middle east quiz

The Middle East Quiz

General RulesThe questions will only be based on the 17 Middle Eastern countries. This quiz is for understanding those countries and their people.

There will be hints in the questions itself, but don’t hesitate to ask for clues.

There will be constant elimination throughout the entire quiz. So stock up as much points as you can.

Controversies and confusions, if any, will be discussed after the quiz.

Round 1The questions will only be based on the 17 Middle Eastern countries. This quiz is for understanding those countries and their people. (The first rule).

The first round is a List it round.

List all the 17 Middle Eastern countries.

+5 for every correct answer. +10 extra, if all answers are correct.

12 highest scoring teams will move on to the next round.

Before you start writing, Afghanistan and Pakistan are sometimes considered as a part of Middle East, but it’s a stretch, so excluding them. Also other North African countries are excluded except one(that will be in the answer). Also Libya and Morocco are a part of the Arab world, but not the Middle East. Armenia and Azerbaijan are also not included.

BahrainCyprusEgyptIranIraqIsraelJordanKuwaitLebanon

The 17 Middle Eastern countries

OmanPalestineQatarSaudi ArabiaSyriaTurkeyUAEYemen

Round 212 Questions. Clockwise. Bounce.

+10/-10 on answering correct/wrong pounce.

+10/0 on direct and indirect trials.

No elimination. But stock up points for the later elimination(s).

1. Al-Fateh (meaning, the conqueror) is an Islamic children's magazine in Arabic. It is published by ‘X’ biweekly in London, and is also posted online “www.al-fateh.net”. It began publication in September 2002, and its 108th issue was released in mid-September 2007. The magazine features stories, poems, riddles, and puzzles. The site states it is for "the young builders of the future".

‘X’ can be related to the Arabic phrase االسالمية المقاومMة or Harakat حركMةal-Muqāwama al-Islāmiyya, meaning "Islamic Resistance Movement". The Arabic word ‘X' حماس) )means courage or zeal.

Solve for ‘X’.

2. The reconstruction may be intuitively done by taking any two strips Si,p and Si,q and visually match their edges to see if there is a continuity between them. Matching the edges of Si,p and Si,q takes four steps at the most (see Algorithm 1). The optimal reconstruction can be achieved via brute-force method that takes all possible pairs of Si,p and Si,q totaling to at most (n×m)^2 combinations (or exactly n^2×m^2 – n×m), resulting to at most 4×(n×m)^2 visual matches per pairwise combination of strips.

Algorithm 1. Matching of two strips Si,p and Si,q.

1) Match between the right edge of Si,p and the left edge of Si,q 2) Match between the right edge of Si,p and the inverted right edge of Si,q 3) Match between the inverted left edge of Si,p and the left edge of Si,q4) Match between the inverted left edge of Si,p and the inverted right edge

of Si,q

Which incident is being talked about?

The Carpet weavers who put together the shredded documents together during the Iran-US Hostage Crisis

3. Shibam is a town in Yemen. It is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is known for its distinct architecture. The houses of Shibam are all made out of mud brick and about 500 of them are tower blocks, which rise 5 to 11 stories high, with each floor having one or two rooms. This architectural style was used in order to protect residents from Bedouin attacks.

It is nicknamed after two famous American cities(get the irony) as “the _________ of the Middle East" and "the _______ of the desert".

Name both of them.

Manhattan, Chicago

4. ________(Arabic: Hashashin; from Assassiyun: "those faithful to the foundation"), is the name used to refer to the medieval Nizari Ismailis. Often characterized as a secret order led by a mysterious "Old Man of the Mountain", the Nizari Ismailis were an Islamic sect that formed in the late 11th century from a split within Ismailism, itself a branch of Shia Islam. The Nizaris posed a military threat to Sunni Seljuq authority within their territories by capturing and inhabiting many unconnected mountain fortresses throughout Persia (and later also Syria) under the leadership of Hassan-i Sabbah (who is typically regarded as the founder of the _________).

What is a heavily fictionalized version of this group?

The Assassins in the video game Assassin’s Creed

5. What were closed down due to the continuous objections of religious conservatives during the Islamic revival movement in the 1980s, and as a political response to an increase in Islamist activism including the 1979 seizure of the Grand Mosque in Mecca?

