Humanities 115 - World Mythology » Winter 2024 » Test 1

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Question #1
Taoism is the believe system of ancient China, which was different from many others in the world because it was:
A.   amoral
B.   monotheistic
C.   atheistic
D.   polytheistic
Question #2
After becoming friends with the king, Enkidu feels useless. Gilgamesh proposes they undertake a journey to kill Humbaba, a monster who lives in the:
A.   Tigris river
B.   Cedar forest
C.   Underworld
D.   Ziggurat
Question #3
There was a historical King Gilgamesh, who ruled Uruk between 2,700 and 2,500 BCE. This is verified by two sources: his name stamped on bricks, and carved on the:
A.   Sumerian King's List
B.   Code of Hammurabi
C.   Rosetta Stone
D.   Behistun Inscription
Question #4
In Babylonian mythology, Marduk was the grandson of Tiamat and rallied the gods to rebel against her. When they had defeated Tiamat, Marduk tore her body in half and used it to create:
A.   dry land and sky
B.   sun and moon
C.   sweet water and salt water
D.   night and day
Question #5
Gilgamesh finds a plant that gives eternal youth, which is stolen by a snake. He knows the snake will be young forever because: the snake:
A.   sheds its skin
B.   avoids his attempt to kill it
C.   lives in water
D.   can suddenly talk
Question #6
Humans created written language as symbols that represented ideas. Some of the earliest writing was rules that everyone agreed to live by, known as:
A.   Civil law
B.   Hammurabi's Code
C.   Cuneiform
D.   Moral law
Question #7
In Egyptian mythology Nut, goddess of the sky, is the Mother Goddess. Her husband Re, and her lovers Geb and Thoth, all impregnate her. She gives birth to the gods:
A.   during the yearly flood
B.   under a new moon
C.   all at once, over five days
D.   during a solar eclipse
Question #8
At its greatest, the Babylonian Empire ruled all of the region fed by the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and the surrounding areas with enough groundwater to sustain herds of animals. That region of the Middle East is called:
A.   the Nile Valley
B.   the Assyrian Empire
C.   Persia
D.   the Fertile Crescent
Question #9
After he defeats Tiamat, Marduk and the other gods create the magnificent palace of Babylon before creating human beings. In Babylonian mythology, the purpose of humans is to:
A.   sing the praises of heroes
B.   create temples and homes
C.   serve the gods at ease
D.   cultivate food for the gods
Question #10
One of the first people Gilgamesh meets after passing under Mount Mashu advises him to seek Urshanbi the boatman. That person is:
A.   the god Adad
B.   Siduri, the winemaker
C.   Marduk, hero of Babylonia
D.   the goddess Ishtar
Question #11
The first cities were built near rivers which provided water for agriculture. The earliest was Mesopotamia, on the Tigris and Euphrates. The name “Mesopotamia” is Greek, meaning:
A.   Between rivers
B.   Mother water
C.   First civilization
D.   Mother goddess
Question #12
Gilgamesh undertakes a quest to find immortality. He travels to Mount Mashu, where he finds the entrance to another world guarded by:
A.   A dragon
B.   The goddess Ishtar
C.   Siduri, the alewife
D.   Scorpion men
Question #13
The Pharaohs of Egypt were considered gods on earth. In order to make themselves visually distinct from other people, the Pharaohs:
A.   had multiple wives
B.   wore long, tube-like beards
C.   tattooed their skin
D.   shaved the hair from their bodies
Question #14
While the civilizations of Egypt and Mesopotamia worshipped many gods, the Abrahamic faiths worshipped only one god. The belief in a single god is called:
A.   Monotheism
B.   Monolithic
C.   Humanistic
D.   Deism
Question #15
Ancient religions recognized many gods, and made stories about them to explain natural phenomenon. A list of gods in an ancient culture is called a:
A.   Polytheism
B.   Pantheon
C.   Theology
D.   Mythology
Question #16
Before the arrival of Enkidu into the city, Gilgamesh has two dreams. In one, a star falls at his feet and in the other he discovers a strangely shaped axe. These dreams are interpreted as omens of Enkidu by:
A.   Lugalbanda, his father
B.   Tiresias, the prophet
C.   Enkidu himself
D.   Ninsun, his mother
Question #17
At the beginning of his epic, Gilgamesh is not a wise ruler. He separates sons from their mothers and sleeps with other men's wives. He also does as he pleases with the:
A.   tocsin, an alarm bell
B.   Sumerian king's list
C.   annual tax
D.   scared altar
Question #18
Egypt is a civilization based on the Nile River, which flooded each year at the same time, with the same amount of water. This regularity led to the belief that death was not an end, but another phase of life. This idea was supported by the fact that the desert:
A.   naturally mummified bodies
B.   seemed endless
C.   had heavenly oases
D.   included deadly creatures
Question #19
The Egyptians created documents on papyrus, which is paper made from river reeds. One of the most important documents included hymns, prayers and instructions for the afterlife. It is called:
A.   Book of the Dead
B.   Cuneiform
C.   Hieroglyphics
D.   Rosetta Stone
Question #20
Angry with Gilgamesh, the goddess Ishtar asks her father Anu for permission to use a terrible creature against him. He agrees after she tells him that the people of Uruk have enough grain stored for seven years. That terrible creature was: 
A.   the Scorpion Man
B.   a falling star
C.   the Bull of Heaven
D.   the Cyclops
Question #21
A visual art is a work intended primarily for the sense of sight. Other artworks are created before an audience and have duration. These are called
A.   theatre
B.   oral tradition
C.   ritual
D.   performing arts
Question #22
One of the visual arts is painting, in which the artist creates form using pigment and surface. Frequently there must be a third substance, like the oil in oil paint. That third substance is called:
A.   support
B.   turpentine
C.   bindery
D.   gesso
Question #23
Philosophy is the search for truth through the process of reason. People also accept some things as true without reason, which is called:
A.   faith or belief
B.   history
C.   religion
D.   theology
Question #24
Sin-Leqi-Unimmi, a Babylonian priest, compiled disconnected stories of Gilgamesh into a single epic sometime between 1,600 and 1,000 BCE. This corresponds with documents written by another culture, which eventually became:
A.   Greek mythology
B.   The library of Nineveh
C.   The Koran
D.   The Old Testament
Question #25
Civilization is a state of human existence in which people live together for mutual benefit. One civilization began in ancient Greece, was copied and improved by ancient Rome, and is the foundation of our own civilization. It is called:
A.   Human civilization
B.   Middle Eastern civilization
C.   Western civilization
D.   Greek civilization

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