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Civilization
Is a social, economic, and political entity distinguished by the ability to express itself through images and written language
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Culture
encompasses the values and behaviors shared by a group of people, developed over time, and passed down from one generation to the next.
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perspectival drawing
able to convey a sense of 3-D space on a 2-D surface
ex: cave drawings
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Modeling
use of shading in drawings
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Naturalism
representations that imitate the actual appearance of the animals/people
ex: greek statues
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Hunter-gatherers
those whose survival depended on the animals they could kill and the foods they could gather
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Megaliths
"big stones"
these works were constructed without the use of mortar and represent the most basic form of architectural construction.
ex: Stonehenge
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Cromlech
from the Celtic crom "circle" and lech "place".
ex: Stonehenge
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Myth
a story that a culture assumes is true.
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Oral Cultures
stories that have survived in cultures around the world that developed without writing
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Kiva
a partly underground ceremonial enclosure that dates back to Anasazi times with a hole in the floor that symbolizes the emergence of the people from the underworld.
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Emergence Tale
a form of creation myth
Ex: Zuni Pueblo Emergence Tales
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Animism
belief that the forces of nature are inhabited by living spirits
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Anthropomorphism
the practice of investing plants, animals, and natural phenomena with human form or attributes
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Ziggurat
large temple complexes topped by a sanctuary
ex: the Ziggurat at Ur
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Social Perspective
also known as Hierarchy of Scale
the most important figures are represented as larger than the others.
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Narrative Genre
a class/category of story with a universal theme.
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Epic
a long, narrative poem in elevated language that follows characters of a high position through a series of adventures, often including a visit to the world of the dead.
- ex: the Iliad and the Oddessy, the epic of Gilgamesh
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Epithets
words or phrases that characterize a person
ex: "Enkidu, the protector of herdsmen"
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Metaphors
words or phrases used in place of another to suggest a similarity between the two
ex: as when Gilgamesh is described as a "raging flood-wave who destroys even walls of stone"
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Simile
compare two unlike things by the use of the word "like" or "as"
ex: the land shattered like a pot
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Patriarchs
scriptural fathers of the Hebrew people
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Prophets
men who were prophetic not in the sense of foretelling the future, but rather in the sense of serving as mouthpieces and interpreters of Yahweh's purposes.
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Theocracy
a state ruled by a god or by the god's representative
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Symmetrical
balanced left and right
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composite view
the integration of multiple perspectives into a single unified image
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Hieroglyphs
"writing of the gods" from the greek hieros "holy" and gluphein "th engrave"
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Pictograms
stylized drawings that represent objects or beings, which can be combined to express ideas
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Phonograms
pictograms used to represent sounds
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Determinatives
signs used to indicate which category objects or beings is in question
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Votive
ritual object
ex: a gift to a god or goddess that was placed ina temple to ensure that the king, or perhaps some temple official, would have access to a palette throughout eternity.
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Pictorial formulas
conventions of representation that Egyptian culture used for the rest of its history
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Nirvana
a place or state free from worry, pain, and the external world.
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Dharma
good and righteous conduct reflecting the cosmic moral order that underlies all existence
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Acropolis
"top of the city"
citadel that could serve as a fortification, but which usually functioned as the city-state's religious center
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Agora
a large open space that served as public meeting place, marketplace, and civic center.
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Stoa
long open arcade supported by colonnades (rows of columns)
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Capitals
the sculpted blocks that top columns
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Origin Myth
creation myth
ex: story of Adam and Eve
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Repousse
a technique in which the artist hammers out the design from the inside
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Cyclopean Masonry
huge blocks of rough-hewn stone used to make walls
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Feudal
a system of political organization held together by ties of allegiance between a alord and those who relied on him for protection
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amphora
greek jar with an egg-shaped body and two curved handles used for storing oil or wine
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Hubris
pride
the greeks believed that as long as they did not overstep their bounds and try to compete with the gods (the sin of hubris) the gods would protect them
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Symposium
a "coming together" of men to share poety, food, and wine.
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Pronaos
enclosed vestibule at the front of a building
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Cella
the principle interior space of a building
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Elevations
the arrangement, proportions, and appearance of the temple foundation, columns, and lintels
Doric order, Ionic order, and Corinthian order
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Adyton
the innermost sanctuary housing the place where, in a temple with an oracle, the oracle's message was delivered
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Peristyle
a row of columns that stands on the stylobate (raised platform of the temple)
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Stylobate
the raised platform of the temple
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Entasis
when columns swell about 1/3 of the way up and contract again at the top
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Enchinus
rounded two-part capital of the doric order
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Abacus
tabletlike stone that top enchinus (rounded capital)
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Architrave
the bottom layer of the entablature
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Kouros
"young man"
celebration of male body through sculpture
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Krater
the vessel in which wind and water are mixed
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Lyric Poem
poem to be sung to the accompaniment of a lyre
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Demes
small local areas comparable to precincts or wards in a modern city
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Golden Section
believed by the Greeks to be the most beautiful of all proportions
ratio 8:5 or 1.618:1
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Axis
imaginary central line
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Contrapposto
"counterpoise"
Weight-shift
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Metopes
the square panels between the beam ends under the roof
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Humanism
a focus on the actions of human beings, political action being one of the most important
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Dialectic method
a process of inquiry and instruction characterized by continuous question-and-answer dialogue designed to elicit a clear statement of the knowledge supposed to be held implicitly by all reasonable beings
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Psyche
the seat of both intelligence and character
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Inductive Reasoning
moving from specific instances to general principles, and from particular to universal truths
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Idealism
seeks the eternal perfection of pure ideas, untainted by material reality
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Satyr Play
was a farce in which actors disguised themselves as satyrs (1/2 goat and 1/2 man replete with extravagant genitalia)
