General knowledge · 12 questions

Ancient Egypt

Beyond the pyramids. Beliefs, daily life and royal surprises. Twelve questions, with a few convincing wrong turns along the way.

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Question 1 of 12

In elaborate Egyptian mummification, which organ was usually left in the body?

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1. In elaborate Egyptian mummification, which organ was usually left in the body?
- A. Brain
- B. Stomach
- C. Lungs
- D. Heart (answer)
The heart was usually retained. The brain was generally removed; practices varied across periods and budgets.
2. Which natural substance helped dry bodies during mummification?
- A. Natron (answer)
- B. Bitumen
- C. Beeswax
- D. Ochre
Natron is a naturally occurring mixture of salts used to remove moisture.
3. In Herodotus's account of elaborate mummification, what happened to the brain?
- A. Stored in a gold vessel
- B. Removed and discarded (answer)
- C. Wrapped with the heart
- D. Left untouched
The brain was removed through the nose and discarded rather than preserved in a canopic jar.
4. What were shabtis intended to do for the deceased?
- A. Identify their birthplace
- B. Measure their wealth
- C. Perform work in the afterlife (answer)
- D. Record military service
Shabtis were magical substitutes expected to undertake tasks for the deceased.
5. What naturally preserved many early Predynastic bodies?
- A. Cedar oil
- B. Dry desert sand (answer)
- C. Linen soaked in wine
- D. Incense smoke
Hot, dry sand preserved some bodies before elaborate artificial mummification developed.
6. In Hunefer's Book of the Dead, the heart is weighed against what?
- A. A gold ring
- B. A lotus flower
- C. A feather of Maat (answer)
- D. A scarab seal
Maat's feather represents truth and the proper order of things.
7. Papyrus writing sheets were made from what?
- A. Flax fibres
- B. Animal skin
- C. Palm leaves
- D. A sedge plant (answer)
Papyrus came from Cyperus papyrus, a sedge, rather than animal skin or flax.
8. What formed the main body of Egyptian faience?
- A. Ground quartz (answer)
- B. Hammered copper
- C. Carved turquoise
- D. Baked limestone
Faience is a glazed quartz-based material, not ordinary clay pottery.
9. Nebamun, known from his tomb-chapel paintings, worked as what around 1350 BCE?
- A. Royal charioteer
- B. Stone mason
- C. Grain accountant (answer)
- D. Military physician
Nebamun accounted for grain at the Temple of Amun in Thebes.
10. How should Nebamun's tomb-chapel paintings be understood?
- A. Exact census records
- B. Greek myth illustrations
- C. Military campaign maps
- D. An idealised vision of life (answer)
They commemorate the prosperous life Nebamun wanted remembered, not an impartial picture of all Egyptians.
11. Which woman assumed the title of king alongside Thutmose III?
- A. Hatshepsut (answer)
- B. Nefertari
- C. Tiye
- D. Ankhesenamun
Hatshepsut became senior co-ruler with Thutmose III during the New Kingdom.
12. Hatshepsut's temple at Deir el-Bahri stands opposite which modern city?
- A. Aswan
- B. Luxor (answer)
- C. Alexandria
- D. Cairo
The temple stands across the Nile from Luxor, in the ancient Theban region.

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