Les Escargots Abroad! Trivia Quiz

Answer: Alexandria

Julie snail explains that Alexandria, the main port in Egypt consists of two harbours and three quarters of Egypt's imports arrive here. Founded by Alexander the Great, in 331BC, Alexandria became the capital city of Egypt. Its status was symbolised by the building of the Pharos Lighthouse, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. The famous Library at Alexandria also made it the centre of learning in the ancient world.
Nowadays old rubs shoulders with new. There are many first class hotels, casinos, night clubs and restaurants in Alexandria which stand alongside ancient mosques and Greek, Roman, Islamic and Christian monuments.
Alexandria figured prominently in Napoleon's military operations in Egypt. The French troops stormed the city on July 2nd 1798 and it remained in their hands until the British beat them in the Battle of Alexandria in 1801.
"So," says Knight snail "Can we stay for a while and look around?"
"Afraid not" replies Fonty "Charlie's shipment of wine is leaving for its destination by train in an hour and where it goes we go!"

Answer: Hanging church

Liz snail explains that Saint Virgins Mary's Coptic Orthodox Church (El Muallaqa) is known as the hanging church, not because they use to hang people there, because it's built above a Roman fortress and its nave is suspended above and over the passage way.

In 1047 A.D it became the official residence of the Coptic Pope, after Alexandria was invaded by the Arabs. The roots of the Coptic Church lie in Egypt and it is a member of the oriental Orthodox church which broke away from from Western church in 451 A.D after they disagreed with the 'Council of Chalcedon' on the nature of Christ. Evidence of a church on this site goes back to the third century.

Answer: Cabbage salad

Salatit Krumb is simple salad low in ingredients but high in taste. It consists of shredded white cabbage leaves, onion, garlic, salt, oil and lemon juice and it's very popular with Egyptians and tourists alike.
The café is named after the Nobel prize winner and Egyptian novelist, Naguib Mahfouz whose novels often depicted social and political issues, such as women's social status and the morality of political prisoners.
Some of his characters identified Muhammad with Christ as in his "Children of the Alley" novel which still remains controversial. Mahfouz was also a outspoken advocate of peace between Egypt and Israel.

Answer: To use as a contraceptive

The Egyptians were possibly the first to use a barrier type contraceptive. Despite their beliefs that their gods and goddesses were responsible for conception, they (or at least the women) worked out that to avoid pregnancy you needed a barrier near the cervix.
Nowadays these methods of birth control are called diaphragms and made out of latex or silicone
"It says here in my guide book that the crocodile dung was mixed with honey" says Mysfloss snail.
"Which led to one of the mysteries of ancient Egypt" laughs Xgunny "The men never could figure out what the bees were eating to make the honey taste so bad. Hehe!"

Answer: Thebes

Mari snail explains that the ancient city of Thebes, was founded around 2475 BC and became the capital city controlling most of Egypt.
To the whole of the ancient world, it was a place of wealth, legend and wonder. The Eleventh and Twelfth dynasties ruled from here and it was home to the Pharaohs of the New Kingdom and became centre of the Amun-Ra cult.
Modern day Luxor is often called the 'worlds greatest open air museum'. Although, Thebes was looted and burnt around 664BC by invaders, much remains to be seen.
Hundreds of thousands flock here each year, making it one of the most visited places by international tourists. Sights include the Great Temple of Luxor, built largely by Amenhotep III and Rameses II. The Temple was known as Ipt-Rsyt, meaning 'southern shrine' or 'southern harem', and was host to one of the most important festivals at the time called Opet.
The temple complex at Karnak, the largest in the world, was called Ipt-Swt (during the Middle Kingdom) meaning 'selected place' and includes the great temple of Amun-Ra, the temple of Ptah and the temple of Osiris.
An avenue lined with Sphinxes join the Karnak complex to the Luxor temples.
Both the Karnak and Luxor temple complexes were dedicated to the worship of the Thebes triad, the three most powerful gods in the area - Amut, his consort Mut and their son Khonsu.

