FREE! Click here to Join FunTrivia. Thousands of games, quizzes, and lots more!
Quiz about Everything Was Invented In Ancient Egypt 1
Quiz about Everything Was Invented In Ancient Egypt 1

Everything Was Invented In Ancient Egypt 1 Quiz


Egypt is considered to be one of the Cradles of Civilization because of the many inventions that paved the foundation for culture as we known it today. Come along and discover their amazing contributions!

A multiple-choice quiz by ponycargirl. Estimated time: 4 mins.
  1. Home
  2. »
  3. Quizzes
  4. »
  5. History Trivia
  6. »
  7. Ancient History
  8. »
  9. Ancient Egypt

Author
ponycargirl
Time
4 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
387,032
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Average
Avg Score
6 / 10
Plays
945
Awards
Top 5% quiz!
Last 3 plays: Guest 86 (5/10), Guest 75 (1/10), Guest 120 (6/10).
- -
Question 1 of 10
1. Every school child learns that the ancient Egyptians wrote on a type of paper called papyrus. In which of the following forms were papyrus documents typically made? Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. The ancient Egyptians created a 365-day calendar that served as a model for many subsequent peoples. How many months were included in the ancient Egyptian calendar? Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. Which of the following architectural pieces may have been used by the ancient Egyptians to also keep track of time? Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. Although ancient Egyptian shadow clocks were accurate, they were not useful at night or whenever it was cloudy. Which of the following was the earliest alternate type of time piece that was used? Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. Of course, the ancient Egyptians were able to domesticate crops in the fertile Nile River Valley. They had to, however, devise a way to store and move water when the flood waters receded. What was the name of the device that was used to move water to irrigation ditches? Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. Hippocrates is often called the "Father of Medicine". However, centuries earlier a priest from ancient Egypt is believed to have been the world's first known physician. What was his name? Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. The Egyptians were skillful mathematicians, and used their knowledge of geometry to build spectacular monumental structures. What was, however, probably the original use for geometry in ancient Egypt? Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. Cuneiform in ancient Mesopotamia and hieroglyphics in ancient Egypt are believed to have been independently developed in approximately 3200 BC. The ancient Egyptians went on to develop other types of writing, even though they continued to use hieroglyphics for religious and official documents. Which of the following types of writing did they use for less formal documents? Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. The ancient Egyptians had terrible dental problems due in part to the difficulty of keeping the grains of sand out of their food. Many historians believe they created the first breath mint. Which of the following ingredients was NOT part of their recipe? Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. The ancient Egyptians are well-known for popularizing the use of eye makeup. It was not, however, used purely for cosmetic reasons. Which of the following is NOT an explanation of why both men and women in ancient Egypt applied eye makeup? Hint



(Optional) Create a Free FunTrivia ID to save the points you are about to earn:

arrow Select a User ID:
arrow Choose a Password:
arrow Your Email:




Most Recent Scores
Mar 26 2024 : Guest 86: 5/10
Mar 26 2024 : Guest 75: 1/10
Mar 25 2024 : Guest 120: 6/10
Mar 21 2024 : Rickidesign: 5/10
Mar 21 2024 : Guest 81: 6/10
Mar 18 2024 : Guest 31: 8/10
Feb 21 2024 : Eruditio: 7/10
Feb 10 2024 : Buttrey: 7/10
Feb 10 2024 : chessart: 7/10

Score Distribution

quiz
Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. Every school child learns that the ancient Egyptians wrote on a type of paper called papyrus. In which of the following forms were papyrus documents typically made?

Answer: Scroll

It is believed that the ancient Egyptians began to use papyrus for writing as early as the 4th century BC. Made from the stem of the papyrus plant, the outer part was removed to reveal the inner pith, or tissues, which was then cut into strips. While the strips were wet, they were placed side by side, slightly overlapping. More strips were played on top at a right angle, and then the two layers were beaten into a single sheet, dried, and buffed. Each sheet could be made to whatever size was needed. The nature of the material, however, made it impossible to fold the pages without breakage; sheets were, therefore, typically attached at one edge and rolled into a scroll. Prevalent in many ancient cultures, including Greece, Rome and China, the scroll, which was made of many different materials, was eventually replaced by the codex.

