Humanities Terms Flashcards
Paleolithic
Old stone 6million to 10,000 bce
Tribal hunter gatherer
Crude stone and bone tools
Cave painting and sculptures
Neolithic culture
New stone 8000 to 2000 bce Farming food and food production Polished stone and bone tools and weapons Architecture Pottery and weaving
The birth of civilization
Latin word civitas meaning city, marked the shift from rural to urban culture. Transition from Neolithic village to more complex form of social, economic and political organization associated with urban life.
Counting/writing
Writing evolved from counting. From tokens made of shapes being put in hollow balls to record shipments, to traders stamping wet clay to record the nature and amounts of the actual goods. Pictographs replaced tokens. Wet clay tablets were used with stylus made from reeds to make cuneiform.
Animism
Forces of nature, sun,wind, rain as vital and alive as inhibited by living spirits
Polytheism
Belief in many gods closely linked to nature and its forces
Monotheism
Belief in two warring forces; good and evil
Pantheism
A doctrine that identifies God with the universe or regards the universe to be a manifestation of God.
Mesopotamia literary epic
Gilgamesh a long epic poem recited orally for centuries, precedes the Hebrew bible who’s hero probably ruled the ancient Sumerian city of Uruk. Two thirds God, one third man blessed with beauty and courage. Earliest form of literary work that deals with death or non being.
Hammurabi’s law
282 clauses engraved on 7 ft. High stele. First recorded law of Babylonian rulers. Most extensive and comprehensive to survive ancient times. Not easily changed, restricted individual freedom, safe guarded the basic values of community
Egyptian theocracy
Belief that divine power flowed from the gods to their royal agents. Pharaoh meaning great house represented heavens will on earth.
Old kingdom tombs
Royal burial vaults hidden within a series of chambers connected to exterior tunnels home for eternity filled with treasure written documents of everyday life, things needed for the afterlife.
Egyptian women
Land was passed from generation to generation through them, some had to marry their brother because of this. Some had more economic and civil rights independence. Could read and write and calculate would go into business, oversaw textile production and shop keepers, midwives, musicians and dancers. Hatshepsut governed for 22 years.
Perceptual art
The world visually based on our eyes perception. An approach that details the immediate fleeting aspect of the outward world.
Conceptual art
Provides images which give notion, idea or concept that is intended, usually by simplification of figures actions to a few telling traits