This ban was lifted temporarily, a probable reason being the gigantic Rotana entertainment group, controlled by one of the most influential Saudi tycoons, Prince Waleed bin Talal.

Movie theatres/Cinema Halls. The entertainment group was behind the movie ‘Mennahi’, which was shown in the banned theatres, after a gap of 30 years.

6. These are two emblems, one of the Armenian Socialist Soviet Republic and the other one of the current Republic of Armenia. You can see the mountain in both emblems, which is the Mount Ararat.

According to Nikita Khrushchev, the emblem became a source of dispute between the Soviet Union and the Republic of ‘X’ in the 1950s, when ‘X’ objected to the inclusion of Mount Ararat, which holds a deep symbolic importance for Armenians but is located on ‘X’ territory, in the coat of arms. ‘X’ felt that the presence of such an image implied Soviet designs on ‘X’ territory.

Khrushchev retorted by asking, "Why do you have a moon depicted on your flag? After all, the moon doesn't belong to ‘X’, not even half the moon ... Do you want to take over the whole universe?"

‘X’ dropped the issue after this.

Solve for ‘X’.

Turkey

7. The name is a translation of the French term "danse du ventre", which was applied to the dance in the Victorian era, and probably originally referred to dancers from the Ouled Nail tribes of Algeria, although it originated in Egypt. The name is something of a misnomer, as it is more of abdominal movements.

There are two types, known as Raqs Sharqi and Raqs Beledi.

What am I talking about?

Belly Dance

8. During Ramadan, a section of people living in Dubai are ordered to wait 2/3 more minutes than other people to break their dawn-to-dusk fast. Mohammed Al-Qubaisi, Dubai’s top Muslim cleric, said about his order that the decree is similar to those relating to Muslims traveling by air, and harkens back to a time when people lived in the mountains.

Why was this ordered? or To whom was this order given?

This order was given to the residents of the Burj Khalifa, those who stayed on 80th to 150th floors were to wait two minutes, and those who stayed on 151st to 160th floors were to wait for three minutes as they would see the entire sun set from their homes, longer than those on ground.

9. Tel Aviv-Yafo is a major city in Israel, located on the country's Mediterranean coastline. Tel Aviv has been ranked as the twenty-fifth most important financial center in the world. It was built on sand dunes in an area unsuitable for farming. Instead, it developed as a hub of business and scientific research. The city has been described as a "flourishing technological center" by Newsweek and a "miniature Los Angeles" by The Economist.

What two word nickname does this place have, of which the second word means river bed in Arabic?

Silicon Wadi. Wadi means valley or river bed, just the nickname is a pun on Silicon Valley.

10. The CEO of ‘X’, Akbar Al-Baker said this a few years back when ‘Y’ changed their source of support:

“We share values, ambitions, courage and excellence with ‘Y’. We also have a lot of social commitments. We will be using this partnership to help us in many areas. It has the biggest fan base in the world and that’s why wanted to associate ourselves with ‘Y’. It is one of the best institutions on the planet.”

An entire fleet was painted in the blaugrana colors, saying: “We’ll be displaying ‘Y’ at all the world’s major places.”

As of now, the partnership was renewed some days ago.

Solve for ‘X’ and ‘Y’.

X – Qatar Airways

Y – FC Barcelona

11. The Halabja chemical attack, also known as the Halabja Massacre or Bloody Friday, was a massacre against the Kurdish people that took place on March 16, 1988, during the closing days of the Iran–Iraq War in the Kurdish city of Halabja in Southern Kurdistan. The attack was part of the Al-Anfal Campaign in northern Iraq, as well as part of the Iraqi attempt to repel the Iranian Operation Zafar 7. It took place 48 hours after the fall of the town to Iranian army and Kurdish guerrillas.

Although ‘Y’ – the cousin of ‘X’, ordered the attack, but both of them ‘X’ and ‘Y’ were associated with the massacre. ‘Y’ was accused and charged for crimes against humanity and got his famous nickname. But ‘X’ was not charged.

Solve for ‘X’ and ‘Y’.

X - Saddam Hussein Y - Ali Hassan al-Majid aka Chemical Ali.

