Deck 2: Art of the Ancient Near East

Question 1

Ziggurats functioned symbolically as _______________.

A) heavenly palaces
B) bridges between earth and the heavens
C) fortresses of the gods
D) the home of the gods

Answer 1

B

Question 2

The most impressive surviving archeological remains of the Sumerians is the __________.

A) pyramid
B) palace
C) ziggurat
D) grid

Answer 2

C

Question 3

The most complete version found of the Epic of Gilgamesh was written in __________.

A) Sumerian
B) Akkadian
C) Babylonian
D) Mesopotamian

Answer 3

B

Question 4

The image of Gudea, the ruler of Lagash, is well known to students of Near Eastern art because of the twenty surviving ____________________that he commissioned.

A) steles
B) relief panels
C) votive statues
D) palaces

Question 5

Mesopotamian sculptors told stories clearly and economically by organizing visual narratives in horizontal bands called________________.

A) registers
B) hierarchic scales
C) grids
D) steles

Question 6

The notched walls built as part of military defenses are called __________.

A) grids
B) registers
C) crenellations
D) ziggurats

Question 7

The Sumerians invented the first system of writing called ______________.

A) pictographs
B) hieroglyphics
C) cuneiform
D) inlay

Question 8

At Kalhu, low relief scenes of _______________ covered the walls.

A) war campaigns and lion hunts
B) abstract, geometric motifs
C) bulls and the god Marduk
D) judgments and punishments

Question 9

Inlaid images on the sound box of the Great Lyre with Bull's Head creates an intriguing relationship to _________.

A) the Epic of Gilgamesh
B) royal cemetery at Ur
C) marriage
D) military conquest

Question 10

Which of the following objects conveys both political and religious meaning?

A) Stele of Naram-Sin
B) Votive Statue of Gudea
C) Nanna Ziggurat
D) All of the above

Question 11

Which of the following was NOT a convention for representing figures in Sumerian art?

A) wide, staring eyes
B) stylized bodies and faces
C) emphasis on cubic forms
D) inlaid details of shell and stone

Question 12

At the top of the Anu ziggurat White Temple was ____________.

A) decorated with scenes of military victories
B) a living quarters for priests
C) filled with giant columns
D) a simple rectangle with an off-center doorway

Question 13

The uppermost scene of the Carved Vessel from Uruk may represent ____________ between the goddess and her consort.

A) the violation of her tempe precinct
B) a group burial
C) a reenactment of ritual marriage
D) the signing of a peace treaty

Question 14

In the Stele of Naram-Sin , what artistic device is used to signal Naram-Sin's importance and reinforce his divine right to rule?

A) Relative perspective
B) Hierarchic scale
C) Registers
D) Silhouetting

Question 15

Guardian figures, called lamassus, combined features from all of the following EXCEPT ____________.

A) a man
B) a god
C) an eagle
D) a horse

Question 16

Sumerians used hard, rock __________ for identifying documents and establishing property ownership.

A) stele stones
B) crenellated forms
C) cylinder seals
D) lamassus seals

Question 17

The Stele of Hammurabi is significant as both a work of ancient Mesopotamian art and as __________.

A) an example of Babylonian literature
B) a religious artifact recording Hebrew tradition
C) Danube a key to deciphering cuneiform texts
D) an historical document recording a written code of law

Question 18

By the end of the ninth century BCE, the __________ culture controlled most of Mesopotamia.

A) Assyrian
B) Persian
C) Hittite
D) Babylonian

Question 19

The Greeks called __________ the "land between the rivers."

A) Mesopotamia
B) Mesoaqua
C) Sumeria
D) Babylon

Question 20

Sumerian votive figures were dedicated to the __________.

A) people
B) king
C) gods
D) priests

Question 21

The __________of Hammurabi is made of basalt and stands almost seven feet tall.

A) Apadana
B) Stele
C) Ziggurat
D) Lamassu

Question 22

The incised design on a cylinder seal found in the tomb of Queen Paubi demonstrates the Sumerian's use of ___________.

A) narrative images
B) geometric patterns
C) elaborate personal monograms
D) cuneiform

Question 23

Gilgamesh was the legendary king of __________.

