Art History: Prehistory to Gothic The Etruscans

The Theogony

"the genealogy or birth of the gods"[1]) is a poem by Hesiod (8th - 7th century BC) describing the origins and genealogies of the Greek gods, composed circa 700 B.C. It is written in the Epic dialect of Homeric Greek.

respective artwork

(particularly sculpted figures)

terra-cotta

, ( Italian: "baked earth") literally, any kind of fired clay but, in general usage, a kind of object—e.g., vessel, figure, or structural form—made from fairly coarse, porous clay that when fired assumes a colour ranging from dull ochre to red and usually is left unglazed. Most terra-cotta has been of a utilitarian kind because of its cheapness, versatility, and durability. Limitations in the basic materials often cause a superficial similarity between simply made works as far separated by time and distance as early Greece and the modern cultures of Latin America. Throughout the ancient world, one of the most common uses of terra-cotta was for building-brick, roof tiles, and sarcophagi, the last often decorated with paintings. Small terra-cotta figures from the Early Bronze Age, as early as 3000 bce, have been found in Greece, and larger objects dating from the 7th century bce have also been found. Greek artists carried the craft to Etruria, whence both Etruscan and Greek sculptors moved to work in Rome. Most Greek terra-cotta statuary, more common than once thought, was used to decorate temples. The modeled Etruscan statues, at times very Greek in style but often with a gayer or fiercer flavour, were admired widely in antiquity. Figures on Etruscan sarcophagi often were of terra-cotta. Few Roman terra-cotta statues have been found. Molded statuettes 6 to 7 inches (15 to 18 cm) in height are common throughout the ancient world, among them very early primitive figures from Cyprus and painted, glazed human figures from Minoan Crete. The Cypriot figures often comprise groups of dancers or warriors, and the Cretan feature lively poses of women, horsemen, or animals. After the 7th century bce, styles became less hieratic, the subjects more mundane—e.g., a nurse with child, a teacher and pupils, an actor in costume. The Tanagra figurines, found in Tanagra in central Greece (Boeotia), are the best known of this kind. In the Hellenistic period, from the 4th century bce, centres of statuette production moved to Asia Minor and westward, being found throughout the Roman Empire as far as Britain. Styles in the East became more ornate and influenced by Oriental values in design and subject. Architectural relief, especially where wood or clay was used for building, used floral or more abstract designs and such figured representations as chariot races or animal or female heads; examples have been found in Asia Minor, Greece, and Etruscanized southern Italy. Votive reliefs also were common, notably those of the local divinities and heroes rendered broadly and smoothly in Tarentum (Taranto), southern Italy, and the small, meticulous reliefs of local cults found at Locris in central Greece. The fine 5th-century reliefs from the island of Melos, in which mythological scenes predominate, decorated chests. Much Roman architecture is decorated with relief themes from mythology, especially of Dionysus and his revellers. The use of terra-cotta for all purposes virtually died out between the end of the Roman Empire and the 14th century. In 15th-century Italy and Germany it appeared again, either molded or carved, and in its natural colour as friezes, moldings, or inset medallions decorating buildings. A new use of terra-cotta was in the highly glazed and coloured sculpture introduced in Florence early in the 15th century by the Della Robbia family. The effect, adding a freshness of accent especially to marble and stone, was imitated widely, and the use of terra-cotta, glazed or unglazed, spread throughout Europe. Free sculpture in terra-cotta also was revived in the 15th century by such artists as Donatello, Verrocchio, and especially Guido Mazzoni and Antonio Begarelli working in Modena; often it was painted in natural colours or to imitate marble or bronze. During the following centuries, most terra-cotta figures were executed as preliminary studies, though the works of such 18th-century French artists as Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne and Jean-Antoine Houdon display a personal immediacy of subject that is not transferable to the harder material. In the same period, such pottery centres as Sèvres in France introduced finely wrought small groups with allegorical and mythological themes. Terra-cotta was used both architecturally and for figures during the 19th century, but its modern revival dates from the 20th century, when both potters and architects again became interested in the aesthetic properties of the material.

Diodorus Siculus

, (flourished 1st century bc, Agyrium, Sicily), Greek historian, the author of a universal history, Bibliothēkē ("Library"; known in Latin as Bibliotheca historica), that ranged from the age of mythology to 60 bc. Diodorus lived in the time of Julius Caesar and Augustus, and his own statements make it clear that he traveled in Egypt during 60-57 bc and spent several years in Rome. The latest event mentioned by him belongs to the year 21 bc. His history consisted of 40 books, of which 1-5 and 11-20 survive, and was divided into three parts. He outlined his plan in Book 1: Books 1-6 treat the mythic history of the non-Hellenic and Hellenic tribes to the destruction of Troy; Books 7-17 end with Alexander's death; and Books 18-40 continue the history as far as the beginning of Caesar's Gallic Wars. The extant Books 11-20, from the second and third parts, cover the years 480-302 bc. The Bibliothēkē, invaluable where no other continuous historical source has survived, remedies to some extent the loss of the works of earlier authors, from which it was compiled. Diodorus does not always quote his authorities, but in the books that have survived his most important sources for Greek history were certainly Ephorus (for 480-340 bc) and Hieronymus of Cardia (for 323-302); for Roman history he was heavily dependent on Polybius (to 146) and Posidonius.

Stylized "Venus" figurines carved in ivory

, Aurignacian-Gravettian (c. 24,800 bce), from Dolní Věstonice, Mikulov, Moravia, Czech Republic; in the Moravian Museum, Brno, Czech Republic. Height (left) 8.3 cm and (right) 8.6 cm. Late Paleolithic fertility figure found at Willendorf, Lower Austria, and known as the "Venus of Willendorf," limestone figurine originally coloured with red ochre, 30,000-25,000 bce; in the Natural History Museum, Vienna.

Villanovan culture

, Early Iron Age culture in Italy, named after the village of Villanova, near Bologna, where in 1853 the first of the characteristic cemeteries was found. The Villanovan people branched from the cremating Urnfield cultures of eastern Europe and appeared in Italy in the 10th or 9th century bc. The earliest burial rites were usually with cremation; the ashes of the dead were placed in a decorated pottery ossuary of a biconical, or two-storied, form and covered with a bowl. The lid of the urn was sometimes a pottery imitation of a helmet, either the knobbed bell helmet of eastern central Europe or the crested helmet of northern Europe, the Villanovan helmet par excellence. The Villanovans living in Tuscany also used the terra-cotta hut urn, which imitated a hut of wattle and daub on a frame of poles. The hut urn is characteristic of northern European urn fields, whereas the two-storied urn may be related to similar urns from Hungary and Romania. The Villanovans controlled the rich copper and iron mines of Tuscany and were accomplished metalworkers. In the second half of the 8th century the Villanovans of Tuscany were influenced artistically by Greece; also, inhumation became the predominant burial rite, as it did during the same period in Greece. During the first quarter of the 7th century an Orientalizing civilization, presumably introduced by Etruscans, was superimposed on the Villanovan in Tuscany. The northern Villanovans of the Po Valley, however, continued to produce a geometric art as late as the last quarter of the 6th century, when Etruscan expansion obliterated their culture.

