Test 1 Flashcards
Ideograph
any graphic sign or symbol
Petroglyph
a drawing or carving on rock
Pictograph
a picture or symbol standing for a word or group of words
Substrate
the surface on or in which plants, algae, or certain animals, such as barnacles or clams, live or grow
Papyrus
a tall, aquatic plant, Cyperus papyrus, of the sedge family, native to the Nile valley: used for writing in ancient Egypt
The Book of the Dead
an ancient Egyptian funerary text
Mesopotamia
an ancient region in W Asia between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers: now part of Iraq
Ziggurat
a temple of Sumerian origin in the form of a pyramidal tower, consisting of a number of stories and having about the outside a broad ascent winding round the structure, presenting the appearance of a series of terraces
Cuneiform
having the form of a wedge; wedge-shaped
Blau monument
a pair of inscribed stone objects from Mesopotamia
Phonogram
a unit symbol of a phonetic writing system, standing for a speech sound, syllable, or other sequence of speech sounds without reference to meaning
Rebus writing
an allusional device that uses pictures to represent words or parts of words
Scribe
a person who serves as a professional copyist, especially one who made copies of manuscripts before the invention of printing
Cylinder seal
a small carved cylinder used especially by the ancient Mesopotamians to impress a design in wet clay
Stele
an upright stone slab or pillar bearing an inscription or design and serving as a monument, marker, or the like
Hieroglyphics
designating or pertaining to a pictographic script, particularly that of the ancient Egyptians, in which many of the symbols are conventionalized, recognizable pictures of the things represented
Obelisk
a tapering, four-sided shaft of stone, usually monolithic and having a pyramidal apex
Rosetta Stone
a stone slab, found in 1799 near Rosetta, bearing parallel inscriptions in Greek, Egyptian hieroglyphic, and demotic characters, making possible the decipherment of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics
Cartouche
a rounded, convex surface, usually surrounded with carved ornamental scrollwork, for receiving a painted or low-relief decoration, as an escutcheon
Ankh
a tau cross with a loop at the top, used as a symbol of generation or enduring life
Alphabet
any set of symbols or characters, esp one representing sounds of speech
Minoan civilization
the bronze-age culture of Crete that flourished 3000-1100 BC
Crete
a mountainous island in the E Mediterranean, the largest island of Greece: of archaeological importance for the ruins of Minoan civilization
Phaistos Disk
is a disk of fired clay from the Minoan palace of Phaistos on the Greek island of Crete, possibly dating to the middle or late Minoan Bronze Age
Principle of movable type
is the system of printing and typography that uses movable components to reproduce the elements of a document
North Semitic writing
is a division of the Semitic language family, comprising the ancient languages of today’s Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, western Syria, and western Jordan, along with their modern descendants
Phoenicia
an ancient kingdom on the Mediterranean, in the region of modern Syria, Lebanon, and Israel
Ras Shamra script
of or being the alphabetical cuneiform script of Ugaritic discovered on a collection of clay tablets excavated at Ras Shamra between 1929 and 1936
Alphabetical order
is a system whereby strings of characters are placed in order based on the position of the characters in the conventional ordering of an alphabet
Phoenician alphabet
called by convention the Proto-Canaanite alphabet for inscriptions older than around 1200 BCE, was a non-pictographic consonantal alphabet, or abjad
Aramaic alphabet
adapted from the Phoenician alphabet and became distinctive from it by the 8th century BCE. The letters all represent consonants, some of which are matres lectionis, which also indicate long vowels
Square Hebrew alphabet
known variously by scholars as the Jewish script, square script, block script, or more historically, the Assyrian alphabet, is used in the writing of the Hebrew language, as well as other Jewish languages, most notably Yiddish, Ladino, and Judeo-Arabic
Arabic writing
is a writing system used for writing several languages of Asia and Africa, such as Arabic, Persian, Pashto and Urdu
Koran
the sacred text of Islam, divided into 114 chapters, or suras: revered as the word of God, dictated to Muhammad by the archangel Gabriel, and accepted as the foundation of Islamic law, religion, culture, and politics
Calligraphy
fancy penmanship, especially highly decorative handwriting, as with a great many flourishes
Greek alphabet
is the script that has been used to write the Greek language since the 8th century BC
Uncials
designating, written in, or pertaining to a form of majuscule writing having a curved or rounded shape and used chiefly in Greek and Latin manuscripts from about the 3rd to the 9th century a.d.
