Stone Age
The old Stone Age or Paleolithic Period
A period of time during which early humans made lasting tools and weapons mainly from stone; the earliest known period of human cul
Paleolithic
The 'old' Stone Age, from the Greek Paleo "old" and Lithios "Stone" during which humankind produced the first sculptures and paintings.
Mesolithic
The 'Middle' Stone Age, Period around 9,000 - 4,000 BCE between the Paleolithic and the Neolithic ages.
Neolithic
New' Stone Age. Period around 6,500 -1,200BCE
Bronze Age
the latter part of the Neolithic Era, a period between the Stone and Iron ages from about 4000- 1500BCE . Characterized by the use of a new, of bronze tools and weapons
Neaderthals appeared
400,000 years ago Late Middle Paleolithic Period in Europe
terracotta
Hard-baked clay, used for sculpture and as a building material.
High relief sculpture
Art build upon the rock, using clay, gives them a life like appearance.
sculpture in the round
Freestanding figures, carved or modeled in three dimensions.
Memory Image
Those generalized elements that reside in our standards memory of a human head
Venus
The most famous early image of a human, a woman, is the so-called "Venus" of Willendorf, found near the town of Willendorf in Austria.
Roman goddess of love and beauty
twisted perspective
A convention of representation in which part of a figure is shown in profile and another part of the same figure is shown frontally
post-and-lintel
A system of construction in which two posts support a lintel.
votive offering
A gift of gratitude to a deity.
corbeled vault
A vault formed by the piling of stone blocks in horizontal courses, cantilevered inward until the two walls meet in an arch.
Megalithic Architecture
Monuments from the Neolithic period in western Europe such as Stonehenge.
flying gallop
This picture is a fresco - When an animal is at high speed and all four legs are off the ground.
Summer Solstice
When the north pole is tilted toward the sun and the sun rays hit the tropic of cancer at a 90 degree angle
trilithon
a structure consisting of two large vertical stones (posts) supporting a third stone set horizontally across the top (lintel). It is commonly used in the context of megalithic monuments. (Stonehenge)
sarsen stone
Larger stones of Stonehenge, and similar stone circles; make up the outer ring, and inner U of Stoneheng
Avebury
A Neolithic monument with the largest stone circle in Europe; a large outer circle with two separate smaller stone circles inside the center of the monument
bluestone
A ring of standing stones at the center of Stonehenge. The source of the stones is over 240 kilometers from Stonehenge.
tallow
A hard fatty substance from sheep or cattle used to make soap, candles, and lubricants
henge
A Neolithic monument characterized by a circular ground plan. Used for rituals and marking astronomical events
corbelling construction
Architecture involving stacks of bricks or stone that interlock and form up until the opening can be spanned by a slab.
shaman
The single person who takes on the roles of priest, counselor, and physician and acts as a conduit to the supernatural world in a shamanist culture.
mortise and tenon joint
This type of wood joint is one of the strongest joints, glued tenon fits into mortise (hole), no nails/screws used. Legs of chairs
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Lamassu
An Assyrian protective deity, often depicted with the head of a human, the body of an ox or lion, and the wings of a bird. Symbolized power and were prominently placed at the entrances of cities and palaces.
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.
cuneiform
Latin, 'wedge-shaped.' A system of writing used in ancient Mesopotamia, in which wedge-shaped characters were produced by pressing a stylus into a soft clay tablet, which was then baked or otherwise allowed to harden.
ziggurat
In ancient Mesopotamian architecture, a monumental platform for a temple
stylus
A needle like tool used in engraving and incising; also, an ancient writing instrument used to inscribe clay or wax tablets.
mummification
A technique used by ancient Egyptians to preserve human bodies so that they may serve as the eternal home of the immortal ka.
nanna
The Mesopotamian god of the full moon. Norse deity, an area in the southern region of Babylonia in present-day Iraq; site of the Sumerian civilization of city-states that flowered during the third millennium BC
Inanna
Sumerian goddess of love sex and war. Was later known as Ishtar. Most important and popular goddess female deity in all periods of Mesopotamian history,
Citadel
A fortress that overlooks and protects a city; any strong or commanding place
crenellations
The notched walls built as part of military defenses are called __________.
Notched walls around a castle for military defense.
Mushhushshu
horned dragons with the head and body of a snake, forelegs of a lion, and hind legs of a bird of prey - sacred to Marduk (patron god of Neo-Babylon); found on Ishtar Gate
Gilgamesh
He is believed to have been a Babylonian King of the city-state Uruk, around 2700 B.C. Many epic tales have been written about him, making him out to be a mighty warrior.
The semi-mythic King of Uruk. He became friends with a wild man created by the Gods
Mesopotamia
A region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers that developed the first urban societies."l and between the rivers"
birthplace of the Sumerian and Babylonian Civilizations.
stele
A carved stone slab used to mark graves or to commemorate historical events.
palace complex
a very large and richly furnished house where a royal family and nobles would live in. A group of buildings used for living and governing by a particular ruler, usually located in a fortress or citadel.
mud bricks
homes in ancient Egypt were built from what material
Sumerians used ________________ to build their homes and city walls.
subtractive sculpture
A kind of sculpture technique in which materials are taken away from the original mass; carving.
