WHAT IS THE NEO-ASSYRIAN ?

Neo-Assyrian: a political period of the Assyrian Empire in the Iron Age, an extension of the Middle Assyrian. It lasted from Assurnasirpal II (883–859 bc) until Sargon, Sennacherib, Esarhaddon, and finally Assurbanipal (668–627 bc). The Assyrian Empire was destroyed by the Babylonians and Medes in 612 bc. The Neo-Assyrian period was the great era of Assyrian power, and writings culminated in the extensive records from the library of Ashurbanipal at Nineveh (c. 650 bc). Neo-Assyrian is also the name of the cuneiform script of the time.

 

WHAT IS THE MATT-PAINTED POTTERY?

Middle Helladic pottery with simple decoration in manganese-based purple-black paint on a pale ground. Matt-painted pottery has been found in the nearer islands to mainland Greece and even as far as Crete and the Anatolian coast.

WHAT IS THE IRON AGE?

Period during which iron was utilized by early man, beginning about 3000 years ago, following the Stone Age and Bronze Age in the Three Age System. In this period, tools, implements, and weapons were first made of iron. Iron had many advantages over bronze, so its spread was rapid. The Iron Age began at different times in different parts of the world according to the availability of iron ore and the state of knowledge. In Europe, the earliest iron appears around 1100 bc. The traditional timing of the transition from bronze to iron is placed in the early 1st millennium bc. The age began about 1500 bc in the Middle East, about 900 bc in southern Europe, and after 400 bc in northern Europe. In most of Asia, the Iron Age falls entirely within the historic period. In America, iron was introduced by the arrival of Europeans; in Africa, it began before the earlier metal ages. The southern African Iron Age is divided into the Early Iron Age, ad 200–1000, and the Late Iron Age, ad 1000 until the 19th century. The term is general and arbitrary. There is evidence that meteorites were used as a source of iron before 3000 bc, but extraction of the metal from ore dates from about 2000 bc.

WHAT IS THE HANGING BOWL?

Thin bronze, shallow bowls found in Anglo Saxon graves up until the 7th century, an important part of a Celtic metalworking tradition which has its origins in the Roman and pre Roman Iron Age. They have three equally spaced suspension rings, fixed to the bowl by escutcheons usually decorated with colored enamel and millefiori.

WHAT IS THE CORACLE ?

CORACLE: Primitive, light, small bowl-shaped boat with a wattle frame of grasses, reeds, or saplings covered with hides. They were first known in the Iron Age and are still used in Wales and along coastal Ireland, usually with a canvas and tar covering. The term also refers to an Old English boat of wickerwork covered with hides. Native Americans used the similar bullboat, covered with buffalo hides, on the Missouri River, and the corita, often sealed with bitumen, on the Colorado.

WHAT IS THE ANVIL ?

ANVIL: A block, usually of iron, upon which objects are shaped and hammered, e.g., in smithing.

Old German Style Anvil