Civilizations & Empires

32 questions · Answers revealed below each question · Print this set

1.Which civilization developed astronomy and writing in Mesoamerica?
- A. the Vikings
- B. the Phoenicians
- C. the Maya
- D. the Minoans
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the Maya
Did you know? The Maya developed sophisticated calendars and writing.
2.Which civilization invented writing in Mesopotamia around 3200 BC?
- A. the Sumerians
- B. the Etruscans
- C. the Olmecs
- D. the Vikings
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the Sumerians
Did you know? The Sumerians created cuneiform, the earliest known writing.
3.Which civilization built the temples of Angkor?
- A. the Phoenicians
- B. the Khmer Empire
- C. the Olmecs
- D. the Minoans
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the Khmer Empire
Did you know? The Khmer Empire ruled Southeast Asia from Angkor.
4.Which empire ruled a quarter of the world's land and population?
- A. Achaemenid Empire
- B. Assyrian Empire
- C. Ottoman Empire
- D. British Empire
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British Empire
Did you know? At its peak the British Empire covered about a quarter of the world's land.
5.Which dynasty gave England five monarchs including Henry VIII?
- A. Habsburg dynasty
- B. Han dynasty
- C. Tudor dynasty
- D. Song dynasty
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Tudor dynasty
Did you know? The Tudors ruled England from 1485 to 1603.
6.Which dynasty is celebrated as a golden age of Chinese poetry?
- A. Han dynasty
- B. Tudor dynasty
- C. Habsburg dynasty
- D. Tang dynasty
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Tang dynasty
Did you know? The Tang dynasty is considered a golden age of Chinese culture.
7.Which period spanned roughly the 5th to the 15th century?
- A. the Bronze Age
- B. the Middle Ages
- C. the Enlightenment
- D. the Roaring Twenties
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the Middle Ages
Did you know? The Middle Ages stretched from Rome's fall to the Renaissance.
8.Which empire built the Taj Mahal at its height?
- A. Holy Roman Empire
- B. Byzantine Empire
- C. Mughal Empire
- D. Mali Empire
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Mughal Empire
Did you know? The Mughal Empire ruled most of the Indian subcontinent.
9.Which empire grew rich on West African gold and salt under Mansa Musa?
- A. Achaemenid Empire
- B. Mali Empire
- C. Assyrian Empire
- D. Austro-Hungarian Empire
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Mali Empire
Did you know? The Mali Empire flourished on trans-Saharan gold and salt trade.
10.Which empire endured for a thousand years after the fall of the West?
- A. Achaemenid Empire
- B. Spanish Empire
- C. Mughal Empire
- D. Byzantine Empire
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Byzantine Empire
Did you know? The Byzantine Empire outlived the Western Roman Empire by a millennium.
11.Which period jazzed through the decade before the 1929 crash?
- A. the Middle Ages
- B. the Roaring Twenties
- C. the Enlightenment
- D. the Renaissance
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the Roaring Twenties
Did you know? The Roaring Twenties ended with the Wall Street Crash.
12.Which civilization preceded the Romans in central Italy?
- A. the Etruscans
- B. the Olmecs
- C. the Maya
- D. the Vikings
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the Etruscans
Did you know? The Etruscans flourished in central Italy before Rome's rise.
13.Which period championed reason in 18th-century Europe?
- A. the Enlightenment
- B. the Space Age
- C. the Renaissance
- D. the Roaring Twenties
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the Enlightenment
Did you know? The Enlightenment prized reason, science and individual rights.
14.Which civilization built Europe's first great palaces on Crete?
- A. the Minoans
- B. the Vikings
- C. the Maya
- D. the Olmecs
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the Minoans
Did you know? The Minoan civilization flourished on the island of Crete.
15.Which dynasty ruled much of Europe through strategic marriages?
- A. Habsburg dynasty
- B. Han dynasty
- C. Tudor dynasty
- D. Joseon dynasty
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Habsburg dynasty
Did you know? The Habsburgs expanded by marriage: "Let others wage war; you, happy Austria, marry."
16.Which empire was ruled from Constantinople for over 600 years?
- A. Spanish Empire
- B. Ottoman Empire
- C. Holy Roman Empire
- D. Austro-Hungarian Empire
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Ottoman Empire
Did you know? The Ottoman Empire lasted from 1299 to 1922.