Hieroglyph

, a character used in a system of pictorial writing, particularly that form used on ancient Egyptian monuments. Hieroglyphic symbols may represent the objects that they depict but usually stand for particular sounds or groups of sounds. Hieroglyph, meaning "sacred carving," is a Greek translation of the Egyptian phrase "the god's words," which was used at the time of the early Greek contacts with Egypt to distinguish the older hieroglyphs from the handwriting of the day (demotic). Modern usage has extended the term to other writing systems, such as Hieroglyphic Hittite, Mayan hieroglyphs, and early Cretan. There is no connection between Egyptian hieroglyphs and these other scripts, the only certain derivative from the Egyptian writing being that used for Meroitic. A brief treatment of hieroglyphs follows. For full treatment, see hieroglyphic writing. Egyptian hieroglyphic writing was composed entirely of pictures, though the object depicted cannot be identified in every instance. The earliest examples that can be read show the hieroglyphs used as actual writing, that is, with phonetic values, and not as picture writing such as that of the Eskimos or American Indians. The origins of the script are not known. It apparently arose in the late predynastic period (just before 2925 bc). There were contacts between Egypt and Mesopotamia at this time, and it has been thought that the concept of writing was borrowed from the Sumerians. This is certainly possible, but, even if this was the case, the two systems were so different in their use of signs that it is clear that they developed independently. Except for names and a few titles, the oldest inscriptions cannot be read. In many cases individual hieroglyphs were used that are familiar from later periods, but the meaning of the inscription as a whole is obscure. It is apparent that this writing did not represent the sounds as completely as was the case later. In the period of the 3rd dynasty (c. 2650-c. 2575 bc), many of the principles of hieroglyphic writing were regularized. From that time on, until the script was supplanted by an early version of Coptic (about the 3rd and 4th centuries ad), the system remained virtually unchanged. Even the number of signs used remained constant at about 700 for more than 2,000 years. With the rise of Christianity in the 2nd and 3rd centuries ad came the decline and ultimate demise not only of the ancient Egyptian religion but of its hieroglyphics as well. The use, by the Egyptian Christians, of an adapted form of the Greek alphabet, caused a correspondingly widespread disuse of the native Egyptian script. The last known use of hieroglyphics is on an inscription dated ad 394. Hieroglyphic writing followed four basic principles. First, a hieroglyph could be used in an almost purely pictorial way. The sign of a man with his hand to his mouth might stand for the word "eat." Similarly, the word "sun" would be represented by a large circle with a smaller circle in its centre. Second, a hieroglyph might represent or imply another word suggested by the picture. The sign for "sun" could as easily serve as the sign for "day" or as the name of the sun god Re. The sign for "eat" could also represent the more conceptual word "silent" by suggesting the covering of the mouth. Third, the signs also served as representatives of words that shared consonants in the same order. Thus the Egyptian words for "man" and "be bright," both spelled with the same consonants, hg, could be rendered by the same hieroglyph. Fourth, the hieroglyphs stood for individual or combinations of consonants. It is arguable whether the ancient Greeks or Romans understood hieroglyphics. The Greeks almost certainly did not, since, from their viewpoint, hieroglyphics were not phonetic signs but symbols of a more abstruse and allegorical nature. The humanist revival of the European Middle Ages, although it produced a set of Italian-designed hieroglyphics, gave no further insight into the original Egyptian ones. The first attempt to decipher hieroglyphics, based on the assumption that they were indeed phonetic symbols, was made by the German scholar Athanasius Kircher in the mid-1600s. Despite his initial correct hypothesis, he correctly identified only one symbol. The discovery of the Rosetta Stone in 1799 was to provide the key to the final unlocking of the mystery. The stone was inscribed with three different scripts: hieroglyphic, demotic, and Greek. Based on the stone's own declaration, in the Greek portion, that the text was identical in all three cases, several significant advances were made in translation. A.I. Silvestre de Sacy, a French scholar, and J.D. Akerblad, a Swedish diplomat, succeeded in identifying a number of proper names in the demotic text. Akerblad also correctly assigned phonetic values to a few of the signs. An Englishman, Thomas Young, correctly identified five of the hieroglyphics. The full deciphering of the stone was accomplished by another Frenchman, Jean-Françoise Champollion. He brought to the stone a natural facility for languages (having, by age 16, become proficient in six ancient Oriental languages as well as Greek and Latin). By comparison of one sign with another, he was able to determine the phonetic values of the hieroglyphics. Later studies simply confirmed and refined Champollion's work. Hieroglyphs on decorative lintels identify King Sesostris III wearing the crown of Lower Egypt (left) and the crown of Upper Egypt (right), 19th century bce; in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo.

earring

, a personal ornament worn pendent from the ear, usually suspended by means of a ring or hook passing through a pierced hole in the lobe of the ear or, in modern times, often by means of a screwed clip on the lobe. The impulse to decorate or to modify the appearance of the ear seems to be almost universal. In general, usage appears to call for wearing earrings in pairs, the two ornaments in all respects resembling each other; but a single earring has sometimes been worn. (The single earring was especially popular in Europe during the Renaissance and Baroque period.) In the Orient, earrings historically were worn by both sexes; in the West (including ancient Israel and Egypt) as a general rule, they were considered to be exclusively female ornaments. Among the Greeks and Romans earrings were worn only by women, and the practice of men wearing them often is spoken of in classical literature as a distinctly Oriental (i.e., Middle Eastern) trait. In the tombs of the Greek settlers on the Crimean Peninsula (4th century bc), earrings of marvelous complexity and beauty were found. Jewels of the same class, of exquisite beauty and workmanship, were found in the sepulchres of ancient Etruria. Earrings of comparatively simple forms, but set with pearls and other stones, were the mode in Rome. In Europe, earrings tended to go out of fashion when the wig, coiffure, or headdress obscured the ears, as in the late 17th and 18th centuries. Use of these ornaments continued to be unfashionable in Europe and the Americas during the 19th century but were revived again in the 20th, especially with the introduction of clipping devices. Simplified painless methods of piercing the ears led to the renewed popularity of pierced earrings. Early Christian filigree gold earring, 7th century; in the Benáki Museum, Athens Byzantine gold earring with enameled bird, 12th century; in the British Museum, London.

Turin Papyrus

, also called Turin Papyrus of Kings or Turin Canon, hieratic manuscript of the 19th dynasty (1292-1190 bce) of ancient Egypt, listing the kings of Egypt from earliest times to the reign of Ramses II (1279-13 bce), under whom it was written. Although the papyrus, now in the Egyptian Museum in Turin, Italy, is in very fragmentary condition, it is still considered one of the most detailed and reliable of the existing Egyptian king lists. It lists not only names but also regnal years, months, and days and also divides pharaonic history into the dynasties by which ancient Egyptian history is still organized. Manetho's History (3rd century bce) was derived from a source like the Turin Papyrus but because of its later compilation is in some respects less reliable.

relief

, also called relievo, (from Italian relievare, "to raise"), in sculpture, any work in which the figures project from a supporting background, usually a plane surface. Reliefs are classified according to the height of the figures' projection or detachment from the background. In a low relief, or bas-relief (basso-relievo), the design projects only slightly from the ground and there is little or no undercutting of outlines.

