The Ancient Near East Ch 2

Terms	Definitions
White Temple, Uruk, Iraq, 3200- 3000 BCE
Warka Vase (presentation of offerings to Inanna), from Uruk, c. 3200-3000 BCE
Worshipers from Eshnunna, Iraq, c. 2700 BCE
Stele of the Vultures, from Girsu, Iraq, 2600- 2500 BCE
Standard of Ur, tomb 779, Royal Cemetery, Ur, Iraq, ca. 2600 BCE
Bull-headed lyre, from Ur, Iraq, c. 2600 BCE
Head of Akkadian ruler, from Nineveh, Iraq, c. 2250 -2200 BCE
Victory Stele of Naram-Sin, from Susa, Iran, 2254- 2218 BCE
Stele with law code of Hammurabi, from Susa, c. 1780 BCE
Citadel of Sargon II, Dur Sharrukin, Iraq, c. 720- 705 BCE
Lamassu (winged, human-headed bull), from Citadel of Sargon II, 720-705 BCE
Assyrian archers pursuing enemies, relief from the Northwest Palace of Ashurnasirpal II, Kalhu, Iraq, ca. 875- 860 BCE
Ishtar Gate, Babylon, Iraq, c. 575 BCE
Persepolis, Iran, c. 521- 465 BCE
Mesopotamia	Greek word that means "The Land Between the Rivers" (Tigris and Euphrates)
sumerian	An area in the southern region of Babylonia in present-day Iraq
Akkadian	The Akkadians were the first Near Eastern rulers to call themselves kings of the world and to assume divine attributes. The earliest recorded name of an author is the Akkadian priestess Enheduanna.
Neo-Sumerian and Babylonian	During the Third Dynasty of Ur, the Sumerians rose again to power and constructed one of the largest ziggurats in Mesopotamia at Ur.
Assyrian	An ancient kingdom in northern Mesopotamia which is in present-day Iraq
Neo-Babylonian and Persian	In the sixth century BCE, the Babylonians constructed two of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world. The Ishtar Gate, with its colorful glazed brick reliefs, gives an idea of how magnificent Babylon was under Nebuchadnezzar II (r. 604-562 BCE).
City-state	An independent, self-governing city.
Pictographs	A picture, usually stylized, that represents an idea; also, writing using such means; also, painting on rock. See also Hieroglyphic.
Cuneiform	Sumerian writing made by pressing a wedge-shaped tool into clay tablets
Ziggurat	A temple tower of the ancient Assyrians and Babylonians, having the form of a terraced pyramid of successively receding stories.
Bent-axis	Art of Ancient Mesopotamia art and architecture mainly serve theocracy: gods (statue embodied divine presence), worshipers (block like; large eyes to fix gaze on god; hands clasped to evoke humility before the divinity); ziggurat and its complex (symbolizes holy mountain; recesses and projections on outer walls, inside cella, bent-axis) [Sumer]
Cella	The chamber at the center of an ancient temple; in a classical temple, the room (greek, naos) in which the cult statue usually stood.
Register/frieze	Also known as bands, one of a series of super imposed bands/friezes in a pictorial narrative, or the particular levels on which motifs are placed.
Ground line	In paintings and reliefs, a painted or carved baseline on which figures appear to stand
Hierarchy of scale	An artistic convention in which greater size indicates greater importance.
Stele	A carved stone slab erected to commemorate a historical event or make a grave.
Foreshortening	The use of perspective to represent in art the apparent visual contraction of an object that extends back in space at an angle to the perpendicular plane of sight.
Cylinder seals	Small cylinders decorated with distinctive images. These were rolled on damp clay to leave a rectangular impression to "seal" a deal in business/ equivalent to a signature today.
Heraldic compostition	A composition that is symmetrical on either side of a central figure.