Q 01/05

The name Mesopotamia comes from Greek roots meaning what?

A) Between rivers

B) Land of the sun

C) Fertile plain

D) Two kingdoms

Answer · why

A) Between rivers

Mesos means 'middle' and potamos means 'river'; Arabic and Syriac names for the region carry the same sense, and most of it lies within one modern cou...

Q 02/05

Which two rivers frame the historical region of Mesopotamia?

A) Nile and Jordan

B) Tigris and Euphrates

C) Amu Darya and Syr Darya

D) Danube and Rhine

Answer · why

B) Tigris and Euphrates

The region sits in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent, mostly within modern Iraq.

Q 03/05

Mesopotamia corresponds roughly to the territory of which modern country?

A) Iran

B) Syria

C) Iraq

D) Jordan

Answer · why

C) Iraq

Southwestern Iran lies just beyond it, where the land rises into the Persian plateau.

Q 04/05

What is the name of the earliest known civilization, which arose in southern Mesopotamia?

A) Phoenicia

B) Hatti

C) Elam

D) Sumer

Answer · why

D) Sumer

Its farmers along the two great rivers grew grain surpluses that made the first cities possible.

Q 05/05

The Sumerians called their own land by what name, meaning 'Country of the noble lords'?

A) Kengir

B) Shinar

C) Kalam

D) Emegir

Answer · why

A) Kengir

The familiar modern name comes from the Akkadians who later conquered the Sumerian city-states; Emegir was the Sumerians' word for their language.