Exam #1 Study guide Questions Flashcards
Osiris
god of the underworld and of vegetation; son of Geb and Nut; brother/husband of Osiris; brother of Set
Salisbury plain- South west England
Maat
goddess of truth and justice
Researchers believe that which Aegean mural may represent an initiation or fertility ritual?
Bull leaping fresco; strong virile male
Bull-Leaping Fresco
- Who made it: Minoans
- Where: Knossos palace in crete (Greece)
- When: 1400-1370 BCE
- Why: fertility/right of passage scene
- How: Fresco; painted on wet plaster
- Materials: Plaster
- Dimensions: 2’8” high
- Notes: Fresco paintings last longer and are easier to paint, this is why minoan art still has its color; the color is part of the wall
An overall assessment suggests that Aegean culture, unlike Egypt, was primarily concerned with ___________.
life; Ageans were more concerend with life than after life, their art shows it. Egyptians were more concerned with death and after life as shown in their works. Alot about a culture can be learned by critically looking at their art, since culture is the ultimate influence of artists.
Anatolia (Turkey)
Discuss the funerary objects found buried with Tutankhamun?
- intact jewlery, furnature, and sculpture
- Tutankhamun’s Mummy
- Tutankhmun’s Death mask
- Tutankhamun’s coffins
- Painted Chest with war scenes
- Canopic jars
- amulets
- book of dead- 200 spells
Tutankhamen’s mummy
- Found by Howard Carter in 1922
- Innermost of 3 coffins
- innermost coffin most luxurious
- made of beaten gold and semiprecious stones
- nemes headress and false beard
- found in Thebes
- ca.1323
- Gold inlay of enamel
- 6’1” long
Woman of Willendorf
- Who made it: Paleolithic artist
- Where: Willendorf, Austria
- When: 28,000-25,000 BCE
- Why: Fertility image?
- How: Carved
- Materials: limestone
- Dimensions: 4 1/4 inches tall
- Notes: Venus inappropriate name for it; not a deity, cluster of ball-like shapes on head, exaggerated female anatomy, small hands, no face
How were glazed bricks used in the architecture of Babylon?
Glazed bricks were used for the Ishtar gate in Babylon, Iraq. Glazed bricks were layed on top of non-glazed bricks, each glazed brick was molded separately and then set in proper sequence on the wall.
Register
- Organized info to tell story
- Mesopotamians and egyptians used them
- examples: Standard or Ur, Warka vase, Palette of Narmer
When, where and whom was the palace at Knossos constructed?
When: 2000-1375 BCE
Where: Knossos, Crete (Greek island)
Who: The Minoans, home of king Minos
Min
fertility god
Isis
mother goddess; daughter of Geb and Nut; sister/wife of Osiris
Minoan jewelers were especially skilled works in gold using several techniques. Explain these techniques.
- Repousse - a metal working technique in which Each mask was hammered from a single sheet of Gold and ornamented or shaped by hammering from the reverse side to create a design in low relief.
- Lost-Wax process - is the process by which a duplicate metal sculpture (often silver, gold, brass or bronze) is cast from an original sculpture. Dependent on the sculptor’s skills, intricate works can be achieved by this method.
- granulation/faience - grains adhered with alloy that melted just below melting point of gold to attach it (Suader it)
Anubis
god of the dead
What is the difference between corbel vaulting and post-and-lintel construction techniques?
Corbelled vault - a structure having the form of a vault but constructed on the principle of a corbel arch (A corbel arch is an arch-like construction method that uses the architectural technique of corbeling to span a space or void in a structure, such as an entranceway in a wall or as the span of a bridge)
Post-and-Lintel -a building system where strong horizontal elements are held up by strong vertical elements with large spaces between them.
Why might have prehistoric people built henges and how were they built?
