Iraqi History and Politics

Ancient Mesopotamia to the Ottoman Era

24 practice questions, each with the answer and an explanation.

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Random questions from this topic, one at a time. You see the answer and the explanation straight after each one.

All 24 questions

  1. Which people of southern Mesopotamia are credited with developing cuneiform writing?
  2. What does the Greek word 'Mesopotamia' mean?
  3. Which Babylonian king is best known for a law code inscribed on a stele about 1750 BCE?
  4. Who founded the Akkadian Empire, often described as one of the first empires in history?
  5. Which ancient city near modern Mosul was the capital of the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal?
  6. Which ruler is linked with building the Ishtar Gate in Babylon?
  7. The Epic of Gilgamesh is about a king of which Sumerian city?
  8. Which Abbasid caliph founded the city of Baghdad in 762 CE?
  9. Under which Abbasid caliph did the House of Wisdom (Bayt al-Hikma) in Baghdad flourish most as a centre of translation?
  10. In which year was Baghdad sacked by the Mongols under Hulagu Khan?
  11. Which Ottoman sultan captured Baghdad in 1534?
  12. Into which three provinces (vilayets) was Ottoman Iraq mainly divided in the late period?
  13. Which Ottoman governor of Baghdad in the 1860s and 1870s introduced reforms such as a newspaper, a tramway and a modern school system?
  14. Which Sumerian city's ziggurat, built by Ur-Nammu, still stands near Nasiriyah?
  15. Which counting system, used for hours and minutes today, comes from the Sumerians and Babylonians?
  16. Which empire's king, Cyrus the Great, took Babylon in 539 BCE?
  17. Which famous conqueror died in Babylon in 323 BCE?
  18. Which city, north of Baghdad, served as the Abbasid capital from 836 until 892?
  19. Which order lists these events from earliest to latest: Hammurabi's code, the Mongol sack of Baghdad, the Ottoman capture of Baghdad, the British capture of Baghdad?
  20. A historian says a city was founded by an Abbasid caliph, then lost its status as capital for about 56 years, then regained it. Which city and caliph fit?
  21. Which scholar working at the House of Wisdom gave his name to the word 'algorithm' in its Latin form?
  22. Which World War I event took place in Iraq in March 1917?
  23. Which Assyrian city on the Tigris, south of Mosul, was the first Assyrian capital and is a UNESCO World Heritage site?
  24. The Great Ziggurat of Ur dates to about 2100 BCE and Hammurabi's code to about 1750 BCE. How long between them?

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