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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What threat does Ishtar use when addressing the gatekeeper of the Underworld?
(a) She will kill Namtar.
(b) She will make the dead rise to prey on the living.
(c) She will force Ereshkigal to leave her throne.
(d) She will not allow another soul to pass through the gates.

2. What gesture does Ninsun extend before Gilgamesh and Enkidu go to stop Humbaba?
(a) She adopts Enkidu as another son.
(b) She blesses Enkidu.
(c) She asks Gilgamesh and Enkidu to pray with her.
(d) She disowns Gilgamesh so that he will carry no guilt of abandonment with him on his journey.

3. Who is Ereshkigal?
(a) Queen of the mountains.
(b) Queen of the Underworld.
(c) Goddess of the sun.
(d) Goddess of the earth.

4. What happens to the plant Gilgamesh took from the Apsu?
(a) It is stolen by Ishtar.
(b) It is lost in a storm.
(c) It is stolen by a snake.
(d) It is eaten by Gilgamesh in a trick from Ishtar.

5. Of what is Ishtar's father the god?
(a) The sun.
(b) The moon.
(c) The earth.
(d) The seas.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is unique about the plant Gilgamesh retrieves from the Apsu?

2. When sent from the Underworld, why is Namtar unable to locate Nergal?

3. What does Enki give Belet-ili?

4. What Phoenician god might be based on the legend of Ereshkigal and Nergal?

5. Fill in the blank: The ancient civilization of these myths can be found between the Tigris and the _______.

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe Gilgamesh's journey to see Ut-napishtim (or Atrahasis)?

2. How does Atrahasis initially save the world from ruin before the flood?

3. Where is the approximate location of Mesopotamia in the modern world?

4. According to the author, why is it important that people understand the origins of several well-known stories as well as knowing more about the time period from which these stories were born?

5. What must Namtar avoid doing while in the Underworld serving out his punishment?

6. How do the fates of Dumuzi and Belili explain the seasons and rituals of Mesopotamia?

7. Why is Namtar sent above ground to the feast in the story of Nergal and Ereshkigal?

8. How does Enkidu escape from the Underworld on an alternate tablet?

9. Describe the purpose and function of some of the many different features of this book.

10. According to the story of Atrahasis, how and why was man created?

(see the answer keys)

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