WHAT IS THE DIADEM?

DIAMDEM: A plain or decorated headband or crown of manmade or natural materials, usually as a badge of status or office.

WHAT IS THE CYLINDER SEAL ?

CYLINDER SEAL: A cylinder engraved with a design, scene, and/or inscription which was impressed onto the plastic clay when the cylinder seal was rolled over a clay tablet. This was the standard seal form of the Mesopotamian civilization, starting in the Uruk period. The incised stone cylinder was rolled over a soft surface so that the design appeared in relief. These seals were used to mark property and to legalize documents. Dating is based on changes in the design carved on the seal as well as the seal’s size and proportion.

WHAT IS THE CRAMBECK WARE ?

CRAMBECK WARE: A type of pottery that was widely distributed across the north of England and North Wales in the second half of the 4th century ad, including cream-colored mortaria and parchment wares, imitation Samian forms, and gray kitchen wares.

WHAT IS THE CORN MUMMY ?

CORN MUMMY: A type of anthropomorphic funerary object made of soil mixed with grains of corn, which was usually wrapped up in linen bandages and had a face mask.

WHAT IS THE CORDENED URN ?

CORDENED URN: A type of Middle Bronze Age pottery in the northern parts of the British Isles during the 2nd millennium bc, generally tall straightsided vessels with a flat base, slightly flaring body and a simple rim. The outer face is decorated with applied cordons ornamented with incised decoration.

WHAT IS THE CONE MOSAIC ?

CONE MOSAIC: A type of wall decoration used in the Uruk (VI–IV) and Jemdet Nasr periods of southern Mesopotamia. Stone or baked clay cones were stuck into the surface of building facades to produce a colored mosaic geometric pattern. Examples have been found in the Eanna section of Warka.

WHAT IS THE COMB ?

COMB: A toothed object of wood, bone, horn, metal, etc. with a number of uses – for hair dressing, carding wool, currying horses, compacting the weft in weaving, for decorating pottery, or as an ornament to keep the hair in place. As used for combing the hair, but not wearing, combs were found in Pompeian and Egyptian tombs and in early British, Roman, and Saxon barrows.

WHAT IS THE COLOSSUS ?

The colossus of Rameses II

COLOSSUS: A gigantic statue or image of the human form, usually of a king but also of private individuals and gods. They are typically set up outside the gates or pylons of temples. The term was originally applied by Herodotus to those of Egypt. The most famous is the bronze statue of Apollo at Rhodes, one of the seven wonders of the world, reputed to have stood at the entrance to the harbor and claimed by Pliny to have been 27 m (90 feet) tall. [colossi, colossuses (pl.)]

WHAT IS THE CLAY TABLET ?

CLAY TABLET: The main writing material used by the scribes of early civilizations. Signs were impressed or inscribed on the soft clay, which was then dried in the sun. The ancient Sumerians, Babylonians, Assyrians, and Hittites wrote on tablets made from water-cleaned clay. A common form was a thin quadrilateral tile about 12.5 cm (5 inches) long which, while still wet, was inscribed by a stylus with cuneiform characters. By writing on the surface in small characters, a scribe could copy a substantial text on to a single tablet. For longer texts, several tablets were used and then linked by numbers or catchwords. Book production on clay tablets probably continued for 2000 years in Mesopotamia and Asia Minor. Either dried in the sun or baked in a kiln, clay tablets were almost indestructible. The latter process was used for texts of special value, legal codes, royal annals, and epics to ensure greater preservation. Buried for thousands of years in the mounds of forgotten cities, they have been removed intact or almost so in modern archaeological excavations. The number of clay tablets recovered is nearly half a million, but there are constantly new finds.

WHAT IS THE CERAMIC ANALYSIS ?

CERAMIC ANALYSIS: any of various techniques used to study artifacts made from fired clay to obtain archaeological data. Color is objectively described by reference to the Munsell soil color charts. Examination under the microscope may reveal the technique of manufacture and allow the identification of mineral grains in the tempering, which will identify the area of manufacture. Refiring experiments often show how the original baking was done.

WHAT IS THE CARTOUCHE ?

CARTOUCHE: name given to the oval or oblong figures in Egyptian hieroglyphics that enclosed characters representing royal or divine names or titles. The term is also used for the amulets of similar design worn in ancient Egypt as a protection against the loss of one’s name (i.e., one’s identity). In architecture, the term refers to the ornamentation in scroll form, applied especially to elaborate frames around tablets or coats of arms. By extension, the word is applied to any oval shape or even to a decorative shield, whether scrolled or not. Detailed examples of cartouches show that the sign represents a length of knotted rope, looped so that it is never-ending; it thus symbolizes cyclical return. The French word cartouche, meaning “gun cartridge,” was originally given to the royal frame by Napoleon’s soldiers, because of its cartridge-like shape. [shenu]

WHAT IS THE CARTONNAGE ?

