Deck 14: Early African Art

Question 1

What was the function of textiles in Kongo culture?

A) They were signs of wealth and status.
B) They were used in funerary rituals.
C) They were exchanged as currency.
D) All of the above.

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Which of the following was NOT a key function of art in sub-Saharan Africa?

A) It provided a physical form for spirits in the afterlife.
B) It was used for domestic decoration and personal adornment.
C) It demonstrated wealth, status and power.
D) It commemorated and memorialized individual rulers.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

What has hindered our knowledge of ancient African artistic traditions?

A) Art objects were not made using durable materials.
B) Most wooden art objects no longer exist.
C) Contemporary artistic traditions are dramatically different from those of the past.
D) Environmental conditions have destroyed African rock art.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

How did the city planning of Ife reflect the oni's importance to the culture?

A) A central avenue led from the city gate's to the oni's palace.
B) Paved courtyards with central altars to the oni were located throughout the city.
C) The oni's palace was at the center of a circular plan, ringed by stone walls and moats.
D) All of the above.

Question 5

Which of the following is a reason for art history's biased belief that African art was "primitive?"

A) the absence of a written history
B) the tendency to view Africa as a single country
C) the lack of any major cities
D) individual artists were not identified

Question 6

Why do memorial sculptures of the oba represent only the ruler's head?

A) The brass head would have originally been attached to a wooden body.
B) The head is the symbolic center of a person's wisdom and ability to communicate with spiritual forces.
C) The facial features give the most accurate representation of the ruler's actual appearance.
D) Lost-wax casting could not be used for full figures.

Question 7

Why is the art of Benin considered "royal art"?

A) All artistic subject matter relates to the oba, his family, and court life.
B) Only the oba could commission works in brass.
C) Only members of the most elite class could become artists.
D) All of the above.

Question 8

A clear symbol of the oba's power and authority seen on memorial heads are the headdress and necklaces made of ________ beads.

A) coral
B) jade
C) ivory
D) gold

Question 9

What elements of Kongolese Crucifix are more in keeping with an African aesthetic than European traditions?

A) the features of Christ, including his hands and feet
B) the clasped hands of the surrounding smaller figures
C) the placement of supporting figures above and beside Christ
D) all of the above

Question 10

What architectural characteristic gives Great Zimbabwe its name?

A) the use of stone as a building material
B) the ornamental stonework on buildings
C) the technique of building without mortar
D) distinctive conical thatch roofs

Question 11

Which of the following features is NOT characteristic of West African mosques?

A) adobe brick
B) battered walls that slope inward toward the top
C) projecting wooden beams called torons
D) tall, narrow, engaged columns that act as buttresses

Question 12

The numerous rock-cut sanctuaries at Lalibela in Ethiopia is evidence of the popularity of ___________in the thirteenth century.

A) Buddhism
B) Hinduism
C) Judaism
D) Christianity

Question 13

What characteristic feature appears in Nok sculptures of human figures and animals?

A) scarification
B) triangular D-shaped eyes
C) brightly painted costumes
D) eyes inlaid with glass and shell

Question 14

The technical skills of the Nok culture in western Sudan are demonstrated by their use of _______to make the earliest known sculpture in sub-Saharan Africa.

A) bronze
B) terra-cotta
C) glass
D) ivory

Question 15

Which of the following is characteristic of the unique style of Igbo-Ukwu?

A) imported beads used to create an elaborate necklace
B) the use of elephants and leopards to show spiritual leadership
C) cast bronze gourds whose outer surface is covered with raised and banded decoration
D) all of the above

Question 16

Which objects were created specifically for trade with the Portuguese?

A) textiles from Kongo
B) brass plaques from Benin
C) ivory horns for Sierra Leone
D) none of the above

Question 17

Evidence of the geological changes in the Saharan region of Africa is found in vivid images of _____________seen in rock art from around 8000 BCE.

A) figures dancing
B) primitive masks associated with rituals to ensure rainfall
C) round thatched houses
D) hippopotamus, elephant, and other wildlife

Question 18

How did the burial chamber at Igbo-Ukwu reflect the power and authority of the deceased?

A) The individual was dressed elaborately, placed in a seated position, and surrounded by symbolic objects.
B) The individual was surrounded by bronze heads, probably depicting his ancestors.
C) The individual was in a gold sarcophagus.
D) The chamber was filled with ritual objects that ensured his comfort in the afterlife.

Question 19

The practice in Benin to make memorial sculptures for the shrines of royal ancestors derives from similar traditions in ____________.

A) Nok culture
B) Ife
C) Portugal
D) Great Zimbabwe

Question 20

Similar to masks and sculptures made in the twentieth century, the Zoomorphic Head discovered in Angola is significant because ________________.

A) it is the oldest representational sculpture from central Africa
B) of its unusual surface patterning and decoration
C) it is the oldest woodcarving from central Africa
D) it demonstrates the technical skills of Kongo culture

Question 21

When Koi Konboro, the 26?? king of Jenné converted to Islam, he transformed _____________ into a mosque.

A) the city's existing ceremonial complex
B) his palace
C) a block of volcanic tuff
D) a marketplace

Question 22

The earliest evidence for our human existence comes from __________.

