Egyptian Gods & the Underworld

31 questions · Answers revealed below each question · Print this set

1.What happens to a heart heavier than the feather?
- A. It is given back to the family
- B. It is devoured by Ammit
- C. It is burned at the scales
- D. It is cast into the Nile
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It is devoured by Ammit
Did you know? The hybrid Ammit, part crocodile, hippo and lion, swallows the condemned heart.
2.Which goddess takes the form of a cow, goddess of love, music and joy?
- A. Hathor
- B. Isis
- C. Nut
- D. Sekhmet
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Hathor
Did you know? Hathor, the cow goddess, welcomes the dead and embodies joy and music.
3.What did Horus lose in his battle with Set?
- A. His right hand
- B. His royal crook
- C. His left eye
- D. His wing feathers
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His left eye
Did you know? Set tore out Horus's left eye in combat.
4.To which grandson did Amaterasu hand the three regalia for his earthly rule?
- A. Ninigi
- B. Yamato Takeru
- C. Jimmu
- D. Hoori
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Ninigi
Did you know? Ninigi descended to the peaks of Takachiho bearing mirror, sword and jewel.
5.What is Tantalus's eternal punishment?
- A. Food and water retreat whenever he reaches for them
- B. He must carry fire in his hands
- C. He is shot by arrows daily
- D. He rolls a boulder uphill forever
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Food and water retreat whenever he reaches for them
Did you know? Tantalus stands in water under fruit trees, both forever beyond reach.
6.What is Aaru, the reward of the justified dead?
- A. An island in the sky
- B. A city of golden temples
- C. A hall of eternal banquets
- D. The Field of Reeds, a paradise of harvests
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The Field of Reeds, a paradise of harvests
Did you know? The justified reaped eternal harvests in Aaru, the Field of Reeds.
7.Which ram-headed god molds humans on a potter's wheel?
- A. Geb
- B. Atum
- C. Ptah
- D. Khnum
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Khnum
Did you know? Khnum the potter shapes each child's body on his wheel at birth.
8.What are the three imperial regalia of Japan drawn from myth?
- A. Crown, robe and scepter
- B. Bell, drum and mask
- C. Fan, scroll and seal
- D. Sword, mirror and jewel
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Sword, mirror and jewel
Did you know? The regalia are the sword Kusanagi, the mirror Yata and the jewel Yasakani.
9.Which jackal-headed god leads the dead to the scales?
- A. Duamutef
- B. Wepwawet
- C. Set
- D. Anubis
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Anubis
Did you know? Anubis guides the deceased and supervises the weighing of the heart.
10.Which cobra goddess forms the uraeus on the royal crown?
- A. Meretseger
- B. Renenutet
- C. Wadjet
- D. Nekhbet
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Wadjet
Did you know? Wadjet, the cobra of Lower Egypt, spits fire at the pharaoh's enemies.
11.Which god healed the wounded eye of Horus?
- A. Geb
- B. Thoth
- C. Ra
- D. Ptah
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Thoth
Did you know? Thoth restored the eye, which became the wedjat amulet of healing.
12.What is the Eye of Horus used as in Egyptian culture?
- A. A measure of the Nile flood
- B. A protective and healing amulet
- C. A seal for grain stores
- D. A crown for the queen
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A protective and healing amulet
Did you know? The restored Eye of Horus, the wedjat, guarded the living and the dead.
13.Which emperor, said to descend from Ninigi, founded the imperial line in 660 BC?
- A. Ojin
- B. Nintoku
- C. Jimmu
- D. Sujin
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Jimmu
Did you know? Jimmu, great-grandson of Ninigi, is reckoned Japan's first emperor.
14.Which lioness goddess was sent to punish mankind and pacified with red-dyed beer?
- A. Wadjet
- B. Sekhmet
- C. Bastet
- D. Tefnut
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Sekhmet
Did you know? Ra flooded a field with beer dyed red, and Sekhmet drank it into stupor instead of slaughter.
15.Which ibis-headed god records the verdict of the judgment?
- A. Hapi
- B. Ptah
- C. Khnum
- D. Thoth
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Thoth
Did you know? Thoth writes down the sentence of each weighed heart.
16.Whom does Osiris become after his revival?
- A. King and judge of the dead in the underworld
- B. God of the eastern desert
- C. Keeper of the sun's night barque
- D. Patron of the boat builders
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King and judge of the dead in the underworld
Did you know? Osiris rules the Duat as king of the dead, seated in judgment.
