Humanities Vocab: Ancient Near East

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Culture

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The sum of human endeavors, including the basic political, economic, and social institutions and the values, beliefs, and arts of those who share them

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Civilization

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the way humans live in a complex political, economic, and social structure, usually in an urban environment, with some development in technology, literature and art

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Paleolithic

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Literally, “old stone”; used to define the Old Stone Age, when crude stones and tools were used; dating from about 2,000,000 bce to about 10,000 bce

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Neolithic

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Literally, “new stone”; used to define the New Stone Age, when human cultures evolved into agrarian systems and settled communities; dating from about 10,000 or 8000 bce to about 3000 bce.

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Homo faber

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Latin, “human fabricator”; an anthropological term used to describe humans as creators of tools and machines

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Pictogram

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Carefully drawn, often stylized, picture that represents a particular object

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Ideogram

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A picture/symbol drawn to represent an idea or concept

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Phonogram

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symbol used to represent a syllable, a word, or a sound

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Cuneiform

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Wedge-shaped characters used in writing on tablets found in Mesopatamia and other ancient civilizations

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Polytheism

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the doctrine of or belief in more than one deity

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Anthropomorphism

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The attributing of humanlike characteristics and traits to nonhuman things or powers, such as a deity

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Hieroglyphs

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Pictorial characters used in Egyptian writing, which is known as hierohglyphics

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Pantheism

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The doctrine of or belief in multitudes of deities found in nature; a recurrent belief since prehistoric times. Prominent in 19th-century Romanticism

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Stele (stela)

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A carved or inscribed vertical stone pillar or slab, often used for commemorative purposes

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Post-and-lintel construction

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A basic architectural form in which upright posts, or columns, support a horizontal lintel, or beam

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Ziggurat

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A Mesopotamian stepped pyramid, usually built with external staircases and a shrine at the top; sometimes included a tower

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Theocracy

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From the Greek theos, “god”; a state governed by a god regarded as the ruling power or by priests or officials claiming divine sanction

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Genre

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From the French, “a kind, a type, or a class”; a category of artistic, musical, or literary composition, characterized by a particular style, form, or content

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Hymn

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From the Greek and Latin, “ode of praise of gods or heroes”; a song of praise or thanksgiving to God or the gods, performed both with and without instrumental accompaniment

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Monotheism

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From the Greek monos, single, alone, and the Greek theos, go; the belief that there is only one God

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Portico

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In architecture, a covered entrance to a building, usually with a separate roof supported by columns

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Regalia

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Plural in form, often used with a singular verb. The emblems and symbols of royalty, as the crown and scepter

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Canon

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A set of principles or rules that are accepted as true and authoritative for the various arts or fields of study in architecture, it refers to the standards of proportion; in painting, the prescribed ways of painting certain objects; in sculpture, the ideal proportions of the human body in literature, the authentic list of an author’s works; in religion, the approved and authoritative writings that are accepted as divinely inspired, such as the scriptures for Jews and Christians; and in religious and other contexts, certain prescribed rituals or official rules and laws. In music a canon is a composition in which a melody sung by one voice is repeated exactly by successive voices as they enter.