Latin alphabet
the alphabetical script derived from the greek alphabet through Etruscan, used from about the 6th century b.c. for the writing of Latin, and since adopted, with modifications and additions of letters such as w, by the languages of Western Europe, including English, as well as many other languages
Capitalis Monumentalis
is a Roman monumental writing from antiquity
Serif
a smaller line used to finish off a main stroke of a letter, as at the top and bottom of M. See diag. under type
Capitalis Quadrata
The name Quadrata derives from the geometrical shape of the individual letters, which is based on the square, equilateral triangle and circle. Like the Capitalis monumentalis the square script is with serifs quoted, word division and ligatures are rare
Capitalis Rustica
The letters are thinner and more compressed, use many more curved lines than do square capitals, and have descenders extending below the baseline
Parchment
the skin of sheep, goats, etc., prepared for use as a material on which to write
Vellum
calfskin, lambskin, kidskin, etc., treated for use as a writing surface
Codex
a quire of manuscript pages held together by stitching: the earliest form of book, replacing the scrolls and wax tablets of earlier times
Scroll
a roll of parchment, paper, copper, or other material, especially one with writing on it
Hangul
the Korean alphabetic writing system, introduced in the 15th century, containing 14 consonants and 11 vowels
Chinese calligraphy
There is a general standardization of the various styles of calligraphy in this tradition. Chinese calligraphy and ink and wash painting are closely related, since they are accomplished using similar tools and techniques
Paper
a substance made from wood pulp, rags, straw, or other fibrous material, usually in thin sheets, used to bear writing or printing, for wrapping things, etc
Logograms
a conventional, abbreviated symbol for a frequently recurring word or phrase, as the symbol & for the word and
Chiaku-wen (bone-and-shell script)
a pictographic script found on oracle bones, it was widely used in divination in the Shang dynasty
Oracle bones
a group of inscribed animal bones and shells discovered in China and used originally in divination by the ancient Chinese, especially during the Shang dynasty
Chin-wen (bronze script)
consisted of inscriptions on cast-bronze objects, including food and water vessels, musical instruments, weapons, mirrors, coins, and seals
Chen-shu or kai-shu (regular style)
in regular style, every line, dot, and nuance of the brush can be controlled by the sensitivity and skill of the calligrapher
Relief printing
the projection of a figure or part from the ground or plane on which it is formed, as in sculpture or similar work
Woodblock printing
is a technique for printing text, images or patterns used widely throughout East Asia and originating in China in antiquity as a method of printing on textiles and later paper
Diamond Sutra
is a Mahāyāna sūtra from the Prajñāpāramitā, or “Perfection of Wisdom” genre, and emphasizes the practice of non-abiding and non-attachment
Dharani
in Buddhism and Hinduism, a sacred Sanskrit phrase of great efficacy, used as a verbal protective device or talisman and as a support or instrument for concentration. The dharani is a short summary of the essential doctrine contained in a much longer sacred text and serves as an aid to its retention. Properly recited, the dharani conveys the same merit as reading the entire work. The meaning of a dharani is often very difficult to determine and may sound to the uninitiated like a string of meaningless words, the accuracy of which is, nevertheless, carefully guarded when passed on from teacher to pupil
Accordion-style book
Orihon are similar to kansubon in that they consist of individual sheets of paper arranged horizontally and glued together, but instead of being rolled for storage, these books are creased at regular intervals and folded accordion-style
Codex-style book
is a book made up of a number of sheets of paper, vellum, papyrus, or similar, with hand-written content
Pen Ts’ao medical herbal
Chinese medicine employs complex mixtures of remedies and does not appreciate the advantage or effectiveness of a single drug entity. Chinese herbal remedies are derived from animal, mineral, as well as arboreous and herbaceous sources. At least 1,500 different herbal drugs have been tested, analysed, and used in Chinese medicine; this is well documented in more than 50 different or revised editions of Pen-ts’ao. Both Sheng-nung Pen-ts’ao Ching, the earliest Chinese materia medica book, and the latest Pen-ts’ao Kang-mu are well-known and valuable compendia of herbal drugs
Movable type
type from which text is printed directly in which each character is on a separate piece of metal
Scriptorium
a room, as in a monastery, library, or other institution, where manuscripts are stored, read, or copied
Scrittori
is anyone who creates a written work although the word usually designates those who write for the profession , and those who write in different forms and genres more or less codified
Copisti
a typist
Illuminator
a person who paints manuscripts, books, etc., with designs in color, gold, or the like
Colophon
a publisher’s or printer’s distinctive emblem, used as an identifying device on its books and other works
Musical notation
is any system used to visually represent aurally perceived music through the use of written symbols, including ancient or modern musical symbols
Frontispiece
an illustrated leaf preceding the title page of a book
Vatican Virgil
a manuscript containing fragments of Virgil’s Aeneid and Georgics made in Rome in about 400
Classical style
the artistic style of ancient Greek art with its emphasis on proportion and harmony
Medieval
of, pertaining to, characteristic of, or in the style of the Middle Ages
Uncials
designating, written in, or pertaining to a form of majuscule writing having a curved or rounded shape and used chiefly in Greek and Latin manuscripts from about the 3rd to the 9th century a.d.