CARTONNAGE: An Egyptian mummy case made of layers of papyrus or linen soaked in gesso plaster and shaped around an embalmed body, much like papier mâché, and then decorated with paint or gilding when dry. The term also refers to the material thus used and for mummy masks, anthropoid coffins, and other funerary items made in the same manner. [cartonage]

WHAT IS THE CART ?

CART: A two-wheeled vehicle drawn by a draft animal, used throughout recorded history for the transportation of goods and people. The cart, usually drawn by a single animal, was used by the Greeks and the Assyrians by 1800 bc. However, such vehicles could have been used as early as 3500 bc as an extension of the invention of the wheel. Bronze Age finds in Heathery Burn included four nave-bands for a four-wheeled cart. La Tène two-wheeled chariots are found                                                                                           from the 3rd century bc.

WHAT IS THE CARINATION ?

CARINATION: A sharp break or angle in the curve of the profile of a container or vessel, which resulted in a projecting angle or arris. On ancient jars or pots, it appeared as a sharply angled shoulder dividing the neck from the body of the vessel. It has been considered to be a purely stylistic feature derived from metal prototypes, but it may also be that carinations may have had a practical function – for example, for retaining dregs from a liquid while pouring.

WHAT IS THE CANOPİC JAR ?

CANOPİC JAR: An ancient Egyptian funerary ritual in which four covered vessels of wood, stone, pottery, or faience were used to hold the organs removed during mummification. The embalmed liver, lungs, stomach, and intestines were placed in separate canopic jars. The jars or urns were then placed beside the mummy in the tomb, to be reunited in spirit, subject to the appropriate spells and rituals having been performed. The earliest canopic jars came into use during the Old Kingdom (c. 2575–2130 bc) and had plain lids. During the Middle Kingdom (c. 1938–1600 bc) the jars were decorated with sculpted human heads, probably depicting the deceased. Then, from the 19th dynasty until the end of the New Kingdom (1539–1075 bc), the heads represented the four sons of the god Horus (Duamutef, Qebehsenuf, Imset, Hapy). In the 20th dynasty (1190–1075 bc) the practice began

of returning the embalmed viscera to the body. The term appears to refer to a Greek demigod, Canopus, venerated in the form of a jar with a human head. [canopea, canopic vase, canopic vessel]

WHAT IS THE BULLA ?

BULLA: a hollow lump of clay made as an Etruscan ornamental pendant or in the Near East as a container for tokens representing goods traded. A bulla was round or oval and often was decorated with filigree or granulation decorating on the edges or seal impressions. There was a removable loop from which the pendant was hung, which may also have acted as a stopper for the bulla if it contained a liquid, such as perfume. [bullae (pl.)]

WHAT IS THE BUCKED URN ?

BUCKED URN: Type of large Middle Bronze Age pot of the Deverel- Rimbury ceramic tradition of southern Britain c. 1500 bc through to 1200 bc. Bucket urns are plain with some applied cordons, have straight slightly sloping sides, wider at the top than the bottom. They were used on domestic sites for storage and cremations.

WHAT IS THE BLOCK STATUE ?

BLOCK STATUE: A type of sculpture introduced in the Middle Kingdom (2055–1650 bc), that represents the subject squatting on the ground with knees drawn up close to the body, under the chin. The arms and legs may be wholly contained within the simple cubic form, with the hands and feet protruding discretely. The 12th dynasty block statue of Sihathor in the British Museum is the earliest dated example. The block statue of Queen Hetepheres, in the Egyptian Museum at Cairo, is also one of the earliest examples of this type.

WHAT IS THE BLACK BURNISHED WARE ?

BLACK BURNISHED WARE: Culinary vessel forms made in two different fabrics and widely imitated. One was black, gritty, and handmade from c. ad 120 to the late 4th century ad. A second was more gray and finer, with a silvery finish, and wheel-thrown in the Thames Estuary area c. ad 140 to the mid 3rd century ad. [black burnished ware]

WHAT IS THE BICONICAL URN ?

BICONICAL URN: Style of Early Bronze Age pot of northwestern Europe with a deep, largely plain, outwardly flared body. Above that is a sharp carination, decorated and sometimes with an applied cordon, and an inwardly angled neck with impressed cord designs. The rim is typically beveled and lightly ornamented.