The Most Unkindest Cut Of All Trivia Quiz

Answer: Ancient Egypt

The ancient Egyptians practiced circumcision during most periods of their history. There are records of circumcision in Egypt dating back to at least 2500 BC. After they were victorious in battle, the Egyptians would cut off the uncircumcised penises of their enemies and count them - it was an easy way to distinguish enemy corpses from their own.

There are numerous reliefs showing the Pharaoh being presented with piles of uncircumcised penises by his troops. One of the most famous can be found in the carvings from the Mortuary Temple of Ramesses III within the Medinet Habu complex on the West Bank of Luxor.

Answer: Judaism

In the Old Testament, circumcision is first mentioned in Genesis 17:10-14; it is the outward sign of the covenant between God and Abraham. Jewish boys are usually circumcised when they are eight days old, in a ceremony called the brit milah, or bris. The operation is carried out by by a person called a mohel, who is usually a specially trained rabbi, cantor, or doctor. Most Jewish sects also require adult converts to be circumcised.

Answer: Greek

Circumcision was widespread in the Middle East and northern Africa until Alexander the Great conquered the area. The Greeks viewed the practice of circumcision as barbaric and loathsome, a view shared by the Romans. Jews faced such prejudice that many chose to undergo a long an painful procedure called epispasm, which restored the foreskin, at least to some extent.

Answer: The Council of Jerusalem

The anti-circumcision faction won out. It was decided that gentile converts to Christianity would not have to undergo circumcision, but would have to observe some aspects of Jewish law. This decision was probably helpful in securing new converts!

Answer: Hadrian

Hadrian (ruled 117 - 138 AD) passed a law forbidding the castration of male slaves, and it included a ban on circumcision, indicating that in the Roman mind, at least, the two practices were somehow related. Many ancient historians cite this law as one of the main reasons for the Bar Kokhba revolt, a Jewish rebellion against Roman rule that lasted from 132 to 136.

The ban remained in effect until 140, when Hadrian's successor, Antoninus Pius, allowed Jews to circumcise their sons, but not their slaves or servants.

Answer: True

The foreskin of Jesus, or "the Holy Prepuce," as it was called, was a very popular but highly controversial relic during the Middle Ages. There was a lot of competition between churches for the relics of various saints, so one can image the prestige that ownership of a piece of Christ's own flesh would carry with it. According to an apocryphal text called the "Arabic Infancy Gospel," Jesus, like all Jewish boys, was circumcised when he was eight days old. Instead of the foreskin being buried, as was the usual custom, it was preserved in a box of spikenard, an aromatic herb.

The first appearance in the historical record dates to the year 800 AD when Charlemagne supposedly gave the relic to Pope Leo III. This relic was stolen when Rome was sacked in 1527, and turned up in the village Calcata, a few miles north of Rome, thirty years later. Charroux Abbey, in France, also claimed that they had the true relic, however, and Pope Clement VII sided with them. Calcata and the other dozen or so churches that claimed to have the one and only genuine Holy Prepuce were out of luck. But then the Charroux Abbey's relic was stolen, which put Calcata back in the spotlight, so to speak, until 1856, when workmen doing repairs at the abbey discovered the stolen reliquary hidden in a wall. This set off another round of feuding between the French and the Italians, so in 1900 the Vatican announced that henceforth veneration of any and all alleged Holy Prepuces would cease, as it "encouraged irreverent curiosity." The people of Calcata continued to cherish their relic, however, until it, and the bejeweled golden reliquary that housed it, were stolen in 1983. The crime remains unsolved.

Answer: Masturbation

In the Victorian era, masturbation (or self-abuse, as it was usually called) by boys was thought to cause everything from blindness to epilepsy, not to mention insanity, depression, tuberculosis, acne, sterility, and premature aging. As a result, some inventive and often very painful devices and procedures were developed to prevent it. Doctors in both Britain and the United States began advocating that all newborn males be routinely circumcised as a measure that they believed would reduce the rate of masturbation.

The practice fell out of favor again in Britain, but remained so popular in the United States that in the early 1970s over 90% of all male babies born in hospitals were routinely circumcised. By 2013, that rate had fallen to about 60%.

Answer: Health benefits

Advocates of circumcision claim that the surgery carries with it certain health benefits, notably a decreased incidence of urinary tract infections, venereal diseases, and especially a lowered risk of contracting and spreading HIV. Opponents question the validity of the few studies that have been made, and cite the risks associated with the procedure. About 0.2% of all circumcisions result in serious complications, and one study estimated that over 100 infants die each year in the United States from circumcisions.

The American Academy of Pediatrics still says the benefits of infant circumcision outweigh the potential risks.

Answer: Far West

The study showed that in the United States, circumcision is most often practiced in the Midwest, and is least popular in the Far West. In fact, the trend has continued, and more recent data showed less than half the newborn baby boys in the 13 westernmost states were circumcised in 2013.

There are many theories about why westerners frown on the procedure. Several states will no longer allow their Medicaid programs to pay for infant circumcisions, and San Francisco once even tried to make circumcision illegal (a judge ruled that cities cannot regulate medical procedures).

There are also wide variations among ethnic groups; white Americans are most likely to be circumcised, while Hispanic-Americans are least likely.

Answer: 30%

Muslim countries have the highest rates of male circumcision, along with Israel, the Philippines and South Korea. The procedure is still quite common in the United States, most parts of Canada, and Australia. It is very rare in many parts of Europe, most of Asia, and South America.

While the experts continue to argue the pros and cons, in many Western countries the number of boys being circumcised is definitely on the decline in the twenty-first century.