Ishtar
in Mesopotamian religion, goddess of war and sexual love. Her cult was the most important one in ancient Babylon patroness of uruk, called queen of heaven and Ishtar became under various names the most important Goddess of the Near-East and Western Asia.
shamash
The god of the sun. Shamash, as the solar deity, exercised the power of light over darkness and evil. In this capacity he became known as the god of justice and equity and was the judge of both gods and men. also governor of the whole universe; in this as
votive
Offered or consecrated in fulfillment of a vow
apadana
The great audience hall in ancient Persian palaces.
Darius built the _____ at Persepolis and it was large enough to hold several thousand people.
hieratic scale
Making the central figure larger than other characters to show importance; relative size of subject shows relative importance Hieratic Scale shown in the Stele of Naram-Sin
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Tutankhamun
Egyptian 11th pharaoh of the 18th dynasty, during the period of Egyptian history known as the New Kingdom. He is colloquially referred to as King Tut became pharaoh at 13 and nothing was stolen from his tomb
hieroglyphic writing
A system of writing using symbols or pictures.
necropolis
The "city of the dead" found in each ancient Egyptian city
pharaoh
A king of ancient Egypt, considered a god as well as a political and military leader.
Hathor
Goddess of domestic fertility and children in Egypt. Shown as a woman with the ears of a cow, a headdress of horns, and a sun disk, she was a protective goddess. She was also the goddess of love and joy. wife of Horus
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.
Nefertiti
Nefertiti was the wife of the pharaoh Akhenaten in the 18th dynasty of Egypt. Nefertiti is known for the cultural revolution of the Armana period along with her husband Akhenaten, and is also known for being one of the strongest female influences on Egypt
Osiris
An Egyptian god of the underworld and judge of the dead. He was killed twice and brought back to life showing that death and rebirth are intimately related. *represents the idea of renewal and rebirth.
Isis
-one of Egypt's oldest and most important goddesses who was the sister and wife of Osiris and the mother of Horus
Horus
the falcon- He was the son of Isis and Osiris, shown with the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt. The pharaohs were thought to represent Horus on earth.
nemes headdress
royal headdress; striped gold and blue linen cloth, had cobra (Lower egypt) and vulture (Upper egypt) at the center front
mastaba
an ancient Egyptian mudbrick tomb with a rectangular base and sloping sides and flat roof
The name for the earliest tombs in Egyptian history:
step pyramid
build for king Djoser's step pyramid is part of a funerary complex and the whole thing was enclosed to separate pharaoh from commoners.
hypostyle hall
a hall in an Egyptian temple that has a roof supported by a dense thicket of columns
Amun
Originally god of Thebes, then god of Heliopolis when sun god. God of united Egyptian state when popularized by Amenemhat I. Syncresis with Re.
A once insignificant Egyptian god elevated to higher status by Amenemhet (1991-1962 BCE). Amun means "hidden" i
Nefertari
c. ????-1256 BCE. Great Royal Wife of the pharaoh Ramesses II and one of the best known Egyptian queens. Highly educated and able to both read and write hieroglyphs, a rare skill which she used in her diplomatic work, corresponding with other prominent ro
Wall of the Crow
One of the oldest monumental structures on the Giza Plateau is the Wall of the Crow. Believed to have been the original entrance to the Giza Plateau and the dividing line between the sacred precincts of Giza and the surrounding area, the surviving section
ankh
the Egyptian hieroglyphic that means life; cross with a handle
canopic jar
In ancient Egypt, the container in which the organs of the deceased were placed for later burial with the mummy.
Ra
Ra is a very ancient god, the sun-god who is often shown as a hawk, who the earliest pharaohs thought was the father of all the gods, including the pharaohs themselves. The pharaohs were always called "son of Ra".
Maat
Maat, also known as Ma'at or Mayet, was a female goddess in the ancient Egyptian religion who represented truth, justice, balance and morality. The daughter of the Egyptian sun deity Ra and wife of the moon god Thoth, she served a kind of spirit of justic
serdab
the hole that they make in the tomb so that the soul of the dead pharaoh can escape
Aten
The mythology of the Aten, the radiant disk of the sun, is not only unique in Egyptian history, but is also one of the most complex and controversial aspects of Ancient Egypt. The ancient Egyptian term for the disk of the sun was Aten, which is first evid
sarcophagus
an ancient marble or stone coffin, often decorated with artwork and inscriptions
ka
In ancient Egypt, the immortal human life force.
cartouche
oval- or scroll-shaped ornamentation on monument or tomb
sunken relief
sculptural relief in which the image or design is modeled below the original surface of the background, which is not cut away
Shabits
Shabits were model servants that were placed in the tombs of the deceased in ancient Egypt. They had to obey the God Osiris.
Pylon
The wide entrance gateway of an Egyptian temple, characterized by its sloping walls.
Armana Style
Art created during the reign of Akhenaton, which features a more relaxed figure style than Old and Middle Kingdom art
Ramses II
His principal wives were Asetnofret and Nefertari. He constructed the largest tomb in the Valley of the Queens for his wife Nefertari. He was succeeded by Merneptah I after a sixty-seven year long rule. What was the name of the Pharaoh who would not let t