Italian Viking
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Chapter 3 - ANCIENT EGYPT
Ankh ____ A hieroglyph used by ancient Egyptians to signify life
Attached column ____ Column which is not freestanding, but is instead attached to a background wall.  Also known as an engaged column
Axial____ A plan or design based on symmetrical, linear arrangement of elements
Canon of Proportions____ Set of ideal mathematical ratios used by ancient Egyptian sculptors, measuring the various parts of the human body in relation to each other
Cartouche ____ Frame for a hieroglyphic inscription formed by a rope design surrounding an oval space
Clerestory____ Top-most zone of a wall, with windows providing light into the central interior space
Colonnade____ A sequence or row of columns, supporting a portico (porch), or a series of arches (an arcade)
Column ____ architectural element used for support and/or decoration. Consists of a shaft and a capital.
Demotic writing____ Informal script in ancient Greece, used exclusively for nonsacred texts
Engaged column ____ (see "attached column")
Faience____ Glazing technique for ceramic vessels, with lustrous shine
Hieratic ____ A formalized, grand style for representing rulers or sacred and priestly figures.  The larger the figure, the greater the importance
Hieroglyphic____ Picture writing signs rendered in the form of pictorial symbols
Hypostyle hall____ Marked by numerous rows of tall, closely spaced columns.  In ancient Egypt, a large, interior room of a temple complex preceding the sanctuary
Ka____ The name given by ancient Egyptians to the human life force, or spirit
Mastaba____ Flat-topped, one-story building with slanted walls, invented by ancient Egyptians to mark an underground tomb
Necropolis____ A large cemetery or burial area
Obelisk____ Tall stone shaft of four-sided rectangular shape, hewn from a single block, tapering at the top.  Erected in ceremonial spaces in ancient Egypt
Papyrus____ Native Egyptian river plant which produced an early form of paper.  A popular decorative element in Egyptian architecture
Peristyle____ Surrounding colonnade in Greek architecture.  A peristyle building is surrounded on the exterior by a colonnade
Pillar____ Any large, freestanding vertical element, usually functions as an important weight-bearing unit in buildings
Porch____ Covered entrance on the exterior of a building
Portico____ A porch which is supported by columns or a colonnade
Pylon____ Massive gateway formed by a pair of tapering walls of oblong shape.  In ancient Egypt, used to mark the entrance to a temple complex
Pyramidion____ A pyramid-shaped block set as the finishing element atop an obelisk
Rock-cut tomb____ Ancient Egyptian multi-chambered burial site, hewn from solid rock and often hidden
Sarcophagus ____ Rectangular stone coffin, often decorated with relief sculpture
Serdab____ In Egyptian tombs, the small room in which the ka statue was placed
Sunken Relief ____ Relief sculpture in which the image is molded below the original surface of the background, which is not cut away
Veneer ____ Exterior face of a building