Defining Moments
This means "stones arranged in a circle."
What is henge?
This ancient Egyptian triangular structure is a tomb.
What is a pyramid?
The pharaoh or ruler sat upon this chair to indicate their status.
What is a throne?
It is believed her figure was used by women to track their pregnancies.
Who is the Venus of Willendorf?
They believe that the 'ka' travels into the afterlife.
Who are the Egyptians?
An object small enough to hold inside the palm of one's hand, typically taken from an environment and relocated.
What is a manuport?
A fortified city or town, basically a palace surrounded by a high wall.
What is a citadel?
This brutal Akkadian king is represented in a sculpture with gouged eyes.
Who is Sargon?
Narmer holds this weapon in his hand as part of 'the smiting pose.'
What is a mace?
These rivers run through Mesopotamia and into the Persian Gulf.
A profile view of an animal with face and/or chest shown from the front.
What is twisted perspective?
What are ziggurats?
Known for his humble appearance, this Neo-Sumerian ruler was clean-shaven and wore a simple cap and a costume that typically had one shoulder exposed.
Who is Gudea?
The stylus was used to make wedge-shaped impressions in clay of this script invented by the Sumerians.
What is cuneiform?
The ancient civilization in Jericho preserved these parts of their beloved deceased family members, plastering them, painting them, and displaying them in the home.
What are skulls?
This is a large stone marker, often erected to commemorate an event.
What is a stele?
These majestically tall animals, 14 feet high and carved out of a single piece of stone, guarded Assyrian palaces.
What are lamassu?
This woman is believed to be pictured at the uppermost register of the Warka Vase--the goddess of war, love, and fertility.
Who is Inanna?
This joint locked the post and lintel stones at Stonehenge together for millennia.
What is a mortise-tenon joint?
This is the term used to described the horizontal tiers or bands that separate images on an object (for example, The Warka Vase).
What are registers?
This is the term used to describe when certain figures are represented larger than other figures as a way to symbolize their importance.
What is hieratic scale or hierarchy of scale?
When ascending a Sumerian temple, this plan forces the worshiper to stop and turn 90 degrees before entering the temple.
What is a bent-axis plan?
This ruler beat the Lullabi people and erected a stele in honor of this victory.
Who is Naram-Sin?
It was believed this tool was used by Paleolithic artists to carve the Lion-Man.
What is a burin?
This is the Babylonian god of justice pictured on the Stele of Hammurabi.
Who is Shamash?