Geography of the Middle East Quiz

Question: Where is the site of Mesopotamia, one of the cradles of civilization?

Answer: Called Mesopotamia (“Land Between the Rivers”) in Classical times, the region’s extensive alluvial plains gave rise to one of the world’s earliest civilizations.

Question: The ancient fortress of Masada overlooks what body of water?

Answer: Masada is an ancient mountaintop fortress in southeastern Israel that occupies the entire top of an isolated mesa near the southwest coast of the Dead Sea. It was the site of the Jews' last stand against the Romans after the fall of Jerusalem in 70 CE.

Question: In what country would you find Lake Tiberias, better known as the Sea of Galilee?

Answer: The Sea of Galilee is a lake in Israel through which the Jordan River flows. It is famous for its biblical associations. Located 686 feet (209 metres) below sea level, it has a surface area of 64 square miles (166 square km).

Question: What major Iranian city situated on the north bank of the Zayandeh River is famous for its Islamic architecture?

Answer: Eṣfahān is a major city of western Iran famous for its Islamic architecture. Situated on the north bank of the Zayandeh River, Eṣfahān is roughly 210 miles (340 km) south of the capital city of Tehrān.

Question: What city in Syria is thought to be the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world?

Answer: The city of Damascus is thought to be the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world. It is the capital of Syria. Its Arabic name (colloquially al-Shām, meaning “the northern,” as located from Arabia) derives from Dimashka, a word of pre-Semitic etymology, suggesting that the beginnings of Damascus go back to a time before recorded history.

Question: What city of southwestern Iran is famous as the birthplace of the Persian poets Saʿdī and Ḥāfeẓ?

Answer: Shīrāz is the capital of Fārs province in southwestern Iran. It is the birthplace of the Persian poets Saʿdī and Ḥāfeẓ, whose garden tombs lie on the northern outskirts.

Question: Which of these is a port city on the Strait of Hormuz?

Answer: Bandar-e ʿAbbās was established in 1623 by Shāh ʿAbbās I  to replace the city of Hormuz, which had been captured by the Portuguese about 1514.

Question: What is the name given to the broad agriculturally productive region of the Middle East that marks the birthplace of civilization?

Answer: The Fertile Crescent is the region where the civilizations of the Middle East and the Mediterranean basin began. The Fertile Crescent includes a roughly crescent-shaped area of relatively fertile land that probably had a more moderate, agriculturally productive climate in the past than today, especially in Mesopotamia and the Nile valley.