Menes

, also spelled Mena, Meni, or Min (flourished c. 2925 bce), first king of unified Egypt, who, according to ancient tradition, joined Upper and Lower Egypt in a single, centralized monarchy. Manetho, a 3rd-century-bce Egyptian historian, called him Menes; the 5th-century-bce Greek historian Herodotus referred to him as Min; and two native-king lists of the 19th dynasty (13th century bce) call him Meni. Modern scholars have inconclusively identified the traditional Menes with one or more of the archaic Egyptian kings bearing the names Scorpion, Narmer, and Aha. In addition to crediting Menes with the unification of Egypt by war and administrative measures, tradition attributes to him the founding of the capital, Memphis, near present-day Cairo. Excavations at Ṣaqqārah, the cemetery for Memphis, have revealed that the earliest royal tomb located there belongs to the reign of Aha. Manetho called Menes a Thinite—i.e., a native of the Thinite province in Upper Egypt—and, in fact, monuments belonging to the kings Narmer and Aha, either of whom may be Menes, have been excavated at Abydos, a royal cemetery in the Thinite nome. Narmer also appears on a slate palette (a decorated stone on which cosmetics were pulverized) alternately wearing the red and white crowns of Lower and Upper Egypt (see crowns of Egypt), a combination symbolic of unification, and shown triumphant over his enemies. Actually, the whole process probably required several reigns, and the traditional Menes may well represent the kings involved. According to Manetho, Menes reigned for 62 years and was killed by a hippopotamus. Figure perhaps representing Menes on a victory tablet of Egyptian King Narmer, c. 2925-c. 2775 bce. The Narmer Palette, slate, from Hierakonpolis, beginning of the 1st dynasty, c. 2925 bce; in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo. Shown here is the palette's obverse side, which is divided into three pictorial strips. The top strip depicts King Narmer, wearing the crown of Lower Egypt, on his way to witness the execution of fettered enemies; the middle shows two bearded men leading two fabulous animals, perhaps symbolizing the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt; and the bottom symbolizes the king as a wild ox attacking a fortified settlement. The Narmer Palette, slate, Hierakonpolis, beginning of the 1st dynasty, c. 2925 bce; in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo. Shown here is the palette's reverse side, with a victory motif: King Narmer, wearing the crown of Upper Egypt, strikes down an enemy he holds by the hair.

Re

, also spelled Ra, or Pra, in ancient Egyptian religion, god of the sun and creator god. He was believed to travel across the sky in his solar bark and, during the night, to make his passage in another bark through the underworld, where, in order to be born again for the new day, he had to vanquish the evil serpent Apopis (Apepi). As one of the creator gods, he rose from the ocean of chaos on the primeval hill, creating himself and then in turn engendering eight other gods. Originally most solar gods had falcon form and were assimilated to Horus. By the 4th dynasty (c. 2575-c. 2465 bce), however, Re had risen to his leading position. Many syncretisms were formed between Re and other gods, producing such names as Re-Harakhty, Amon-Re, Sebek-Re, and Khnum-Re. Aspects of other gods influenced Re himself; his falcon-headed appearance as Re-Harakhty originated through association with Horus. The influence of Re was spread from On (Heliopolis), which was the centre of his worship. From the 4th dynasty, kings held the title "Son of Re," and "Re" later became part of the throne name they adopted at accession. As the father of Maat, Re was the ultimate source of right and justice in the cosmos. At Thebes, by the late 11th dynasty (c. 1980 bce), Re was associated with Amon as Amon-Re, who was for more than a millennium the principal god of the pantheon, the "king of the gods," and the patron of kings. The greatest development of solar religion was during the New Kingdom (1539-c. 1075 bce). The revolutionary worship of the sun disk, Aton, during the abortive Amarna period (1353-1336 bce) was a radical simplification of the cult of the sun. During the New Kingdom, beliefs about Re were harmonized with those concerning Osiris, the ruler of the underworld, with the two gods syncretized in the royal mortuary texts. Avenue of sphinxes leading to the main temple precinct at the Great Temple of Amon-Re at Karnak, in Thebes, Egypt.

Tutankhamen

, also spelled Tutankhamun, original name Tutankhaten, byname King Tut (flourished 14th century bce), king of ancient Egypt (reigned 1333-23 bce), known chiefly for his intact tomb, KV 62 (tomb 62), discovered in the Valley of the Kings in 1922. During his reign, powerful advisers restored the traditional Egyptian religion and art, both of which had been set aside by his predecessor Akhenaton, who had led the "Amarna revolution." (See Amarna style.) Tutankhamen, gold funerary mask found in the king's tomb, 14th century bce; in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo. King Tutankhamen and Queen Ankhesenamen, detail from the back of the throne of Tutankhamen; in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo. The throne of Tutankhamen, with carved figures of the young pharaoh and his wife under the rays of the sun, from his tomb in the Valley of the Kings near Luxor (ancient Thebes), Egypt; in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo. Pectoral of gold, silver, and semiprecious stones, from the tomb of Tutankhamen, c. 1340 bce; in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo.

Setekh, Setesh, or Set

, ancient Egyptian god, patron of the 11th nome, or province, of Upper Egypt. The worship of Seth originally centred at Nubt (Greek Ombos), near present-day Ṭūkh, on the western bank of the Nile River. Nubt, with its vast cemetery at nearby Naqādah, was the principal predynastic centre in Upper Egypt. The town lost its preeminent position with the unification of Egypt about 3050 bce, which was carried out under kings whose capital was Abydos and whose royal god was Horus. Seth was represented as a composite figure, with a canine body, slanting eyes, square-tipped ears, tufted (in later representations, forked) tail, and a long, curved, pointed snout; various animals (including aardvark, antelope, ass, camel, fennec, greyhound, jackal, jerboa, long-snouted mouse, okapi, oryx, and pig) have been suggested as the basis for his form. Because even the ancient Egyptians rendered his figure inconsistently, it is probably a mythical composite. Originally Seth was a sky god, lord of the desert, master of storms, disorder, and warfare—in general, a trickster. Seth embodied the necessary and creative element of violence and disorder within the ordered world. The vicissitudes of his cult reflect the ambivalent attitude of the Egyptians toward him, as well as the shifting political fortunes of Egypt. During the 2nd dynasty (c. 2775-c. 2650 bce), King Peribsen identified himself with Seth for the first time, giving himself a Seth title instead of the traditional Horus name. His successor, Khasekhemwy, gave both Horus and Seth equal prominence in his titulary, reflecting the mythical resolution of the two gods. During the rule of the Hyksos invaders (c. 1630-1521 bce), Seth was worshipped at their capital, Avaris, in the northeastern Nile River delta, and was identified with the Canaanite storm god Baal. During the New Kingdom (1539-c. 1075 bce), Seth was esteemed as a martial god who could sow discord among Egypt's enemies. The Ramesside pharaohs (1292-c. 1075 bce), originating in the northeastern delta, ranked him among the great gods of Egypt, used his name in their personal names (Seti I and Seti II, Setnakht), and promoted the image of Seth as the protector of Re in the prow of his bark, slaying Re's enemy, Apopis. Seth also joined Amon, Re, and Ptah as the fourth of the principal gods of the cosmos. In myths, Seth was the brother of Osiris. There too his character was troublesome, for he was depicted as bursting out of the womb of his mother, Nut, being an unfaithful husband to his consort and sister, Nephthys, and murdering Osiris, whom he tricked into entering a chest, which he then closed and hurled into the river to be carried out to sea. After Osiris's murder, Horus was conceived miraculously by Isis, the wife and sister of Osiris. Horus struggled with Seth, who sought to dispossess him from his father's throne. This struggle forms the theme of the Ramesside text The Contending of Horus and Seth, which borders on satire, and the later, much more sombre version recorded by Plutarch, in which Seth is the embodiment of the Greek demon Typhon. After the close of the New Kingdom, as Egypt lost its empire and later its independence, and as the cult of Osiris grew in prominence, Seth was gradually ousted from the Egyptian pantheon. In the 1st millennium bce his name and image were effaced from many monuments. He was now identified as a god of the eastern invaders of Egypt, including the Persians. No longer able to reconcile Seth with Horus, the Egyptians equated the former with evil and the demon Apopis, or with the Greek Typhon. Elaborate rituals of the repeated defeat of Seth as an enemy largely replaced the earlier ritual destructions of Apopis.

