Mid Term Vocab

Front 1

Adobe

Back 1

Sun baked mud reinforced with straw, animal hair or moss and used in building construction

Front 2

Arch

Back 2

a structure of wedge shaped blocks bridging over an opening

Front 3

Battered

Back 3

(of a wall) having a receding slope

Front 4

BCE

Back 4

before common era

Front 5

CE

Back 5

Commmon Era

Front 6

Colonnades

Back 6

rows of columns

Front 7

Composite perspective

Back 7

Combining different viewpoints with a different representation of a subject

Front 8

Crenel

Back 8

The recess in a crenellated wall through which an individual could shoot a weapon

Front 9

Crenellated

Back 9

A parapet that extends above the roofline in which there are vertical alternating vertical projections

Front 10

Cuneiform

Back 10

An early form of writing with wedge shaped marks impressed into very wet clay with a stylus, primarily used in Ancient Mesopotamia (found on the rosetta stone)

Front 11

Dado

Back 11

Lower part of an interior wall, when finished differently from the remainder of the wall.

Front 12

Gesso

Back 12

Plaster made from gypsum and chalk or animal glue

Front 13

Griffins

Back 13

mythical creatures with a lions body, and eagles head and wings and the the tail of a snake

Front 14

Harem

Back 14

The separate part of a household reserved for wives, mothers, and or concubines

Front 15

Hieratic scale

Back 15

An artistic technique in which the importance of figures is indicated by size

Front 16

Hieroglyph

Back 16

Picture writing

Front 17

Hypostyle Hall

Back 17

A space containing man columns supporting a roof column above (e.g. great temple of amun)

Front 18

Ka

Back 18

The life force of a spirit, which was an essential part of every human personality in egyptian religious believes, which lived on after the death of the body

Front 19

Lamassu

Back 19

An ancient near eastern guardian of a palace, shown in sculpture as a human headed bull or lion with wings

Front 20

Lapis lazuli

Back 20

A semi precious blue stone

Front 21

Lintel

Back 21

A horizontal member bridging an opening such as a door or window

Front 22

Mastaba

Back 22

A flat -topped one story building with slanted walls erected above an underground burial chamber (early dynastic Egypt)

Front 23

Mespotamia

Back 23

Between, Rivers

Front 24

Necropolis

Back 24

The city of the dead on the west side of the nile where the sun sets.

Front 25

Neolithic

Back 25

New+ Stone

Front 26

Post and Lintel

Back 26

A basic system of construction using vertical elements to support horizontal members/ beams (lintels)

Front 27

Pylon

Back 27

A structure that is battered on all sizes. Usedin pairs to flank entrances to Egyptian temples and complexes.

Front 28

Relief:

Back 28

The projection of a figure or part of a design from the background or plane which is carved or modeled.

Front 29

Serdab

Back 29

The small sealed room in an Egyptian tomb where the ka is contained

Front 30

Sham buildings

Back 30

Simple masonry shells filled with debris representing chapels, palaces with courtyards etc)

Front 31

Sphinxes

Back 31

Creature with the boy of a lion or the head of a human

Front 32

Stela

Back 32

A stone or wooden slab, erected as a monument for funerary or commemorative purposes.

Front 33

Zigurat

Back 33

The tall stepped tower of earthen materials, often supporting a shrine ( Mesopotamia).

Front 34

Acropolis

Back 34

High City - The citadel of an ancient greek city, located at its highest point and housing temples, a treasure and sometimes a royal palace

Front 35

Agean civilization

Back 35

Cultures that flourished around the aegean sea between 3000 and 1000 years BCE

Front 36

Agora

Back 36

Central town square in greece

Front 37

Amphithalamos

Back 37

Chamber for unmarried daughters

Front 38

Andron:

Back 38

dining room, included in the men's section

Front 39

Andronitis

Back 39

men's section close to the entrance of the house

Front 40

Buon Fresco

Back 40

Fresco which is done on wet plaster

Front 41

Capital

Back 41

The sculpted block that tops a column

Front 42

Caryatid

Back 42

A sculpture of a draped female figure acting as a column supporting and entablature

Front 43

Cella

Back 43

The principle interior room at the center of a greek or roman temple which in within the cult statue was usually housed

Front 44

Corinthean capital

Back 44

The most ornamented capital with leaves)

Front 45

Doric Columns

Back 45

Simple cushlike capital and abscence of base

Front 46

Entabliture

Back 46

The horizontal elements above the columns and the capitals

Front 47

Frieze

Back 47

The middle element of the entablature usually decorated with moudings or paintings

Front 48

Griffins

Back 48

feline body, eagles head and snakes tail

Front 49

Gyncaecceum

Back 49

Woman area towards the back of the house

Front 50

Impluvium:

Back 50

A pool or cistern in the courtyard open to the sky (GREEK + ROMAN)

Front 51

Ionic COlumn

Back 51

Column characterized by a base and a capital with two volutes

Front 52

Kibotos

Back 52

Wooden chest used for storage, its hinged lid coulld be used as a seat.

Front 53

Kline

Back 53

Ancient greek bed, but also functions as seating for dining

Front 54

Klismos

Back 54

Form of chair with forward curving front legs and curved back and rear legs which hold concave curved back.

