Humanities Exam 1 Terms

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Neolithic

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An Era where hunters and gatherers became herdsmen, farmers and producers; New Stone Culture

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Megalith

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An enormous, irregular stone, often used in ancient architectural sturctures

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Standard

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A double-leaf paneled piece of wood describing daily events in Mesopotamian culture divided into registers

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Animism

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The belief that a divine will exists in all parts of nature

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Uruk, Ur, Kish, Lagash

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Ancient Sumerian cities

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Polytheism

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The belief in many specialized Gods and Goddesses

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Relief Sculpture

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A sculptural process in which figures are carved either to project from the background or cut away below it

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Cosmology

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The theory of origins, evolution, or the structure of the Universe

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Bronze Age

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An Era dated between 3400-1500BC which introduced an important metal alloy

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Sargon

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Mesopotamian ruler, renown for uniting his people the Akkadians, to the Sumerians, hence the first empire

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Lost Wax

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An ingenious process used for casting bronze out of molds evolving in the early Bronze Age

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Hittites/Iron Age

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A civilization in Asia Minor responsible for the introduction of an important metal; a metal superior to bronze and less expensive to produce

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Ziggurat

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A pyramid step-like colossal tower, usually a religious shrine in Mesopotamia.

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Dolmen

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Created by lifting two upright stone slabs roofed by a cap stone; aka post and lintel architectural system viewed in Stonehenge

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Geoglyph

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Neolithic artwork representing complex earthworks of giant animal-like images found in South America, serving as star-maps or calendars

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Mastabas

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A large rectangular mud-brick-built structure used for the construction of Egypt's first pyramids

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Conceptual Artwork

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A method of artistic representation in Egypt that is based on ideas rather than on visual image used to represent human form

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The Temples at Karnak & Abusimbel

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Two of ancient Egypt's most spectacular and massive architectural structures built by Ramses II during the New Kingdom

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Culture

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The total amount of people's arts, traditions, inventions, and techniques transmitted to other generations

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Cuneiform

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A wedged-shaped early form of writing based on syllabic alphabet, applied on wet clay tablets

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Hydraulic Society

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A people capable of commanding waters for flood and irrigation in the pursuit of civilized life

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The Babylonian Creation

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A Sumerian mythological poem recorded in the early 2nd Millennium BC celebrating the birth of the Gods and the order of creation

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Phoenicians

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A seafaring people coming from the Syrian-Palestinian coast, renown for colonizing the western Mediterranean and introducing a consonantal alphabet

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Stele

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A solitary monolith, as identified in Stonehenge

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Mesopotamia

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A fertile land in the Middle East, in between two important rivers

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Post-Lintel

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Two upright roofed by a cap stone, the first basic architectural construction

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Fresco

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Italian "fresh", a technique of painting on walls or ceilings covered with fresh lime plaster, applying brilliant pigments

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Obelisk

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Tall four-sided pillar with a commemorative inscription

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Lyric Poetry

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Sung, musical poetry, accompanied by a harp or a lyre, originating during the New Kingdom

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Old Kingdom

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Egypt, 2750-2181 BC; time of pyramid building and political stability

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Nubia

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Reached their maximum height during the Kingdom of Kush, excelled in the arts of metallurgy

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Nebuchadnezzar

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Chaldean king, responsible for the brilliant revival of Babylonia

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Epic

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A long, detailed highly descriptive poem, that recounts the adventures of a hero

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Pylon

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Two truncated pyramid type structures, acting as entrances to Egyptian temples

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Biblia

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Elaborate texts produced by teh Hebrews to record their culture and history

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Rabbi

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A teacher and master trained in the Jewish Law

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Prophets

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He who speaks for another, in Jewish and Christian tradition

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Torah

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A record of Jewish Law, Legend, History, and Traditions. Part of the Old Testament.