Ancient Egypt Art Key Terms

MoU; Module 3

adobe

The clay used to make a kind of sun-dried mud brick of the same name; a building made of such brick.

amulet

An object worn to ward off evil or to aid the wearer.

ashlar masonry

Carefully cut and regularly shaped blocks of stone used in construction, fitted together without mortar.

block statue

In ancient Egyptian sculpture, a cubic stone image with simplified body parts.

canon

A set of rules, principles, or standards used to establish scales or proportions. The ancient Greeks considered beauty to be a matter of 'correct' proportion and sought a canon of proportion, for the human figure and for buildings.

canopic jar

In ancient Egypt, a vessel in which ancient Egyptians preserved the viscera organs of the deceased; were placed for later burial with the mummy.

fresco

Painting on lime plaster, either dry (dry fresco or fresco secco) or wet (true or buon fresco). In the latter method, the pigments are mixed with water and become chemically bound to the freshly laid lime plaster. Also, a painting executed in either method.

hieroglyphic

A system of writing using symbols or pictures.

hypostyle hall

A hall with a roof supported by columns.

Ka

In ancient Egypt, the immortal human life force.

mastaba

Arabic, 'bench.' An ancient Egyptian rectangular brick or stone structure with sloping sides erected over a subterranean tomb chamber connected with the outside by a shaft. A rectangular burial monument in ancient Egypt.

mummification

A technique used by ancient Egyptians to preserve human bodies so that they may serve as the eternal home of the immortal ka.

Necropolis

Greek, 'city of the dead'; a large burial area or cemetery.

nemes

In ancient Egypt, the linen headdress worn by the pharaoh, with the uraeus cobra of kingship on the front.

obelisk

A tall, four-sided stone, usually monolithic, that tapers toward the top and is capped by a pyramidion.

palette

In ancient Egypt, a slate slab used for preparing makeup. A thin board with a thumb hole at one end on which an artist lays and mixes colors; any surface so used. Also, the colors or kinds of colors characteristically used by an artist.

papyrus

A plant native to Egypt and adjacent lands used to make paper-like writing material; also, the material or any writing on it.

personification

An abstract idea represented in bodily form.

pictograph

A picture, usually stylized, that represents an idea; also, writing using such means; also painting on rock. See also hieroglyphic.

pylon

The simple and massive gateway, with sloping walls, of an Egyptian temple. A pair of truncated, pyramidal towers flanking the entrance to an Egyptian temple.

Pyramidion

A small pyramid, as at the top of an obelisk.

sarcophagus (pl. sarcophagi)

Latin, 'consumer of flesh.' A coffin, usually of stone, sometimes decorated with a relief sculpture.

serdab

A small concealed chamber in an Egyptian mastaba for the statue of the deceased.

Sphinx

A mythical Egyptian beast with the body of a lion and the head of a human.

step pyramid

A pyramid constructed of mastaba forms of successively decreasing size.

ushabti

In ancient Egypt, a figurine placed in a tomb to act as a servant to the deceased in the afterlife.