Uncia
a bronze coin of ancient Rome, the 12th part of an as
Semi-uncials
Half-unicals were written between four guidelines allowing for the development of ascenders and descenders. This new style was easier and faster to write than the uncial style
Majuscules
a large letter, either capital or uncial, used in printing or writing
Minuscules
a small cursive 7th-century style of lettering derived from the uncial
Ascenders
the part of certain lower-case letters, such as b or h, that extends above the body of the letter
Descenders
the part of a lowercase letter that goes below the body
Celtic style
is the art associated with the peoples known as Celts; those who spoke the Celtic languages in Europe from pre-history through to the modern period, as well as the art of ancient peoples whose language is uncertain, but have cultural and stylistic similarities with speakers of Celtic languages
The Book of Durrow
a 7th-century illuminated manuscript gospel book in the Insular style. It was probably created between 650 and 700, in either Durrow or Northumbria in Northern England, where Lindisfarne or Durham would be the likely candidates, or on the island of Iona in the Scottish Inner Hebrides
The Book of Kells
sometimes known as the Book of Columba) is an illuminated manuscript Gospel book in Latin, containing the four Gospels of the New Testament together with various prefatory texts and tables. It was created by Celtic monks ca. 800 or slightly earlier
Interlace
to unite or arrange (threads, strips, parts, branches, etc.) so as to intercross one another, passing alternately over and under; intertwine
Lacertines
most commonly found in Celtic Art, are interlaces created by animal forms
Diminuendo
a gradual reduction of force or loudness
Scriptura scottia (insular script)
was a medieval script system originally used in Ireland, then Great Britain, that spread to continental Europe under the influence of Irish Christianity. Irish missionaries also took the script to continental Europe, where they founded monasteries such as Bobbio
Carolingian or Caroline miniscule
a script developed as a calligraphic standard in Europe so that the Latin alphabet could be easily recognized by the literate class from one region to another. It was used in the Holy Roman Empire between approximately 800 and 1200
The Beatus of Fernando and Sancha
an illuminated manuscript of the mid- eleventh century is named after the name of the donor , Ferdinand I of León and Castile , but also will called Facundo Blessed by the name of the copyist , Beatus of San Isidoro de León for being the Basilica of San Isidoro de León where it was originally or Second National Library Beato being the National Library of Spain in Madrid where now preserved with Vit reference
Apocalypse
any of a class of Jewish or Christian writings that appeared from about 200 b.c. to a.d. 350 and were assumed to make revelations of the ultimate divine purpose
Textura
Blackletter, also known as Gothic script, Gothic minuscule, or Textura, was a script used throughout Western Europe from approximately 1150 to well into the 17th century
Aniconism
the worship of objects symbolic of but not depicting a deity
The Ormesby Psalter
was written and illuminated in the early fourteenth century to celebrate a marriage which never took place, and left unfinished by its aristocratic patrons
The Mainz Haggadah
includes the earliest known surviving illuminated haggadah: the Birds’ Head Haggadah, made in Mainz around 1300, in which many of the faces on the human figures depicted throughout are replaced with those of birds. Also presented is the Golden Haggadah from Barcelona, c. 1320-30, along with two Spanish “siblings,” the Rylands Haggadah and its purported Brother, made between 1330 and 1340, which share similar iconography and style
Book of Hours
a book containing the prescribed order of prayers, readings from Scripture, and rites for the canonical hours
The Limbourg Brothers’ Les tres riches heures du duc de Berry
is possibly the best example of French Gothic manuscript illumination surviving to the present day. It is a book of hours: a collection of prayers to be said at canonical hours. It was created between 1412 and 1416 for John, Duke of Berry, by the Limbourg brothers
