Unit 2A (Ancient Near East) Vocab

The Fertile Cresent

An area of fertile land in the Middle East, extending around the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in a semicircle from Israel to the Persian Gulf.

Ziggurat

A pyramid-like building made of several stories that indent as the building gets taller, thus, ziggurats have terraces at each level.

Hierarchy of Scale

A system of representation that expresses a person's importance by the size of his or her representation in a work of art.

Votive

offered in fulfillment of a vow or a pledge

Register

a horizontal band, often on top of one another, that tells a narrative story

Cuneiform

A system of writing in which the strokes are formed in a wedge or arrowhead shape.

Relief Sculpture

Sculpture that projects from a flat background. A very shallow relief sculpture is called a bas-relief.

Lamassu

A colossal, winged human-headed bull in Assyrian art.

Apandana

An audience hall in a Persian palace