| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Dioscorus [[dee-oh-SKOHR-uhs]] of this city was deposed at the Council of Chalcedon, and this city was later ruled by a bishop known as "the cat." This city, which replaced an earlier city called Rhakotis, was the site of a major learning site called the Serapeum [[seh- rah-PEH-uhm]], although not quite on the scale of this city's Museion. For the point, what is this Egyptian city which once boasted a massive library? | Alexandria |
| While serving as the court lady to Empress Consort Teishi [[TAY-SHEE]] during this period, Sei [["SAY"]] Shōnagon wrote a collection of her personal musings known as The Pillow Book. This period witnessed the beginnings of the samurai under the guidance of the Fujiwara Clan. The Nara Period followed, for the point, what epoch which began with Emperor Kanmu and saw the establishment of Japan's capital at Kyoto? | Heian Period (or Heian Jidai) |
| Members of this body signed the Treaty of the Common Peace, which created a Synedrion to serve as a congress, though it was led by a hegemon who won the 337 BCE Battle of Chaeronea [[kay-roh-NAY-uh]]. This body, formed by Philip II, was sometimes named for Corinth, where it first convened. For the point, name this alliance of Greek city states that jointly opposed Achaemenid [[ah-kah-MEH-nihd]] Persia. | Hellenic League (accept League of Corinth before “Corinth” is mentioned) |
| Dascylium [[dah-skeh-LEH-uhm]] was occupied in the aftermath of this battle before its winning commander led a march on nearby Sardis. Charles le Brun depicts Spithridates [[spith-rih-DAY-tees]] attacking the victor of this battle, fought in the historian region of Troad in what is now the Biga Peninsula of Turkey. For the point, name this first major victory of Alexander the Great over the Persian Empire? | Battle of the Granicus River |
| One of this leader's appointed successors, Lucius Verus, died while fighting in the Marcomanni Wars in 169 CE. This emperor’s namesake wall in Scotland was built beyond Hadrian’s Wall, his predecessor, to allow the Romans to occupy lowland Scotland. Nicknamed the “cumin-splitter,” this is, for the point, what member of the "Five Good Emperors," whose successor was Marcus Aurelius? | Antoninus Pius (accept Titus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Pius; prompt on “Antonine Wall”) |
| While serving in the court of this empire, Aryabhata [[ahr-yah-BAH-tah]] may have been the first polymath to recognize the number zero in the Bakhshali Manuscript. The Mahabodhi [[mah-hah-BOH-dee]] Temple was built by this empire, whose ruler, Samudragupta, kept track of his tributaries on the Allahabad Inscription. Two kings whose names began with "Chandra" ruled, for the point, what North Indian empire that began in the 4th century? | Gupta Empire |
| This man's father, Sneferu, is recorded in the Palermo Stone as building the Tuatua ships of mer wood in an effort to invade neighboring Libya and Nubia. During the Second Intermediate Period, a work in Hieratic [["high"-RAH-tik]] script called the Westcar Papyrus records the The Tales of [this man's] Court. The only Seven Wonders of the Ancient World still standing was commissioned by, for the point, which pharaoh, who commissioned the Great Pyramid of Giza? | Khufu (accept Cheops) |
| This ruler, assisted by Chancellor Li Si, implemented Legalist policies, which resulted in the burning and execution of Confucian scholars. The final campaigns of the Warring States Period led to this man's reign as emperor, which saw the beginning of the construction of the Great Wall of China. For the point, name this first emperor of China who was buried in Xian [[SHEE-AHN]] with his terracotta army. | Qin Shi Huang Di (or Ying Zheng; or Zhao Zheng; or King Zheng of Qin; or Shi Huangdi) |
| This era began with Hyksos [[HIK-sohs]] driven out of the Nile Valley. During this era, one monarch was murdered in the Harem Conspiracy, and that monarch was this era's last conqueror, Ramesses III. During this era, the world's first peace treaty was signed with the Hittites following the Battle of Kadesh. Ramesses II developed the "Valley of the Kings" during, for the point, what last of Egypt's three great ancient "kingdoms"? | New Kingdom (prompt on "Egyptian Empire") |
