Q 01/05

What use did engineers building the Lahore–Multan railway find for the ruins of Harappa in 1857?

A) Track ballast

B) Lime for mortar

C) Canal embankments

D) Army barracks

Answer · why

A) Track ballast

Track ballast for nearly 160 km of line between Multan and Lahore was made from Harappa's ancient bricks, wrecking much of the site before anyone knew...

Q 02/05

Which gaming objects, still thrown for luck today, have been dug up at Mohenjo-daro and other Indus sites?

A) Dominoes

B) Chess pieces

C) Dice

D) Knucklebones

Answer · why

C) Dice

Dice with one to six holes on their faces were among the Harappans' toys and games, so the six-sided roll predates most written history.

Q 03/05

Starch grains in pots and on teeth at the Indus site of Farmana show which two spices cooked over 4,000 years ago?

A) Cumin and coriander

B) Ginger and turmeric

C) Pepper and cardamom

D) Cinnamon and clove

Answer · why

B) Ginger and turmeric

Ginger and turmeric residues make Farmana the earliest known case of a civilisation cooking with spices, 4,500 years before curry had a name.

Q 04/05

In Sindhi, the modern name of Mohenjo-daro, one of the largest Indus Valley cities, has been read to mean what?

A) City of Bricks

B) Hill of Kings

C) Gate of the River

D) Mound of the Dead

Answer · why

D) Mound of the Dead

Mound of the Dead is a name the city acquired long after it was abandoned; its original name is unknown, and the site was designated a UNESCO World He...

Q 05/05

Unlike contemporary Egypt and Mesopotamia, Indus Valley cities have yielded no conclusive evidence of which buildings?

A) Baths or workshops

B) Wells or drains

C) Granaries or kilns

D) Palaces or temples

Answer · why

D) Palaces or temples

Palaces or temples are missing even though the Harappans clearly had the engineering skill, suggesting worship happened at home, in small shrines or i...