HUM 2210- exam 1

Secco Fresco

"dry plaster" quick and cheap; doesn't last very long

Mesopotamia

"meso"-land, "tamia"-between 2 rivers: Tigris and Euphrates; first civilization of man kind

Buon Fresco

"wet plaster"; most common; costly; lasted longer

Hieroglyphs

"writing of the gods" greek: hieros meaning holy, gluphein meaning to engrave. A sign used in heiroglyphic writing, a writing system consisting mainly of pictorial characters

Dark Ages

(1100-800 BC) Mycenaeans were conquered by Dorians. Forgot the rudiments of culture. Reading and writing, fell into disuse. Unknown why. Greeks abandoned city life, lived in small, rural communities.

Mycenaean civilization

(1900-1100 BC) shortly after the Minoans. Military minded, all about conquest. Aggravated by Minoans, wanted to take over their land. Had naval assaults on Crete, lost every battle, Minoans had more experience on water

Frescoes

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3 Greek orders

Doric, Ionic, Corinthian

Pharaoh

Egyptian king, "great house"

Acropolis

Greek city state

Polis

Greek city-state that formed the center of cultural life

Homeric Epics

Homer was most likely a bard, a singer of songs about the deeds of heroes and the way of gods. His stories were part of a long-standing oral tradition that dated back to the time of the Trojan War. Composed the Iliad and the Odyssey, the first narrates the ten year trojan war, the second narrates Odysseus' journey home afterward

Sumerian Art

Into more natural materials such as stone wood, clay, sand, shells, marble; depicted natural everyday events; peaceful and no war

cylinder seal

Like license or ID, made out of clay or stone; each one was unique with a specific pattern or design; showed who you really were

Knossos

Minoan capital

Snake Goddess

Mother Earth Goddess

Lion's Gate

Mycenae, Greece. limestone relief, visitors enter through this massive gate at the top of a steep path that led from the valley below. The lioness stood at the gate's lintel and were 9 feet high. Their heads are missing, Originally turned in the direction of visitors, as if to ward off evil, or humble them in their tracks

Neo-Babylonia

Nebuchadnezzar wished to remake Babylon as the most remarkable and beautiful city in the world

Ziggurat

Religious structure consisting of platforms with a shrine on the top that only priests can go in

Step Pyramid at Saqqara

The Stepped Pyramid of Djoser (ruler of Saqqara) was the first great pyramid; first great monumental architecture in human history to have survived; consists of platforms rising to a height of 197 feet

Royal Barge

a ceremonial barge that is used by a monarch for processions and transport on a body of water.

Cyclades

a group of more than 100 islands in the Aegean Sea between mainland Greece and the island of Crete. Form a roughly circular shape, giving them their name, from the Greek kyklos "circle"

Canopic Jars

a jar used in ancient Egypt to contain the entrails of an embalmed body.

Sarcophagus

a rectangular stone coffin that was encased in four gilded boxlike wooden shrines nestled one inside the other

Tholos

a round building; new architectural form beginning in 1300 BCE, used to bury Mycenaean kings

Theocracy

a state ruled by a god or by a god's representative

Mastaba

a trapezoidal tomb structure usually made out of mud brick; made out of stone when pharohs body kept getting looted; burial chamber where family paid their respects

Red Pyramid

also called the North Pyramid, is the largest of the three major pyramids located at the Dahshur necropolis.

Ur

an ancient Sumerian city on the Euphrates, in S Iraq: extensive excavations, especially of royal tombs

Agoge

began at the age of four, boys were put in "gladiator school"

Nile

begins in central eastern Africa; very year the rains caused the river to rise dramatically, from the months between July and November, Egyptians could count on the Nile to flood their land

Trojan War

believed to have began based on the judgement of Paris

Serdab

chamber within the mastaba for a statue of the deceased

Akrotiri, Thera

community that had been buried beneath one of the largest volcanic eruptions in the last 10,000 years. Evidence of Cycladic influence on crete survives in the form of wall paintings discovered in 1967 on the island of Thera at Akrotiri. Island that gave Mycenaeans final superiority in conquering Crete

Ka

comparable to soul or life force. Created at the same time as the physical body, essential for the person's existence. Spiritual essence that remained after death

Mycenae

culture on the Greek mainland; took over the Minoans

Votive statues

depicted gods, were prayed to and had prayers carved on them; had big bug eyes to show awe, wide eyed look for the gods

Rosetta Stone

discovered by Napoleon's army in 1799 and named for the town in the Egyptian Delta near where it was found. Key to deciphering hieroglyphs

Royal Standard of Ur

documentary evidence of Sumerian life and one of the earliest examples we have of a historical narrative

Seth

enemy of Horus and Osirus;god of storms; pictured as an unidentifiable creature (wild monkey) or a man with an animals head

Kore

female statue

Minoans

first culture that flourished on Crete; named after the legendary King Minos

Sumerians

first culture that ruled; discovered cuneiform (first form of writing); hut-like simple housing; invented the wheel; art was made out of natural material and depicted everyday events.

Cuneiform writing

first form of writing discovered by the Sumerians; looks like Egyptian hieroglyphs; drawn picture

Post & Lintel construction

form of construction consisting of two posts (upright members) that support a lintel (horizontal number)

Legend of the Minotaur

foundation of Minoan belief King Minos wanted to pay tribute to Poseidon (sea god) so he asked Poseidon to send him the biggest bull and he would sacrifice it in Poseidon's name. Days later a big beautiful bull came out of the sea. Minos didn't want to sacrifice the bull because he thought it was too valuable to just kill. He just wanted to breed it, so he killed a different bull and Poseidon took offense to this. In revenge, he made Mino's wife fall in love with the bull. Result was the Minotaur: half man half bull creature. Pure evil. Sacrifice demanded 13 men and women to die.

