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You know that the ancient Scots and Irish wore tartans, but do you know which Irish king introduced them?

Tigernmas mac Follach. Tigernmas mac Follach not only introduced the tartan, but gold and silver mining as well. He also introduced the worship of an idol called Cromm Cruach (Bloody Crescent) whose rites were held at Samhain (Halloween). He was killed during this rite because he abandoned the teachings of the druids.

You know that Ramesses II fought the Hittites at the battle of Kadesh, but do you know which Hittite king was his opponent?

Muwatalli II. According to the wall paintings in Ramesses's temples in Egypt, he routed the Hittites. But, in truth, he escaped by the skin of his teeth. He was saved only by arrival of some Amorite horsemen. Thanks to their timely arrival, the battle ended in a stalemate instead of a route of the Egyptians.

You probably know that the Hittites sacked Babylon in the late sixteenth century B.C., but do you know the name of the unfortunate king of Babylon?

Samsu-ditanna. Samsu-ditanna was the last of the Amorite kings of Babylon, Hammurabi was the greatest. Agum I was the first king of the Kassite dynasty who took over the kingship of Babylon after the Hittites had gone. Nebuchadnezzar I led a Babylonian native revival during the eleventh century.

You might know that a group of Indo-Europeans entered Anatolia during the third millennium B.C., thus founding the Hittite nation, but do you know who they were?

Luwians, Nesites, Palaians. Although we know who these people were, we do not know how, or in what order, they entered Anatolia. Some scholars believe they came via the Caucasus Mountains, others via the Bosphorus. Also, no one knows whether the Luwians or the Palaians came first, last, or if they all came together, dispersing within Anatolia itself.

You probably know that Pompey the Great married Gaius Julius Caesar's daughter, Julia, but do you know to whom she was betrothed before she married him?

Brutus. "Et tu, Brute?" Julia was betrothed to Brutus when she was a child, but the alliance was broken when Caesar needed a political alliance with Pompey. To juice up the plot, Caesar was having an affair with Brutus's mother, Servilia. The child of this affair, Junia Tertia, later wed Cassius, Brutus's friend and fellow assassin.

You know Akhenaten and Tutankhamun, but do you know what little known Pharoah reigned between them?

Smenkhkare. Smenkhkare was Akhenaten's brother. His reign was brief. Ahmose was the first king of the eighteenth dynasty. It was he who defeated the Hyksos and drove them out of Egypt. Amenhotep III was Akhenaten's father, Thuthmose IV his grandfather.

You may know that the Vedas are the holy books of Hinduism, but the pantheon on the Vedas differs greatly from the current one. Do you know the gods of the Vedic Trinity as opposed to Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva?

Indra, Mitra, Varuna. Indra was chief diety of he Vedic pantheon. He was the patron of warriors and was armed with lightning and thunderbolts, hence his modern characterization as a weather god. Mitra was a rather vague god who represented the qualities necessary to maintain order in the human existence (i.e. friendship, integrity, harmony). Varuna was the guardian of cosmic order.

You know that the Greek alphabet was derived from Phoenician in around 1000 B.C., but do you know that the Mycenaean Greeks had created their own system of writing c. 1600 B.C.? What was this ancient script called?

Linear B. The Mycenaeans actually adapted Linear B from an older script created by the Minoans called Linear A. Linear A was invented c. 1850 B.C. It was a syllabary written from left to right. However, the language that this system was meant to convey is currently unknown.

You may know that one of the most astonishing facts of Japanese history is that they have been ruled by the same imperial dynasty for thousands of years, but do you know the name of that dynasty?

Yamato. The first emperor of the Yamato dynasty, Jimmu, came to the throne in 660 B.C., that is, according to legend. Archaeology dates the site in question to the third century A.D. The name itself is derived from the plains of Yamato, where the kingdom is said to have been established.

You probably know that Caesar's last true enemy in Gaul was Vercingetorix, but do you know from which tribe he came?

Arverni. Vercingetorix was of the Arverni. The Carnutes were one of the most important tribes in all of Gaul, not because of their military strength, but because the religious center of all Gaul was located in their territory. Interestingly, Chartres Cathedral was built on the site of the Sacred Grove of the Carnutes.