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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. In the final tablet of the Epic of Gilgamesh, what does Enkidu offer to retrieve for Gilgamesh?
(a) A sword.
(b) A pomegranate seed.
(c) A toy.
(d) Shamhat.

2. In the story of Ishtar, what version does the author use?
(a) The Greek.
(b) The Old Babylonian.
(c) The Sumerian.
(d) The Akkadian.

3. What mercy does Ea grant to Gilgamesh in response to the man's prayers?
(a) He allows Enkidu to bid Gilgamesh a final farewell.
(b) He allows Gilgamesh to become immortal.
(c) He allows Enkidu to return from the underworld.
(d) He allows Gilgamesh to marry.

4. Of what is Ishtar the goddess?
(a) Sexuality.
(b) Hunting.
(c) Water.
(d) Underworld.

5. What do the gods, at the end of Atrahasis's story, amend in every living human?
(a) Their soul.
(b) Free will.
(c) The ability to reason.
(d) Life span.

Short Answer Questions

1. After seven years of famine, to what does mankind resort?

2. What reason does the author give for noting similarities between these myths and other, well-known stories?

3. What is Ishtar's relationship to Ereshkigal?

4. After Gilgamesh passes through the mountains, what creatures does Gilgamesh mistakenly kill?

5. For whom must Ishtar be exchanged in Kurnugi?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Ishtar gain entrance into the Underworld?

2. What reasons does Ereshkigal give for her anguish over losing Nergal?

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

4. Describe Ishtar's journey to see her sister, Ereshkigal, in the Underworld.

5. What is Nergal's offense against Namtar and his penance?

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

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

8. How does mankind react to the drought and famine before the ultimate appearance of the flood?

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

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

(see the answer keys)

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