| Mesopotamia | The flat plain between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in southern Iraq where the world’s first civilization developed.
|
 |
|
|
| terracotta | A hard, brown-orange earthenware clay of fine quality, often used for architectural decorations, figurines, etc.
|
|
|
|
| monochrome | One color; describing pottery decorated with only one color that contrasts with the underlying color of the paste of the vessel.
|
|
|
|
| tholoi | Ancient Mesopotamian round structures that often are attached to a rectangular antechamber or annex, resulting in a keyhole shape.
|
|
|
|
| ziggurat | A large pyramid in Mesopotamia consisting of many stepped levels.
|
|
|
|
| pantheon | The officially recognized gods of a people.
|
|
|
|
| carnelian | A red or reddish variety of chalcedony (a translucent variety of quartz) used in jewelry.
|
|
|
|
| scapulimancy | The ancient practice of seeking knowledge by reading cracks on bones. Symbols were written on an animal’s scapula (shoulder blade); the bone was heated until a series of cracks formed; then diviners interpreted the pattern of cracking to foretell the future.
|
|
|
|
| soapstone | A soft stone with a soapy feel that is easy to carve, often referred to as steatite.
|
|
|
|
| bulla | (plural bullae) (Latin) A hollow clay sphere or envelope used to enclose clay tokens in ancient Mesopotamia.
|
|
|
|
| cuneiform | A writing system of ancient Mesopotamia involving a series of wedge-shaped marks to convey a message or text.
|
|
|
|
| intaglio | An engraving in stone or other hard material that is depressed below the surface; an impression of the design produces an image in relief.
|
|
|
|
| chlorite | A kind of green stone that resembles mica.
|
|
|
|
| serpentine | A stone of dull green color that often has a mottled appearance.
|
|
|
|
| pipal tree | A species of fig tree on the South Asian subcontinent that has had sacred significance for many cultures and religions throughout the region for thousands of years.
|
|
|
|
| papyrus | A tall marsh plant, or reed, of the Nile Valley that the ancient Egyptians cut into strips and pressed into a kind of paper to write on.
|
|
|
|
| porphyry | An igneous rock with visible quartz or feldspar crystals embedded in a finer-grained base.
|
|
|
|
| necropolis | (Greek) Cemetery.
|
|
|
|
| wadi | (Arabic) A dry streambed.
|
|
|
|
| nome | A geographic province incorporated within the ancient Egyptian state.
|
|
|
|
| shaduf | An Egyptian bucket-and-lever lifting device that enables one to raise water a few feet from a well or ditch onto fields and gardens.
|
|
|
|
| oracle bone | An animal bone with cracks (from heating) or other markings, used to foretell the future.
|
|
|
|
| pastoralist | An animal herder; pastoralism is a subsistence strategy generally associated with a mobile lifeway.
|
|
|
|
| circumscription | The process or act of being enclosed by either environmental boundaries, such as mountains, oceans, and rivers, or social boundaries, such as neighboring groups of people.
|