A) southern Africa
B) northern Africa
C) western Africa
D) eastern Africa

Question 23

In what city did artisans act as servants of the court and were also organized into guilds, living in a separate part of the city?

A) Ife
B) Great Zimbabwe
C) Aksum
D) Benin

Question 24

The most naturalistic heads with only a few strands of beads around the neck were created during the so-called _____________ Period.

A) Modern
B) Middle
C) Late
D) Early

Question 25

Found often at Igbo-Ukwu, what is the term for the objects which were created in a different material from the original but made to resemble the original in form, shape, and texture?

A) skeuomorph
B) polymorph
C) automorph
D) metamorph

Question 26

The Conical Tower built at the palace complex of Imba Huru in Great Zimbabwe resembled a granary, probably a reference to the good harvest and prosperity believed to result from ___________________.

A) the benevolence of the gods
B) allegiance to the ruler
C) the collective work of the community
D) agricultural rituals performed at the site

Question 27

Many symbols in the art of Benin reflect the belief that the oba ________.

A) is a god
B) can mediate between the human and spirit worlds
C) is a great warrior
D) emerged from the sea

Question 28

Some of the most significant goods exchanged through urban center included __________ from the north and __________ from West Africa.

A) salt; textiles
B) salt; gold
C) salt; diamonds
D) salt; copper

Question 29

Heads from the __________ Period were very large and heavy, with angular, stylized features and an elaborate beaded crown.

A) Modern
B) Middle
C) Late
D) Early

Question 30

The earliest known evidence for copper alloy or bronze casting in sub-Saharan Africa is found at ______________.

A) Jenné
B) Igbo Ukwu
C) Ethiopia
D) Lalibela

Question 31

The earliest images of Saharan rock art are thought to date from at least __________ BCE.

A) 7000
B) 10000
C) 8000
D) 6000

Question 32

What was the function of the monolithic stelae erected at the Ethiopian site of Aksum?

A) They marked an area used for celestial observation and agricultural ritual.
B) They were political propaganda meant to remind the people of the rulers' good deeds.
C) They documented Aksumite history through carved narrative reliefs.
D) They served as commemorative markers among tombs and burial sites of the elite.

Question 33

Which of the following was NOT a characteristic of the hundreds of small sculptures found at the site of Old Jenné?

A) the use of terra-cotta
B) polished surfaces covered in red clay slip
C) composite figures combining human and animal forms
D) carved, engraved and painted surface decorations

Question 34

Which culture produced artwork recording the daily lives of ordinary people?

A) Saharan rock artists
B) Nok
C) Old Jenné
D) Aksumite

Question 35

What was the original function of almost 900 brass plaques, depicting a variety of subjects, which were made in Benin during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries?

A) They were placed at ritual altars.
B) They decorated the tombs of obas
C) They were traded with the Portuguese.
D) They decorated the royal palace in Benin.

Question 36

Old Jenné excavations have led to the discovery of hundred of polished, low-fire terra-cotta figures. In what country can Old Jenné be found?

A) Mali
B) Zimbabwe
C) Nigeria
D) Kongo

Question 37

The extraordinary artisans of the Yoruba peoples modeled flesh with what thin, parallel patterns?

A) acidification
B) scarification
C) rectification
D) justification

Question 38

The first mosque of Jenné is made out of __________, a sun-dried mixture of clay and straw.

A) adobe brick
B) wood
C) metal
D) grass

Question 39

In Benin, ___________ is the ultimate symbol of the oba's power and authority.

A) gold
B) diamonds
C) coral
D) granite

Question 40

The elaborate pavement mosaics covering much of Ife's open spaces gave us the name for the artistic time known as the __________ period.

A) Ceramic
B) Pavement
C) Roadway
D) Asphalt

Question 41

Focusing on the civilizations discussed in this chapter, explain how sub-Saharan art demonstrates an integral connection between a culture's rulers and religious beliefs.

Question 42

What were some of the urban centers of ancient Africa, besides Ife and Benin?

Question 43

Why is the study of ancient African art so different?

Question 44

What are some examples of traditions of naturalistic sculpture produced in the city of Ife?

Question 45

What were some of the locations where the terra-cotta heads of Ife were found?

Question 46

What are specific characteristics of Nok sculpture as seen in the Head in ?

Question 47

What was unique about the site of Igbo-Ukwu?

Question 48

How might a person of Igbo-Ukwu be buried as exemplified in ?

Question 49

How was the ancient city of Ife configured?

Question 50

What role did textiles play in the Kongo kingdom?

Question 51

Why was ancient Africa so alluring to different cultures?

Question 52

How are the buildings of Great Zimbabwe constructed, and why do we believe that they were NOT fortresses?

Question 53

Rock art is found throughout the African continent; discuss the scenes depicted on the examples of African rock art.

Question 54

What three items constitute a "primitive" people?

Question 55

What is the extensive iconography of the Hip Pendant in (14-9)?

Question 56

How did Benin rise, fall, and then rise again?

Question 57

What is the term for horns exported to Europe and created by carvers from Sierra Leone (Sapi in Portuguese)?

A) bullhorns
B) vuvuzelas
C) oliphants
D) trumpets

Question 58

Discuss how trade with other cultures impacted the art of sub-Saharan Africa in ancient times.

Question 59

What are the hypothesized meanings of the rock paintings of the Sahara?