Art and Architechture
The Mesopotamians built with which two materials and invented which two architectural structures?
(Materials): Brick and adobe
(Structures): Arch and vault
Who was the important king from the Akkadian Empire?
King Sargon
Who created the oldest type of writing and where?
The Sumerians in Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia is situated between which two rivers?
Tigris and Euphrates
How were products exchanged without currency in the ancient civilizations?
Barter
Name and describe the characteristics of Mesopotamian sculpture.
Law of frontality (facing forward/frontal position), hieratism (lack of movement), and faces with large eyes.
Who created the first written laws? What were these laws called?
King Hammurabi (Hammurabi's Code)
What are the two types of pictographic writing?
Sumerian pictographs
Egyptian hieroglyphs
Define "city-state".
Powerful cities that each had its king and were independent of each other.
True or false: the great majority of society were the privileged.
False!! The great majority was the non-privileged.
What is "The Standard of Ur"?
One of the most important Mesopotamian paintings.
Who ordered the construction of the "Gate of Isthar" in Babylon?
King Nabucodonosor
Describe "syllabic writing". Where and when did it appear? What is the most famous type?
Syllabic writing appeared in Mesopotamia around 2000 BC. It consists of a writing in which each symbol corresponds to a syllable. The most famous writing of this type was "cuneiform writing".
Which was the first great Mesopotamian empire?
Assyrian Empire
True or false: the ancient civilizations were similar because they all shared a hierarchical structure.
True!!
What were ziggurats?
- Step pyramids (pirámides escalonadas)
- They were temples that had several functions: astronomical observatory, place of worship or center of fortune-telling.
The Hyksos caused a decline in the __________ kingdom of Ancient _________.
Middle Kingdom;
Ancient Egypt
Who invented alphabetic writing? Who adopted it later? How is it different than the two other types of writing?
Alphabetic writing was invented by the Phoenicians around 1000 BC. The Greeks also adopted this system and later the Romans. It consists in the fact that each symbol corresponds to a sound.
When and by whom was the Persian Empire defeated?
In the 4th century BC by the Greeks.
Name the people included in the privileged and the non-privileged parts of society.
Privileged minority: the kings (in Mesopotamia) or the pharaohs (in Egypt) and aristocracy, composed of the large landowners, the priests and the scribes.
Non-privileged majority: Soldiers, merchants and artisans occupied the intermediate level. The peasants lived in harsh conditions and had to pay a large part of the harvest they produced to the rulers. And in the lowest level were the slaves.
What were the four main types of religious buildings (and their roles) in Ancient Egypt?
Temples: places of worship (culto)
Mastabas: constructions in the form of a truncated pyramid
Hypogea: tombs dug into the rock
Pyramids: Large tombs with a secret chamber where the Pharaoh's sarcophagus was saved.
Name the main Egyptian gods and what they were gods of.
Amon-Ra: he was the god of the sun and creator of the world.
Horus: he symbolized heaven.
Osiris: he was the god of death and resurrection.
Isis: goddess of fertility.
Anubis: he was the guardian of the tombs.
What are the differences in writing supports between the Mesopotamians and Egyptians?
The Mesopotamians wrote mainly on clay tablets or on stone.
The Egyptians wrote on the walls of temples and pyramids and on papyrus.
Work with your group to make a timeline (with dates) of the 5 Mesopotamian Empires.
Sumerian Empire (3000-2300 BC)
Akkadian Empire (2300- 1800 BC)
Babylonian Empire (1800-1300 BC)
Assyrian Empire (1300 BC - 6th century BC)
Persian Empire (VI-IV century BC)
Writing was a very important invention that helped with what four things?
1. Drafting laws
2. Accounting for taxes
3. Birth of Astronomy
4. Birth of Math