Prehistoric people built henges over a period of years, using post-and lintel construction. Circles for monument were formed with human compass. Holes were dug into the ground and the stones were moved by multiple men using logs , stone was then pulled into place by men in vertical position. Dirt was piled around verticle stone to allow men to drag another stone up a vertical ramp and place it horazontally on posts. dirt was then cleared. Ditch was dug around henge with aubery pits between ditch and henge. It may have been built for astrological events, as temples or possibly funerary sites.
Amen (Amun)
“The Hidden One,” a primordial creation-deity. Up to the Middle Kingdom Amen was only the patron god of Thebes; later Amen became a prominent deity, and by Dynasty XVIII was termed the King of the Gods
Lost Wax technique
- Model is made of wax, clay, or wood
- make a cast of sculpture with plaster
- coat inside of cast with wax let harden
- Take wax out to reveal hollow wax version of sculpture
- put it in contaner attach wax at top for hole, the fill it up with plaster with sand
- let harden
- block of plater with wax in it; turn it over then heat it up
- let wax drain out until left with negative of sculpture inside
- pour molten metal into hole
- let cool; then break plaster open
Re (Ra; Re-Atum)
sun god; creator of Shu and Tefnut
Hathor
cow goddess. In some mythology she was the daughter of Nut and Re. In early mythology she was the mother of the sky god Horus, but was later replaced in this capacity by Isis. Hathor then became a protectress of Horus. She was depicted either as a cow or in human form wearing a crown consisting of a sun disk held between the horns of a cow.
Shu
god of the air (dry); partner of Tefnut and parent of Geb and Nut
Discuss the construction of the funerary temple of Hatshepsut.
Hatshepsut’s temple was cut out of the rock cliffs at the valley of the kings. Rises from valley floor in 3 colonnaded terraces connected by ramps on the central axis. Originally part of larger complex with a cause way connecting to valley temple. The temple had shrines to Amen, Hathor, Anubis and Hatshepsut, Thutmose I (father). Statues and reliefs gloryfiying her reign through out complex. On lowest Terrace on ether side of prcessional stair way status of Queen as spinx. Uppermost level she is portrayed standing, seated, as a mummy. Red granite statues line entrence of Re sanctuary.
Qetesh
goddess of love and beauty
Why is the Rosetta stone central to scholars being able to decipher Egyptian hieroglyphic texts?
The Rosetta stone has the an inscription written in 3 sections, Greek, demotic (late Egyptian), and formal hieroglyphic. Scholars and linguists already knew how to read Greek so they translated the other 2 sections with the assumption that all the sections said the same thing. Afterwards Jean-Francois Champollion figured out that the hieroglyphs were symbols of a spoken language; from there it was discovered that the ancient Egyptian language was related to the modern day Coptic language. The ability to read hieroglyphics made studying Egyptian civilization and art easier and took out some of the guess work.
Mesopotamia
Compare and contrast the form and function of a mastaba, pyramid, and ziggurat.
Pyramids and mastabas are simply tombs or burial grounds while ziggurats are more of temples. Ziggurats were built in Ancient Mesopotamia while pyramids and mastabas were built in Ancient Egypt. Pyramids had a tetrahedral shape, mastabas had a rectangular structure with sloping sides, ziggurats were rectangular steeped towers with temples on top or sometimes with multiple layers of platform.
Geb
god of the Earth, son of Shu and Tefnut
Mut
wife of Amen, mother of Chons
Rosetta Stone
- Found Where: Rosetta (egypt)
- Found When: 1799
- Found by Who: Soldiers Linguists, Scholars, artists, historians (comissioned by Napoleon)
- Dimensions: 3′ 9″ x 2′ 4″ x 0′ 11″
- Medium: Granite
- Created 196 BCE
Crete, mainland Greece and Cyclades (small islands east of Mainland)
What is meant when an object is called a memory image?
generic shapes and images that spring to mind when an object is mentioned; our minds fill in all familiar details.
ex. Woman of Brassempouy; reduced shapes
Bes
dwarf god believed to guard against evil spirits and misfortune
Tefnut
goddess of moisture; partner of Shu and parent of Geb and Nut
What is significant about the Stele of Hammurabi?