12. The national emblem of Oman is an insignia consisting of a ‘X’ inside its sheath that is superimposed upon two crossed swords. Adopted in the 18th century as the badge of the Omani royal family, it subsequently became the national emblem of the Sultanate of Oman.

It is worn only for formal events and is a symbol of "manhood, power and authority", as well as serving as a status symbol for the person wearing it. As a result, it is sometimes given by families to their sons when they reach adolescence, and is a common wedding gift to the groom.

What is ‘X’, also the name of a 1980 Bollywood film produced and directed by Atmaram starring Navin Nischol in the lead?

Khanjar

Round 3

•8 questions. Written.

•+10 per correct answer. +10 extra for all correct answers.

•8 highest scoring teams move on to the next round.

Questions

1. At the time of launching, Arabsat was the only satellite for the Middle East, and for the first year could only offer ‘X’ a weak C-band transponder that needed a large equipment for reception. But interestingly, Canal France International(CFI), accidentally beamed 30 minutes of pornography into ultraconservative Saudi Arabia, for which they offered a more powerful Ku-band transponder as a peace-offering.

Solve for ‘X’.

2. Ali Bahar was a Bahraini singer, guitarist and organ player known for his music band Al Ekhwa (The Brothers) . He was nicknamed the “’X’ of the Gulf" and has been called as being "the most popular musician in Bahrain's history". He sang and performed in national concerts and multiple international music festivals.

Here is a song sung by him.

Solve for ‘X’.

3. During the crusades, ‘X” was served at the 12th century wedding of King Richard the Lionheart to Berengaria of Navarre, in the town of Limassol; it was during the wedding that King Richard pronounced ‘X’ "the wine of kings and the king of wines". Near the end of the century he sold the island to the Knights Templar, who then sold it to Guy de Lusignan, but kept a large feudal estate at Kolossi, close to Limassol, to themselves. This estate was referred to as "La Grande ___________". The word ___________ referred to the military headquarters whilst Grande helped distinguish it from two smaller such command posts on the island, one close to Paphos and another near Kyrenia. This area under the control of the Knights Templar became known as ‘X’. When the knights began producing large quantities of the wine for export to Europe's royal courts and for supplying pilgrims en route to the holy lands, the wine assumed the name of the region. Thus it has the distinction of being the world's oldest named wine still in production.

What is ‘X’, which can worked out from the fact that it sounds (almost) like a military term?

4. Following are some differences between ‘X’ and ‘Y’.

Both are Islamic pilgrimages, the main difference is their level of importance and the method of observance.

‘X’ is one of the five pillars of Islam. It is obligatory for every Muslim once in their lifetime, provided they are physically fit and financially capable.

‘X’ is performed during a designated Islamic month. However, ‘Y’ can be performed at any time.

Both seem similar in the start. ‘Y’ can be performed in less than a few hours while ‘X’ is more time consuming, and involves more rituals.

Solve for ‘X’ and ‘Y’. Part points is up to my discretion.

5. Offside is a 2006 Iranian film directed by Jafar Panahi, about girls who try to watch a World Cup qualifying match. Although the film was shot there, the screening was banned in Iran.

The film was filmed at an actual stadium during a qualifying match for the Iranian National team. Panahi had two separate outcomes to the film depending on the turnout of the match.

What was the central theme of the film?

6. ‘X’ is a port city on the Red Sea coast of Yemen. Until Aden and Hodeida eclipsed it in the 19th century, ‘X’ was the principal port for Yemen's capital Sana'a.

What is ‘X’, that lends its name to a consumable product?

7. These are special kinds of cabs operating in Dubai. Only fifty of these cabs operate in Dubai. They are generally found outside Dubai airport's arrivals terminal and people are guided to them by airport policeman.

What are special about these cabs?

8. The yellow badge (or yellow patch) was a cloth patch that Jews were ordered to sew on their outer garments to mark them as Jews in public at certain times in certain countries, serving as a badge of shame.

What did the badges depict, that can be directly related to a Middle Eastern country?

Answers

1. At the time of launching, Arabsat was the only satellite for the Middle East, and for the first year could only offer ‘X’ a weak C-band transponder that needed a large equipment for reception. But interestingly, Canal France International(CFI), accidentally beamed 30 minutes of pornography into ultraconservative Saudi Arabia, for which they offered a more powerful Ku-band transponder as a peace-offering.

