1204 Glossarygerontocracy A form of social organization in which the
oldest men and women in a society are expected to guide
and lead the community because of their wisdom.
gerousia A council of elders in Sparta, made up of 28 prom-
inent citizens over the age of 60.
ghee Clarifi ed butter, created by boiling unsalted butter
and drawing off excess water; used as lamp fuel in an-
cient India.
glacial maximum Th e time of maximum extent of ice
sheets during an ice age.
glacier A river of ice fl owing slowly downhill.
gladiator A slave who fought as a professional soldier in
combats staged for entertainment.
glaze A glasslike coating that seals the surface of a ceramic
object and decorates it.
glyph A symbol, such as a hieroglyph, carved into stone.
gnomon “Indicator,” the vertical bar that casts the shadow
of the sun on the face of a sundial.
gorget An ornamental collar or throat covering.
gourd Dried and hollowed out shell of a fruit from the
squash or pumpkin family that is converted into a vessel.
graft ing Th e practice of attaching the stalk of one plant
to the root stock of another to provide strong roots to a
plant that would naturally have weak roots.
grammaticus In ancient Rome, a public secondary-school
teacher.
grammatistēs A teacher of reading, writing, arithmetic,
and poetry in ancient Greece.
granary A storehouse for harvested crops.
granulation A method of decorating metal with patterns
made up of small balls of the same metal, usually gold.
gravitas A dignifi ed bearing, one of the Roman virtues.
greave Armor that protects the legs below the knees.
griot In ancient Africa, an oral historian who recounted
cultural tradition through song.
groin vault A ceiling formed by the intersection of two bar-
rel vaults, which are in turn supported by piers that are
either freestanding or set into a wall.
groma A device that allowed Roman builders to ensure that
vertical elements, such as columns and piers, were set at
right angles to the horizontal.
grotto A cave enclosing a body of water.
guano Bat dung; used as fertilizer.
gur In the ancient Near East, a measure of the value of
an item that was approximately equal to 43 gallons of
barley.
guru A teacher in the Hindu tradition, seen as a god in hu-
man form and as the sole source of knowledge for his
students.
gurukula A school in the Hindu tradition.
gymnasium An area devoted to intellectual and athletic
pursuits.
gymnastics In ancient Greece, any athletic training.
gynaikeion Living quarters for women in ancient Greek
homes.haft Th e handle of a knife, an ax, or another weapon or tool.
halberd A battle-ax mounted on a long handle.
handfasting Engagement to marry.
hangul Th e system instituted in 1446 to write Korean pho-
netically; originally used along with Chinese characters
but now generally used exclusively.
haniwa Small ceramic fi gures, usually depicting people,
made by the ancient Japanese to surround tombs, pro-
tecting the tombs from evil spirits.
harmika A fi nial, or ornamental projection from the top of
a wall or column, found in the architecture of India.
harpy eagle A large bird of prey native to Central and South
America.
haruspex (pl. haruspices) Literally, “men who look at guts”:
Roman diviners who read the will of the gods by examin-
ing the entrails of sacrifi ced animals.
heddle A rod on a loom used to guide threads.
heliacal rise Th e fi rst appearance of a star near the east-
ern horizon just preceding sunrise, following a period of
nighttime invisibility due to proximity to the sun.
heliocentric Having the sun at the center of the solar sys-
tem, orbited by Earth and other planets.
Hellenization Th e process of “becoming Greek.”
helot In ancient Greece, a slave of the Spartans.
hemp A tall herb with tough fi bers used to make durable
cloth and ropes.
hen In ancient Egypt, the measure of a volume equal to half
a quart or less, with a value that could vary according
to the substance or liquid to be measured; generally re-
garded as equal in value to one deben.
henotheism Th e worship of a single most important deity
without denying the existence of others.
hep Egyptian term for law, abstract moral order, normative
custom, and every kind of rule, either natural or juridi-
cal, general or specifi c, public or private, literary or oral.
herm A statuette of the god Hermes, usually placed at house
gates or as a marker on roads.
hero In ancient Greece, a great mythical or legendary hu-
man being who was usually considered the off spring of a
god and a mortal and whose spirit was worshipped much
like a god.
hestia A Greek cooking stove.
hetairai (or hetaerae) In ancient Greece, courtesans, of-
ten valued for wit and education as well as beauty; these
women occupied a social space between that of a prosti-
tute and a mistress.
hexameter A poetic meter that has six feet per line.
hierarchical society A society characterized by multiple
levels of authority and status.
hieratic Sacred; associated with priests; also a cursive form
of Egyptian hieroglyphs used for all domestic texts and
records.
hieroglyph Th e Greek word for “sacred carving,” describ-
ing the Egyptian writing system, which consisted of pic-
torial signs, used phonetically and pictorially.1195-1234_SocCultAnctWrld-v4_bm.1204 1204 10/10/07 3:30:37 PM