Venus of Věstonice

, clay statuette from Dolní Věstonice, Mikulov, Cz. Rep., attributed to the Aurignacian culture, Late Paleolithic Period; in the Moravian Museum, Brno, Cz. Rep.

Stela of the official Si-Mut

, early 13th century B.C. Limestone h. 35.0 cm., w. 34.8 cm., d. 6.0 cm. (13 3/4 x 13 11/16 x 2 5/16 in.) Museum Purchase, Carl Otto von Kienbusch, Jr. Memorial Collection y1937-259

Marriage scarab of Amenhotep III and Queen Tiy

, glazed faience, c. 1390-53 bce; in the Brooklyn Museum, New York. 2.8 × 5 × 7 cm.

Hyksos

, group of mixed Semitic-Asiatics who immigrated into Egypt's delta region and gradually settled there during the 18th century bce. Beginning about 1630, a series of Hyksos kings ruled northern Egypt as the 15th dynasty (c. 1630-1523 bce; see ancient Egypt: The Second Intermediate period). The name Hyksos was used by the Egyptian historian Manetho (fl. 300 bce), who, according to the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus (fl. 1st century ce), translated the word as "king-shepherds" or "captive shepherds." Josephus himself wished to demonstrate the great antiquity of the Jews and thus identified the Hyksos with the Hebrews of the Bible. Hyksos was in fact probably an Egyptian term for "rulers of foreign lands" (heqa-khase), and it almost certainly designated the foreign dynasts rather than a whole nation. The Hyksos seem to have been connected with the general migratory movements elsewhere in the Middle East at the time. Although most of the Hyksos names seem to have been Semitic, there may also have been a Hurrian element among them. The contemporary 16th-dynasty rulers—minor Hyksos kings who ruled simultaneously with those of the 15th dynasty—were probably only vassals of the latter group (see ancient Egypt: The Second Intermediate period). The Hyksos introduced the horse and chariot, the compound bow, improved battle axes, and advanced fortification techniques into Egypt. At Avaris (modern Tall al-Dabʿa) in the northeastern delta, they built their capital with a fortified camp over the remains of a Middle Kingdom town. Excavations since the 1960s have revealed a Canaanite-style temple, Palestinian-type burials, including horse burials, Palestinian types of pottery, quantities of their superior weapons, and a series of Minoan frescoes that demonstrate stylistic parallels to those of Knossos and Thera. Their chief deity was the Egyptian storm and desert god, Seth, whom they identified with an Asiatic storm god. From Avaris they ruled most of Lower Egypt and the Nile valley as far south as Cusae. When under Seqenenre and Kamose the Thebans began to rebel, the Hyksos pharaoh Apopis tried unsuccessfully to make an alliance with the rulers of Kush, who had overrun Lower Nubia in the later years of the 13th dynasty (c. 1650 bce). The Theban revolt spread northward under Kamose, and about 1521 Avaris fell to his successor, Ahmose, founder of the 18th dynasty, thereby ending 108 years of Hyksos rule over Egypt. Although vilified in some Egyptian texts, the Hyksos had ruled as pharaohs and were listed as legitimate kings in the Turin Papyrus. At least superficially they were Egyptianized, and they did not interfere with Egyptian culture beyond the political sphere.

necking

- A cylinder at the bottom of the Greek Ionic capital between the echinus and the flutes that masks the junction of capital and shaft. Example: Ionic capital and shaft, with each of its parts labeled, including the necking.

cista (pl cistae)

According to the dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890), a cista or cistella was the thought to at first be a wicker basket for holding fruits and vegetables and for country purposes in general. These baskets were sometimes square, but more usually cylindrical.

filigree

delicate, lacelike ornamental openwork composed of intertwined wire threads of gold or silver, widely used since antiquity for jewelry. The art consists of curling, twisting, or plaiting fine, pliable metal threads and soldering them at their points of contact with each other and, if there is one, with the metal groundwork. The ancient Greeks used filigree with great elegance; a necklace of pendant flowers and tassels in a trellis of finely plaited ropes is an example of the delicacy filigree work can attain. The use of filigree was widespread during Roman times, extending throughout the empire. Asian filigree work is especially fine.

Hesiod

was a Greek poet generally thought by scholars to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer.[2][3] His is the first European poetry in which the poet regards himself as a topic, an individual with a distinctive role to play.[4] Ancient authors credited Hesiod and Homer with establishing Greek religious customs.[5] Modern scholars refer to him as a major source on Greek mythology, farming techniques, early economic thought (he is sometimes identified as the first economist),[6] archaic Greek astronomy and ancient time-keeping.

400BC-300BC

Description: Painted terracotta tile-end (antefix) moulded with the head of a satyr, once surrounded by a shell-like frame with a floral scroll. * moulded with * the head of a satyr once *surrounded by a *shell-like frame with *a floral scroll.

Typhon

was the deadliest monster of Greek mythology. The last son of Gaia, fathered by Tartarus, he was known as the "Father of All Monsters"; his wife Echidna was likewise the "Mother of All Monsters."

New Acquisition: Bust of Isis

Egyptian, 25th Dynasty, 750-656 B.C: Bust of Isis. Magnesite, h. 26 cm. Museum purchase, Fowler McCormick, Class of 1921, Fund and the Carl Otto von Kienbusch, Jr. Memorial Collection (2013-45). Photo Bruce M. White Egyptian, 25th Dynasty, 750-656 B.C: Bust of Isis. Magnesite, h. 26 cm. Museum purchase, Fowler McCormick, Class of 1921, Fund and the Carl Otto von Kienbusch, Jr. Memorial Collection (2013-45). Photo Bruce M. White This bust of a woman dates from one of the most fascinating periods of ancient Egyptian history, the 25th Dynasty (750-656 B.C). In this period, Egypt was ruled by the Kushite kings of Nubia, who had emerged from their homeland in what is today North Sudan, above the first cataract of the Nile. The Nubians were black Africans who had fought and traded with the Egyptians for centuries, exporting gold, ivory, ebony, and slaves. Well before their conquest of Egypt, the Nubians had been heavily influenced by Egyptian culture, its people adopting the worship of the god Amun and its kings assuming the traditional pharaonic titles. The way this woman holds her breast in her hand identifies her as the Egyptian goddess Isis, the wife of Osiris and the mother of Horus. She probably was represented seated on a throne (Isis means "throne" in Egyptian), with the nursing infant Horus on her lap. The pillar that extends down the back originally was inscribed. The goddess wears a plump, curvaceous wig with curls that frame her face and hang down the back, a type known as a Hathor wig, after its frequent adoption by the goddess Hathor. Over a thousand years earlier, in the Middle Kingdom, many women were represented in sculpture wearing the Hathor wig; its reappearance in the 25th Dynasty suggests that the Nubians intentionally adopted it in an attempt to associate themselves with a celebrated era of Egyptian power, piety, and prosperity. The sculpture of Isis adds a new dimension to the Art Museum's small but important collection of Egyptian art at a time when the study of ancient Egypt is occupying an increasingly prominent place in the curriculum.