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Farce
a broadly satirical comedy
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Comedy
an amusing or lighthearted play designed to make its audience laugh
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Tragedy
basis for tragedy is conflict, but the tensions at work in tragedy (murder and revenge, crime and retribution, pride and humility, courage and cowardice) have far more serious consequences
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Protagonist
leading character
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Antagonist
represents opposing will
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Tetralogies
when plays were performed in sets of four
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Orchestra
where plays were performed in the open area of the agora
"dancing space"
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Parados
side entryway to a circular performance space
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Proscenium
the stage on which the actors performed and where painted back-drops could be hung
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Muses
the 9 sister goddesses who presided over song, poetry, and the arts and sciences and gave divine inspiration
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Cosmos
the harmonious and beautiful order of the universe
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Modes
music in which different pitches were believed to evoke different emotions
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Hellenistic
age in the fourth and third centuries BCE
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Male gaze
that regards woman as it's sexual object
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Scientific method
procedures for testing theories about the nature of the world that, over time, would lead to the great scientific discoveries of Bacon, Galileo, and Newton
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Catharsis
the cleansing, purification, or purgation of the soul
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Syllogism
two premises from which a conclusion can be drawn
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Golden Mean
belief that the good life is attainable only through balanced action
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Expressionism
the attempt to elicit an emotional response in the viewer
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Lapiths
mythological tribe of humans possibly represents athenian greeks
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Nietzsche
gave birth to tragedy
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Bands
- small groups of people ranging from a dozen to 100
- kinship based
- nomadic
- hunter-gatherers
- egalitarian
Paleolithic-old stone age
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Tribes
- kinship based clans in the hundreds
- small agriculture
- egalitarian
- settled in villages
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Chiefdoms
- thousands of people
- villages
- class divisions
- has chief or leader who makes decisions
- religion binds the people
- ancestor worship
- specialization of labor
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States
- hundreds of thousands
- king has close to a monopoly on power
- literate elites
- judicial and police system
- slavery
- taxes
- urban areas of civilization
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Nefertiti
- wife of Akenaten
- possible co-regent of Egypt
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Akenaten
introduced monotheistic religion to Egypt
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Narmer
pharoah who united upper and lower Egypt
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Sargon
Akkadian ruler who united the Sumerian city-states in mesopotamia
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Hammurabi
Babylonian king who codified the law in writen form
Talion-eye for an eye
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Ramses II
saw himself as a god
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Alexander of Macedonia
his daring and exciting life is associated with the Hellenistic aesthetic
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Ambulatory
circular, colonnaded walkway, encloses a projecting rock that lies directly beneath its golden dome.
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Messianic
prophesy that the world would end in apocalypse
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Apocalypse
the coming of God on the day of judgement, and that the post-apocalyptic world would be led by a messiah
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Messiah
anointed one, leads post-apocalyptic world
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Sect
a small, organized group that separates itself from the larger religious movement because it asserts that it alone understands god's will and therefore it alone embodies the ideals of the religion.
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Evangelist
spread the word of his life and resurrection
comes from the greek evangelos "bearer of good"
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typology
from the greek tupos "example" or "figure"
Christians interpreted Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son, Issac, as prefiguring god's sacrifice of his son
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Iconography
the subject matter of a work, both literal (factual) and figurative (symbolic)
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tetrachy
a four-part monarchy ruling the empire from capitals in Solana
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Ecumenical
worldwide council
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dogma
a pre-scribed doctrine
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liturgy
the rites prescribed for public worship
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vulgate
meaning "common" or "popular"
became the official bible of the roman catholic church
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iambic tetrameter
8 four-line stanzas, each written short-long, short-long, short-long, short-long
hymn's are written this way
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antiphonal
method of chanting, where one side of the choir responds to the other
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narthex
entrance hall to church proper
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transept
a transverse aisle that crossed between the nave and the apse in a church
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latin cross
a long arm, the nave, with 3 shorter arms, the apse and the arms of the transept
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clerestory
a zone with windows that lit the length of the church
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central plan church
so called because of its circular structure, topped by a dome
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syncretism
the reconciliation of different rites and practices into a single philosophy or religion
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mystery culds
cults whos initiation rites were secret
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pendentives
triangular curving vault sections that spring from the corners of the base between arches
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icons
images, or decorative embellishments
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iconoclasm
from the greek eikon "icon" or "image" and klao "break" or "destroy"
the practice of destroying religious images
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exedrae
the central space opens out into semi-circular bays or niches, which themselves open, through a triple arcade, to the ambulatory
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reverse perspective
makes objects appear to tip upward and elongates and heightens figures
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qur'an
the scriptures of islam
means "recitations"
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hajj
the undertaking of a pilgrimage to mecca
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bismillah
a sacred invocation that can be translated "in the name of allah, the beneficent, ever-merciful"
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hadith
meaning "narrative" or "report"
consists of sayings of muhammad and anecdotes about his life
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jihad
the impassioned religious struggle that could take either of two forms: a lesser from, holy war ; or a greater form, self-control over the baser human appetites
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mosque
place of prostration
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hypostyle
many-columned covered area
"resting upon pillars"
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hajib
literally "curtain"
the requirement that women be covered or veiled
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chador
simple scarf which covers the wearer from head to toe, leaving only her hands and her face (or part of her face) exposed
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calligraphy
the art of producing artistic, stylized writing
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caliphs
successors to muhammad who assumed political and religious authority
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bodhisattvas
persons of very near total enlightenment, but who have vowed to help others achieve buddhahood before crossing over to nirvana
meaning "those whose essence is wisdom"
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stupa
a kind of burial mound
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mandala
literally "circle"
the buddhist diagram of the cosmos
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