17.What is the Book of the Dead?
- A. A collection of spells to guide the dead through the Duat
- B. A royal chronicle buried with kings
- C. A map of the Nile's course
- D. A list of temple offerings
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A collection of spells to guide the dead through the Duat
Did you know? Book of the Dead scrolls were buried with the dead as a guidebook for the afterlife.
18.Which bird's head does Thoth bear?
- A. The heron
- B. The ibis
- C. The falcon
- D. The vulture
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The ibis
Did you know? Thoth is depicted with the head of the ibis or as a baboon.
19.Which living ruler was identified with Horus, and which dead one with Osiris?
- A. The pharaoh, living and dead
- B. The high priest of Amun
- C. The nomarch of Thebes
- D. The vizier of Memphis
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The pharaoh, living and dead
Did you know? Each pharaoh ruled as Horus alive and became Osiris at death.
20.What is the Duat?
- A. The great pyramid's burial chamber
- B. The sacred lake of each temple
- C. The hall where the gods assemble
- D. The underworld the sun crosses at night
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The underworld the sun crosses at night
Did you know? The Duat is the netherworld of trials crossed nightly by Ra.
21.Which sister of Isis is the wife of Set and mourns beside her at Osiris's bier?
- A. Sekhmet
- B. Nephthys
- C. Nut
- D. Hathor
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Nephthys
Did you know? Nephthys abandoned Set's cause and joined Isis in the mourning rites.
22.Which god finally judged the long dispute between Horus and Set?
- A. Thoth
- B. Geb
- C. Ra
- D. Atum
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Geb
Did you know? Geb divided the land, awarding the throne of Egypt to Horus.
23.Which Sumerian goddess descends to the great below and is stripped at seven gates?
- A. Inanna
- B. Ishtar of the Gilgamesh
- C. Nammu
- D. Ereshkigal
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Inanna
Did you know? Inanna shed a garment at each of Ereshkigal's seven gates, arriving naked and powerless.
24.How many negative confessions did the deceased declare before the judges?
- A. One hundred
- B. Twelve
- C. Forty-two
- D. Seven
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Forty-two
Did you know? The deceased recited forty-two denials, such as "I have not stolen" and "I have not killed".
25.Which lioness-headed goddess embodies moisture and joins Shu as his twin?
- A. Nut
- B. Sekhmet
- C. Tefnut
- D. Hathor
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Tefnut
Did you know? Shu and Tefnut, air and moisture, were the first pair born of Atum.
26.Where did the chest bearing Osiris wash ashore?
- A. At Byblos, grown into a tree's trunk
- B. On the shores of Nubia
- C. In the marshes of the Delta
- D. At the mouth of the Mediterranean
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At Byblos, grown into a tree's trunk
Did you know? Isis traced the chest to Byblos, where a tamarisk had wrapped it in its trunk.
27.Which river of the dead borders Mesopotamian texts' land of no return?
- A. The Gjoll
- B. The Nile
- C. The Hubur
- D. The Lethe
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The Hubur
Did you know? The Hubur's waters none may cross back from the land of no return.
28.What is the name of the judgment chamber where the heart is weighed?
- A. The Chamber of the Scales
- B. The Palace of Silence
- C. The House of Morning
- D. The Hall of Two Truths
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The Hall of Two Truths
Did you know? The weighing took place in the Hall of Two Truths before Osiris.
29.How was Horus conceived after Osiris's death?
- A. Ra molded him from clay
- B. He sprang from Osiris's planted backbone
- C. Isis revived the body with magic and conceived him
- D. He was born of Nut by Atum's decree
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Isis revived the body with magic and conceived him
Did you know? Isis fanned breath into Osiris long enough to conceive Horus.
30.Which three dead kings serve as judges of the dead in Hades?
- A. Laius, Oedipus and Creon
- B. Minos, Rhadamanthys and Aeacus
- C. Agamemnon, Menelaus and Odysseus
- D. Sisyphus, Tantalus and Ixion
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Minos, Rhadamanthys and Aeacus
Did you know? Minos, Rhadamanthys and Aeacus judge the souls entering Hades.
31.Which queen of the great below had Inanna killed and revived?
- A. Ishtar
- B. Tiamat
- C. Ereshkigal
- D. Mictecacihuatl
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Ereshkigal
Did you know? Ereshkigal hung Inanna's corpse on a hook until wise attendants revived her.

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