| A commander of this military force, Adherbal, captured a contingent led by Publius Claudius Pulcher at Drepani following his rash decision to lead an assault in the middle of the night. Roman engineers developed the corvus, a type of boarding device, to combat this specific military force. For the point, name this military apparatus of Carthage which fought the Battle of Mylae [[ME-leh]] in the Tyrrhenian [[tee-RIH-nee-ehn]] Sea during the First Punic War. | Carthaginian Navy |
| Following the expulsion of the Xiongnu [[ZHEE-AHNG-NOO]], general Ban Chao sent an expedition along this route in an attempt to find an empire centered on Daqin [[DAH- "CHIN"]]. Ürümqi [[OO-ROOM-CHEE]], Loulan, and Kashgar were oasis cities of the Taklamakan [[tah-klah-MAH-kehn]] Desert along this route. For the point, name this ancient trade route connecting East Asia to the Red Sea, named for a valuable linen produced in China? | The Silk Road (accept the Maritime Silk Road) |
| A eunuch from this dynasty named Zheng Zhong helped Emperor He [[HUH]] overthrow Empress Dowager Dou [[DOO]], and a Daoist movement founded during this dynasty required followers to donate five pecks of rice. This dynasty is split into “Western” and “Eastern” phases separated by the rebellion of Wang Mang. The Three Kingdoms period followed, for the point, what dynasty that names China’s largest ethnic group? | Han Dynasty (or Hàncháo) |
| This institution faded from relevance and was replaced by a distinction between "humble" and "honest" people starting in the third century CE. This institution was often extended to new cities "without the vote," or the alternative of "Latin rights" was given. For the point, what is this institution, a member of which was given full political rights in the Roman Empire? | Roman Citizenship (or Civitas) |
| This dynasty’s final king died near the “Lake of Wine and Forest of Meat” after losing the Battle of Muye [[MOO-YEH]]. The degeneracy of this dynasty’s final king led to the promulgation of the Mandate of Heaven. King Zhou [[ZHOH]] was the last king of, for the point, what Chinese dynasty that overthrew the Xia [[ZHEE-AH]] dynasty and preceded the Zhou dynasty? | Shang Dynasty (or Shāng Cháo; accept Yin Dynasty; or Yin Dai; accept King Zhou of Shang) |
| The lack of physical development in a statue of a "Squatting" man in this profession led historians to speculate that these people were exempt from physical labor. Thoth served as the patron saint of this profession, while an official in this profession named Thanuny is the primary source on the 15th century BCE Battle of Megiddo. The royal records and government bureaucracy was maintained by members of, for the point, which profession who wrote on papyrus? | Scribes (prompt on "Writers" or similar answers) |
| One historian wrote that victims of this event would see ghost ships out at sea before dying. Procopius [[proh-KOH-pee-ehs]] wrote that this event started from the port city of Pelusium and that this event's sparing of a namesake emperor showed that it tended to leave the worst people alive. Likely starting in Central Asia and believed to have been transmitted to humans via fleas jumping from rats, this is, for the point, what is this pestilence, the first known outbreak of yersinia pestis? | Plague of Justinian (prompt on "Bubonic Plague"; prompt on "Yersinia Pestis" before mentioned; do not accept "Black Death" or "Black Plague") |
| Outside this city are the sacred caves of Balankanche [[bahl-ahn-KAHN-cheh]], which contain a series of idols, including one of the thunder deity, Bacab. This city was bequeathed to the nobleman Hunac Ceel after he survived a night in a namesake well by the grace of Chaac, the rain god. The Temple of Kukulcán [[koo-kool-KAHN]] is the centerpiece of, for the point, which Late Classical Mayan city-state in the Yucatán? | Chichén Itzá |
