Old Testament Sites Trivia Quiz

The Egypt described in the Old Testament is not consistent with archeological records of the Egyptian culture of the time, but the Pentateuch is rarely read as history; rather, it is a collection of stories creating the background history of the development of the faith community for which it became a central text. In this case, as in the other sites to be visited, the location is based on analysis of the contents of the text to determine the most probable location of the sites where events are described as taking place.

Egypt gets a lot of mention, and is associated with many other figures. This quiz is about the Old Testament, but it features again in the New Testament, with Matthew recording that Joseph and Mary travelled to Egypt so that Herod would not slaughter the baby Jesus.

It was there that (according to Genesis) Abraham gained a great deal of wealth (including Hagar, later to be the mother of his first child, Ishmael) from the Pharaoh in exchange for Sarah, who was pretending to be Abraham's sister, not his wife. When that got sorted out (a bit of plague was very convincing), they left and took all the gifts.

When Abraham and Sarah's great-grandson Joseph was sold into slavery, he was taken to Egypt where his ability to interpret dreams led him to a position of significant power (after a few setbacks). He was able to help his entire family resettle in the and of Goshen (thought to be in the vicinity of the Nile Delta) and prosper.

The book of Exodus deals with the descendants of these settlers, at a much later date when they are in a state of captivity. The great-great grandson of Joseph's brother Levi, Moses, is born at a time when all Hebrew boys were supposed to be slain at the order of the Pharaoh of the time. He was rescued by the Pharaoh's daughter, and eventually was in a position to demand that Pharaoh allow the Hebrews to leave Egypt and set themselves up as a free people. The Pharaoh took a lot of convincing (ten plagues of increasing severity) before he agreed. Then sent troops after them, who were defeated by the miraculous crossing of the Red Sea.

Following this, Egypt stops being a centre of action in the Old Testament, but it remains a presence to which regular reference is made.

According to Exodus, once Moses had successfully led the Israelites out of Egypt, they spent some time wandering in the desert of the Sinai peninsula before reaching a mountain now called Mt Sinai. There they made a formal commitment to follow God, and renounce all other religions. This process involved some lengthy delivery of rules and regulations, some announced directly to all, some communicated to Moses on the top of the mountain, to write down and communicate to the rest. This includes what we now call the Ten Commandments, or the Decalogue.

At this spot, Aaron (Moses' brother) was proclaimed high priest, and almost immediately was involved in an act of apostasy - the construction of a golden calf which the people began to worship while Moses was up on the mountain communing with God. Once Moses had sorted everything out, the Israelites followed the instructions they had been given regarding construction of a tabernacle to be the earthly residence of God as they traveled. And agreed to follow all the rest of the commandments as they headed for the Promised Land.

The Kingdom of Edom was located between the Dead Sea and Arabian Desert, a region currently forming the southern portions of Israel and Jordan. The Hebrew word 'edom' means red, a reference to the man said in the Old Testament to be the progenitor of the Edomites, Esau.

Esau, a grandson of Abraham, and his fraternal twin Jacob were born when their father, Isaac, was elderly and becoming frail (Genesis 25). The slightly older twin, Esau, was described as being red and hairy. Jacob later conned Esau into giving away his birthright in exchange for a bowl of lentils. Genesis 27 describes how, assisted by his mother Rebekah, Esau took advantage of Isaac's failing eyesight to receive the twins' father's blessing, which should have gone to the oldest son.

While the brothers eventually reconcile (Genesis 32-33), the relationship is never truly harmonious. According to Hebrew tradition, Esau settled in an area to the south of those where Jacob's twelve children set themselves up, and the Edomites and the Israelites were ancient enemies. While there is much dispute over the actual origins of the Edomites, the enmity was an historical fact, and this story provides an explanation.

The land of Moab lay along the east coast of the Dead Sea, in what is now Jordan. Like the Edomites, their neighbours to the south, they did not get on well with the Israelites, and the Bible has multiple references to conflict. Most of these are minor events, and Moab would not be memorable just form them, but Moab is the home of Ruth, central figure of the Book of Ruth.

At the time of the Book of Ruth, Moab and the city of Bethlehem seem to be (at least temporarily) on a good footing, as an Israelite family from Bethlehem emigrate to Moab. The two sons married Moabite women, Ruth and Orpah. When the two sons later die, the mother, Naomi, decides to go home, and advises her daughters-in-law to return to their familial homes as well. Ruth refuses, saying, "Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God." (Ruth 1:16, KJV) She is seen, based on this speech, as the prototype of a convert to Judaism.

Naomi and Ruth return to Bethlehem, where Boaz, a relative of Ruth's husband, marries her; their son Obed is the father of Jesse, and the grandfather of King David. In the New Testament, both Matthew and Like agree that David is a direct ancestor of Jesus (although their genealogies between David and Jesus are very different).

The first part of the Book of Joshua describes how Joshua, after the death of Moses, was commanded by God to take the Israelites across the Jordan River and take the land which had been promised. The first battle described in the conquest of Canaan was the Battle of Jericho. Located a few kilometers north of the modern city of the same name, this was one of the oldest walled cities known, a formidable stronghold.

Archaeological excavation of the site shows multiple incidents of the city being destroyed, abandoned, then reoccupied. Excavations in the 21st century, however, have suggested that it was not actually occupied at the time when the Battle of Jericho would have taken place. Nevertheless, the Battle of Jericho makes a good story (with strategic theological elements).

Joshua sent spies into the city, whose lives were saved by Rahab, a prostitute whose family was spared following the destruction of the city, as a reward for her action. When the Israelites arrived, the gates were closed, and they could not enter. God then told them what to do: "March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams' horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have the whole army give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the army will go up, everyone straight in." (Joshua 6:3-5, NIV) It worked.

Then followed one of the more savage actions described in the Old Testament: "They devoted the city to the Lord and destroyed with the sword every living thing in it-men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep and donkeys." (Joshua 6:21) After Rahab's family had been saved, they burned the city (but kept all the gold and silver and other metal items to be used for God's purposes.

While the important Phoenician seaport of Tyre is not a major feature of action, King Hiram of Tyre is said to have significant involvement with King David. According to 2 Samuel 5:11 and 1 Chronicles 14:1, he sent David messengers bearing cedar trees (the famous cedars of Lebanon), along with the carpenters and masons necessary to build a palace in Jerusalem after he had captured the city.

1 Kings 5 then tells how Solomon, knowing of the friendship between his father and King Hiram, contacted him for support in building the Temple. This was just part of a lucrative trading arrangement between the two leaders.

As recounted in Genesis 11, Terah left Ur with his family and moved to Harran (also spelled Haran), which was located in the northern part of what is now Iraq (or possibly a bit further north, in Turkey). When God called Abram (later Abraham) to go to Canaan (Genesis 12:1), he took his wife Sarai (later Sarah) and nephew Lot with him; his father and the rest of the family stayed in Harran.

Harran is mentioned again as the destination to which Jacob was travelling when he had a dream referred to as Jacob's Ladder at a campsite which he dubbed Bethel, meaning House of God (Genesis 28).

Nineveh was an Assyrian city located in Upper Mesopotamia, near the modern city of Mosul in northern Iraq. According to Genesis 10:11, it was founded by Ashur, one of Noah's grandsons. Nineveh, and the Assyrians, feature in a number of the Old Testament texts, with Nahum devoted to describing its destruction, and Isaiah describing the death of Sennacherib as occurring in Nineveh.

In the Book of Jonah, the prophet is sent to preach to the citizens of Nineveh, warning them of the city's imminent destruction because of their sinful ways. Jonah is understandably reluctant to undertake such a dangerous mission, and tries to sail off to sea instead. After he is thrown overboard during a storm (because he admitted that his presence on board was the probable cause of the storm), he is swallowed by a large fish, inside which he spends three days before God relents and frees him. This time he goes to Nineveh, where he manages to convince the citizens to amend their lives, and God spares the city.

Babylon was the site of the infamous Tower of Babel, where God punished the pride of its creators by making the languages of the various people mutually unintelligible (Genesis 11). It was also the seat of the powerful Chaldean empire, whose leader Nebuchadnezzar (credited with building the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World) destroyed Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem. Following the conquest of Judah, he employed a common practice of the time, and forced the conquered people to leave their homeland and settle in his capital - leading to the period known as the Babylon Exile. It was during this time that the books classed as the Major Prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel and Daniel) were written.

The book of Daniel, with its story of God saving Daniel considered a metaphor for the way he will save all the faithful, has made its way into many popular traditions. Like Joseph in Genesis, Daniel has a God-given power to interpret dreams, giving him access to a secure court position. This lasts through several kings, despite the refusal of his friends to bow down to the Nebuchadnezzar (and their subsequent survival when thrown into a fiery furnace), his accurate prediction that the Nebuchadnezzar would go mad for seven years, and his interpretation of the mysterious writing on the wall seen by Belshazzar. However, under Darius his refusal to stop praying to his own God led to his being thrown into a lions' den, from which the king is relieved to see him emerge unscathed.

The rest of Daniel covers further events through until the time when the Persian leader Cyrus the Great allowed the Jews to return to Jerusalem a year after he had captured Babylon.

It must be noted that not all scholars agree that this Ur (the Sumerian city-state at the location indicated) is the one referred to in the Old Testament as the birthplace of Abram. Other suggested sites include in Turkey, Syria, Armenia and Iraq. In Biblical times Ur was located where the Euphrates River reached the Persian Gulf, although it is now well inland, primarily due to silting of the river.

Ur, or more precisely Ur of the Chaldees, is generally considered to be the birthplace of Aram, although that is not explicitly stated in the Old Testament. It is implied by Genesis 11:27-28, which describes Ur as the place where his brother Haran died, and from which Abram left along with his father Terah and the rest of the family when they moved to Harran (Genesis 11:31). In Genesis 15, when God is promising him that his offspring will rule the land between the Nile and the Euphrates, reference is again made to his origin in Ur.