TXMI 4350 TEST 1

Clerestory

an upper portion of a wall containing windows for supplying natural light to a building

Coffered Ceiling

a decorative sunken panel in a ceiling, dome, soffit, or vault

Cuneiform

system of writing developed by the Sumerians, characterized by wedge shape impressions into soft clay

Echinus

a convex molding just below the abacus of a Doric capital

Engaged Column

column in a wall, so that only. part of its circumference projects from it

Frieze

a decorative horizontal band, as along the upper part of a wall in a room

Fresco

the art of painting on fresh, moist plaster with pigments dissolved in water

Guilloche

an ornamental border formed of two or more curved bands that interlace to repeat a circular design

Hieroglyphs

system of writing that literally means sacred scripture

Keystone

the central wedge-shaped stone of an arch that locks parts together, also called a headstone

Krater

bowl for mixing wine and water

Kylix

drinking cup

Lintel

a horizontal architecture member spanning and usually carruing the load above an opening

Mastaba

an Egyptian tomb of the time the Memphite dynasties that is oblong in shape with sloping sides and a flat roof Arabic, stone bench

Metope

any of the spaces between two triglyphs on a Doric frieze

Mosaic

a picture or decorative design made by setting small colored pieces, as a stone or tile, into a surface

Motif

a usually recurring salient thematic element

Minotaur

mythological creature (half human half bull) that inhabited the maze of the palace of Knossos

Nave

the central part of a church, extending from the narthex to the chancel and flanked by aisles

Pediment

a triangular space that forms the gable of a low-pitched roof and that is usually filled with relief sculpture in classical architecture

Pylon

a monumental gateway in the form of a pair of truncated pyramids serving as the entrance to an ancient Egyptian temple

Rosetta Stone

a black basalt stone found in 1799 that bears an inscription in hieroglyphics, demotic characters, and Greek and is celebrated for having given the first clue to te decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphics

Sphinx

an ancient Egyptian image in the form of a recumbent lion having a man’s head, a ram’s head, or a hawk’s head

Triglyph

an ornament in a Doric frieze, consisting of a projecting block having on its face two parallel vertical glyphs or grooves and two half grooves or chamfers on either vertical end, that separates the metopes

Tholoi

a beehive-shaped stone tomb of Mycenaean Greece, roofed by corbeling and usually built into the side of a hill

Vitruvius

first century BCE Roman architect and writer, his De Architectura is the only surviving text on ancient architectural theory

Voussoirs

one of the wedge-shaped stones forming the curved parts of an arch or vaulted ceiling

Ziggurat

a temple tower of the ancient Assyrians and Babylonians, having the form of a terraced pyramid of successively receding stories