A Tomb of One's Own Trivia Quiz

Answer: New York, New York

In Morningside Heights on Manhattan, Grant's Tomb is not only the final resting place of the 18th President and general-in-chief of the US Army; it is also contains a retrospective of Grant's life. The tomb is currently owned by the people of the United States and managed by the National Parks Service.

http://www.nps.gov/GEGR/index.htm

Answer: Cheops (Khufu)

Not much is known of this Old Kingdom Pharaoh. Yet, his tomb - and those of his son and grandson - are among the most famous structures in the world. Built in the third millennium BCE, Cheops' Great Pyramid was the tallest man-made structure in the world for almost 3,000 years - until 1311 CE when Lincoln Cathedral, in Lincoln, England, was completed.

Answer: Mausolus

As satrap of Caria from 377-353 BCE, Mausolus had a reign that was without much distinction. He is known to have supported Rhodes in the Social War against Athens. He is also known to have moved the Carian capital from Mylasa to Halicarnassus.

The Mausoleum of Halicarnassus was destroyed over the years by a series of earthquakes. Many of its original stone blocks now make up the Bodrum Castle, built by the Knights of Malta inr the 15th and 16th centuries. Modern drawings of the mausoleum are based on the description of Pliny the Elder.

Answer: Belgrade, Serbia

The Kalemegdan fortress dominates the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers. Its sprawling grounds are now the main park of modern Belgrade and includes the city zoo, a military museum and public basketball courts, among other uses.

In the midst of these grounds, one can find the small octagonal turbe of the Pasha.

Answer: Atreus

Tholos tombs are found throughout the Mycenaean period of Greece. The "Treasury of Atreus" is by far the largest. At 14 meters in diameter, it was the largest dome built in the world until the completion of the Temple of Mercury in Baiae, Italy was completed a thousand years later in the 1st Century BCE.

Answer: Joseph Stalin

Stalin was placed in Lenin's Mausoleum upon his death in 1953. Yet in the de-Stalinization movement of the early 1960s, his body was removed, and Lenin again lies in solitary splendour.

Answer: Pasargadae

What is widely regarded to be the tomb of Cyrus the Great still stands at the UNESCO World Heritage site of Pasargadae. It matches the historical description of Aristobulus of Cassandreia.

The Roman era historian, Plutarch, reported that the tombs epitaph read:

"O man, whoever you are and wherever you come from, for I know you will come, I am Cyrus who won the Persians their empire. Do not therefore grudge me this little earth that covers my body."

In Tehran you can find the tomb of Ayatollah Khomeini; in Shiraz the well known tomb of the Persian poet Hafez; and, eight miles outside Persepolis one can visit the tombs of Darius and Xerxes - the Persian rulers from the time of Herodotus' Persian Wars.

Answer: Taj Mahal

Shah Jahan built the Taj Mahal for his wife Mumtaz Mahal. It is described by UNESCO as "the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world's heritage." Between 2 and 4 million people visit the site every year. Upon his death, Shah Jahan was also interred in the mausoleum by his son.

Answer: Mali

Askia Mohammad I is the most well known of the Songhai emperors of Western Africa. His tomb in Gao is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is described by UNESCO as: "an important vestige of the Empire of Songhai, which once dominated the Sahel lands of West Africa and controlled the lucrative trans-Saharan trade."

Answer: Ankara

Atatürk was the founder of the modern Turkish state. His tomb in Ankara took nine years to build and was completed in 1953.