Solve for ‘X’.

Al Jazeera

2. Ali Bahar was a Bahraini singer, guitarist and organ player known for his music band Al Ekhwa (The Brothers) . He was nicknamed the “’X’ of the Gulf" and has been called as being "the most popular musician in Bahrain's history". He sang and performed in national concerts and multiple international music festivals.

Here is a song sung by him.

Solve for ‘X’.

Bob Marley

3. During the crusades, ‘X” was served at the 12th century wedding of King Richard the Lionheart to Berengaria of Navarre, in the town of Limassol; it was during the wedding that King Richard pronounced ‘X’ "the wine of kings and the king of wines". Near the end of the century he sold the island to the Knights Templar, who then sold it to Guy de Lusignan, but kept a large feudal estate at Kolossi, close to Limassol, to themselves. This estate was referred to as "La Grande ___________". The word ___________ referred to the military headquarters whilst Grande helped distinguish it from two smaller such command posts on the island, one close to Paphos and another near Kyrenia. This area under the control of the Knights Templar became known as ‘X’. When the knights began producing large quantities of the wine for export to Europe's royal courts and for supplying pilgrims en route to the holy lands, the wine assumed the name of the region. Thus it has the distinction of being the world's oldest named wine still in production.

What is ‘X’, which can worked out from the fact that it sounds (almost) like a military term?

Commandaria

4. Following are some differences between ‘X’ and ‘Y’.

Both are Islamic pilgrimages, the main difference is their level of importance and the method of observance.

‘X’ is one of the five pillars of Islam. It is obligatory for every Muslim once in their lifetime, provided they are physically fit and financially capable.

‘X’ is performed during a designated Islamic month. However, ‘Y’ can be performed at any time.

Both seem similar in the start. ‘Y’ can be performed in less than a few hours while ‘X’ is more time consuming, and involves more rituals.

Solve for ‘X’ and ‘Y’. Part points is up to my discretion.

X – Hajj

Y – Umrah

5. Offside is a 2006 Iranian film directed by Jafar Panahi, about girls who try to watch a World Cup qualifying match. Although the film was shot there, the screening was banned in Iran.

The film was filmed at an actual stadium during a qualifying match for the Iranian National team. Panahi had two separate outcomes to the film depending on the turnout of the match.

What was the central theme of the film?

Women are not allowed to enter stadiums in Iran.

6. ‘X’ is a port city on the Red Sea coast of Yemen. Until Aden and Hodeida eclipsed it in the 19th century, ‘X’ was the principal port for Yemen's capital Sana'a.

What is ‘X’, that lends its name to a consumable product?

7. These are special kinds of cabs operating in Dubai. Only fifty of these cabs operate in Dubai. They are generally found outside Dubai airport's arrivals terminal and people are guided to them by airport policeman.

What are special about these cabs?

Women – only Taxi/Ladies Taxi

8. The yellow badge (or yellow patch) was a cloth patch that Jews were ordered to sew on their outer garments to mark them as Jews in public at certain times in certain countries, serving as a badge of shame.

What did the badges depict, that can be directly related to a Middle Eastern country?

The Star of David. Can be seen on the Israeli flag.

Round 46 Questions. Anticlockwise. Bounce.




1. Adam Ismail, Mustafa Khalil and Abdullah al-Umari are three Yemeni men, whofiled the lawsuit in San'a, Yemen in 1997, and presented documents to the country's prosecutor general which they say proves their claim. There was no word on whether they had paid the appropriate inheritance taxes.

The lawsuit was against an American agency. "We inherited it from our ancestors 3,000 years ago," they told the weekly Arabic-language newspaper Al-Thawri.

What was the lawsuit for?

The three Yemeni men sued NASA for invading Mars. The three say they own the red planet, and claim they have documents to prove it.

2. Whose grave?

Oskar Schindler

3. The mamlukes were the rulers of ‘X’ for many hundreds of years but it was around way before that, around the time of King Solomon that ‘X’ was destroyed once by a tsunami, then rebuilt. It was invaded and had many wars in which various armies tried to invade ‘X’. In this process, ‘X’ was destroyed 6 more times, making it rise up from the crumbles for 7 times.

