AHIS 120g 1st EditionExam 1 Study Guide: Lectures 1-7Lecture 1PREHISTORYVocabulary- Primitive: being the first or the earliest of the kind or in existence. Characteristic of anearly age of the world.o Consider ideologies of race during the early 20th century. Any outside product ofWestern civilization was considered “primitive”. - Architecture: the art or practice of designing and constructing buildings with regard to aspecific period, place, or culture. o Consider the role of architecture in Paleolithic and Neolithic times. o Stonehenge, Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, England (ca. 2100 BCE)- Post and lintel construction: arrangement with two upright stones supporting a thirdhorizontal capstone. Used to construct tombs for the dead with one or two morechambers.o Neolithic architecture. o *Stonehenge, Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, England (ca. 2100 BCE)- Modeling: the act of making three-dimensional models.o Paleolithic carving. o Functions of Paleolithic carving still remain a mystery.o Animals were frequent subject for sculpture. o Women were frequent subjects in prehistoric sculpture, and may be evidence ofa matrilineal social structure. o Woman of Willendorf (ca. 28000 BCE)- Votive figure: statues of various sizes, usually carved in limestone, crafted as an act ofworship to the gods and placed in a shrine before the deity’s image. o Usually carved with the hands clasped at the chest or waist in a gesture ofattentiveness.o Its large, prominent eyes suggest the figures to be engaged in prayer. o Male heads are frequently shown bald but sometimes wear beards, while femalefigures can have a variety of hairstyles or headdresses.o Facial characteristics offer little variation from one statue to the next.o Statues from the Abu Temple (ca. 2700-2500 BCE)Prehistoric art—PALEOLITHIC- Paleolithic: “old” Stone Age.o Marked by the earliest use of tools made of chipped stone. o Concentrated generally around 10,000 years ago in Europe and the Middle East.- Caves of Lascaux (ca. 15,000- 13,000 BCE)o Secretive grottos pained with a variety of techniques.o Great Hall of Bulls: largest gallery of the cave. o In order to reach these images, a prehistoric viewer had to contend with a precarious path, eerie flickering lights, echoing sounds, and the musty smells thatpermeate subterranean spaces added texture to the viewing process. o Centrality of the animal in this culture is indicated by plentiful depictions of animals and nature. Perhaps fulfilling a spiritual purpose.  Artists may have hoped to stimulate fertility in the wild by depicting pregnant animals.  Possible relations to shamanism, a belief in a parallel spirit world accessed through alternative states of consciousness. o These images have a degree of naturalism—how closely the image resembled the subject in nature. - Paleolithic figureso Paleo-, stone tools. o Exactly what the figures represent, and how they were used, is unclear. o Woman from Willendorf (ca. 20,000 BCE) Symbol of life, fertility.  Belly button—umbilical cord to further emphasize fertility.  Large, prominent genitalia. Helps indicate that the figure is in fact a female. Suggests a dominant role of women in Paleolithic society.  Abstract representation of ideal beauty. Used to be called “Venus”, as in mythology, the physique of Venus was the prototype of beauty.  No arms—the figure is completely round.  Not intended for it to stand up but like flat on her back. Perhaps a representation of the act of childbirth.Prehistoric art—NEOLITHIC - Neolithic Age (ca. 8,000-2,000 BCE)o Neo-, new. Paleo-, stone. “New Stone Age”.o Development of more refined and sophisticated stone technology.o Rise of agriculture. Farming stimulated permanent, although small, settlements. Contrast to the nomadic Paleolithic tribes. o Jordan human figures (ca. 6,000 BCE). Emphasis on eyes. o Stonehenge, Salisbury Plain, England (ca. 2,750 BCE) Post and lintel construction.  Oriented from east to west.  Possible use include for astronomical purposes. Megaliths used were carried to the site. How the foreign stones were carried to the area is still unknown.  Precursor of the Parthenon: same use of sense direction, lines, sight.Lecture 2ANCIENT MIDDLE EASTVocabulary- Fertile Crest: crescent-shaped region containing the relatively moist and fertile land ofthe commonly arid Western Asia, the Nile Valley and the Nile Delta. - Ziggurat: Sumerian architectural style.o High temples were constructed on a platform that raised the building aboveground level, transforming the temple into squat, stepped pyramids. o Its name hints a possible link or portrayal to the heavens, where a priest and godcould commune. o Nanna Ziggurat, Ur (c. 2100-2050 BCE)- Hierarchic scale: a visual device used to highlight a central figure, whose importance isrendered by the artist strategic positioning of the figure and through a larger size. o Royal Standard of Ur (2600 BCE). The figure’s importance on the top register isemphasized though his larger size—even his head breaks through the register’simportance. - Shaft: cylindrical body that supports the base and capital of the column. - Fluting: shallow grooves running vertically along the surface.- Capitals: crowning member of a column or pilaster. - Cuneiform: possibly the earliest writing system, refined by the Mesopotamians, andconsisted of pictograms. o Began around 3400-3200 BCE.o Consisted of pictograms pressed into clay with a stylus.o Generated as a response for efficient administration.- Registers: horizontal bands used to visually narrate a sequence. Read from top registerto lower register; left to right. o Royal Standard of Ur (2600 BCE).- Stele: an upright marker stone.o Stele of Naram-Sim.Ancient Mesopotamian kingdoms1. Sumer (4000 BCE)2. Akkad (2350 BCE)3. Babylon (1867 BCE)4. Assyria (1760-600 BCE)5. Neo-Babylonia (600-540 BCE)6. Persia (540-330 BCE)Role of public art- Used for public worship and communal learning. o Immortality.- Government-ordered.o Divine authority.o Theocratic socialism—produce, harvest and trading were donated to the templeas a symbol of gratitude to the gods’ benevolence. - Symbolic of the specific kingdom. o Hierarchical order.SUMERIAN ART- Works of art in the form of sculpture, relief, and pottery inform us about Sumeriansociety.- Uruk—the biblical