Etruscan amphora

Etruscan amphora of bucchero ware decorated with a frieze of horsemen in relief, 6th century bc. In the British Museum. Height 52.1 cm.

Echidna

In Greek mythology, was a half-woman, half-snake monster, known as the "Mother of All Monsters" because many of the more famous monsters in Greek myth were mothered by her.

the Lernaean Hydra

In Greek mythology, was an ancient serpent-like water monster with reptilian traits. It possessed many heads - the poets mention more heads than the vase-painters could paint - and for each head cut off it grew two more 'Cut off one head, Two more shall take its place'. It had poisonous breath and blood so virulent that even its tracks were deadly.[1] The Hydra of Lerna was killed by Heracles as the second of his Twelve Labours. Its lair was the lake of Lerna in the Argolid, though archaeology has borne out the myth that the sacred site was older even than the Mycenaean city of Argos, since Lerna was the site of the myth of the Danaids. Beneath the waters was an entrance to the Underworld, and the Hydra was its guardian.[2]

Bracel

Jewelry: Egyptian Among the treasures discovered in the tomb of Queen Ashhotep (18th dynasty) is a typical Egyptian bracelet. It is rigid and can be opened by means of a hinge. The front part is decorated with a vulture, whose outspread wings cover the front half of the bracelet. The whole figure of the bird is inlaid with lapis lazuli, carnelian, and vitreous paste. Jewelry: Greek ...pieces, often hollow or filled with resin, that were fashioned into the shape of acorns, amphorae, and rosettes that sometimes alternated with stones or vitreous paste. In the 3rd century bce the bracelet in the shape of a serpent originated and remained popular through the Roman period. The serpent motif also was used for rings.

scarab

Latin scarabaeus, in ancient Egyptian religion, important symbol in the form of the dung beetle (Scarabaeus sacer), which lays its eggs in dung balls fashioned through rolling. This beetle was associated with the divine manifestation of the early morning sun, Khepri, whose name was written with the scarab hieroglyph and who was believed to roll the disk of the morning sun over the eastern horizon at daybreak. Since the scarab hieroglyph, Kheper, refers variously to the ideas of existence, manifestation, development, growth, and effectiveness, the beetle itself was a favourite form used for amulets in all periods of Egyptian history. Scarabs of various materials, glazed steatite being most common, form an important class of Egyptian antiquities. Such objects usually have the bases inscribed or decorated with designs and are simultaneously amulets and seals. Though they first appeared in the late Old Kingdom (c. 2575-c. 2130 bce), when they evolved from the so-called button seals, scarabs remained rare until Middle Kingdom times (1938-c. 1630 bce), when they were fashioned in great numbers. Some were used simply as ornaments, while others were purely amuletic in purpose, as the large basalt "heart scarabs" of the New Kingdom (1539-1075 bce) and later times, which were placed in the bandages of mummies and were symbolically identified with the heart of the deceased. A winged scarab might also be placed on the breast of the mummy, and later a number of other scarabs were placed about the body. The seal type of scarab was, however, the most common, and many clay sealings have been found attesting to this use. Spiral motifs and titles of officials are characteristic of Middle Kingdom examples, while on later scarabs a wide variety of designs and inscriptions are found. The inscriptions are sometimes mottoes referring to places, deities, and so on or containing words of good omen or friendly wishes. Historically, the most valuable class of scarabs is that which bears royal names; these ranged in date from the 11th dynasty to the Late Period. The names of the Hyksos dynasts have been largely recovered from collections of scarabs. A related type of seal amulet, called by Egyptologists the scaraboid, was similar in shape but lacked the details of the beetle's anatomy. Egyptian scarabs were carried by trade throughout the eastern Mediterranean and to Mesopotamia. Numerous examples of Greek and Etruscan imitations have also been found. Scarab with separate wings, faience, glazed, Egypt, c. 712-342 bce; in the Brooklyn Museum, New York. Scarab 1.8 × 4.2 × 6.3 cm., wing 3.4 × 9.6 cm. Scarab commemorating the marriage of Amenhotep III and Queen Tiy, 18th dynasty

arcuated

Of arch-column construction.

Pair of hands

Pair of hands 7th cent. BC bronze sheeting cat. 11930-11931 Character features such as; very long fingers, closed at the wrist, and slightly folded at the edges. Associate: -these hands with the masks sheeting of some canopic vases. Consisting of: - joining parts obtained separately from embossed sheets . Attempts: -the human figure (Etruscan bronze art) Obtain: statues in the round.

fibula

fibula - A pin or brooch used to fasten fabric at the shoulder of togas of ancient Greece and Rome. They were often of decorative design. Some are obvious precursors to the safety pins of today. Contrary to persistent misinformation, no fibula is a small lie. Greece, (probably Thessaly, possibly Pherai or Philia), Fibula, end of the 8th century BCE, bronze, 5.2 x 8 cm, George Ortiz collection. See Greek art. The Market Rasen Brooch, Iron Age, 1-75 CE, gold fibula, British Museum, London. The shape of the head of this fibula seems to have been made to resemble a grotesque bird. It was made and worn by people living just before and after the Roman Conquest of southern England in 43 CE. See English art. Roman, end of the 3rd century CE, Fibula from Osztropataka, gold, length 9.8 cm, weight 71.8 g, Kunsthistoriches Museum, Vienna.

Pendant (Jewelry)

Pendant, in jewelry, ornament suspended from a bracelet, earring, or, especially, a necklace. Pendants are derived from the primitive practice of wearing amulets or talismans around the neck. The practice dates from the Stone Age, when pendants consisted of such objects as teeth, stones, and shells. The pharaohs of ancient Egypt wore pendants that were sometimes of huge dimensions, usually bearing commemorative or auspicious scenes in which the sovereign is being deified. Other pendants were in the shape of flies, winged scarabs, vultures, the eye of the god Horus, falcons, and sacred serpents. An exquisite example of an early gold pendant is that of two hornets clasped together, found in Mycenae and dating from the 17th century bce. Etruscan pendants were decorated with spindles and cylinders, figured, or in the shape of human heads. Greek and Hellenistic pendants usually formed the entire necklace. Pendants in the shape of a bulla are frequent in Roman necklaces, but there are also examples of cameos, intaglios, and gold coins mounted as pendants. During the Middle Ages, characteristic jewels were the reliquary, or devotional, pendant and the cross, chased or enamelled with religious subjects and often set in an architectural frame. One of the most famous early pendant reliquaries, which belonged to Charlemagne, contained relics of the True Cross and the crown of thorns under a sapphire set with gold. In the 14th century it was customary for noblemen to wear necklaces with pendants bearing heraldic subjects; pendants worn by women generally depicted sentimental subjects. Toward the beginning of the 16th century, pendants became decorative rather than religious objects. The Renaissance artists created numerous beautiful crosses and figured pendants modelled in high relief and depicting numerous subjects, such as mermaids, tritons, animals and ships, and mythological and religious scenes. Often, the irregular shapes of baroque pearls were exploited and adapted for the bodies of human beings or animals, whose faces and limbs were modelled in gold and enamelled. In the Baroque period there was a return in pendants to engraved figures and intaglio and cameo cutting, framed in geometric decorative designs containing gems and, later, in ribbons and floral designs done mainly in diamonds, rubies, emeralds, and pearls. Such pendants continued to be popular until the end of the 18th century. The Empire style attached no great importance to pendants, and most of the rare examples consist of cameo medallions. In the 19th century the Art Nouveau school created pendants with a lovely aesthetic line in which the most common motifs were women's figures and profiles, butterflies, peacocks, insects, and flowers.

