The Pyramid Tomb Quiz: Test Your Dakhla Discovery Knowledge

According to the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, archaeologists have uncovered a pyramid-shaped Roman tomb in the Bir al-Shaghala necropolis in Egypt's Dakhla Oasis. The necropolis was the burial ground of the ancient city of Mothis, and the tomb held two plaster-coated burial chambers beneath a mud-brick pyramid, plus a sandstone entrance carved in the Egyptian style. This pyramid tomb quiz starts from that announcement.

The find that drew the most attention was a rectangular sandstone stele fixed into the southern wall of the pyramid structure. Topped with a pediment and a carved sun disk, it carries a funerary poem written in red ink in ancient Greek, dedicated to a man named Psychtis, who a preliminary study suggests may have worked as a judge. The elegy dates to the late third or early fourth century AD, the era of Constantine, whose portrait turned up on a bronze coin found nearby. Officials from the Supreme Council of Antiquities said the stele provides important evidence of literary and cultural life in the oases during the Roman period. The team also recovered pottery vessels and an offering table set above a purification basin.

The entrance was sealed with a stone slab showing Osirian imagery and protective funerary spells. Its lintel carries a scene being documented for the first time at the necropolis: the seventh hour of the Amduat, among the ancient Egyptian Books of the Netherworld. Above the entrance, a later generation built a mudbrick chapel with four square columns, a sign the tomb stayed in use long after the burial.

Did you keep up with the details? This pyramid tomb quiz puts the discovery to the test, from the Dakhla Oasis to the Constantine coin.

The questions

The pyramid tomb quiz starts with the basics and gets more specific. Each question in this pyramid tomb quiz is followed by its answer, so read carefully before you look.

Question 1: where was the tomb found?

A) Saqqara
B) Bir al-Shaghala
C) Valley of the Kings
D) Deir el-Bahri

Answer: B. The tomb stands at Bir al-Shaghala in the Dakhla Oasis, the cemetery of the ancient city of Mothis.

Question 2: the stele was set into which wall of the pyramid structure?

A) North
B) East
C) South
D) West

Answer: C. The sandstone stele was fixed into the southern wall, with its pediment and sun disk facing the chamber.

Question 3: in what language and ink was the poem written?

A) Hieroglyphs in black ink
B) Ancient Greek in red ink
C) Coptic in blue ink
D) Latin in green ink

Answer: B. The poem is a Greek funerary elegy in red ink, dedicated to Psychtis. It shows how literate the oasis was under Roman rule.

Question 4: what job may Psychtis have held?

A) Temple priest
B) Merchant
C) Judge
D) Roman soldier

Answer: C. A preliminary study suggests Psychtis may have served as a judge, a member of the local elite who wrote Greek and paid taxes to Rome.

Question 5: which emperor's face appears on the bronze coin?

A) Augustus
B) Constantine
C) Nero
D) Hadrian

Answer: B. Excavators found a bronze coin with a relief portrait of Constantine, whose reign overlaps with the date of the stele.

Question 6: what decorated the stone slab sealing the entrance?

A) A Greek legal code
B) Osirian imagery and protective funerary spells
C) A map of the oasis
D) An astronomical chart

Answer: B. The entrance was sealed with a sandstone slab showing Osirian imagery, ringed by protective funerary spells.

Score check

If most answers came easily, you followed the pyramid tomb quiz like a field archaeologist. You know the stele, the judge and the coin.

If you split the answers, you have the outlines right. The pyramid tomb quiz rewards the small details: the red ink, the southern wall, the later chapel above the entrance.

If the tomb stayed a mystery, the discovery is worth a second look. A judge buried under a pyramid, mourned in a Greek poem, in a Roman-era oasis, is the kind of detail this pyramid tomb quiz was built for.

That is what this pyramid tomb quiz is for: details that stick because you tested yourself on them. More brain teasers live in the Quizzes section.

Why the find matters

The discovery gives a pyramid tomb quiz plenty to work with: Egyptian spells, a Greek poem, a Roman coin. The Greek elegy points to literary life in the oasis under Roman rule, while the Amduat scene and the protective spells keep older Egyptian funerary customs in place. The mixture of traditions is what makes the find work as a pyramid tomb quiz.

If the pyramid tomb quiz left you curious, the excavation continues. The Supreme Council of Antiquities has worked at Bir al-Shaghala since 2002, and each season turns up more tombs mixing the same traditions. For the full report, see the coverage of the Ministry announcement at Archaeology Magazine.