Labyrinth

from word labrys, "double ax", inordinately complex layout, came to mean "maze" Theseus

Triremes

galleys with 3 tiers of oars on each side

Ankh

hieroglyph signifying life

Megaron

kings/queen's "me space"; a building or semi-independent unit of a building, generally used as a living apartment and typically having a square or broadly rectangular principal chamber with a porch

Nefertiti

known as "Fair of Face" and "Great in Love" Great Royal Wife of the Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten

Agora

large open area in ancient Greek cities that served a public meeting place, marketplace, and civil centers

Agamemnon

launched the Trojan war, he and allies attacked Troy around 1200 BCE. Forced to give up girl that he has taken in one of his raids, takes Briseis from Achilles as compensation

King Minos

legendary king who ruled the ancient capital of Knossos

Kouros

male statue

Pyramids

massive architectural product that the Old Kingdom is known for, dates from 2647 to 2124 BCE. Funeral architecture.

Funeral architecture

mastabas, pyramids, temple complexes. Statues of servants, scribes, priests, musical instruments, food furniture, entertainment are found in them.

Corinthian

measurements of perfect child, capital: offering baskets to gods (flowers, palm fronds); originated in the last half of the fifth century BCE, most elaborate of all, it would become a favorite of the Romans

Ionic

measurements of perfect female, capital: scrolls of philosophy; lighter in proportion, more elegant in detail

Doric

measurements of perfect male, capital: love for math (geometry); sturdy and simple

Akkadian Art

mostly bronze statues of kings or important figures; all about fighting and depicted war; size shows status/importance

Golden/Silver Lyres

musical string instrument; usually had a bull on it (bull revered because it was involved in creation myth

Babylonian Art

nature and art were the focus; sometimes about war; incorporated animals as gods; used a lot of bright colors; focused on constellations, stars and fertility

Bent Pyramid

odd angles

Scarab

popular amulet in ancient Egypt. Generally intended to be worn or carried by the living. They were typically carved or molded in the form of a scarab beetle

Khufu, Khafre, Menkaure

pyramids of giza. Mimic orion's belt. First of the smooth sided, geometric monument (4 triangular side, slanting upward from a square base to an apex directly over the center of the square)

Law code of Hammurabi

record of decisions made by Hammurabi over the course of his reign; slaves had no legal protection; punished violence or injustice

Assyrian Art

relief sculpture with image; carved stone; bull myth; references to war and fighting

Sculpture

royalty shown stylized, commoners shown in real life

Queen Hatshepsut

ruled for 20 years as king after her husband died and she became the regent for their son; hid her female characteristics by covering herself and wearing a fast beard as her reign continued

Giza

ruler of the underworld and god of the dead

Osirus

ruler of the underworld and god of the dead

Capitals

sculpted block that forms the uppermost part of a column

Linear B script

similar to hieroglyphs, ideograms represent whole words

Theseus

slayer of minotaur

Horus

son of Osirus, a sky god closely linked with the king; pictured as a hawk or a hawk-headed man

Bull leaping

sport

Obelisk

square, tapered stone columns, topped by a pyramid shape

Mud Bricks

strong material; Egyptian homes made out of these

Pictograms

stylized drawings that represent objects or beings

Linear A script

syllabic script written from left to right used in ancient Crete; language of this language remains unknown, no way of deciphering it

Tutankhamun

the only royal tomb in Egypt to have escaped the discovery of looters. Youngest Pharaoh. Probably Akhenaten's son, assumed the throne after his death. Abandoned el-Amarna, moved the royal family to Memphis in the North, reaffirmed Thebes as the nation's religious center. Buried in the west bank of the Nile at Thebes, near the tomb of Hatshepsut

Mummification

the process of embalming, drying, and preserving a body. Preserved so the Ka could recharge when away from the body

Battering

the slope of the face of a wall that recedes gradually backwards and upwards

Bearing Wall construction

the slope of the face of a wall that recedes gradually backwards and upwards; uses brick, stone, and wood to make exterior wall

Ra

the sun god in many forms' pictured as a hawk-headed man with a sun disk on his head

Tigris/Euphrates

two rivers surrounding Mesopotamia

Hypostyle Hall

vast space filled with the many massive columns required to hold up the stone slabs forming the roof of the hall. No member of society was allowed past the hall.

Crete

where the first Greeks and Minoans started out. Used new form of writing that is still indecipherable. Where the myth of the Minotaur began.

Judgment of Paris

3 goddesses: Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite were judged by Paris, a Trojan mortal. Hera offered to make him king of Europe and Asia, Athena offered wisdom and skill in war, Aphrodite offered Helena, the world's most beautiful woman, also wife of the Greek king Menelaus. Paris accepted Aphrodite's gift and deemed her the fairest. This story is believed to have been the start of the Trojan war, as the Greeks led an expedition to retrieve Helen from Paris in Troy.

Archaic period

3 prominent cities- Dorian, Ionic, Corinthian After the dark ages; no power went to one person; no federal government; led to the creation of city-states with a smaller city government for each one

Orion's Belt

3 pyramids of Giza in this shape

Sumer

3000-2350 BC first culture that ruled and started their own city; southern plains of Mesopotamia

Bell Capital

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Bud Capital

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Minoan pottery

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Mycenaean pottery

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Palm Capital

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Temple Complex

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Isis

Osirus's wife and sister; goddess of fertility