ARCH HISTORY 1 - EXAM 1

[TERMS/NAMES] : prehistory --> early aegean

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 orr posts.

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 the cleared and reused, often leaving trace remnants of the previous work.

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”.

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.

atlantid

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 judgement 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 cemetary.

proto-doric columns

column forms found in ancient Egypt which pre-date (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 bent weight.

serdab

a small, concealed chamber in an Egyptian mastaba for the statues of the deceased.

sphinx

a mythical Egyptian beast with the body of a lion and the head of a human.

Osiris

god that is half dead (underworld).

Isis

wife of Osiris.

Horus

son of Osiris and Isis.

Re

sun god.

Amon-Re

super god of Egypt, cheif cult.

Khufu

Cheops (The Great Pyramid)

Khafre

Chefren (sphinx)

Minkaure

Mycerinus

capital

the head or crowning feature of a 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 pyramidically.

pylon

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

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 Tutankhaten (“living image of the Aten”) 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.

corbel

parallel masonry layers, each projecting beyond the one below.

corbel arch

a “false” arch constructed by progressively cantilevering or corbelling from the two sides with horizontal joints.

cushion capital

in pre-classical greek architecture, a simple rounded capital carved from a block of stone, resembling a round cushion or pillow.

cyclopean stones

in pre-classical greek architecture, masonry constructed of very large irregular blocks of stone. the later greeks believed such masonry was the work of a race of giants, the cyclops.

dromos

a long, high-walled, sloping entrance passage to a Mycenean tholos tomb.

jamb

the vertical face of an archway, doorway, or window.

labyrinth

a building with, or arrangement of, winding and confusing passageways.

megaron

the principal hall of an Anatolian, Cretan, or Mycenaean palace or house. it is regular in plan, with a circular central hearth and a front porch formed by the prolongation of the side walls.

postern

a small gateway, sometimes concealed, at the back of a castle, town, or monastery.

propylaeum (propylon)

an entrance-gateway to an enclosure (usually to a temple or palace precinct.

tholos

(pl, tholoi) a round tomb. in Mycenaean architecture, a round, corbel-vaulted tomb; also referred to as a “beehive” tomb.