Ancient world wonders that still exist
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Ancient World Wonders That Still Exist — Daily trivia Tuesday, September 8, 2026: questions and answers
All 10 questions with answers and explanations. Play this daily
Q 01What once covered the Great Pyramid, making it gleam in sunlight?
- APolished white limestone
- BGold leaf
- CPainted plaster
- DRed granite
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Polished white limestone
Polished white limestone from Tura once cased the Great Pyramid, and after medieval earthquakes many casing stones were reportedly carted off to build Cairo.
Q 02The Colosseum's name is thought to come from a giant statue of which emperor?
- ANero
- BAugustus
- CTrajan
- DCaligula
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Nero
Nero. His 30-metre bronze Colossus was moved to stand beside the amphitheatre around 128, and the building's popular name is believed to come from that statue.
Q 03Which Athens temple did the Ottomans use as a gunpowder store until a Venetian shell blew it apart?
- AParthenon
- BErechtheion
- CTemple of Hephaestus
- DTemple of Olympian Zeus
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Parthenon
Parthenon. On 26 September 1687 a Venetian mortar shell hit the munitions stored inside, and the blast killed about 300 people and destroyed the roof and most of the walls.
Q 04Which well-preserved Roman building has a massive unreinforced concrete dome?
- AArch of Constantine
- BMausoleum of Hadrian
- CTrajan's Column
- DPantheon
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Pantheon
Nearly two thousand years on, the Pantheon's coffered dome is still the largest unreinforced concrete dome in the world, lit through the oculus open to the sky at its centre.
Q 05Petra's 'Treasury' got its name from a legend about what?
- AGold hidden in its rooftop urn
- BNabataean tax vaults inside
- CA Roman legion's payroll
- DCrusader loot walled up
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Gold hidden in its rooftop urn
Gold hidden in its rooftop urn, supposedly by a pharaoh, was pure legend: Al-Khazneh is a Nabataean royal tomb, and Bedouin who shot at the solid stone urn for years only left bullet scars.
Q 06Which Maya city's pyramid casts a serpent shadow at the equinox?
- APalenque
- BChichen Itza
- CCopán
- DTikal
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Chichen Itza
Chichen Itza. Around the equinoxes, late-afternoon sun throws triangular shadows down El Castillo's staircase balustrade like a crawling serpent, though whether that was designed is unknown.
Q 07What covers Sigiriya's polished 'Mirror Wall' in Sri Lanka?
- ACenturies-old visitor graffiti
- BGold leaf
- CBuddhist sutras
- DMaps of the kingdom
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Centuries-old visitor graffiti
Centuries-old visitor graffiti: more than 1,500 verses, some from the 8th century but most from the 9th and 10th, many of them addressed to the painted ladies on the rock.
Q 08Which Egyptian temple has a medieval mosque built into its courtyard?
- ALuxor Temple
- BMedinet Habu
- CTemple of Kom Ombo
- DTemple of Edfu
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Luxor Temple
Luxor Temple lay so deep under centuries of debris that the medieval Abu Haggag mosque was built on top of its court; when the temple was dug out, the mosque stayed, perched high above the floor.
Q 09Which Inca fortress-temple with massive interlocking dry-stone walls overlooks Cusco?
- AMachu Picchu
- BOllantaytambo
- CSacsayhuaman
- DPisac
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Sacsayhuaman
Sacsayhuaman's dry-stone walls fit so tightly without mortar that a sheet of paper won't go between many stones, and its largest limestone block may weigh almost 200 tonnes.
Q 10What silenced the 'singing' Colossus of Memnon around 200 AD?
- ARepairs that sealed its cracks
- BA second earthquake
- CSand burying its base
- DPriests plugging its hollow
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Repairs that sealed its cracks
Repairs that sealed its cracks, which tradition credits to Septimius Severus around 199, probably ended the dawn sound the statue had made since a 27 BC earthquake cracked it.
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