A) Babylon
B) Akkad
C) Uruk
D) Anu

Question 24

The first domestication of grains occurred in the area known as the __________.

A) Fertile Crescent
B) Hattusha
C) Zagros mountains
D) Persia

Question 25

The Sumerians were defeated by their northern neighbors called the __________.

A) Lullubians
B) Guti
C) Akkadians
D) Hittites

Question 26

______________ decorated the Hittite gates at Hattusha.

A) Bears
B) Lions
C) Horses
D) Elephants

Question 27

The Great Lyre with Bull's Head was found in a royal __________.

A) palace
B) tomb
C) gateway
D) crenellation

Question 28

The relief of Darius and Xerxes Receiving Tribute exemplifies Persian art's emphasis on _________.

A) the divinity of the king
B) military power
C) allegiance and economic prosperity
D) multicultural tolerance

Question 29

Sculptures of the leader Gudea emphasize ______________.

A) his power
B) the power centers of the body
C) his relationship to his queens
D) his law code

Question 30

The lion hunting scene of Assurnasirpal II marks a shift in Mesopotamian art from a sense of timelessness toward greater _________.

A) political content
B) emotional drama
C) historical accuracy
D) interest in individuals

Question 31

What original elements have been lost from the Warka Head ?

A) the painted marble body
B) a gold wig
C) inlaid emerald eyes
D) all of the above

Question 32

Stepped structures known as ziggurats may have developed from the practice of ___________________.

A) using prisoners as a work force
B) repeated rebuilding at sacred sites
C) establishing settlements on high land for safety
D) burying the dead in pyramids

Question 33

In the many votive statues commissioned by Gudea, he is represented as ____________________.

A) a strong and pious ruler
B) a powerful military leader
C) an idealized divine figure
D) a prosperous and generous businessman

Question 34

Known for his persecution of Jews, as recorded in the Hebrew Bible's Book of Daniel, Nebuchadnezzar II was responsible for transforming ______________into one of the most splendid cities of its day.

A) Ur
B) Persepolis
C) Babylon
D) Nineveh

Question 35

What subject was NOT depicted in the relief panels decorating Assurbanipal's palace at Nineveh?

A) scenes of court life
B) battle scenes
C) hunting scenes
D) scenes from the Epic of Gilgamesh

Question 36

The Ishtar Gate and the walls extended beyond were made from _____________.

A) semi-precious stones
B) glazed bricks
C) glass mosaic
D) paint

Question 37

_____________ were huge stepped structures surmounted by a shrine or temple.

A) Stele
B) Ziggurats
C) Apadanas
D) Citadels

Question 38

Along with shell and wood the materials ________ and ______ were used to sculpt the elaborate bull head on a lyre found at a royal tomb in Ur.

A) iron; gold
B) faience; turquoise
C) glazed brick; gold
D) gold; lapis lazuli

Question 39

Which of the following materials was NOT used in the Great Lyre with Bull's Head ?

A) alabaster
B) shell
C) lapis lazuli
D) wood

Question 40

To keep business records, the Sumerians pressed a __________ into clay tablets to produce cuneiform writing.

A) stylus
B) seal
C) picture stamp
D) chisel

Question 41

A beautiful copper alloy head, which is the earliest major work of hollow-cast sculpture known in the ancient Near East, dates from the time of __________.

A) Darius
B) Nebuchadnezzar
C) Ashurbanipal
D) Sargon

Question 42

Cylinder seals, which were often buried with the dead, were signs of ____________.

A) favor of the gods
B) belief in the afterlife
C) status or high office
D) penance

Question 43

The __________ may have been the first group of people to work in iron.

A) Persians
B) Hittites
C) Gudeans
D) Lullubians

Question 44

The ceremonial entrance to the city of Babylon was the __________ Gate.

A) Ishtar
B) Marduk
C) Anu
D) Naram-Sin

Question 45

________________ excavated Ur during the 1920s.

A) The Louvre
B) Sir Leonard Woolley
C) Baghdad diplomats
D) Susa

Question 46

The main figure depicted on the Disk of Enheduanna was the daughter of the Akkadian king ______________.

