Gilgamesh Quiz

38 Questions I By Gilgamesh

This is part of the project for the book Gilgamesh. It tests on he book itself and some history related to it. Questions 140 should be approachable for whoever has read the book and the rest can be found on the main site.

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Questions and Answers

1.

In what city did this story take place?

A.
Chapel Hill

B.

Athens
C.

o
Egypt

D.

o
Uruk

E.

o
North Pole

2.
Who is the main character and king of the city?
A.
Enkidu
B.

o
Shamash

C.

o
Gilgamesh

D.

o
Anu

E.

o
Humbaba

3.
What are the names of Gilgamesh's parents?
A.
Aruru and Lugulbanda
B.

o
Anu and Ishtar
o

C.
Lugulbanda and Ninsun

D.
Ninsun and Humbaba

E.

Mashedpotatoes and Gravy

4.
Why were the villagers upset wtih Gilgamesh? He...
A.
Abuses his powers
B.

o
Insults Ishtar

C.

o
Kills humbaba

D.

o
Is too strong

E.

o
All of the above

5.
Who creates Enkidu and with what?
A.
Anu: Clay
B.

o
Anu: Bread

C.

o
Aruru: Anu

D.

Aruru: Joseph and Mary

E.

o
Aruru: Clay

6.
Who finds Enkidu in the woods?
A.
Gilgamesh
B.

o
Ninsun

C.

o
A random hunter

D.

o
Humbaba

E.

o
Shamash

7.
What happens after Enkidu is tamed?
A.
He realizes that he is naked
B.

The animals run away

C.

The harlot collects her payment

D.

o
Enkidu runs away

E.

o
Enkidu dies

8.
What happens between Enkidu and Gilgamesh when they first meet?
A.
They walk past each other
B.

They fight with each other

C.

They trade phone numbers

D.

They fight and make up

E.

o
They never meet

9.
But first, what did Gilgamesh have before meeting Enkidu?
A.
Too much confidence
B.

A pet to keep him company

C.

o
Two dreams

D.

o
His lucky axe

E.

o
Both A and C

10.
Going back to qustion #8, why did the two stop fighting?
A.
They ripped their pants
B.

They realized no one was going to win

C.

They were arrested

D.

o
It was getting late

E.

o
Both A and D

11.
Where did the two go for their first adventure?
A.
Cedar Forest
B.

o
Mashu
o

C.

Mount Everest
D.

o
Land of the Dead

E.

The Sacred Forest

12.
Who guards the forest?
A.
Shamash
B.

o
Ishtar

C.

o
Humbaba

D.

o
Ninsun

E.

o
Enkidu

13.
Gilgamesh kills Humbaba because...
A.
Enkidu tells him to do so
B.

o
Humbaba is evil

C.

He wants to seem like a hero

D.

o
All of the above

E.

Humbaba begs him not to

14.
Noah:God as ?:?

A.

o
Enkidu:Humbaba

B.

o
Utnapishtim:Ea

C.

o
Jesus:Mary

D.

o
Gilgamesh:Ishtar

E.

Shamash:Utnapishtim

15.
How does Gilgamesh respond to Ishtar's proposal?
A.
He reminds her of her past lovers
B.

o
He agrees

C.

He asks a goldsmith to create a ring

D.

o
He stalls

E.

He talks with her father

16.
How does Ishtar respond?
A.
She rejoices

B.
She rejects the ring

C.
She releases the Bull of Heaven

D.

She gives him a cookie

E.

She makes Enkidu sick

17.
What does Anu warn Ishtar about?
A.
5 years of famine
B.

o
6 years of famine

C.

o
7 years of famine

D.

o
8 years of famine

E.

None of the above

18.
The Bull is...

A.

Tamed
B.

o
Killed

C.

o
Trapped

D.

o
Missing

E.

o
Sick

19.

Why is Ishtar insulted?

A.

Gilgamesh forgets their anniversary

B.

Enkidu comments on her weight

C.

Enkidu does not attend her wedding

D.

Enkidu throws a thigh at her

E.

o
Anu disowns her

20.
What does Enkidu foresee the night of the killing of the Bull?
A.
The gods having a meeting
B.

His long lost brother

C.

Gilgamesh's death
D.

o
His death

E.

The trip to Utnapishtim's island

21.
Enkidu curses the harlot and then...
A.
Curses Gilgamesh
B.

o
Curses the city
o

C.
Takes back his curse

D.

Dies immediately after

E.

o
Apologizes

22.
Who does Gilgamesh meet before he enters Mount Mashu?
A.
Shamash
B.

o
Lugulbanda

C.

o
Ea

D.

o
Scorpion-Man

E.

o
Enkidu

23.
After reaching the other side of the mountain, Gilgamesh meets...
A.
Siduri
B.

o
Enkidu

C.

o
Shamash

D.

o
Ea

E.

o
Aruru

24.
Gilgamesh has to pole the boat because...
A.
He want to show off his strength

B.

