AP Art History Ancient Mediterranean I Vocabulary

Apadana

The apadana is a great audience hall in ancient Persian palaces.

Arch

The arch is a curved structural member that spans an opening and is generally composed of wedge

Ashlar Masonry

Ashlar masonry is a technique where carefully cut and regularly shaped blocks of stone are used in construction, fitted together without mortar.

Basilica

In Roman architecture, a basilica is a civic building for legal and other civic proceedings, rectangular in plan with an entrance usually on a long side. In Christian architecture, a church somewhat resembling the Roman basilica, usually entered from one end and with an apse at the other.

Block Statue

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

Canon

A canon is a rule. For example, the Egyptian artist was mandated to regularize dimensions and scale in their paintings of the human form. Canons are guidelines for Egyptian artists to follow.

Canopic Jar

In ancient Egypt, the container in which the organs of the deceased were placed for later burial with the mummy is known as a canopic jar.

Clerestory

The clerestory is a fenestrated part of a building that rises above the roofs of the other parts. In Egyptian temples, the windows that form the temple’s uppermost level below the timber ceiling is the clerestory.

Continuous Narration

In painting or sculpture, the convention of the same figure appearing more than once in the same space at different stages in a story is known as a continuous narrative.

Cuneiform

Cuneiform in Latin means “wedge

Engaged Column

An engaged column is a half

Façade

A façade is usually the front of a building; also, the other sides when they are emphasized architecturally.

Glaze

Glaze is a vitreous coating applied to pottery to seal and decorate the surface; it may be colored, transparent or opaque, and glossy or matte.

Glazed Brick

Glazed bricks are bricks painted and then kiln fired to fuse the color with the baked clay.

Ground Line

In paintings and reliefs, a painted or carved baseline on which figures appear to stand is the ground line.

Heraldic Composition

Heraldic composition is a composition that is symmetrical on either side of a central figure.

Hierarchy of Scale

Hierarchy of scale is an artistic convention in which greater size indicates greater importance.

Hieroglyphic

Hieroglyphics is a system of writing using symbols or pictures

Hypostyle Hall

A hypostyle hall is a hall with a roof supported by columns.

Ka

The ka, in ancient Egypt, the immortal human life force; the spirit of the deceased.

Lamassu

Lamassu is an Assyrian guardian in the form of a man

Pylon

A pylon is the simple and massive gateway, with sloping walls, of an Egyptian temple.

Pictograph

A pictograph is a picture, usually stylized, that represents an idea; also, writing using such means; also painting on rock.

Register

A register is one of a series of superimposed bands or friezes in a pictorial narrative, or the particular levels on which motifs are placed.

Repoussé

Repoussé is formed in relief by beating a metal plate from the back, leaving the impression on the face. The metal is hammered into a hollow mold of wood or some other pliable material and finished with a graver.

Sculpture in the Round

Sculpture in the round is a term applying to freestanding figures, carved or modeled in three dimensions.

Stele

A stele is a carved stone slab used to mark graves or to commemorate historical events

Votive Offering

A votive offering is a gift of gratitude to a deity.

Ziggurat

In ancient Mesopotamian architecture, a ziggurat is a monumental platform for a temple.