Egyptian and Mesopotamian Art Flashcards

Flashcards for review of Egyptian and Mesopotamian Art lecture notes.

Hieroglyphic Writing

Egyptian writing system that evolved from picture writing through stylization, deciphered by Champollion.

Mastaba

The oldest type of Egyptian stone tomb, shaped like a truncated pyramid on a rectangular base, with an underground burial chamber.

KA

The term for the spirit or double of the deceased that lived in the chambers of the mastaba.

Stepped Pyramid

Type of pyramid created by layering mastabas of gradually decreasing size on top of each other (e.g., Djoser's pyramid at Saqqara, architect Imhotep).

Hypostyle

A hall with a roof supported by columns, often found in Egyptian temples.

Conceptual Realism

The method of depicting subjects based on the author/society's understanding of the subject, rather than optical perception.

Striped Display

Technique due to lack of perspective.

Law of Frontality

A convention in Egyptian art where the head, arms, and legs are shown in profile, while the eye, shoulders, and chest are shown frontally.

Hieratic Perspective

The convention of representing the most important figures in a composition as the largest, irrespective of their actual size; men are larger than their wives, and servants are smallest and in the lowest band.

Aton

The single god recognized by Pharaoh Amenhotep IV during the New Kingdom period.

Ziggurat

A stepped temple in Mesopotamia that developed from a temple and served as a site for ritual acts connected with astronomical observation. It is not a burial object.

Cuneiform

A system of writing invented by the Sumerians, characterized by wedge-shaped marks.

Stele of Naram-Sin

A monolithic depiction of events—specifically, the Akkadian army's victory over a mountain tribe.