NewsTracker Answers for week of Jan. 02, 2023

Q: After decades of expeditions run by western archaeologists, a wave of young Sudanese are now exploring their nation’s ancient history. Where is Sudan, where the Blue Nile and White Nile rivers join to form the Nile River that flows north into the Mediterranean Sea?

Circle the area on this map

Q: Starting about 10,000 years ago, what is now Sudan was one of the world’s “cradles of civilization,” and its people later ruled as Egyptian pharaohs. The Rosetta Stone, which has allowed archaeologists to decipher ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics, was first seized by which European invaders 1799?

A. British

B. French

C. Italian

D. Spanish

B. The stone was discovered by a French officer after Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Egypt, but two years later British troops seized it from the French and put it in the British Museum. Last month, Egyptians petitioned the museum to return the stone.

Q: European conquerors have been looting African antiquities for centuries – at least since the ancient Romans took eight obelisks from Egypt. One of those tall, thin stone monuments now stands in the world’s smallest sovereign state ...

A. Liechtenstein

B. Monaco

C. San Marino

D. Vatican City

D. The obelisk in Vatican City’s St. Peter’s Square was brought to Vatican Hill from Alexandria, Egypt, by the infamous emperor Caligula in the year 40. With about 800 people living on 0.17 square miles, Vatican City is the world’s smallest sovereign state, Monaco is the second smallest, with about 39,000 people living on 0.78 square miles.

Q: Ancient treasures are what attracts crowds to the world’s museums. But, the descendants of the people who created those treasures are now demanding they be returned. Recently, some western museums have begun returning the “Benin Bronzes” to Africa’s most populous nation ...

A. Egypt

B. Kenya

C. Nigeria

D. South Africa

C. Several thousand metal plaques and sculptures that once decorated a royal palace were stolen in a British raid on Nigeria’s Benin City in 1897. Nigeria has been seeking the return of the artwork since it gained independence in 1960. With more than 225 million people, Nigeria is Africa’s most populous nation and the sixth most populous country in the world.

Q: The British Museum has returned some of its Benin Bronze, but it remains protective of its vast collection of ancient treasures. What European country has long demanded the return of artwork from the museum?

A. Greece

B. Italy

C. Russia

D. Spain

A. After more than 200 years spent in the British Museum, the 2,500-year-old Parthenon Marbles could return to Greece in this year, according to reports in the Greek press. The sculptures were removed by a British diplomat from 1801 to 1812, when Greece was ruled by the Ottoman Empire.