Clay tablets were used in Mesopotamia for the writing of cuneiform, and wax tablets were popular in schools because they could be melted down and used again. A codex was made much like modern day books, out of sheets of parchment or other materials, with the pages stacked and bound on one edge. In the modern sense, one of the differences between a codex and a book is that the codex was hand-written.
2. The ancient Egyptians created a 365-day calendar that served as a model for many subsequent peoples. How many months were included in the ancient Egyptian calendar?

Answer: 12

Believed to have been based on the appearance of the star, Sirius, the Egyptian civil calendar, which was a solar calendar, dates back to the time of the Old Kingdom. With twelve months of thirty days each, and an additional 5-day or 6-day (leap year) period, the Egyptians essentially devised the calendar that people in the Western world still use today.

The months were further divided into three ten-day periods called decans, which were called first, middle, and last, with the last two days of each decan serving as the equivalent of the modern weekend. One of the items Julius Caesar brought back from Egypt after following Pompey the Great there during the civil war, was the idea for a new Roman calendar, which was based on the one the Egyptians used.
3. Which of the following architectural pieces may have been used by the ancient Egyptians to also keep track of time?

Answer: Obelisk

Considered to be the world's oldest sundial, a shadow clock dating to approximately 1500 BC was found in the Valley of the Kings. It is believed that obelisks, normally thought to have been built as monuments, were also used in public places as a type of shadow clock as early as 3500 BC. Markers would be placed in the area around an obelisk to show units of time using the length and position of the shadow. Because it was so important for priests to perform rituals at the exact right time of the day, keeping track of time in ancient Egypt was especially important.
4. Although ancient Egyptian shadow clocks were accurate, they were not useful at night or whenever it was cloudy. Which of the following was the earliest alternate type of time piece that was used?

Answer: Water Clock

Egyptian water clocks (the oldest of which there is evidence in the 1400s BC) were essentially instruments from which water leaked from a receptacle with a small opening into a bowl. The bowl would be marked to show hours and the time of day was marked by how much water was in the bowl. A wheel would be turned to show the time that had passed when the bowl was emptied, which was, of course, the main drawback to the clock - the receptacle had to be refilled and the bowl had to be emptied. It was, however, a very efficient way of telling time.

The use of merkhets were also used to keep time in ancient Egypt, however, they appeared much later than the water clock. Pendulums and the hairspring were introduced in Europe much later in the 1600s.
5. Of course, the ancient Egyptians were able to domesticate crops in the fertile Nile River Valley. They had to, however, devise a way to store and move water when the flood waters receded. What was the name of the device that was used to move water to irrigation ditches?

Answer: Shadoof

The ancient Egyptians, knowing that the annual flood would be their only additional source of water that was so desperately needed for irrigating crops, would dig basins to catch and store the floodwater. Having done that, however, it would have been quite some feat to move all of the water without the invention of the shadoof, which was essentially a long pole attached to a frame.

The bucket at the end of the pole would be used to draw the water from the basin, and with very little effort, the pole could be swung and lifted, dumping the water into channels that would take the water to irrigation ditches. Similar devices are still used in Egypt today to distribute water.
6. Hippocrates is often called the "Father of Medicine". However, centuries earlier a priest from ancient Egypt is believed to have been the world's first known physician. What was his name?

Answer: Imhotep

Imhotep must have been some guy! Not only was he the pharaoh's vizier, or advisor, he was also the architect who was given credit for designing Zoser's step pyramid, and the world's first doctor. The famous Edwin Smith Papyrus, which contains medical text, is believed to have been written by Imhotep, who also appears to have been a medical professor, opening a school for doctor's in Egypt's first capital city of Memphis.

He was so revered by the ancient Egyptians that he was worshiped as a minor deity, associated with the god Thoth, who was the god of wisdom, writing, and learning.
7. The Egyptians were skillful mathematicians, and used their knowledge of geometry to build spectacular monumental structures. What was, however, probably the original use for geometry in ancient Egypt?