He destroyed the Stone Things

C.

It was his payment to the ferryman

D.

He lost the paddles

E.

The boat ran out of gas

25.
Who is the ferryman
A.
Utnapishtim
B.

o
Urshanabi

C.

o
Uruk

D.

o
Ugulabugula

E.

Ura... something else

26.
Who awaits them at the other side of the Sea?
A.
Utnapishtim
B.

o
Urshanabi

C.

o
Uruk

D.

o
Ugulabubula

E.

o
Lugulbanda

27.
Who crosses the sea without a boat?
A.
Utnapishtim
B.

o
Urshanabi

C.

o
Shamash

D.

o
Ea

E.

o
Ishtar

28.
______________ warns Utnapishtim of the impending flood.

29.
After the flood, Utnapishtim first sends a __________.

30.
Who was responsible for the flood?
A.
Anu
B.

o
Aruru

C.

o
Enlil

D.

o
Shamash

E.

o
Lugulbanda

31.

___________ creates the flood because he/she was tired of the humans complaining about everything.

32.
Gilgamesh must stay awake for ____ days to be given eternal life.

33.
Gilgamesh ____ the test so ____
A.
Passes:he is given eternal life
B.

Passes:he goes on to the next test

C.

o
Fails:he is killed

D.

Fails:he is sent back to Uruk

E.

Fails:he tries again

34.
Utnapishtim's wife convinces him to tell Gilgamesh about the plant that...
A.
Restores youth
B.

Kills whoever eats it

C.

o
Brings good luck

D.

o
Causes sickness

E.

o
Is unbreakable

35.
In the end, Gilgamesh...
A.
Lives on

B.

Extends his life by eating the plant

C.

o
Is killed

D.

o
Dies peacefully

E.

o
Both A and D

36.
The story of Gilgamesh was originally written on what?
A.
Toilet paper
B.

o
Iron sheets

C.

o
Clay tablets

D.

o
Walls

E.

o
Paper

37.
Gilgamesh was translated using...
A.
The Rosetta Stone
B.

An online translator
C.

o
An interpreter
o

D.
The Behistun Rock

E.

Pudding

38.
Hammuabi's main belief was...
A.
The golden rule
B.

And arm and a leg

C.

o
Eye for an eye

D.

o
Toe for a finger

E.

o
Never mix colors

THE EPIC OF GILGAMESH

Quiz

1.

What river flows past Uruk?

(A) The Nile
(B) The Rhone
(C) The Euphrates
(D) The Orinoco

2.

How was The Epic of Gilgamesh preserved?

(A) In writing on scrolls
(B) In carvings on tree trunks
(C) In writing on clay tablets
(D) Aristotle translated it into Greek

3.

When did the real Gilgamesh live?

(A) Before the Ice Age

(B) In about 2700 B . C .
(C) In the Middle Ages
(D) In Victorian times

4.

Why did the gods create Enkidu?

(A) To overthrow Gilgamesh
(B) To be Gilgameshs loyal servant
(C) To provide a counterforce to Gilgameshs power
(D) To marry Gilgameshs sister

5.

Who introduces Enkidu to civilization?

(A) His mother and father
(B) A temple prostitute
(C) A talking gazelle
(D) The goddess Ishtar

6.

Who guards the Cedar Forest?

(A) Twelve Roman Legions
(B) Two scorpion monsters
(C) Shamash, god of the sun
(D) The demon Humbaba

7.

Why does Gilgamesh spurn Ishtar?

(A) Because hes already married
(B) Because Enkidu would be jealous
(C) Because shes already married
(D) Because he doesnt want to be her plaything

8.

Which god supports Gilgameshs incursion into the Cedar Forest?

(A) Enlil, god of earth, wind, and air
(B) Anu, god of the firmament
(C) Ea, god of wisdom

(D) Shamash, god of the sun

9 . Gilgamesh

dreams that a mountain falls on top of him and Enkidu. What does

Enkidu say this dream foretells?

(A) The collapse of the Assyrian Empire
(B) Enkidus death in battle
(C) Gilgamesh and Enkidus triumph over Humbaba
(D) The eruption of Mt. Thera

10.

What does the Bull of Heaven bring to the city of Uruk?

(A) Famine
(B) Flood
(C) War
(D) Seven years of plenty

11 .

Why does Enkidu curse the temple prostitute?

(A) Because she gave him syphilis
(B) Because she stole his wallet

(C) Because if she hadnt tempted him from the wilderness he would have
never met Gilgamesh
(D) Because he knows she poisoned him

12.

Why does Enkidu bless the temple prostitute?

