Quiz created: 140804

The Epic of Gilgamesh (Hero Quiz)

Instructions: Answer the multiple choice questions, guessing if necessary; then click on the "Process Questions" button at the end of the quiz to see your score in the adjacent message box. The program will not reveal which questions you got wrong, only how many points you have. Go back and change your answers until you get them all right. (The message box will rejoice at that point and the page will change color to show it is tickled pink.)

Points to note: (1) Questions with only one possible answer are one point each. (2) Questions with one or more possible answers (represented by check boxes) give a point for each correct answer, but also subtract a point for each wrong answer! (3) The program will not attempt to score your efforts at all if you have not tried at least half of the questions. (4) This quiz is for your own use only. No record of your progress is kept or reported to anyone.


1. According to the procursus, today’s incomplete “standard” text of the Epic of Gilgamesh seems to date from about 1100 BC, but that copy was actually found in excavations of materials from about 600 BC at the Assyrian capital of
Babylon  Ur  Erech  Nineveh  Uta-Napishtim  No Answer
2. In the Gilgamesh flood story, after the flood Uta-Napishtim was ordered by Ea
to return home 
to head to Egypt 
to sail to India 
to dwell in an obscure spot at the mouth of the rivers 
to be fruitful and multiply 
to build a great ziggurat reaching to the very heavens 
No Answer
3. When the people suffered from the corvée obligation that Gilgamesh imposed upon them, the goddess Aruru came to their aid by
striking Gilgamesh with a great lethargy so that he slept for 100 years 
creating for Gilgamesh a dazzlingly beautiful wife, who drew his attention away from his building campaigns 
creating a mighty hunter named Enkidu, destined to become Gilgamesh's friend 
threatening to send a great flood if Gilgamesh finished his building project 
No Answer
4. The goddess Ishtar fell in love with the handsome Gilgamesh and promised him great rewards if he would be her lover. He
reminded her that mortals could not mate with divinities or they would be burnt up 
had sex with her, but once she was impregnated she vanished back into the sky 
had sex with her, but strangely it was Gilgamesh and not Ishtar who became pregnant 
rejected her advances and hurled abusive words at her 
told her that he preferred the company of his beloved friend Enkidu to that of any woman 
became so proud at having "seduced" a goddess that an assembly of gods resolved to make him hideous as a punishment for his pride 
No Answer
5. The legend of the great flood, according to the procursus,
was a very ancient legend that was widely known among the Sumerians, Semites, and other Western Asian peoples 
was borrowed by the Babylonians from the Book of Genesis in the Bible 
was borrowed by the writer of Genesis from the same version of the Gilgamesh story that we have today 
seems to have originated somewhere along the African coast, which is subject typhoon rains 
No Answer
6. The procursus argues that the flood legend seems to have been based on
a deep fear that, however good things are today, they could change very quickly 
a real flood that would have occurred in Lower Babylonia, when the Tigris and Euphrates flooded during heavy rains 
the annual flooding of the Nile as recounted by travelers returning to Mesopotamia, who had never seen such a thing before 
No Answer
7. When Enkidu took sick and died, Gilgamesh
had Enkidu’s mighty heart cut out and covered with gold 
was enraged that Ishtar had killed him 
refused all food until he was too weak to stand 
was terrified that an epidemic might be loose in the land 
consulted his ancestor, an immortal, about how to become immortal 
ordered a huge tomb erected, which was history’s first ziggurat 
composed a beautiful poem in his memory and had it carved on a clay tablet that is now in the Berlin Museum 
composed a beautiful poem in his memory and had it carved on a clay tablet that was stolen from the Baghdad Museum in 2004 
No Answer
8. The story of the great flood was recounted to Gilgamesh by
his ancestor Uta-Napishtim 
the goddess Ishtar 
the goddess Innana 
his friend Enkidu 
the god Ea 
No Answer
9. Gilgamesh procured the plant of immortality from the bottom of the sea, but lost it
to a serpent while he was bathing 
to Enkidu's ghost in a gambling game 
when he rolled down the mountainside as the earth shook 
to a thief, who used it as fuel to warm himself and thereby destroyed it 
to the Witch of Erech, who vanished into the sky with it 
No Answer
10. If Gilgamesh was a real Sumerian king, he probably would have lived about
600 BC  1100 BC  1700 BC  2500 BC  6000 BC  No Answer
11. The procursus argues that the opinion that the Epic of Gilgamesh is great literature rests at least in part on
its Biblical associations 
its treatment of the sweeping theme of human life, death, and destiny 
its compelling story line, unknown in other literature in antiquity 
its compelling story line, which treats life and death more directly than any other literature until the Renaissance 
its enormous influence upon the evolution of literature in India and China 
its enormous influence upon the evolution of literature in Europe 
No Answer
12. As the gods prepared the great flood, Uta-Napishtim was warned of it by Ea, who
spoke from a bush 
appeared to him in a dream 
liked people, including evil ones, and did not want them destroyed 
was determined to prevent Ishtar's evil machinations 
had been appointed by Ishtar as her messenger 
No Answer
13. The great flood swept people away and
made the fishes rejoice 
destroyed all the temples in the land 
allowed the demons of the waters to feed upon the carcasses of the swine and the cattle 
terrified the gods, who fled to the highest heaven and cowered like dogs 
washed away the invading mountain tribes who had been threatening the city of Shuruppak 
No Answer
14. Uta-Napishtim and his wife were made immortals through the intervention of the god Ea with the wrathful
Ishtar  Gilgamesh  Innana  Shamash  Enlil  No Answer
15. When the spirit of Enkidu returned from the dead to talk with Gilgamesh, it
stood higher than the roof 
terrified him 
tried to kill him so that they could be together again 
begged him to jump into a deep chasm and die so that they could be together again 
told him never to eat shellfish or pork 
told him to sacrifice seven goats and seven bulls to make his peace with Enlil 
could provide no help to him 
No Answer
16. According to the procursus, the great lesson of the Epic of Gilgamesh is that
a great hero loses his greatness if he does not serve his people. 
without love, life is not worth living 
even the mightiest king must die 
a flood washes away the worthy and the unworthy alike 
No Answer

      Points out of 16:


Awesomeness Score: The following awesomeness score is a measure of how much guessing you did to get all items right. It is 100 if you got all questions right when you clicked the process button for the first time. It gets proportionately lower if it took more clicks, until it hits 0 if your clicks exceeded the number of questions.



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This consummately cool, pedagogically compelling, self-correcting,
multiple-choice quiz was produced automatically from
a simple text file of questions using D.K. Jordan's
dubiously original, but publicly accessible
Think Again Quiz Maker
of July 28, 2014.