First Steps to European History Quiz

Answer: Euphrates

Uruk was a Sumerian city, near the Euphrates river in the present country of Iraq. Originally the city was on the southwestern bank of the Euphrates, but this old river branch dried up and a new branch of the Euphrates flows along the opposite side of the remains of the city of Uruk.
It was founded around or before 4000 BCE and grew to probably the most populated city in the world around 3200 BCE, with over 40,000 inhabitants in the city centre. A surplus of agricultural produce encouraged trade, and it may be the first writing evolved in Uruk.
The oldest named cities and towns on the other rivers were founded much later. Moorundie on the Murray river in Australia was founded in 1841 CE, while Natchez, Mississippi dates back to 1716 CE. And on the Amazon river historians discovered remains of the towns Cotoca and Landivar, that existed during the period 500 CE - 1400 CE.

Answer: Pharaoh

Along the river Nile, the Egyptian civilization developed in two regions: upper Egypt (near the mouth of the Nile) and lower Egypt (more to the south). Around 3100 BCE, these two separate regions were for the first time united by a king named Menes (or Narmer). Much later all Kings of ancient Egypt were indicated by the title "Pharaoh", which translates to "Great House".
Interesting Pharaohs include Menes, the first to unite Egypt; Khufu, whose great pyramid is one of the ancient world wonders; Pepi II, who may have ruled for 94 years; Ramesses II, who erected the most monuments; and Cleopatra VII, the last Queen of Egypt before it became a Roman province.
While the Pharaoh was the absolute ruler of Egypt, the vizier was his (or her) second in command, head of the administration and of the treasury. One of the best known Egyptian viziers was Imhotep, vizier to the Pharaoh Djoser and credited with architectural and medical discoveries.
The scribes were the civil servants. They were highly educated.
The nomarchs were local rulers, comparable to the provincial governors in many later countries. At one time Egypt was divided into 42 nomes (provinces), each with their own nomarch.

Answer: Pakistan

Harappa, Mohenjo-Daro and some other cities in Pakistan were important cities in the Indus Valley in present-day Pakistan. These cities were built between 3000 BCE and 2500 BCE. Mohenjo-Daro was a large city planned in a modern style, with streets laid out as a large grid of rectangular blocks. It held (among other amazing buildings) a large public bath, a storage hall perhaps for grain, and (for its time) advanced sewers.
For some reason that is not clear, the cities of the Indus Valley civilization were abandoned around 1900 BCE and almost forgotten. Excavations started only more than 3500 years later.
Neither Greenland nor Argentina nor South-Africa have cities dating back to the time indicated. The Spanish founded Santiago del Estero in Argentina in 1553. Cape Town in South Africa was founded in 1652 CE. And the oldest settlement in Greenland that still is inhabited, is Sermersooq, founded in 1728 CE.

Answer: Hittites

The first King of the Hittites of whom we are sure, was Hattusili - later named Hattusili I. He would have succeeded a certain Labarna, but there is not enough evidence Labarna did exist. The last King of the Hittites was Suppililuliuma II. Other notable Kings were Muwatalli II, who fought the Egyptians at Kadesh in 1274 BCE, and Hattusili III who signed the peace treaty with the Egyptians a few years later.
The Olmec lived in Mexico and did not use wheels. The Jomon culture was in Japan, where wheels could not be put to great use. The Maori lived (and still live) in New Zealand.

Answer: Crete

Crete, the largest island in Greece, was indeed the cradle of the Minoan culture. There were several palaces on Crete, of which Knossos is the best known. The place of Knossos is a very large building, with many hallways that don't always lead in the expected direction - which gave the impression of a giant maze or labyrinth.
Legend has it that in the mid of this labyrinth lived a creature half-man, half-bull, who was fed young Athenian children. This so-called Minotaur was defeated by the Athenian hero Theseus.
Several paintings illustrate that the Minoan youth was keen on sporting events such as jumping over oversized bulls.
Crete was a quite fertile place, and the Minoans were eager to trade their agricultural surplus with other people. Around 1500 BCE, Crete prospered.

Answer: Druids

The Celts were a group of people with related languages, inhabiting large parts of Europe during the time period 1200 BCE - 500 BCE and even later. The people they trusted as mediators with the various deities, were called druids. Druids did not only perform religious ceremonies, but they were also judges and bards, who retold their folklore. As far as we know, they have never written something down: all their knowledge was transmitted orally.
A rabbi is a spiritual teacher in the Jewish religion.
A guru is a spiritual guide in Indian religions (Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism...)
A sibyl was a prophetess in Greek and Roman tradition.

Answer: Tomb engravings

The Etruscan civilization was in the northern half of Italy during the period of about 900 BCE and 27 BCE, but as soon as Rome started to grow (from about 500 BCE) the Etruscan civilization was diminishing. From about 400 BCE, Rome conquered the Etruscan cities and incorporated them in its own Republic.
The Etruscans had several city-states, and a dozen of these cities controlled almost all of the Etruscan territory. Some important cities were Veii and Volterra.
The Etruscans did leave us many art works, and a number of writings. Alas, the vast majority of what the Etruscans wrote down are inscriptions on their tombs. So historians can decipher only a few words and phrases, such as "wife of", "father" and "will be sadly missed".
I'm sure you didn't pick the phone books. The telephone was invented only centuries after the Etruscans disappeared, so they had no need for phone books.

Answer: Sailors

The Phoenicians were a loose conglomeration of several city-states, and they named themselves usually after the city where they lived (Tyrenians, Sidonians, Tripolitans...). The name Phoenicians was given to their lot by the Greeks, and may have been inspired by one of the most valued products Phoenicians traded in: the purple dye obtained by crushing shells.
Most of the Phoenician cities were situated on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea, in the region that nowadays corresponds to Lebanon. As the mainland held very many trees and the sea was near, Phoenicians soon cut down trees and built ships. They sailed over the Mediterranean to trade their products with other countries. On their trade routes they sailed and settled colonies, and Phoenician ships even ventured into the Atlantic Ocean along the coasts of present-day Portugal and Morocco.
Besides timber and purple dye, Phoenicians also exported wine. Although their territory contained some iron ore reserves, Phoenicians were not known as blacksmiths. And contrary to many other ancient people, Phoenicians did not excel as stonemasons nor as warriors.

Answer: Judaism

Judaism is the religion of the Jewish people and arose firmly around 600 BCE. The main ideas are sketched in the Torah: the five first books of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible), which also is the Old Testament to Christians.
Judaism is the belief in one single deity, whose name can't be used in common speech (for this would be impolite). Instead, the Jews speak of the Lord (with a capital letter). When Moses asked for the Lord's name, He answered "I Am Who I Am. Thus you will say 'I AM' has sent me to you." The Lord is also identified as the Lord God of Abraham, one of the founding fathers of the Jewish people.
Christianity developed out of Judaism, as Christians believe Jesus Christ was born among the Jews as the Son of God.
The Islam also is related to Judaism, as their holy scripture (the Qu'ran) was revealed to the prophet Mohammed (Muslims rightfully add the phrase "Praise Be Upon Him") as the word of the God of Abraham. And many of the prophets mentioned in the Tanakh are also mentioned in the Qu'ran.
Sikhism is also a monotheistic religion, developed in India around 1500 CE.
There are some other, older religions that are considered monotheistic. Atenism (the religion founded by Akhnaton) and Jahwism (a precursor to Judaism) have dissappeared, while Zoroastrianism still exists.

Answer: Babylon

Nebuchadnezzar II was one of the most powerful rulers in his time. There is one inscription that mentions him as "King of Babylon, King of Sumer and Akkad, King of the Universe."
He was born around 642 BCE as the eldest son of Nabopolasar, who conquered the Babylonian throne around 626 BCE.
Nebuchadnezzar (also known as Nabuccodonosor) started his military career with victories over the Assyrians in 610 BCE and over the Egyptians in 605 BCE. Soon after this victory, his father died and Nebuchadnezzar ascended to the throne. He continued his conquests, subduing the Jewish people and the city of Tyre in Phoenicia. At the height of his empire, he controlled lands from the Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf.
Nebuchadnezzar also was responsible for several large building projects, according to some accounts also including the famed Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Other sources state that the Hanging Gardens were not in Babylon, but in Nineveh, and existed already about a century when Nebuchadnezzar became King of Babylon.