AP ART HISTORY
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS / VOCABULARY
UNIT 1, 2: Prehistoric Art and Ancient Near Eastern Art
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS: What is prehistory? – What are the problems and
challenges of making meaning of prehistoric art? – How is prehistoric art useful in
understanding the human condition? – What is the difference between prehistoric
art and ancient Near Eastern art? – What developments occur with civilization as
time passes? – How does greater civilization change the way people see
themselves, each other, and their relations?
VOCABULARY: paleo- meso-, neo-, lithic, history, prehistory, palette, mural,
hunting-magic theory, motif, ground line, twisted perspective, optical view,
narrative, composite view, monumental sculpture, megalith, henge, monolith,
post-lintel construction, Mesopotamia, Tigris r., Euphrates r., cuneiform,
Sumer, city-state, Gilgamesh, ziggurat, Anu, cella, Inanna (Ishtar), register,
frieze, votive, "priest-king," lapis lazuli, "hierarchy of scale," Akkkad, Babylon,
naturalism, stele, Hammurabi's Code, Shamash, foreshortening, guardian
statue, lamassu, three-quarter view, Assyria, glazed brick, enamel, column
anthropomorphizing