Minoan civilization, Bronze Age civilization of Crete that flourished from about 3000 bc to about 1100 bc. Its name derives from Minos, either a dynastic title or the name of a particular ruler of Crete who has a place in Greek legend. A brief treatment of Minoan civilization follows. For full treatment, see Aegean civilizations.

Snake goddess, faience statuette from the temple depository of Knossos, c. 1600 bc. In the Archaeological Museum, Iraklion, Greece. Minoan gold pendant of bees encircling the Sun, showing the use of granulation, from a tomb at Mallia, 17th century bce. In the Archaeological Museum, Iráklion, Crete.

Terracotta figure: two women seated on a double chair

Terracotta figure Description: Terracotta figure; two women seated on a double chair; arms around each other; left female holds a phiale; greyish brown clay. Acquired: Cerveteri(Europe,Italy,Lazio,Cerveteri) Material: sterra-cotta Dimensions: Height: 15 centimetres *two women seated on a double chair *arms around each other *(left) female holds a phiale

New Acquisition: Praenestine cista

The Princeton University Art Museum recently acquired an Etruscan Praenestine cista with engravings of the Dioscuri and the Judgment of Paris. Praenestine cistae are lidded cylindrical boxes found in graves of the 4th-3rd centuries B.C. around the ancient city of Praeneste (present-day Palestrina), about thirty-five kilometers east of Rome. Excavations at Praeneste in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were aimed primarily at the recovery of these cistae and their contents, which may include bronze mirrors, silver, bronze, or ivory vessels, jewelry, pins, tweezers, and other toiletries. The cistae are made of hammered bronze and have a low, domed lid surmounted by a solid cast handle, usually in the form of two figures. The feet also are cast and normally take the form of lion paws. Most cistae feature engraved decoration, with subjects derived from Greek and Etruscan mythology. The most famous Praenestine cista is the Cista Ficoroni, now in the Museo di Villa Giulia in Rome, named after the collector Francesco de' Ficoroni (1664-1747). Although the piece was found at Praeneste, its dedicatory inscription indicates Rome as the place of production. Accordingly, cistae sometimes have been taken as examples of middle Republican Roman art. The Ficoroni inscription is the only evidence for this theory, however, while there is ample evidence for a local production at Praeneste by Etruscan artisans. The Princeton cista is repaired but in remarkably good condition. The handle is in the form of two nude figures, a satyr and a nymph. Like the engraved figures on the body, they have a somewhat androgynous character, an ambiguity resolved by the tail of the satyr and the differing genitalia. The vessel's feet feature reliefs of kneeling winged spirits, apparently female, holding downturned torches, a symbol of mourning. Four marine creatures are engraved on the lid: two hippocamps (seahorses), a dolphin, and a ketos, a type of Greek sea-monster with a wolfish head. The principal engraved frieze on the cylindrical body is framed by bands of palmettes alternating with lotus blossoms. A clear "front" is defined by a pair of fluted Ionic columns, similar to those carved from native rock in the more elaborate Etruscan tombs of the period. Between the columns two nude males flank a nude, winged female, an Etruscan death demon known as a Lasa. The youths likely represent the Dioscuri, Castor and Pollux, ideals of youthful male vigor. The rest of the frieze comprises eight standing figures, five male and three female. The females are nude and stand in a group: one holds a wreath, another a cloth, and the third a spear. The woman with a wreath touches the shoulder of a seminude youth holding a spear. He is surely Paris, the son of King Priam of Troy, and the woman is Aphrodite, whom the prince selected as the fairest of the goddesses in the Judgment of Paris. The second goddess, then, should be Hera, and the one with a spear must be Athena, who in Greek art would never be depicted nude. Watching the Judgment from the left are four young men who may be athletes or perhaps Trojan companions of Paris; the artist has provided a minimal amount of information to allow ancient and modern viewers to identify the subject. The overall effect is of elegance and grandeur, evincing a desire on the part of the owner's family to perpetuate his or her spirit in a felicitous afterlife. J. Michael Padgett, Curator of Ancient Art Italy, Etruscan, vicinity of Palestrina, ca. 300 B.C.: Praenestine Cista with engravings of the Dioscuri and the Judgment of Paris. Cast and hammered bronze, h. 41.3 cm. Museum purchase, Fowler McCormick, Class of 1921, Fund, Carl Otto von Kienbusch Jr., Memorial Collection Fund, and Hugh Leander Adams, Mary Trumbull Adams, and Hugh Trumbull Adams Princeton Art Fund (2011-154 a-b).

Tuscan column

Tuscan was a simple architectural form practiced in ancient Italy. A Tuscan column is plain, without carvings and ornaments. Features of a Tuscan Column: Shaft sets on a simple base Shaft is usually plain, not fluted (grooved) Shaft is slender, with proportions similar to a Greek Ionic column Smooth, round capitals (tops) No carvings or other ornaments Tuscan and Doric Columns Compared: A Tuscan column resembles a Doric column from ancient Greece. Both column styles are simple, without carvings or ornaments. However, a Tuscan column is more slender than a Doric column. Also, the shaft of a Tuscan column is usually smooth, while a Doric column usually has flutes (grooves). Origins of the Tuscan Order: Historians debate when the Tuscan Order emerged. Some say that Tuscan was a primitive style that came before the famous Greek Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian orders. But other historians say that the Classical Greek Orders came first, and that Italian builders adapted Greek ideas to develop a Roman Doric style that evolved into the Tuscan Order. Buildings With Tuscan Columns: Considered strong and masculine, Tuscan columns were often used for utilitarian and military buildings. In his Treatise on Architecture, the Italian architect Sebastiano Serlio (1475-1554) called the Tuscan order "suitable to fortified places, such as city gates, fortresses, castles, treasuries, or where artillery and ammunition are kept, prisons, seaports and other similar structures used in war." Centuries later, builders in the United States adopted the uncomplicated Tuscan form for vernacular Georgian and Greek Revival homes with simple, easy-to-construct columns. Examples: Oak Alley Plantation A Georgian Colonial Revival Home A Cottage With Tuscan Columns Also Known As: Tuscany, Roman Doric

Veii

Veii, modern Isola Farnese, ancient Etruscan town, located about 10 miles (16 km) northwest of Rome. Veii was the greatest centre for the fabrication of terra-cotta sculptures in Etruria in the 6th century bc. According to Pliny the Elder, Vulca of Veii made the terra-cotta statues for the Temple of Jupiter on the Roman Capitol in the late 6th century bc. The town had hegemony over Rome in the 7th and 6th centuries; a subsequent series of wars ended in the destruction of Veii (396 bc). Its destruction was not total, however, and the Romans later reconstructed the city. Under Augustus in 2 bc it was made a municipium (a community that exercised partial rights of Roman citizenship), and up to the 3rd century ad it continued as a religious centre. In origin, Veii appears to have been a conglomeration of Villanovan villages during the 9th and 8th centuries bc, the graveyards of which occupied the rocky plains around the city. One of the chambered tombs, the Grotta Campana, contains the oldest known Etruscan frescoes. The ashes of the dead were stored in burial urns surmounted by archaic terra-cotta portrait heads. Nearby are the remains of the Temple of Apollo, home of the terra-cotta statue of the "Apollo of Veii" and also a temple shrine dedicated to the neighbouring Cremera River.