Front 55

Light wells:

Back 55

Open spaces reaching down through serval floors that illuminated and ventilated interior spaces (Palace complex in Knossos)

Front 56

Megaron

Back 56

Main hall of a mycenean palace

Front 57

Portico:

Back 57

Porch that had a roof not suported by columns

Front 58

Tesserae

Back 58

Small pieces of cut stones with squared edges, made from pebles, stones, lead or terrracotta

Front 59

Thalamos

Back 59

the nupital chamber

Front 60

Trapeza

Back 60

General Greek name for table

Front 61

Triglyph

Back 61

The rectangular block between the metopes of a doric frieze

Front 62

AD.

Back 62

Anno Domini, In the year of the lord

Front 63

Armarium

Back 63

An open cupboard or sideboard which the family treasures of glass, silver or gold were displayed

Front 64

Atrium

Back 64

AN unroofed interior courtyard or room in a Roman house, sometimes having a pool or garden, sometimes surrounded by columns - the pool was usually used to catch rainwater

Front 65

Barrel Vault

Back 65

An arch extended into space

Front 66

Basilica

Back 66

A large rectangular building with an extensive interior space adaptable for a a variety of administrative governmental functions

Front 67

Bibliotheca

Back 67

A librar in a Roman House

Front 68

Brazier

Back 68

A container for warming the room

Front 69

Candelabra

Back 69

Branched highly ornamented candle holders

Front 70

Centering

Back 70

Temporary wood structure used in building an arch or a vault

Front 71

Coffer

Back 71

A recessed decorative panel that is used to reduce the weight and to decorate ceilings and walls

Front 72

Compluvium

Back 72

The open roof over an atrium in a roman house

Front 73

Concrete

Back 73

Strong + inexpensive material made from a mixture of small stones, volcanic sand called pozzolana, lime and water

Front 74

Cubiculum

Back 74

Bedroom(s) in a roman house

Front 75

Dome

Back 75

Roof structure formed by rotating an arch around a point

Front 76

Domus

Back 76

A roman town-house for a single family

Front 77

Forum

Back 77

Roman town center, cite of temple, administrative buildings and market

Front 78

Groin Vault

Back 78

Roof constructed by the intersection of two barrel vaults

Front 79

Hypocaust

Back 79

A type of radiant heating system

Front 80

Insula

Back 80

A roman apartment building housing multiple families

Front 81

Klinium

Back 81

Sofa in the dining room (Roman)

Front 82

Lectus

Back 82

Roman couch

Front 83

Mensa

Back 83

Dining table situated low, among the klinia for dinners

Front 84

Oculus

Back 84

A circular opening, the apex of the dome (pantheon)

Front 85

PPatrician

Back 85

A member of the wealthy upperclass in ancient rome

Front 86

Peristyle courtyard

Back 86

Open colonnade courtyard, often having a pool or a garden

Front 87

Plebian

Back 87

Lower class Ancient rome

Front 88

Pantheon:

Back 88

All god

Front 89

Pozzolana

Back 89

Volcanic sand from pompei used to make concrete

Front 90

rotunda

Back 90

A building constructed in circular shape

Front 91

sella

Back 91

Roman Stool

Front 92

Tablinium

Back 92

A reception room with one side open to the atrium(roman house)

Front 93

Thrust

Back 93

The outward force exercised by arches, vaults and domes

Front 94

Triclinium

Back 94

The dining room of a roman house

Front 95

Trompe l'oeil

Back 95

Fooling they eye through the representation of a natural space with a specific intention

Front 96

Tumuli

Back 96

Monumental earht mound, raised over a tomb

Front 97

Valut

Back 97

Roof constructed from arch principle

Front 98

veneers

Back 98

Overlays of different materials to protect or dress the material underrneath

Front 99

villa

Back 99

the suburban house built by the romans and thier accompaniying lands

Front 100

apse

Back 100

A large semicircular niche protuding the end wall of a building (where the altar is)

Front 101

Credence

Back 101

monumental cupboard used as a serving table

Front 102

keep

Back 102

massive tower that was used as a stronghold in medieval castles

Front 103

ambulatory

Back 103

the walkway around the church

Front 104

millefleurs

Back 104

a thousand flowers (pattern and decoration)

Front 105

minstrel gallery

Back 105

balcony above the entry to an english great hall during the medieval period

Front 106

narthex

Back 106

the vestibule or entrance porch of a church

Front 107

quatrefoil

Back 107

a motif with a four curved or leaf shaped divisions within a patern

Front 108

Reliquary

Back 108

an object to contain the relic ( something that belonged to a matyr)

Front 109

Ribbed Valt

Back 109

the framework of arch ribs that supports the light masonry

Front 110

rose window

Back 110

a circular window with mullions of tracery covered with stained glass - looks like a rose pattern)

Front 111

tracery

Back 111

decorative stonework in gothic structure

Front 112

transept

Back 112

the arm of a cruciform church

Front 113

triforium

Back 113

a walk way parallel to the nave, above the level of the arcade

Front 114

tympanum

Back 114

the recessed area between the mouldings surrounding a pediment