| A portion of this object is known as the “mercy seat” and depicts two cherubim, between which one being was said to have spoken. The son of a queen who supposedly ruled southern Yemen, Menelik, was said to have brought this object to one country, where it is supposedly housed in a Tewahedo Church in the city of Axum. The Jordan River turned dry as the Levites crossed while holding, for the point, what holy relic of Judaism? | Ark of the Covenant |
| Potbelly examples of these specific structures litter the Takalik [[tah-KAH-"leak"]] Abaj site, a prominent 10th century center of commerce. These structures, which were built out of volcanic basalt sourced in the Tuxtla Sierra Mountains, were first found at the site of Tres Zapotes [[zah-POH-tehs]]. Headgear possibly worn in the Mesoamerican ball game is depicted in, for the point, what large stone statues that are hallmarks of the Olmec civilization? | Olmec Colossal Heads (prompt on partial answers) |
| While transporting his troops to Rhegium across this body of water, Pyrrhus [[“PEER”-rhus]] of Epirus lost two-thirds of his navy to the Carthaginians and was forced to flee to Locri. The mythical Scylla [[SIH-lah]] and Charybdis [[kah-"RIB"-dis]] legendarily flanked the two edges of this strait, preying on passing ships. A Sicilian port city names, for the point, what strait, which separates Sicily from the Italian mainland? | Strait of Messina (accept in either order) |
| This civilization, which utilized the vertical archipelago to demand agricultural tribute, ran a command economy that at times required subjects to repair rope bridges. Those bridges were used by this civilization's running messengers, or chasquis [[CHAHS-kees]], who carried messages between its four provinces. For the point, name this civilization that, instead of writing out messages, knotted quipu [[KEE-poo]]. | Incans (accept Tawantinsuyu; prompt on “Four Parts Together”) |
| The Greuthungi and Thervingi [[tehr-VIHN-gee]] were the most powerful groups of this tribe in the 4th century, before the Huns invaded their lands. Under King Alaric I, this tribe began a long migration to the Iberian Peninsula, where they formed a kingdom at Toledo. Later, this tribe established a kingdom in modern-day Ravenna under the tutelage of Theodoric the Great. For the point, name this collective Germanic tribe that played a large role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire. | Goths (or Gothi; accept Ostrogoths or Visigoths) |
| A food shortage during this man’s reign inspired him to establish the position of praefectus annonae [[preh-FEHK-tehs ah-NOH-nay]], which contributed to the Roman public’s perception of this man as a dictator. This emperor's soldiers lost the Battle of Teutoberg Forest, years after his ally, Marcus Agrippa, helped him secure control of the empire at the Battle of Actium. The Pax Romana began with the reign of, for the point, what first Roman Emperor? | Caesar Augustus (accept Octavian; or Gaius Octavius) |
| Milman Perry's travels in Yugoslavia led him to argue that this man worked in a long- established oral tradition, which is often used to explain the seeming historicity of this man's "catalogue of ships." Whether this man existed is the subject of his namesake "question," and Heinrich Schliemann set out to prove that events described by this man did indeed happen. For the point, name this poet of the Iliad and Odyssey. | Homer |
| This person rose to power when his Argead father was assassinated by Pausanias [[pah-“SAY”-nee-ehs]] of Orestis. Little is known about the Indian king Porus except that he was the last leader to suffer a major defeat at this man’s hands, at the Battle of Hydaspes [[“high”-DAS-peez]]. For the point, name this Macedonian general whose career ushered in the Hellenistic Age. | Alexander the Great (accept Alexander III of Macedon) |
| It's not tin, but early cultures in the Aegean fashioned this metal into distinctive “oxhide” ingots. The island of Cyprus was named for the large deposits of this metal found on it. An archeological age called the “Chalco-” is named for this metal, and preceded one named for an alloy of this metal and tin. For the point, name this main component of bronze with atomic number 29 and symbol Cu. | Copper |