(A) Because she told him the future
(B) Because she loans him money
(C) Because if she hadnt tempted him from the wilderness he would have

never met Gilgamesh

(D) Because he feels bad that he poisoned her

13.

What garments are the dead people wearing in Enkidus dream about the

underworld?
(A) Togas
(B) Feathers
(C) Animal skins
(D) They are naked

14.

Who is the queen of the underworld?

(A) Siduri
(B) Ereshkigal
(C) Ea
(D) Utnapishtim

15.

Why does Gilgamesh leave Uruk after Enkidu dies?

(A) To avenge his death by killing a god
(B) To find out how he can avoid having to die himself
(C) To track down Enkidus murderer
(D) To escape the police, who think he murdered Enkidu

16.

How does Gilgamesh get to the other side of the twin-peaked mountain called

Mashu?
(A) He climbs over it
(B) He walks around it
(C) He walks through it

(D) A winged lion carries him over it

17.

What are the Stone Things?

(A) Nobody knows
(B) Statues of Ishtar
(C) Lodestones
(D) A popular Babylonian singing group

18.

How does Urshanabis boat cross the Waters of Death?

(A) A god blows it across with his breath
(B) A fish tows it
(C) Urshanabi rows it
(D) Gilgamesh poles it

19.

What advice does Siduri the tavern keeper give to Gilgamesh?

(A) To never buy on credit
(B) To never mix beer and wine

(C) To take his pleasures in this world

(D) To offer up libations to Ea, the god of wisdom

20.

How did Utnapishtim find out that the gods were planning to destroy the world

with a flood?
(A) Ea, the god of wisdom, spoke to him through the walls of his house
(B) A little bird told him
(C) His joints were aching
(D) Ishtar told him

21.

What test does Utnapishtim give to Gilgamesh, to see if he is worthy of

eternal life?
(A) He makes him name all the Babylonian gods in alphabetical order
(B) He wrestles with him
(C) He asks him to stay awake for six nights and seven days
(D) He asks him to travel to Colchis and steal the golden fleece

22.

What is the name of the magical plant that Utnapishtim tells Gilgamesh

about?

(A) Loco weed

(B) Rag weed
(C) Widows weeds
(D) How-the-Old-Man-Once-Again-Becomes-a-Young-Man

23.

Who steals the magical plant?

(A) A winged lion
(B) A scorpion monster
(C) The king of Tyre
(D) A snake

24.

Who is Sin-Leqi-Unninni?
(A) The author of the most complete version of The Epic of Gilgamesh that

we know of today
(B) The god of fire, wheat, and pottery making
(C) The king of Shurrupak

(D) Gilgameshs father

25.

What fell through the hole in the floor of the Carpenters House?
(A) Gilgameshs drum and drumstick
(B) Gilgameshs coins
(C) Gilgameshs Stone Thing
(D) Gilgameshs dagger

(Note: The following comments rely heavily on those of James Livingston in The
Anatomy of the Sacred. Prentice-Hall, 4th ed. pages 232-235.)
To understand the Enuma Elish, we must first understand something of the
community in which it functioned as sacred language. Ancient Babylon was
located in the area of the Middle East known as Mesopotamia. Mesopotamia
literally means "the land between two rivers." The land itself is literally created
silt deposited by the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The silt is formed where the
fresh water meets the salt water. This phenomenon is expressed in the Enuma
Elish as the mingling or sexual union of fresh water and salt water.
The conflict between Marduk and Ti'amat explains a realistic feature of life in
Mesopotamia. The battle is reflected in the annual flooding of the Mesopotamian
plain and the contest between the waters (chaos) and the winds which can fight
back the waters and bring back dry land. The myth thus suggests that the natural
order is a reflection of thearchetype (model) of the struggle between Tiamat and
Marduk.
The Enuma Elish also suggests that the social order is patterned after the order of
the sacred. Notice that the myth describes the establishment of the cosmic
government and explains why there is a hierarchy of gods and why Marduk is to
be worshipped as the supreme god. This government of the gods is also reflected
in the political reality of this world: "Scholars point out that the myth dramatizes
the political crises of Mesopotamian history, from primal warring communities to
city-states, and finally to empire." What is significant is that the myth sees the
emerging political structure as the human-social reflection of the order already
achieved by the pantheon of the gods.
But where did humans come from? What is their purpose in the order of
creation? The Enuma Elish also answers this question. Humans were created by
Marduk to relieve the gods of their labors. Thus, humans are given the work once
assigned to the gods.
What is significant about the city of Babylon and its temple to Marduk? The
myth tells us that the gods themselves built the capital of the Babylonian empire
along with the temple where Marduk is to be worshipped. Babylon is thus
destined by the gods to be a city of prominence, majesty and might where
Marduk's rule is established on earth.