ring

a personal ornament worn pendent from the ear, usually suspended by means of a ring or hook passing through a pierced hole in the lobe of the ear or, in modern times, often by means of a screwed clip on the lobe. The impulse to decorate or to modify the appearance of the ear seems to be almost universal. In general, usage appears to call for wearing earrings in pairs, the two ornaments in all respects resembling each other; but a single earring has sometimes been worn. (The single earring was especially popular in Europe during the Renaissance and Baroque period.) In the Orient, earrings historically were worn by both sexes; in the West (including ancient Israel and Egypt) as a general rule, they were considered to be exclusively female ornaments. Among the Greeks and Romans earrings were worn only by women, and the practice of men wearing them often is spoken of in classical literature as a distinctly Oriental (i.e., Middle Eastern) trait. In the tombs of the Greek settlers on the Crimean Peninsula (4th century bc), earrings of marvelous complexity and beauty were found. Jewels of the same class, of exquisite beauty and workmanship, were found in the sepulchres of ancient Etruria. Earrings of comparatively simple forms, but set with pearls and other stones, were the mode in Rome. In Europe, earrings tended to go out of fashion when the wig, coiffure, or headdress obscured the ears, as in the late 17th and 18th centuries. Use of these ornaments continued to be unfashionable in Europe and the Americas during the 19th century but were revived again in the 20th, especially with the introduction of clipping devices. Simplified painless methods of piercing the ears led to the renewed popularity of pierced earrings.

hieroglyphic writing,

a system that employs characters in the form of pictures. Those individual signs, called hieroglyphs, may be read either as pictures, as symbols for pictures, or as symbols for sounds. The name hieroglyphic (from the Greek word for "sacred carving") is first encountered in the writings of Diodorus Siculus (1st century bce). Earlier, other Greeks had spoken of sacred signs when referring to Egyptian writing. Among the Egyptian scripts, the Greeks labeled as hieroglyphic the script that they found on temple walls and public monuments, in which the characters were pictures sculpted in stone. The Greeks distinguished this script from two other forms of Egyptian writing that were written with ink on papyrus or on other smooth surfaces. These were known as the hieratic, which was still employed during the time of the ancient Greeks for religious texts, and the demotic, the cursive script used for ordinary documents. IMAGES VIDEOS QUIZZES LISTS Hieroglyphic, in the strict meaning of the word, designates only the writing on Egyptian monuments. The word has, however, been applied since the late 19th century to the writing of other peoples, insofar as it consists of picture signs used as writing characters. For example, the name hieroglyphics is always used to designate the monumental inscriptions of the Indus civilization and of the Hittites, who also possessed other scripts, in addition to the Mayan, the Incan, and Easter Island writing forms and also the signs on the Phaistos Disk on Crete. Because of their pictorial form, hieroglyphs were difficult to write and were used only for monument inscriptions. They were usually supplemented in the writing of a people by other, more convenient scripts. Among living writing systems, hieroglyphic scripts are no longer used. This article is concerned only with Egyptian hieroglyphic writing. Development of Egyptian hieroglyphic writing The most ancient hieroglyphs date from the end of the 4th millennium bce and comprise annotations incised onto pottery jars and ivory plaques deposited in tombs, presumably for the purpose of identification of the dead. Although by no means can all of these earliest signs be read today, it is nonetheless probable that these forms are based on the same system as the later classical hieroglyphs. In individual cases, it can be said with certainty that it is not the copied object that is designated but rather another word phonetically similar to it. This circumstance means that hieroglyphs were from the very beginning phonetic symbols. An earlier stage consisting exclusively of picture writing using actual illustrations of the intended words cannot be shown to have existed in Egypt; indeed, such a stage can with great probability be ruled out. No development from pictures to letters took place; hieroglyphic writing was never solely a system of picture writing. It can also be said with certainty that the jar marks (signs on the bottom of clay vessels) that occur at roughly the same period do not represent a primitive form of the script. Rather, these designs developed in parallel fashion to hieroglyphic writing and were influenced by it. It is not possible to prove the connection of hieroglyphs to the cuneiform characters used by the Sumerians in southern Mesopotamia. Such a relationship is improbable because the two scripts are based on entirely different systems. What is conceivable is a general tendency toward words being fixed by the use of signs, without transmission of particular systems. Invention and uses of hieroglyphic writing The need to identify a pictorial representation with a royal individual or a specific, unique event, such as a hunt or a particular battle, led to the application of hieroglyphic writing to a monumental context. Hieroglyphs added to a scene signified that this illustration represented a particular war rather than an unspecified one or war in general; the writing reflected a new attitude toward time and a view of history as unique events in time. Beginning in the 1st dynasty (c. 2925-c. 2775 bce), images of nonroyal persons were also annotated with their names or titles, a further step toward expressing individuality and uniqueness. The so-called annalistic ivory tablets of the first two dynasties were pictorial representations of the events of a year with specifically designated personal names, places, and incidents. For example, accompanying a scene of the pharaoh's triumph over his enemies is the annotation "the first occasion of the defeat of the Libyans." Simultaneously, the writing of the Egyptians began to appear unaccompanied by pictorial representations, especially on cylinder seals. These roller-shaped incised stones were rolled over the moist clay of jar stoppers. Their inscription prevented the sealed jar from being covertly opened and at the same time described its contents and designated the official responsible for it. In the case of wine, its origin from a specific vineyard and often also the destination of the shipment were designated, and, as a rule, so was the name of the reigning king. From the stone inscriptions of the 1st dynasty, only individual names are known, these being mainly the names of kings. In the 2nd dynasty, titles and names of offerings appear, and, at the end of this dynasty, sentences occur for the first time. The discovery of a blank papyrus scroll in the grave of a high official, however, shows that longer texts could have been written much earlier—i.e., since the early part of the 1st dynasty.

chimera

according to Greek mythology, a monstrous fire-breathing hybrid creature of Lycia in Asia Minor, composed of the parts of more than one animal. Usually depicted as a lion, with the head of a goat arising from its back, and a tail that might end with a snake's head,[1] the Chimera was one of the offspring of Typhon and Echidna and a sibling of such monsters as Cerberus and the Lernaean Hydra.

Charun

acted as one of the psychopompoi of the underworld (not to be confused with the lord of the underworld, known to the Etruscans as Aita). He is often portrayed with Vanth, a winged goddess also associated with the underworld.

tianagra figurine

any of the small terra-cotta figures dating primarily from the 3rd century bc, and named after the site in Boeotia, in east-central Greece, where they were found. Well-dressed young women in various positions, usually standing or sitting, are the main subject matter of the statuettes. On occasion the figures pull their garments around them closely, veiling the face, or they may wear a hat or hold a fan or mirror. The Tanagra figurines were all manufactured with molds, but the use of separate molds in combination (different arms, heads) lent interesting variation. The figures were all originally covered with a white coating and then painted. The garments were generally bright shades—blue, red, pink, violet, yellow, and brown. The flesh was reddish or pinkish, the hair auburn, the lips red, and the eyes blue. Gilt and black were used for details. The authentic statuettes that survive are missing their white coating and bright paint. On their discovery in the 19th century they became enormously popular and were extensively and expertly forged, even with paint.

Bullae

are hollow, often with filigree or granulation decorating the edges, and they have a removable loop (from which the pendant is hung). It is thought that the loop acted as a stopper for the bulla, which may have contained a liquid, presumably perfume. The word bulla now refers to a round lead seal attached to an official document from the pope.

