Egyptian Gods & the Underworld

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

1.Which bird of prey is the form of Horus?
- A. The kite
- B. The owl
- C. The eagle
- D. The falcon
Show answer
The falcon
Did you know? Horus appears as a falcon or a falcon-headed man.
2.Which deity is famed as the greatest of Egyptian magicians?
- A. Isis
- B. Sekhmet
- C. Ma'at
- D. Nut
Show answer
Isis
Did you know? Isis's magic tricks Ra himself and revives Osiris.
3.Who is the son of Osiris and Isis who avenges his father?
- A. Set
- B. Horus
- C. Thoth
- D. Anubis
Show answer
Horus
Did you know? Horus battled Set for the throne of his murdered father.
4.Who ferries the souls of the dead across the river of the Greek underworld?
- A. Thanatos
- B. Hermes
- C. Charon
- D. Hades
Show answer
Charon
Did you know? Charon poles his ferry only for souls given the proper burial coin.
5.In the Judgment of the Dead, what is the heart weighed against?
- A. A lock of Isis's hair
- B. A lump of limestone
- C. The feather of Ma'at
- D. A golden scarab
Show answer
The feather of Ma'at
Did you know? The deceased's heart must balance Ma'at's feather to enter paradise.
6.Which hippopotamus goddess protects women in childbirth?
- A. Sekhmet
- B. Ammit
- C. Taweret
- D. Nut
Show answer
Taweret
Did you know? Taweret, pregnant-hippo shaped, stands over cradles as protector.
7.Which self-created god arose from the primordial mound to begin the Ennead?
- A. Atum
- B. Ptah
- C. Geb
- D. Ra
Show answer
Atum
Did you know? Atum, "the completed one," generated the first gods from himself on the primeval hill.
8.Which piece of Osiris could Isis never find, crafting a replacement?
- A. His phallus, eaten by a fish
- B. His tongue
- C. His left eye
- D. His heart
Show answer
His phallus, eaten by a fish
Did you know? A Nile fish swallowed Osiris's phallus, so Isis shaped one of gold.
9.Which Greek underworld river washes memories away?
- A. The Acheron
- B. The Styx
- C. The Cocytus
- D. The Lethe
Show answer
The Lethe
Did you know? Souls drank of Lethe to forget their lives before rebirth.
10.Which status did Ammit hold in the Egyptian pantheon?
- A. A queen of the Duat
- B. A beloved household goddess
- C. A form of Isis in the Delta
- D. A dreaded devourer with no cult of her own
Show answer
A dreaded devourer with no cult of her own
Did you know? Ammit had no temples; she was feared purely as the devourer of the unjust.
11.Which vulture goddess protects Upper Egypt beside Wadjet?
- A. Mut
- B. Nephthys
- C. Isis
- D. Nekhbet
Show answer
Nekhbet
Did you know? Nekhbet, the vulture of Nekhen, and Wadjet together crown the king.
12.Which god rules the deserts, storms and chaos, murderer of Osiris?
- A. Anubis
- B. Apophis
- C. Set
- D. Geb
Show answer
Set
Did you know? Set, lord of the desert, slew his brother Osiris and battled Horus.
13.Which god was the mythical king who brought Egypt civilization before his murder?
- A. Osiris
- B. Atum
- C. Geb
- D. Horus
Show answer
Osiris
Did you know? Osiris taught Egypt agriculture, law and rites before Set's treachery.
14.What was Sisyphus condemned to do forever?
- A. Weave a cloth that unravels
- B. Roll a boulder up a hill that rolls back down
- C. Feed a fire that never catches
- D. Fetch water in a leaky jar
Show answer
Roll a boulder up a hill that rolls back down
Did you know? Sisyphus endlessly pushes his boulder, which rolls back down each time.
15.What does the goddess Ma'at personify?
- A. The rising Nile
- B. Truth, order and justice
- C. War and conquest
- D. Night and the moon
Show answer
Truth, order and justice
Did you know? Ma'at's feather symbolizes truth and cosmic order.
16.Which household dwarf god guards childbirth and the home?
- A. Bes
- B. Ptah
- C. Anubis
- D. Min
Show answer
Bes
Did you know? Bes, the leonine dwarf, warded off evil from mothers and newborns.
17.Which god embodies the earth in the Heliopolitan family?
- A. Geb
- B. Set
- C. Osiris
- D. Atum
Show answer
Geb
Did you know? Geb lies beneath the arched Nut as the earth itself.
18.Which four sons of Horus guard the canopic jars?