- It is one of the oldest deciphered writings of significant length in the world; first comprehensive set of codified laws.
- foreshortening used; suggested depth with angles
Persia
Nut
goddess of the sky, daughter of Shu and Tefnut
Where, when and how was Chatal Huyuk constructed?
Chatal Huyuk
Where: Southern Anatolia (Turkey)
When: 6500-5700 BCE
How: In Catal Huyuk the houses were made of mud brick. Houses were built touching against each other. They did not have doors and houses were entered through hatches in roofs. Presumably having entrances in the roofs was safer then having them in the walls. (Catal Huyuk was unusual among early towns as it was not surrounded by walls). Since houses were built touching each other the roofs must have acted as streets! People must have walked across them. In Catal Huyuk there were no panes of glass in windows and houses did not have chimneys. Instead there were only holes in the roofs to let out smoke. Inside houses were plastered and often had painted murals of people and animals on the walls.
Austria/ Willendorf
What might explain the consistency in style used by Egyptian artists?
Tradition is why Ancient Egyptians maintained a certain style for 2,500 years; they achieved this with canon of proportions, a grid painted on wall to assure that all figures had the same proportions and body parts placed at specific points. Each body part occupied a certain number of squares. Canon of proportions was discovered in an unfininshed tomb.
- from ground to hair line - 18 units, to navel 11 units.
What do we mean when we say that an Egyptian artist represented a figure from its most characteristic angle?
- Egyptian, Mesopotamian, and Aegean artists would show their subjects in compsite/twisted view. The reason being was to show each part of the subject from the easiest recognizable angle.
Stele of Hammurabi
- Who made it: Akkadians
- Where: found in Susa, Iran orginally from city near Babylon
- When: 1780 BCE
- Why: First set of codified laws, to notify people
- How: High Relief, and carving
- Materials: Basalt
- Dimensions: 7’4” high
- Notes: Hammurabi (R) Shamash (L) sitting with fire on shoulders (sun god). King raises hand in respect, god gives him ring and rod- symbols of authority. Written in Akkadian 3,500 lines of cuneiform
- forshortening?
- composite view
Gobekli Tepe
Who made it: Ancient people of Anatolia; GT
Where: Gobekli Tepe, Anatolia
When: 9000 BCE (10th Millenium)
Why: Worship? (sanctuary)
How: Stones with carvings and reliefs; errected stones, walls of rocks all in concentric circles
Materials: Stones, rocks
Dimensions: n/a
Notes: Excavated in 1995 by Klaus Schmidt, was not a permanent settlement
Sobek
crocodile god
How did Assyrian artists create the appearance that the Lamassu is standing still and in motion at the same time?
They gave the Lamassu 5 legs, two show in the front and four are visible on the side. Depending on your location relative to the lamassu to will appear to be standing in front and walking from the side.
Mastaba
Wepwawet
god of war and of the funerary cult
Painted Chest from tomb of Tutankhamen
- Thebes, Egypt
- 18th dynasty
- 1333-1323 BCE
- made of wood
- 1’ 8” long
- representation of king tut defeating asian armies
- orderly registers contrast with chaotic piles of enemy bodies
- Likely not rue since king was so young
- made to make him look like a competent warrior
- Lid shows him as successful hunter
- side panel shows king in chariot with horses, and bow before dying enemies
- No ground line indicates chaos and death
- small war chariots behind him, to show how important and powerful he is (heiratic scale)
- Traditional but influenced by Amarna style (fluid forms)
Taweret
hippopotamus goddess and protective deity of childbirth
Describe the function of the system of clay tokens found in the near east. What important role did this clay token system play in ancient history?
