Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. Tomb raiding was recognized as a serious problem in ancient Egypt. Egyptian tombs often contained curses giving dire warnings to any would enter a tomb uninvited. What are these curses known as?
2. Ancient Egyptians who could afford it would arrange to have their bodies mummified after death to prepare them for immortality. Animals, such as cats, could also be mummified. Unfortunately for them, immortality often proved elusive, as stolen mummies were ground up for use in various preparations right up until the twentieth century. The preparation known as "mummy brown" was historically used for what primary purpose?
3. During the French revolution, the tomb of Louis XIV was plundered, and his embalmed heart stolen. It eventually came into the hands of William Buckland, an eccentric English theologian and noted palaeontologist. What did he proceed to do with it?
4. The great Austrian composer Joseph Haydn died and was buried in 1809. However, he did not get to rest in peace very long, as soon afterwards, two men, Joseph Rosenbaum and Johann Peter, bribed the gravedigger to steal Haydn's head. They did this as part of their interest in what subject?
5. Grave robbers have been known to kidnap the dead and hold their families to ransom for the return of the body. Not even governments are immune from this indignity. In 1876, law enforcement officers foiled an attempt to steal the body of what late, great President?
6. Grave robbing was a serious problem in 19th century Scotland, as medical schools had a high demand for bodies for dissection, but only a very limited supply was available from legal sources. Hence, body snatching became a profitable business. What was the name of the device invented in about 1816 to protect graves from robbers?
7. What acclaimed silent film actor, who died in 1977 in Switzerland, had the indignity of being exhumed from his grave a few months afterwards by kidnappers who demanded £400,000 for the return of the body?
8. When grave robbers find it hard to access graves, they sometimes turn to more sinister methods of getting what they want. Such was the case with William Burke and William Hare in Scotland in 1828, when fresh bodies were in high demand by medical schools. Rather than go to the trouble of robbing graves, Burke and Hare started murdering people instead and selling the bodies on the pretense they were already dead when they found them. To which noted Scottish physician did they deliver them, where he used them for dissection at anatomy lectures?
9. Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction, and few cases are stranger than that of which serial killer and grave robber. Who was the real-life inspiration for such famous characters as Norman Bates, Leatherface, and "Buffalo Bill"?
10. The discovery of the Terracotta Army in China in 1974 was one of the most amazing archaeological finds of the 20th century. This army of statues, each of which has unique features, was made to guard the tomb of Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China. Unlike many other famous tombs, this one has never actually been opened and has thus remained safe from grave robbers for thousands of years. The tomb itself is said to be surrounded by a moat filled with what substance?
Source: Author
agentofchaos
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bloomsby before going online.
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