Bull

characteristic Etruscan ornamental pendant. Typically round or oval, bullae resemble a lion or satyr head.

Ancient chariot

from the estate of Roma Vecchia 550-540 BC laminated and melted bronze, on modern wooden reconstruction The chariot, which was found towards the end of the 18th century, entered the Vatican Collections in 1804, having been sold by Antonio Pazzaglia, famous engraver of precious stones, who had cared for its restoration according to the logic of the antique market of the time: by assembling original and heterogeneous (by chronology and origin) parts. A recent restoration has permitted reconstruction of the chariot starting from the few original elements of which we are certain. The wooden structure, no longer preserved, was reconstructed thanks to the surviving fragments of the bronze covering and with a comparison with the information that emerged from the study of similar vehicles of the same period. A worthy example of bronze art is given by the metal cap with the eagle's head that covered the extremity of the shaft, finished off with a chisel and a punch. Assembling: original and heterogeneous *wooden structure *bronze covering comparison with the information: vehicles of the same period (the 18th century) An example of bronze art is given by* the metal cap with *the eagle's head that covered *the extremity of the shaft, finished off with* a chisel and a punch.

Cerberus

in Greek and Roman mythology, is a multi-headed (usually three-headed) dog, or "hellhound" [1][2][3] with a serpent's tail, a mane of snakes, and a lion's claws.[4] He guards the entrance of the Greek underworld to prevent the dead from escaping and the living from entering. Cerberus is featured in many works of ancient Greek and Roman literature and in works of both ancient and modern art and architecture, although the depiction of Cerberus differs across various renditions. The most notable difference is the number of his heads: Most sources describe or depict three heads; others show Cerberus with two or even just one; a smaller number of sources show a variable number, sometimes as many as fifty or even a hundred. Cerberus is the offspring of Echidna, a hybrid half-woman and half-serpent, and Typhon, a gigantic monster even the Greek gods feared. Its siblings are the Lernaean Hydra; Orthrus, a two-headed hellhound; and the Chimera, a three-headed monster.[5] The common depiction of Cerberus in Greek mythology and art is as having three heads. In most works, the three heads respectively see and represent the past, the present, and the future, while other sources suggest the heads represent birth, youth, and old age.[6] Each of Cerberus' heads is said to have an appetite only for live meat and thus allow only the spirits of the dead to freely enter the underworld, but allow none to leave.[7] Cerberus was always employed as Hades' loyal watchdog, and guarded the gates that granted access and exit to the underworld.[8]

arch

in architecture and civil engineering, a curved member that is used to span an opening and to support loads from above. The arch formed the basis for the evolution of the vault. Arch construction depends essentially on the wedge. If a series of wedge-shaped blocks—i.e., ones in which the upper edge is wider than the lower edge—are set flank to flank in the manner shown in the figure, the result is an arch. These blocks are called voussoirs. Each voussoir must be precisely cut so that it presses firmly against the surface of neighbouring blocks and conducts loads uniformly. The central voussoir is called the keystone. The point from which the arch rises from its vertical supports is known as the spring, or springing line. During construction of an arch, the voussoirs require support from below until the keystone has been set in place; this support usually takes the form of temporary wooden centring. The curve in an arch may be semicircular, segmental (consisting of less than one-half of a circle), or pointed (two intersecting arcs of a circle); noncircular curves can also be used successfully. In masonry construction, arches have several great advantages over horizontal beams, or lintels. They can span much wider openings because they can be made from small, easily carried blocks of brick or stone, as opposed to a massive, monolithic stone lintel. An arch can also carry a much greater load than a horizontal beam can support. This carrying capacity stems from the fact that pressure downward on an arch has the effect of forcing the voussoirs together instead of apart. These stresses also tend to squeeze the blocks outward radially; loads divert these outward forces downward to exert a diagonal force, called thrust, that will cause the arch to collapse if it is not properly buttressed. Hence, the vertical supports, or posts, upon which an arch rests must be massive enough to buttress the thrust and conduct it into the foundation (as in Roman triumphal arches). Arches may rest on light supports, however, when they occur in a row, because the thrust of one arch counteracts the thrust of its neighbours, and the system remains stable as long as the arches at either end of the row are buttressed. This system is used in such structures as arched stone bridges and ancient Roman aqueducts. Arches were known in ancient Egypt and Greece but were considered unsuitable for monumental architecture and seldom used. The Romans, by contrast, used the semicircular arch in bridges, aqueducts, and large-scale architecture. In most cases they did not use mortar, relying simply on the precision of their stone dressing. The Arabs popularized the pointed arch, and it was in their mosques that this form first acquired its religious connotations. Medieval Europe made great use of the pointed arch, which constituted a basic element in Gothic architecture. In the late Middle Ages the segmental arch was introduced. This form and the elliptical arch had great value in bridge engineering because they permitted mutual support by a row of arches, carrying the lateral thrust to the abutments at either end of a bridge. Modern arches of steel, concrete, or laminated wood are highly rigid and lightweight, so that the horizontal thrust against the supports is small; this thrust can be further reduced by stretching a tie between the ends of the arch.

granulation

in jewelry, type of decoration in which minute grains or tiny balls of gold are applied to a surface in geometric or linear patterns or massed to fill in parts of a decoration.

demotic script

motic script, Egyptian hieroglyphic writing of cursive form that was used in handwritten texts from the early 7th century bce until the 5th century ce. Demotic script derived from the earlier pictographic hieroglyphic inscriptions and the cursive hieratic script, and it began to replace hieratic writing during the reign of Psamtik I (664-610 bce). By the 5th century bce, demotic script—which the Egyptians called sekh shat, meaning "writing for documents"—had come into use everywhere in Egypt for business and literary purposes, although hieratic remained in use for religious texts. The demotic script began to be displaced by Greek during the Ptolemaic period (304-30 bce), but hieratic graffiti left by the priests of Isis at Philae date from as late as 452 ce. The term demotic is also used for the everyday form of any language that has developed alternative ("high" versus "low") levels of expression, such as in Greek and Arabic. Ostracon with demotic inscription, Ptolemaic dynasty, c. 304-30 BC.

necropolis

necropolis - A large burial area; literally, a city of the dead.

pectoral

pectoral - An ornament or a decoration worn on the chest. A breastplate is sometimes called a pectoral. A low necklace may also be called a pectoral. Egypt, Lahun, Pectoral with the name of Senwosret II, c. 1897-1878 BCE, Dynasty 12, reigns of Senwosret II-Amenemhat III, Middle Kingdom, gold, carnelian, feldspar, garnet, turquoise, length of pectoral 3 1/4 inches (8.3 cm), Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY. See Egyptian art. Bosporan Kingdom (Black Sea Coast), in Greek style, Necklace (Pectoral), first half of the 4th century BCE, gold, enamel, diameter 18.4 cm, State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia. See Greek art.

pilaster

pilaster - In architecture, a flat, rectangular column (often fluted) with a capital and base, attached to or set into a wall as an ornamental motif. It may be decorative or used to buttress the wall.

Crown of Thorns

the wreath of thorns was placed on the head of Jesus Christ at his crucifixion, whereby the Roman soldiers mocked his title of "King of the Jews." A relic purported to be the Crown of Thorns was transferred from Jerusalem to Constantinople by 1063. The French king Louis IX (St. Louis) took the relic to Paris about 1238 and had the Sainte-Chapelle built (1242-48) to house it. The thornless remains are kept in the treasury at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris.