Historic and Ancient Ruins III Quiz

Answer: Cyprus

Kourion, located on the southern coast of Cyprus, had a prominent Christian community even before Barnabas and Paul arrived in Cyprus to proselytize. Missionaries were sent from Cyprus to preach to Greeks at Antioch. The inhabitants of Kourion were poor, as excavations revealed.

A family of three was unearthed: one man, one woman and a baby. In an act of self-sacrifice, the man had used himself as a shield to cover the woman and the baby from the collapsing building during the earthquake of 365 AD. On his hand was a bronze ring inscribed with "chi rho", a symbol of Christianity.

Answer: Libya

Cyrene, with its fertile soil, was great for agriculture. Greeks began their expansion of Libya around the late 7th century BC. The Libyans initially welcomed the Greeks in Cyrene, but the increase in Greek population threatened them and they requested the Egyptians to provide assistance. Pharaoh Apries waged an unsuccessful battle against the people of Cyrene. He returned to Egypt with a huge army of Greek mercenaries, which led to a revolt by Amasis, who overthrew Pharaoh Apries and later become the next Pharaoh of Egypt.

Reference: "Centuries of Darkness" by Peter James, I. J. Thorpe, Nikos Kokkinos, Robert Morkot and John Frankish, 2005.

Answer: Egypt

Naucratis was established in Egypt in the time of Psammetichus I. When Pharaoh Apries returned to Egypt with about 30,000 Greek mercenaries in an unsuccessful war against Cyrene, General Amasis led an uprising against him and became the next Pharaoh. He would later become a lover of Greeks and their culture.

He officially recognized Naucratis as a Greek colony. Greek and Egyptian temples were also built in Naucratis. This would be the start of a friendship between ancient Greeks and ancient Egyptians, which was later strengthened with the rise of Persia, posing a threat to both the Greeks and the Egyptians.

Answer: Kanesh

King Pithana destroyed Kanesh, while his son Anitta destroyed Hattusa, as written in Anitta texts. The Anitta texts were the oldest texts written in Hittite and were excavated in Kanesh. Hittites, being an Indo-European group, descended into Anatolia around 2000 BC in huge droves. They spoke Hittite, which played an ancestral role in modern Indo-European languages. The Hittite language is now a focus point for historians and scholars trying to piece together "the mother of all Indo-European language", which is known as the proto-Indo-European.

References: 'Information about the Hittites' Website

Answer: Hattusa

Under Hattusili I (1586 BC-1556 BC), the capital city was relocated from Kanesh to Hattusa. Hattusa, being located high up in the mountainous region with tough weather conditions, was far away from sea or land-trade routes. It was also far from major rivers and had a huge encirclement of massive wall structures at the top of steep cliffs. These unfavourable conditions, however, served to deter attacking enemy troops. In addition to that, the soil in the area was fertile which was conducive to agriculture. Hattusa was served by natural springs, which were more than enough to sustain around 50,000 people.

Reference: "The Lords of Hattusa" (YouTube)

Answer: France

Vix was located in northern Burgundy, France and it contained several burial mounds. The most famous was the Vix Grave. There were also several buildings, like the Palace of the Lady of Vix, that were modeled after early Greek architectural designs. The Vix Krater found in Vix weighed about 200 kg and measured about 1.63m in height.

It was intricately designed with magnificent craftsmanship.

Answer: Germany

Heuneburg was an important early Celtic settlement located in Germany, north of the Alps and near the upper Danube. Its citizens were active in trading goods such as tin, wine, amber, leather and fur. The burial sites found there were also some of the most extravagant in the ancient world. Weapons, fabrics laced with gold, jeweleries, and bronze were found in burial mounds. Also, the mud-brick walls with stone foundations were influenced by Greek architectural design.

The Heuneburg settlement later declined due to its cold climate and the Celtic migrations to other places.

Answer: Karakorum

There was a famous "silver tree" fountain located within the court of the palace in Karakorum, which was designed by French artisan Guillaume Boucher. In the 13th century AD, Karakorum had twelve idol temples of different nations, two mosques, and one church located towards the end of the city. Karakorum was also the launchpad from where Genghis Khan invaded the Khwarezmian Empire in 1220 AD.

A further eleven years of fighting was continued by Jalal ad-Din Mingburnu, the last ruler of the Khwarezmian Empire, until he was killed in 1231 AD by a Kurdish assassin.

Answer: Persepolis

Under Darius the Great, the Achaemenid Empire was at its peak. It stretched far and wide from Greece and Libya in the west to India in the east. Persepolis was built to showcase the wealth and might of the Achaemenid Empire. It was also a place of residence for the Persian kings. Tribute-bearing nations under the Empire would bring gifts when annual celebratory festivals, like Noe-Rooz, were held.

Reference: "Persepolis Recreated" (YouTube)

Answer: Greece

Helike was located in Achaea, Northern Peloponnesos and was rediscovered in 2001 by a team of archaeologists. It was a prosperous city and also one of huge religious significance in the ancient Greek world. Its destruction made many ancient writers speculate that the inhabitants had incurred the wrath of Poseidon by not giving a statue of Poseidon to Ionian colonists.