Art of the Ancient World

Sumerian, Nanna (Moon) Ziggurat at Ur, c. 2100 BCE 

Dedicated to the moon goddess of Nanna and meant to bring people up to the level of the gods to rise to the heavens

Sumerian, Votive statuettes from Tell Asmar, Iraq, c. 2900 BCE

Statue for prayer and features are directed upwards= towards the gods

Egyptian, Imhotep, Stepped pyramid of King Djoser, Saqqara, Egypt, c. 2600 BCE

First built egyptian pyramid and not meant to emphasize ascension but proposed more grand idea of the king by stacking 6 mastabas on top of each other

Egyptian, Great Pyramids, Giza, Egypt, c. 2500 BCE

Built by Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure and built from july-october when the nile flooded

1. Clear sand 

2. Level bedrock for flat surface

3. Build superstructure using range of materials and block sizes

   1. Mortise + tenon

   2. Ramps to transport materials?

Egyptian, Inner Coffin and Mask of Tutankhamen, from his tomb in the Valley of the Kings,

Thebes, Egypt, c. 1323 BCE

Last tomb to still exist and encased in layers for protection, contained gold items to represent wealth and status

Greek, Funerary krater from the Dipylon cemetery, Athens, c. 750 BCE

Shaped as a punch bowl to mix wine and water, with engravings to represent stories of life

Greek, New York kouros, from Attica, c. 600 BCE

Unnatural pose and features, wanted to represent perfect symmetry and patterns instead of realistic features, pushed nudity as an artistic convention

Greek, The Kritios Boy, from the Acropolis at Athens, c. 470 BCE

Start of contrapposto and more realistic human features, change in style after persian war

Greek, The Charioteer of Delphi, c. 470 BCE

Built with bronze to have more realistic details

Greek, Zeus of Artemision, c. 460 BCE

Detailed features represented by lightning bolt, depicts more action oriented pose

Greek, Myron, Discobolus (Discus Thrower), c. 450 BCE

Not realistic pose, unable to be recreated but instead portray tension

Greek, Polykleitos, The Spear Bearer (Doryphorus), c. 440 BCE

Perfect representation of contrapposto with a balance of motion and stillness within positioning of statue

Greek, Iktinos and Kallikrates, The Parthenon, Athens, Greece, 447-432 BCE

Placed on the acropolis and representative of athenian democracy, buildings had religious significance

Greek, Reconstruction of the gold and ivory statue of Athena Parthenos, after Pheidias, 438

 BCE

Colossal scale, placed in parthenon and had been reconstructed after burned in fire

Roman, Temple of Portunus, Rome, Late 2nd century BCE

Devoted to port god and wanted to emphasize the front using staircase and porch to be raised above the ground

Roman, Pont du Gard, Nîmes (France), late 1st century BCE

Largest of all roman monsters and allowed for constant supply of fresh water

Roman, Sanctuary of Fortuna, Palestrina, ca. 100 BCE

Religious building that includes a temple as part of a larger complex

Roman, The Colosseum, Rome, 80 CE

Real name: amphitheater of the Flavians built with combined architectural elements using different forms on each level of structure going from plain to ornate

Roman, The Pantheon, Rome, 125 CE

Temple to all the gods and looking into the psychological impact of architectural space

Circa

around, about, approximately

Sumer

earliest known civilization, southern mesopotamia

Ur

An ancient Sumerian city-state located in modern-day Iraq

Cuneiform

earliest writing system of the Sumerians  (3200 BCE)

Hieroglyohics

writing system of egypt, sacred significance, pictograms

Pharaoh

Respectful title for the king himself,

Mastaba

flat-roofed, rectangular ancient egyptian tomb with inward-sloping sides, built from mudbrick or stone

Imhotep

Imhotep was a brilliant ancient Egyptian polymath who lived during the 27th century BCE

Mortise(hole) and tenon(bump)

an ancient and very strong woodworking connection made by inserting a projecting tab (the tenon) into a matching hole or slot (the mortise)

construction

Sledges

sed in burial processions to transport the deceased's coffin and ritual goods

Howard Carter

British archaeologist and artist best known for discovering the intact tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun

Geometric Period (c. 900-700 B.C.E)

a foundational phase of ancient Greek Art in Ancient Greece that emerged at the end of the Greek Dark Ages, defined by abstract linear patterns and stylized figurative decoration on pottery

Archaic Period (c. 700-480 B.C.E.)

a formative era of ancient Greek Art that bridged the abstract Geometric Style and the naturalism of the Classical period

Classical Period (c. 480-323 B.C.E.)

a golden age of ancient Greek art defined by a shift toward naturalism, idealized human proportions, balanced harmony, and the revolutionary contrapposto stance

Krater

a large, footed ancient Greek vessel with a wide mouth and two handles, used primarily for mixing wine with water

Frieze

a long, horizontal band of painted, sculpted, or decorated design running along the upper part of a wall or building

Monumentality

a quality of grandeur, permanence, and symbolic power that makes a work of art or architecture feel awe-inspiring and timeless, regardless of its actual physical size abstraction

Kouros, pl. Kouroi

free-standing Ancient Greek sculpture of a nude young man that emerged during the Archaic period around 615–590 BCE

Symmetry/asymmetry

core principles of design used in art history to create visual balance, meaning, and emotional tone.core principles of design used in art history to create visual balance, meaning, and emotional tone

Gymnasium

a specialized public building complex in ancient Greece dedicated to physical education, athletic training, and intellectual instruction

Olympia and the Olympic Games

the intersection of ancient Greek sacred architecture, civic identity, and the idealized human form

Contrapposto

asymmetry, counterbalance

Hubris

an extreme overconfidence or arrogance that drives a mortal character, artist, or builder to challenge divine authority, natural laws, or cosmic limits, inevitably resulting in a catastrophic downfall or divine punishment

Humanism

focused on human potential, individual value, and the study of classical Greek

Roman art and philosophy

the broad visual culture of the Roman Republic and Empire (spanning roughly 509 B.C.E. to 330 C.E.) that synthesized Etruscan, Egyptian, and Greek traditions into practical, monumental, and propagandistic forms

Acropolis

famous archaeological complex in Athens, Greece, rebuilt during the 5th century BCE High Classical period under the statesman Pericles

Agora

the central public open space in an ancient Greek city-state

Polis

the ancient Greek city-state, which served as both the physical setting and the primary thematic inspiration for Greek civic art, architecture, and urban planning from the Archaic period onward

Demos

the representation or inclusion of the ordinary citizenry, working class, or masses, rather than aristocratic, religious, or elite subjects

Pericles

visionary statesman and patron whose leadership sparked the Classical "Golden Age of Athens"

Order

(doric, ionic,corinthian) a specific style of classical building defined by the proportions of its columns and entablature

Antrhopomorphic

giving human physical form, traits, emotions, or behaviors to non-human entities like animals, gods, or objects

Pheidias

greatest sculptor of the Classical period

pediment

a triangular gable placed above an entablature or horizontal cornice, typically supported by columns

curvature

the use of bent, sweeping, or sinuous lines and rounded contours to create a sense of grace, organic movement, and emotional expressiveness

Frontality

the representation of figures, objects, or buildings facing directly forward, aligned in a plane parallel to the picture surface or viewed completely from the front without lateral movement

axiality

 the organization of a space, building, or sculptural form symmetrically along a dominant central line or axis

Keystone

the central, wedge-shaped stone at the apex of a masonry arch or vault that locks all other stones into place and allows the structure to bear weight

Voussoir

a wedge-shaped stone or brick used to construct the curved portion of an arch or vault

Aquadect

an engineered water-conveyance system

concrete

a genre of abstract art that is entirely free of any symbolism, figurative meaning, or basis in the natural world, instead treating lines, colors, and planes as autonomous, real entities

barrel vault

a continuous, tunnel-like architectural ceiling or roof formed by extending a single semicircular arch along a given distance

groin vault

an architectural ceiling structure formed by the perpendicular intersection of two barrel vaults

amphitheater

a freestanding, open-air, oval or circular Roman building featuring a central arena surrounded by concentric, rising tiers of seats

Flavian Emperors (Vespasian, Titus)

whose art and architecture marked a deliberate return to realistic portraiture and civic-focused monumental building

arena

the Arena Chapel (also known as the Scrovegni Chapel) in Padua, Italy, famous for its revolutionary early 14th-century fresco cycle by Giotto di Bondone

classicizing

an aesthetic style that imitates the principles, forms, and cultural standards of ancient Greece and Rome

Oculus

a circular opening in a wall or at the apex of a dome that lets in natural light and air