17.Which dynasty opened the Silk Road trade route?
- A. Han dynasty
- B. Habsburg dynasty
- C. Tudor dynasty
- D. Joseon dynasty
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Han dynasty
Did you know? The Han dynasty opened and protected the Silk Road.
18.Which empire preceded Mali as a West African gold power?
- A. Mali Empire
- B. Ghana Empire
- C. Austro-Hungarian Empire
- D. Holy Roman Empire
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Ghana Empire
Did you know? The Ghana Empire thrived on gold trade centuries before Mali.
19.Which period rebirthed classical art and learning in Italy?
- A. the Roaring Twenties
- B. the Renaissance
- C. the Middle Ages
- D. the Bronze Age
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the Renaissance
Did you know? The Renaissance began in 14th-century Italy.
20.Which empire was the largest empire of the ancient world?
- A. Mughal Empire
- B. Achaemenid Empire
- C. Spanish Empire
- D. Mali Empire
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Achaemenid Empire
Did you know? The Achaemenid Persian Empire was the largest of its time.
21.Which civilization carved colossal stone heads in Mesoamerica?
- A. the Olmecs
- B. the Vikings
- C. the Minoans
- D. the Maya
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the Olmecs
Did you know? The Olmecs are often called Mesoamerica's mother culture.
22.Which period preceded the Iron Age in human toolmaking?
- A. the Bronze Age
- B. the Roaring Twenties
- C. the Space Age
- D. the Renaissance
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the Bronze Age
Did you know? The Bronze Age preceded the Iron Age.
23.Which dynasty led the world in printing, gunpowder and paper money?
- A. Tudor dynasty
- B. Song dynasty
- C. Joseon dynasty
- D. Habsburg dynasty
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Song dynasty
Did you know? Song China led the world in technology and commerce.
24.Which civilization sailed from Scandinavia to raid and settle across Europe?
- A. the Maya
- B. the Vikings
- C. the Etruscans
- D. the Minoans
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the Vikings
Did you know? Viking sailors reached Iceland, Greenland and North America.
25.Which empire built its power on history's first professional army?
- A. Mughal Empire
- B. Ottoman Empire
- C. Austro-Hungarian Empire
- D. Assyrian Empire
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Assyrian Empire
Did you know? The Assyrian Empire fielded the ancient world's first professional army.
26.Which empire collapsed at the end of World War I into successor states including Austria and Hungary?
- A. Byzantine Empire
- B. Mughal Empire
- C. Austro-Hungarian Empire
- D. Achaemenid Empire
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Austro-Hungarian Empire
Did you know? The Austro-Hungarian Empire dissolved in 1918.
27.Which dynasty ruled Korea for over five centuries?
- A. Joseon dynasty
- B. Habsburg dynasty
- C. Tang dynasty
- D. Song dynasty
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Joseon dynasty
Did you know? The Joseon dynasty ruled Korea from 1392 to 1897.
28.Which period began with Sputnik's launch in 1957?
- A. the Space Age
- B. the Middle Ages
- C. the Roaring Twenties
- D. the Bronze Age
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the Space Age
Did you know? The Space Age began with Sputnik 1 in 1957.
29.Which empire is often called history's first empire?
- A. Akkadian Empire
- B. British Empire
- C. Spanish Empire
- D. Ghana Empire
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Akkadian Empire
Did you know? The Akkadian Empire of Mesopotamia is often considered history's first empire.
30.Which civilization spread the alphabet across the Mediterranean?
- A. the Etruscans
- B. the Sumerians
- C. the Minoans
- D. the Phoenicians
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the Phoenicians
Did you know? The Phoenicians spread the alphabet later adapted by the Greeks.
31.Which empire was called "the empire on which the sun never sets"?
- A. Assyrian Empire
- B. Akkadian Empire
- C. Holy Roman Empire
- D. Spanish Empire
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Spanish Empire
Did you know? The Spanish Empire was the first empire described as one where the sun never set.
32.Which empire was famously described as neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire?
- A. Ottoman Empire
- B. Holy Roman Empire
- C. Mali Empire
- D. Akkadian Empire
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Holy Roman Empire
Did you know? Voltaire quipped that the Holy Roman Empire was none of its three names.

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