A) Assurnasirpal
B) Sargon I
C) Naram-Sin
D) Gudea

Question 47

Their tolerance of ___________ won the Persians the loyalty of their subjects.

A) internal uprisings
B) trade with the Greeks
C) native customs and religions
D) merchants

Question 48

The relief sculpture of Assurnasirpal II killing lions probably depicts a _____________.

A) detail of military campaign
B) ceremonial hunt
C) favorite past time of Assyrians
D) religious ritual

Question 49

Sumerian votive figures possess __________that reflect Mesopotamian devotional beliefs.

A) horned crowns
B) elaborate garments
C) large open eyes
D) muscular bodies

Question 50

The ruler, __________, conquered the Persian Empire in 334 BCE.

A) Sargon II
B) Xerxes
C) Alexander the Great
D) Gudea

Question 51

In the image of Enemies Crossing the Euphrates to Escape Assyrian Archers (p. 42), the __________________ convey depth.

A) trees
B) different viewpoints
C) presence of animals
D) overlapping and swimming

Question 52

Relief sculptures like Darius and Xerxes Receiving Tribute at Persepolis would have originally been _____________and included details in gold leaf.

A) glazed
B) sealed
C) inscribed with words
D) painted

Question 53

Demonstrating the importance of art objects as military booty, the ___________ was taken by an Elamite king.

A) Disk of Enheduanna
B) Stele of Naram-Sin
C) Votive Statue of Gudea
D) Stele of Hammurabi

Question 54

A Near East devotional practice was to set up __________ in a shrine before an image of a god.

A) votive figures
B) statues of rulers
C) war spoilia
D) musical instruments

Question 55

Most of the buildings in Kalhu were built from __________ and covered with limestone and alabaster.

A) cut marble
B) alabaster
C) bitumen
D) mud bricks

Question 56

In the Stele of Naram-Sin, the presence of trees suggests ________________.

A) a nature religion
B) movement out of the desert
C) a foreign land
D) an actual event

Question 57

On the Stele of Hammurabi, the ruler broke new ground by __________________.

A) his authoritarian rule
B) ill treatment of his enemies
C) regulating laws and punishments
D) portraying lion hunts

Question 58

The ____________, which Darius built at Persepolis, was large enough to hold several thousand people.

A) ziggurat
B) apadana
C) lamassu
D) stele

Question 59

In the Stele of Hammurabi, Hammurabi stands in a gesture of____________ before the seated god Shamash.

A) submission
B) defeat
C) prayer
D) victory

Question 60

Naram-Sin is represented ____________, equating male vigor with power and heroism.

A) with a well-formed body
B) wearing the costume of a pharaoh
C) with numerous deities
D) as a composite creature

Question 61

How did the agriculture change the face of culture in the Fertile Crescent?

Question 62

What is the subject of the register scenes of The Great Lyre with Bull's Head?

Question 63

What major cultural shift took place between 4000 BCE and 3000 BCE?

Question 64

What were some of the marvels of the city of Babylon?

Question 65

How was the ziggurat constructed and what purpose did it serve?

Question 66

What were the geographic boarders of the Hittite civilization?

Question 67

How was the imperial complex at Persepolis laid out and how did it develop?

Question 68

Why was Mesopotamia vulnerable to political upheaval?

Question 69

How is trade exemplified in The Great Lyre with Bull's Head?

Question 70

What were some of the significant features of the palace complex of Sargon II?

Question 71

How is Gudea generally portrayed and why is his face so familiar?

Question 72

What are some of the conventions of the Sumerian votive figure?

Question 73

What purposes did the large architectural complexes of Uruk serve?

Question 74

How did Assurnasirpal II improve his empire?

Question 75

What story does the Stele of Naram-Sin tell?

Question 76

What did the mutilations of the Head of a Man mean?

Question 77

What are some of the important "firsts" developed by the Sumerians?

Question 78

What types of arts flourished in early cities?

Question 79

In the ancient Near East, why was there a need to control the water supply of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers?

Question 80

How was the ancient Near Eastern city-state created?