic
5500-3100 bce before rulers of egypt
Horus
God of the living pharaoh
ka
the Egyptian concept of vital essence, that which distinguishes the difference between a living and a dead person, with death occurring when the ___ left the body.
ba
an aspect of a person that the Egyptians believed would live after the body died, and it is sometimes depicted as a human-headed bird flying out of the tomb to join with the 'Ka' in the afterlife.
opening of the mouth
this ritual was performed to ceremoniously open the mouth and eyes of the dead. This was done for two main reasons, the first being that the ancient Egyptians believed that the dead needed to eat, drink, talk, breathe and see during their journey through
mastaba
An ancient Egyptian tomb made of mud brick, rectangular in plan with a flat roof and sloping sides, from which a shaft leads to underground burial and offering chambers
step pyramid
succession of smaller mastaba shaped structures, placed one on top of the other in a stepped form; created by Imhotep
Ushabti
A figurine placed in a tomb to act as a servant to the deceased in the afterlife
ground line
In paintings and reliefs, a painted or carved baseline on which figures appear to stand.
hypostyle hall
a large interior room characterized by many closely spaced columns that support its roof
Amon-Ra
two main Egyptian gods that were combined into this; other powerful gods were Isis and Osiris
Akhenaten
Egyptian pharaoh (r. 1353-1335 B.C.E.). He built a new capital at Amarna, fostered a new style of naturalistic art, and created a religious revolution by imposing worship of the sun-disk.
Amarna
This was the town that Akhenaten built as his new city during his cultural revolution. He built several buildings there, including a palace. Everything there was focused on the sun's disc, Aten, and then everyone left the town when the king died; akhenate
Aten
is the disk of the sun in ancient Egyptian mythology, and originally an aspect of the god Ra.
Aegean Sea
A body of water by Mediterranean Sea that touches the borders of Greece & Asia Minor. It also has many islands in it, including Crete.
Cycladic
The prehistoric art of the Aegean Islands around Delos, excluding Crete.
fresco
A technique of painting on walls covered with moist plaster. It was used to decorate Minoan and Mycenaean palaces and Roman villas, and became an important medium during the Italian Renaissance.
corbel arch
is an arch-like construction method that uses the architectural technique of corbeling to span a space or void in a structure, such as an entranceway in a wall or as the span of a bridge, used mainly by Mayans
tholos
A type of tomb in Mycenaean architecture with a bee-hive shaped circular plan, also called a bee-hive tomb; a temple with a circular plan.
Linear A
An undeciphered writing system used in Crete in the 17th century B.C., Minoa's first written language; has not been translated.
France, 15,000 BCE
Chinese Horse
France, 15,000 BCE
Wounded Man and Bison
France, 16,000 BCE
Spotted Horses and Human Hands
28,000 BCE
Woman/Venus of Willendorf
England, 3100 BCE
Stonehenge
Sumerian, 2500
White Temple on ziggurat
Sumerian, 2600 BCE
Bull Lyre from Royal Cemetery at Ur
Sumerian, 2600 BCE
Standard of Ur
Akkadian, 2250 BCE
Head of a Ruler
Akkadian, 2254 BCE
Stele of Naram-Sin
Babylonian, 1760 BCE
Law Code of Hammurabi
Assyrian, 721 BCE
Citadel of Sargon II
Assyrian, 721 BCE
Lamassu from Citadel of Sargon II
Assyrian, 883 BCE
Lion Hunt
Persian, 518 BCE
Palace of Darius I
Egyptian, 3150 BCE
Palette of King Narmer
Egyptian, 2681
Imhotep
Egyptian, 2500s BCE
Pyramids of Giza
Egyptian, 2510 BCE
Ti Watching a Hippo Hunt
Egyptian, 2500 BCE
Khafra
Egyptian, 2450 BCE
Ka-Aper, Saqqara
Egyptian, 1543 BCE
Temple of Amun-Ra, Karnak
Egyptian, 1355 BCE
Akhenaten and His Family
Cycladian, 2500
Figure
Minoan, 1500 BCE
Palace" Complex, Knossos
Minoan, 1550 BCE
Toreador Fresco
Mycenean, 1250 BCE
Lioness Gate
Mycenean, 1300 BCE
Treasury of Atreus
Mycenean, 1600 BCE
Mask of Agamemnon