- A. Imsety, Hapy, Duamutef and Qebehsenuef
- B. Horus, Osiris, Set and Thoth
- C. The four sons of Ra of Heliopolis
- D. Anubis, Wepwawet, Sed and Ash
Show answer
Imsety, Hapy, Duamutef and Qebehsenuef
Did you know? Horus's four sons guard the stomach, lungs, intestines and liver jars.
19.How many pomegranate seeds did Persephone eat in the underworld?
- A. Six
- B. Twelve
- C. Three
- D. One
Show answer
Six
Did you know? Persephone ate six seeds, binding her to spend part of each year with Hades.
20.Which fiery perils does the Duat also hold?
- A. Columns of burning sand
- B. A single eternal flame
- C. Volcanoes around the gates
- D. Lakes and rivers of fire
Show answer
Lakes and rivers of fire
Did you know? The Duat's lakes of fire guard the passages between the hours.
21.Which feline aspect of the sun is depicted beheading the serpent under the persea tree?
- A. A lion form of Sekhmet
- B. A panther form of Bes
- C. A sphinx form of the pharaoh
- D. A cat form of Ra, per the Book of the Dead
Show answer
A cat form of Ra, per the Book of the Dead
Did you know? In spell seventeen of the Book of the Dead, the cat of Ra cuts off Apophis's head.
22.How many gods make up the Great Ennead of Heliopolis?
- A. Four
- B. Seven
- C. Nine
- D. Twelve
Show answer
Nine
Did you know? The Ennead of Heliopolis counts nine gods, from Atum down to Osiris's family.
23.How did Set lure Osiris into the fatal chest?
- A. He hid it as a gift of grain
- B. He promised the chest to whoever fit inside it
- C. He offered it as a war trophy
- D. He asked Osiris to bless it
Show answer
He promised the chest to whoever fit inside it
Did you know? At a banquet Set promised the ornate chest to whoever fit; Osiris lay down and was sealed in.
24.Which crocodile god guards the Nile's waters?
- A. Sobek
- B. Set
- C. Apophis
- D. Ammit
Show answer
Sobek
Did you know? Sobek, the crocodile god, controlled the Nile's power and fertility.
25.Which god of air lifts the sky goddess above the earth?
- A. Atum
- B. Shu
- C. Geb
- D. Horus
Show answer
Shu
Did you know? Shu stands between Geb the earth and Nut the sky, holding her aloft.
26.Into how many pieces did Set cut Osiris's body?
- A. Thirty
- B. Seven
- C. Twelve
- D. Fourteen
Show answer
Fourteen
Did you know? Set scattered Osiris's fourteen pieces across Egypt.
27.What does Nut do with the sun each night?
- A. She hides it in a mountain cave
- B. She carries it across in a golden boat
- C. She swallows it and gives birth to it at dawn
- D. She shields it from Set with her wings
Show answer
She swallows it and gives birth to it at dawn
Did you know? Nut swallows the sun at evening and bears it again each morning.
28.Which goddess arched her body across the world as the sky?
- A. Isis
- B. Nut
- C. Ma'at
- D. Nephthys
Show answer
Nut
Did you know? Nut, the sky goddess, arches over the earth swallowing the sun at dusk.
29.Which god's realm overlaps the desert cliffs where the dead are buried?
- A. Horus
- B. Seth
- C. Anubis
- D. Min
Show answer
Anubis
Did you know? Anubis presides over the necropolis cliffs west of the Nile.
30.Which god performed the first mummification on Osiris's body?
- A. Horus
- B. Ptah
- C. Thoth
- D. Anubis
Show answer
Anubis
Did you know? Anubis wrapped and embalmed Osiris, inventing the rite of mummification.
31.How did the sword Kusanagi earn its "grass-cutting" name?
- A. It cut back fire-grass in a burning field
- B. It trimmed the sea god's beard
- C. It cleared a forest in one stroke
- D. It mowed a giant's rice fields
Show answer
It cut back fire-grass in a burning field
Did you know? Trapped in a grass fire, Yamato Takeru slashed the grass down with the sword and turned the flames.
32.By what river do the gods swear their unbreakable oaths?
- A. The Styx
- B. The Nile
- C. The Acheron
- D. The Lethe
Show answer
The Styx
Did you know? The gods swear by the Styx, and breaking it brings a year of sleeplessness.

Questions are for entertainment — difficulty ratings are a guide, and you know your crowd best. Always follow the rules of your venue or event.