Test 1 Vocab Part 1

Question 1

Cuneiform

Answer 1

wedge-shaped characters used in the ancient writing systems of Mesopotamia, Persia, and Ugarit, surviving mainly impressed on clay tablets

Question 2

Mud bricks

Answer 2

air-dried brick, made of a mixture of loam, mud, sand and water mixed with a binding material such as rice husks or straw

Question 3

Cylinder seal

Answer 3

Cylinder seals were impression stamps, often quite intricate in design

Question 4

Heraldic pose

Answer 4

standing still, with all the feet on the ground said of a lion, horse, or other animal used as a bearing (typically facing forward with 2 arms holding animals)

Question 5

Registers

Answer 5

an official list or record, for example of births, marriages, and deaths, of shipping, or of historic places

Question 6

Composite view

Answer 6

when a figure is shown in mostly profile, but a portion, usually the head, is turned to face the viewer

Question 7

Hieratic scale/Hierarchical scale

Answer 7

scale based on relative importance That is, the more important a figure, the larger he or she is in relation to the figures around him or her

Question 8

Ziggurat

Answer 8

rectangular stepped tower, sometimes surmounted by a temple

Question 9

Stele

Answer 9

an upright stone slab or pillar bearing an inscription or design and serving as a monument, marker

Question 10

Lamassu

Answer 10

mythological hybrid, a protective deity known to “turn back an evil person,” that is composed of the head of a human, the body of a bull, and the wings of a bird

Question 11

Orthostat

Answer 11

a large stone set upright

Question 12

Column

Answer 12

An architectural element consisting of a shaft, round or polygonal in section, used for structural support or decoration

Question 13

Capital

Answer 13

crowning member of a column, pier, anta, pilaster, or other columnar form, providing a structural support for the horizontal member (entablature) or arch above