Answer: All are correct

The word 'mummy' was first used in the 15th century in Europe but comes from the Persian word 'mummeia' meaning pitch or resin.
At first only the resin (from the body) was used to make this supposedly potent medicine but with mummies being in short supply it wasn't long before someone came up with the idea of grinding the entire body and selling it as medicine!
Many mummies did end up in private collections and also in museums.
The using of mummies' linen for making paper by Canadian manufactures, and for making paper during the Civil War in the U.S is not something that has been proven (to my satisfaction).
Mark Twain supposedly reported the use of mummies for fuel in the steam engines of the Egyptian railways - an urban myth perhaps?
For Egyptians the process of embalming the dead and preserving the body was all important. They believed that the body was needed in the afterlife. Without the body the soul would be condemned to eternally wandering the earth.
Cats, considered sacred, were often mummified, as well as birds and reptiles.

Answer: Egyptian cotton

The cultivation of the cotton plant to make textiles probably started in India and around 3000 BC found its way up to Mesopotamia and Egypt. However, it could have been grown at the same time in South America or anywhere with subtropical areas in the northern or southern hemisphere.
The cotton plant requires a long frost free period and plenty of water in order to mature. So much water in fact, that cotton production has been partly responsible for the demise of the Aral sea, once the fourth largest lake in the world, now the last uncharted desert.
The cotton grown in Egypt, indeed the term Egyptian cotton refers to the extra long staple and is superior to the American 'Pima' cotton, grown in the south west states, in durability and luxury. Luxury doesn't come cheap and Egyptian cotton is expensive. Egyptian-grown cotton became the alternate source for British textile mills during the U.S. Civil War.

Answer: All of these

Thebes (Luxor), as with most ancient Egyptian cities, was divided by the Nile. The 'living city' was on the east bank with the royal palaces, temples, government offices and residential areas.
On the west bank, was the 'city of the dead' with the necropolis and mortuary temples of the Pharaohs and nobility.
The Valley of the Kings is most famous for the discovery of treasure filled tomb of Tutankhamen.
The Valley of the Queens is the burial place of over seventy queens including Nefertari.
"I've heard about King Tut's treasure" says Kathy snail "but why was the discovery so important?"
"I think the Egyptians had problems with tomb robbers" replies Mysfloss.
They did! Pyramids were constructed with false doors and corridors, but during times of famine and political unrest, the respect for the dead was forgotten and tomb robbers outwitted the designers and raided the tombs. This led to rulers building concealed tombs in the valleys of the kings and queens. Still the tomb robbers discovered and ransacked them. Only one intact royal tomb has been discovered. Tutankhamun's tomb, found by Howard Carter in 1922, stunned the world with its magnificence.
Tutankhamen only ruled for nine years (1336-1327 B.C), died at the age of eighteen and has a somewhat obscure background. This has led many archaeologists to wonder what the tombs of the great Pharaohs held before they were desecrated.
Of course there could be some yet to be discovered, but perhaps they should be left in peace.

Answer: Lake Nasser and the Temples of Abu Simbel

Construction of the original Temples of Abu Simbel, began around 1244BC and was completed approximately 20 years later. Known as The Temple of Rameses II, beloved of Amun, it was one of six rock temples built in Nubia during the long reign of Rameses II and dedicated to the gods Hathor and Horus.
However, their purpose was also to impress Egypt's southern neighbours. Four huge 20m statues of the Pharaoh decorate the façade, which is 35m wide and topped by a frieze of 22 baboons.
The salvage of this huge construction began in 1964 and cost around US$40 million. Between 1964 and 1968 the entire site was cut into large blocks, dismantled and reassembled 65m higher and 200m back from the river. Many consider this one of the greatest feats of archaeological engineering ever undertaken. Some structures were even saved from under the waters of Lake Nasser.

Answer: Rear Admiral Horatio Nelson

The bay of Aboukir lies to the north of Alexandria. This was the scene of one of the most pivotal battles in naval history - The Battle of The Nile. Here, the British fleet of 11 ships finally located the French Mediterranean fleet of 17 warships.
Redviking snail explains that after the battle, Nelson was promoted to Admiral and then went on to meet Emma Hamilton in Naples.
The rest is history!

I hope you've enjoyed the quiz created by various members of les escargot team.