White Temple and its Ziggurat

Artist/Culture

Sumerian

Statues of Votive Figures (from the Square Temple at Eshnunna)

Artist/Culture

Sumerian

Standard of Ur (from the Royal Tombs at Ur)

Artist/Culture

Sumerian

Code of Hammurabi

Artist/Culture

Babylonian

Lamassu (from the citadel of Sargon II)

Artist/Culture

(Neo-)Assyrian

Audience Hall (apadana) (of Darius and Xerxes)

Artist/Culture

Persian

animism

belief that gods/spirits are embedded in nature, and that they control nature

apadana

audience hall in Persian palace

apotropaic

believed to have the power to ward off danger, evil, or bad luck

bent-axis

a pathway through or up a building that is not straight or direct, but takes a bent or angled path instead

buttress

a support of stone or brick built against a wall

citadel

fortress protecting a town

cuneiform

wedge-shaped system of writing created by Sumerians

facade

front of building

floor plan/ground plan

bird's eye map of building

hierarchy of scale/hierarchical perspective

a person's importance relates to his size relative to others in an artwork

hybrid

two or more different things joined together (usually animal forms)

hypostyle hall

a hall with a roof supported by multiple columns

lamassu

Assyrian winged human-headed bull; guardians

register

a horizontal level of artwork that is delineated from other levels

votive offering

a gift of gratitude to a deity

ziggurat

pyramid-like building whose stories indent as building progresses upwards

White Temple and its Ziggurat

Statues of Votive Figures (from the Square Temple at Eshnunna)

Standard of Ur from the Royal Tombs at Ur

Code of Hammurabi

Lammasu from the citadel of Sargon II

Audience Hall (apadana) of Darius and Xerxes

White Temple and its Ziggurat

Medium

Mud brick

Statues of Votive Figures

Medium

Gypsum inlaid with shell, lapis lazuli, and red limestone

Standard of Ur

Medium

Wood inlaid with shell, lapis lazuli, and red limestone

Code of Hammurabi

Medium

Basalt

Lamassu from the citadel of Sargon II

Medium

Alabaster

Audience Hall (apadana) of Darius and Xerxes

Medium

Limestone

White Temple and its Ziggurat

Location

Uruk, Iraq

States of Votive Figures

Location

Tell Asmar, Iraq

Standard of Ur

Location

Tell el-Muqayyar, Iraq

Code of Hammurabi

Location

Babylon (modern day Susa, Iran)

Lamassu from the citadel of Sargon II

Location

Dur-Sharrukin, Iraq

Audience Hall (apadana) of Darius and Xerxes

Persepolis, Iran

Palette of King Narmer

Seated Scribe

Great Pyramids (Menkaure, Khafre, Khufu)

King Menkaure and Queen

Great Sphinx (goes with Khafre pyramid)

Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut

Kneeling Statue of Hatshepsut

Temple of Amun-Re and Hypostyle Hall

Akhenaton, Nefertiti, and three daughters

Tutankhamun's tomb (innermost coffin)

Last Judgement of Hu-Nefer

amarna style

an artistic style during the Amarna Period – Akhenaton’s rule – where traditional Egyptian conventions were abandoned for a more expressive and non-idealized style of art

ankh

an Egyptian symbol of life

axial plan

a building with an elongated floor plan

canon of proportion

a system of measurement by which artists can regulate size, scale, and
proportions

capital

top of a column

clerestory

a roof that rises above lower roofs and thus has window space beneath that lets in light

colonnade

a long sequence of columns joined by their entablature

continuous narrative

an image that illustrates multiple scenes in a single frame; therefore, some
figures repeat

corridor axis

a long hallway or path enclosed by large stone masonry, possibly symbolized the Nile

enamel

melted and fused glass powder mixed with pigment to create color; very smooth once cooled

historical narrative

a story or sequence of events that is (or purports to be) historically accurate

in situ

on site and in its original place

ka

soul embedded in fleshly body, but upon death could live on; for the ___ to live securely, the dead body had to remain as intact as possible -> mummification developed

living rock

rock that is not detached and is still in its original setting

mastaba

simple tomb with four sloping sides which covers an underground burial chamber

narrative

artwork that conveys a story, either as an ongoing story or as a sequence of events

necropolis

greek for “city of the dead”; a complex of funerary buildings and tombs

negative space

empty space around an object or person, such as the cut-out areas between a figure’s legs or arms of a sculpture

papyrus

paper-like material prepared in ancient Egypt from Nile plants

portico

a shallow columned porch

pylon

the simple and massive gateway, with sloping walls, of an Egyptian temple

relief sculpture

figures project from a background of which they are a part

degree designated by 1) high; 2) low (bas); or 3) sunken/incised

in the last, the artist cuts the design into the surface so that the highest projecting parts of the image are no higher than the surface itself

sphinx

hybrid animal, with body of lion and head of Pharaoh/god that exhibits protective qualities

subtractive

a sculptural process including the removal of material of a block through cutting, chiseling, chipping, or scraping away

sunken relief

a type of relief carving where all lines are made into the surface, so that the design is set into the material

Palette of King Narmer

Artist/Culture

Predynastic Egypt

Seated Scribe

Artist/Culture

Egyptian Old Kingdom

Great Pyramids

Artist/Culture

Egyptian Old Kingdom

King Menkaure and Queen

Artist and Culture

Egyptian Old Kingdom

Temple of Amun-Re and Hypostyle Hall

Artist and Culture

Egyptian New Kingdom

Mortuary temple of Hatshepsut & Kneeling Statue of Hatshepsut

Artist and Culture

Egyptian New Kingdom

Akhenaton, Nefertiti, and three daughters

Artist and Culture

Egyptian New Kingdom (Amarna)

Tutankhamun’s tomb (innermost coffin)

Artist and Culture

Egyptian New Kingdom

Last Judgment of Hu-Nefer

Artist and Culture

Egyptian New Kingdom

Palette of King Narmer

Medium

Greywacke

Seated Scribe

Medium

painted limestone

Great Pyramids

Medium

cut limestone

King Menkaure and Queen

Medium

greywacke

Temple of Amun-Re and Hypostyle Hall

Medium

cut sandstone and mud brick

Mortuary temple of Hatshepsut & kneeling statue of Hatshepsut

Medium

sandstone partially carved into a rock cliff, and red granite

Akhenaton, Nefertiti, and three daughters

Medium

limestone

Tutankhamun's tomb, innermost coffin

Medium

gold with inlay of enamel and semiprecious stones

Last Judgement of Hu-Nefer

Medium

painted papyrus scroll

Seated Scribe

Location

Saqqara, Egypt

Great Pyramids and Sphinx

Location

Giza, Egypt

Temple of Amun-Re and Hypostyle Hall

Location

Karnak, near Luxor, Egypt

Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut

Location

Near Luxor, Egypt

Last Judgement of Hu-Nefer

Location

Book of the Dead