Answer: Redrawing boundary lines after the annual flood

The Nile River flooded annually; the ferocity of the flood varied from year to year. While sometimes the flood waters would be out of control, other times there was scarcely enough water to irrigate crops. One thing was for certain, though. Every year after the flood property lines would have to be redrawn. Think about what the word geometry means - "land measure".

In addition to creating geometry to redraw property lines, the Egyptians also created a device called the Nilometer in order to study and record the annual flood over time.

It was used primarily to link that year's harvest to the flood and determine what would be owed in taxes.
8. Cuneiform in ancient Mesopotamia and hieroglyphics in ancient Egypt are believed to have been independently developed in approximately 3200 BC. The ancient Egyptians went on to develop other types of writing, even though they continued to use hieroglyphics for religious and official documents. Which of the following types of writing did they use for less formal documents?

Answer: Hieratic

Even though they are glorious and impressive to view, writing hieroglyphics was a bit of a nightmare for ancient Egyptian scribes to write and read. In addition to providing a message, the arrangement of the pictures - that stood for sounds and syllables - could be done in a variety of ways considered by the scribe to be the most aesthetically pleasing. Even after the development of hieratic writing, hieroglyphics was used for formal writing. Hieratic, considered to be a cursive script, was typically the written language used for temple accounts, recipes, and poems.

A later, more abbreviated form of writing, demotic, was used as a shorthand for merchants and traders.
9. The ancient Egyptians had terrible dental problems due in part to the difficulty of keeping the grains of sand out of their food. Many historians believe they created the first breath mint. Which of the following ingredients was NOT part of their recipe?

Answer: Sugar

Ancient Egyptians were plagued by dental problems; the grains of sand in their food caused their teeth to become extremely worn at a young age, leading to abscess formations and other severe problems. It wasn't just worn teeth that caused the problem.

The staple diet of all classes, mostly bread and honey, promoted tooth decay, and tooth decay, of course, promotes bad breath. The breath mints they manufactured were made of a mixture of cinnamon, myrrh, frankincense and honey that was added to a boiling blend of herbs and spices, and then formed into pellets that could be chewed or sucked. Just how widespread was dental disease in ancient Egypt? A study of 4800 mummified remains, published in 2009, showed that ninety percent suffered some sort of dental disease.
10. The ancient Egyptians are well-known for popularizing the use of eye makeup. It was not, however, used purely for cosmetic reasons. Which of the following is NOT an explanation of why both men and women in ancient Egypt applied eye makeup?

Answer: It was a status symbol.

Ancient Egyptians from every walk of life and all ages appear to have used eye makeup. Its use went beyond the decorative, however, they all wanted to look beautiful. Two types of kohl were used, with udju being made from green malachite, and mesdemet, which was made from stibnite or galena.

The goddess Hathor had domain over the region where malachite, which is called kohl today, was mined, so wearing udju would evoke her protection. It was believed that an unadorned eye left a person vulnerable to evil; this belief becomes more apparent when considering the extensive use of the Eye of Horus in Egyptian art.

There is also evidence that the ancients believed the use of eye makeup protected their eyes from the glare of the sun, and the use of galena indicates that it was used as a disinfectant to keep bugs and flies out of the eyes.

The use of eye makeup was not a status symbol, however, the tools for putting on the makeup and receptacles for storing it were.
Source: Author ponycargirl

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor bloomsby before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.
Related Quizzes
This quiz is part of series Ancient Egypt:

I have always been captivated by the history of Ancient Egypt. I bet you have been too!

  1. Tales of the Pharaohs Average
  2. Tales of the Canopic Jar Average
  3. Tales of the Scarab Average
  4. Tales of the Crook and Flail Average
  5. The Beautiful One Has Come Average
  6. The Egyptian Temple Average
  7. Mummy's the Word! Average
  8. The Riddle of The Sphinx Average
  9. Tales of Kadesh Average
  10. Tales of the Rosetta Stone Average
  11. Tales of the Mummy Average
  12. Tales of The Kingdoms Average

3/28/2024, Copyright 2024 FunTrivia, Inc. - Report an Error / Contact Us