History of architecture Exam 1 Vocab + People

capriccio

It., “caprice.” A painted architectural fantasy, placing buildings, architectural ruins, and other architectural elements in fictional and often fantastical combinations 

dolmen

A prehistoric tomb made of large upright stones, capped with a horizontal stone, and originally buried under an earth mound

henge

A circle of upright stones or posts

Stonehenge

megalith

A large stone

menhir

a prehistoric monument in the form of a large, upright stone

palimpsest

a surface that is written or drawn upon, and then cleared and reused, often leaving trace remnants of the previous work

Lascaux caves

trabeation

construction using upright posts and horizontal lintels, not arches or vaults; also known as “post-and-beam” or “post-and-lintel” construction

wattle and daub

building materials used for making walls, consisting of “wattle” or thin branches weaved between upright stakes, and reinforced by applying “daub” or a plaster-like substance over the wattle structure

in situ

Latin, “in place” (as in, still located in its original place)

lithos

Greek,“stone”

Paleolithic Period

ca. 40000-10000 BC

Mesolithic Period

ca. 10000-8000 BC

Neolithic Period

ca. 8000-3500 BC

bent-axis approach

in ancient Mesopotamia, an indirect approach into a temple or cella; generally gods entered a temple through the long axis, while humans entered on the short axis and turned 90-degrees to approach the cult statue.

bitumen

an asphalt of Asia Minor used in ancient times as a cement and mortar

cella

the main room in a temple, housing the cult statue

lamassu

an Assyrian guardian in the form of a human-headed winged bull

ziggurat

in ancient Mesopotamia, a pyramidal mound or tower built of mud-brick forming the base of a temple, usually stepped or having a broad ascent winding around it

Austen Henry Layard (1817-1894)

British archaeologist who excavated sites in Nineveh, Nimrud, and Babylon for the British Museum, mostly in the 1840s. He published the results of his excavations in multiple illustrated volumes, including Nineveh and its Remains: with an Account of a Visit to the Assyrians, and the Yezidis, and an Inquiry into the Manners and Arts of the Ancient Assyrians (2 vols., 1848-1849)

Leonard Woolley (1880-1960)

British archaeologist who excavated Ur for the University of Pennsylvania and the British Museum in the 1920s and 1930s

ashlar

hewn blocks of masonry wrought to even faces and square edges and laid in horizontal courses with vertical joints, as opposed to rubble or unhewn stone straight from the quarry

axis

a main line of direction, motion, growth, or extension

atlandtid

a male figure that functions as a supporting column

ben-ben

a cone-shaped stone in Egypt, which was the most sacred relic of the sun god Re; the basis of the pyramidion form

Book of the Dead

Ancient Egyptian guidebook placed in tombs for a deceased person’s spirit to use to navigate successfully through the underworld and seek out judgment before Osiris

caryatid

a female figure that functions as a supporting column

clerestory

windows placed high in a wall, usually above lower roof elements

colonnade

a row of columns that carries an entablature

colossal

very large; as in, a colossal statue or colossal column (which rises several stories)

column

an upright structural member, circular in plan, and usually slightly tapering; in classical architecture it consists of a base, shaft, and capital

engaged column

a column attached to or appearing to be partly embedded in a wall

hypostyle hall

a large hall composed of many columns placed closely together to support the roof, which gives the appearance of a forest of columns

ka

in ancient Egypt, the immortal human life force (spirit)

mastaba

from Arabic, bench) an Egyptian tomb with flat top and sloping sides, built over a grave

shaft

necropolis

(Greek, city of the dead) a large burial area or cemetery

Proto-Doric columns

Column forms found in ancient Egypt, which predate (come “before”) later Greek Doric columns, but which look very similar

reed construction

a traditional Egyptian form of building with dried river reeds that are bound together

relieving lintel

Acts similarly to a relieving arch. A lintel (or rough construction) placed in a wall or above an opening to relieve it of superincumbent weight

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

Major gods/goddesses

Osiris, Isis, Horus, Re, Amon-Re

Pyramids at Giza

Khufu, Khrafe, Minkaure

Early Kingdom

Dynasty III and IV

Middle Kingdom

Dynasty XI and XII

New Kingdom

Dynasty XVII and XIX

capital

he head or crowning feature of a column

caryatid

a female figure that functions as a supporting column

electrum

a naturally-occurring alloy of gold and silver, often used to coat the exterior of a pyramidion atop an obelisk or pyramid

obelisk

a tall tapering shaft of monolithic stone, of square or rectangular section, and ending pyramidally

pylon

a massive entrance to an Egyptian temple, with sloping walls and a central opening

Amon-Re

super god of Egypt, chief cult

Aten

sun disk god; Akhenaten adopts Aten as sole god of Egypt and introduces monotheism

Amenhotep IV

(“peace of Amon”) pharaoh who changes his name to Akhenaten (“all is well with Aten”)

Tutankhaten

(“living image of the Aten”) son and successor of Akhenaten, who changes name to Tutankamun (“living image of Amon”) when he becomes pharaoh and reinstates polytheism

Ramses II

great XIX Dynasty pharaoh and military leader; ruled for 66 years; lived until his 90s; son of Seti I