Clay tokens were used to keep track of things (economic reasons) this gave way to writing ~ 3100 BCE. Started with plain tokens that were kept in clay capsules, then tokens became more naturalistic and were stamped on outside of capsule, then complex tokens turned into pictographs drawn on clay with a sylus. After time the pictographs were simplified into wedge shaped cuneiforms also written on clay tablet with a stylus.
Seth
(Set), god of chaos; son of Geb and Nut; brother to Osiris
Thoth
moon god (won a wager with Chons). Over time, he developed as a god of wisdom, and came to be associated with magic, music, medicine, astronomy, geometry, surveying, drawing and writing. Thoth was generally depicted in human form with the head of an ibis, wearing a crown consisting of a crescent moon topped by a moon disk.
Lamassu
- When: ca. 720-705 BCE
- Where: Dur Sharrukin (Khorsabad) Iraq
- Why: To guard gate to kings palace and intimidate; ward off enemies
- Who: Assyrians
- Material: Lime stone
- Dimensions: 13’11” high
- Notes: Found in citadel of Sargon II, dificult to move - many men, ropes, and sledges to move it (as said in reliefs).
- Partly in Round but mostly high relief
- Front view in rest; side view in motion
- Five legged monster to give complete view from both front and side ; 2 legs visible in front and 4 visible on side - concept of animal important and not optical view -this is why all legs are included
When, where, and how was the treasury of Atreus at Mycenae constructed?
When: Bronze Age around 1250 BC
Where: Mycenae, Greece
How: bee-hive shaped tombs covered with earthen mounds. dromos (arge passageway leads to a doorway with a releaving arch. door way and relieving arch once had columns on each side. tholos (burial chamber) series of corbeld courses stacked in dome shape, vault constructed with rough-hewn blocks. once stones set in place masons had to finish surfaces to make them conform to the overall curvature of the wall. it was 43 ft. high (dome) largest vaulted space w/o interior supports at the time.
Bast
cat goddess
Repousse
- single sheet of gold
- Features and shapes pushed out from behind
- Used in Mycenae funerary masks 1600-1500 BCE
Selket
scorpion goddess, helper of women in childbirth
Tutankhamen’s Mask
- death mask
- from innermost coffin
- found in thebes
- 18th dynasy
- 1323 BCE
- Gold inlay of semiprecious stones
- 1’ 9 1/4” tall
- idealized features
- false beard
- uraeus cobra headress
Zigurrat
Deer hunt; Chatal Huyuk
Who made it: Neolithic Antolian painter
Where: Chatal Huyuk, Turkey
When: 5750 BCE
Why: uknown
How: pigment applied directly to wall
Materials: Pigments, stone wall
Dimensions: n/a
Notes: found at lvl. 3
Composite view
During the Amarna period Akhennaten made revolutionary changes to the ancient traditions of Egypt. What were they?
he changed his name from Amenhotep the 4th to Akhenaten ca. 1348 (1348 Akhenaten changed his name)…. Atempted monotheism (one god Aton), moved capital from Thebes to Akhetaton (Present day Amarna). Gave himself supreme spiritual power snubbing priests and their hold on spiritual power; declared himself son of only god and phrophet. Was represented as sun disk ith rays. Art work style changed more natural, less stiff; curves, weak arms, narrow waist, full hips, full lips, narow face, heavy eye lids, pointed ether to portrayal of Akhennaten as suffering from sydrome/illness, creating a style defyant to traditional egyptian standards, or trying to portray him as androgenous like Aton (god/sundisk)
Denmark
Scroll of Hunefer
- depicts las judgement of Hunefer; weighing of Hunefer’s heart against Maat’s feather before he can be presented to Osiris (god of underworld)
- Thebes, Egypt
- 19th dynasty
- 1300-1290 BCE
- painted on papyrus scroll
- 1’6” high
Egypt
Chons (Khons)
moon god
Brassempouy - southwestern France
Nephthys
goddess of the dead; daughter of Geb and Nut; sister of Isis