That is the reason why ‘X’ is related to an ‘animal’. Which animal?

Phoenix. X – Beirut(Lebanon)

4. The Invasion of Kuwait, also known as the Iraq–Kuwait War, was a major conflict between Ba'athist Iraq and the Emirate of Kuwait, which resulted in the seven-month-long Iraqi occupation of Kuwait, and subsequently led to direct military intervention by US-led forces in the Gulf War and the setting alight by Iraq of 600 Kuwaiti oil wells.

The invasion started on 2 August 1990, and within two days of intense combat, most of the Kuwait Armed Forces were either overrun by the Iraqi Republican Guard or fell back to neighboring Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. The Emirate of Kuwait was annexed, and Saddam Hussein announced a few days later that it was the 19th province of Iraq.

What did the dissidents call this province which can be related to the world of sports?

Wimbledon. The Centre Court (and all other courts) are a part of the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC). The address of AELTC is -

Church Rd, Wimbledon, LondonSW19 5AE, United Kingdom

Since it was the 19th province and was South West Asia, so SW19 and hence, they called it Wimbledon.

5. He is the son of the ancient Egyptian Pharaoh Ramesses II, and impresses one of the high priests with his good deeds and thus the witch grants him the power of these six gods.

Who is the man in the question?

Black AdamThe Egyptian Gods are Shu, Heru, Amon, Zehuti, Aton, Mehen – which add upto Shazam, the powers being similar.

6. Wadi Rum, also known as The Valley of the Moon is a valley cut into the sandstone and granite rock in southern Jordan; it is the largest wadi in Jordan.

Apart from being a famous tourist destination, the place is also known to be the location of a lot of movies, for example, Lawrence of Arabia, Passion in the Desert, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, The Frankincense Trail and Prometheus. The place can also be seen in the song ‘Dil Tu Hi Bata’ from the movie Krrish 3.

But the appearance of the entire place makes it the best location to shoot certain places. Which latest movie was shot here, where the bushes in the desert were photo-shopped out of it?

The Martian

Round 5

•5 questions. Written.

•There will be postage stamps. Just name the country.

•+5 per correct answer. +10 extra for all correct answers.

•4 highest scoring teams move on to the next round.

Questions

Answers

Kuwait

Palestine

Lebanon

Round 64 Questions. Clockwise. Bounce.




1. What are these?

Abu DhabiDubaiSharjahAjmanUmm Al QuwainRas Al KhaimahFujairah.

Seven Emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates

2. ‘X’'s major work is Seven Pillars of Wisdom, an account of his war experiences. In 1919, he had been elected to a seven-year research fellowship at All Souls College, Oxford, providing him with support while he worked on the book. In addition to being a memoir of his experiences during the war, certain parts also serve as essays on military strategy, Arabian culture and geography, and other topics. ‘X’ re-wrote Seven Pillars of Wisdom three times, once "blind" after he lost the manuscript while changing trains at Reading railway station. A major influence on the writing of The Seven Pillars of Wisdom was T.S Eliot's 1922 poem The Wasteland.

Solve for ‘X’.

T.E. Lawrence/Lawrence of Arabia

3. One fun fact about Oman is that there are almost no Coca-Cola Company products while Pepsi is widely sold. It is very weird as there were no such bans, but Coca-Cola was nowhere to be found. But interestingly, the majority of the Omani didn’t pay that much attention to “this issue” as they seems to love ‘X’ up to the point of total addiction. They called it ‘Omani Alcohol’.

What is this soft-drink ‘X’ – that might/might not boost your confidence levels?

Mountain Dew

4. According to legend, Cleopatra ordered Mark Antony, her lover, to conquer this region so that she would have a lifetime supply of its mud, believed in antiquity to have healing and rejuvenating properties. Cleopatra may have partly misunderstood the science. Whatever the qualities of the mud, the lowest point on earth at 400 meters, or 1,300 feet, below sea level, has more than the usual amount of ozone in the air above it, providing protection against skin-aging ultraviolet rays.

Nowadays, lots of spas have opened up in this region, with the hopes of recycling, taking public transportation, and saving water and electricity, will help the longer-term sustainability goals of our nation. Thus this region has become a thriving spa-based tourism industry.

Which place/region?

The Dead Sea

Shukriya

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