How it works
These trivia questions about the Middle East treat the region as one pack, from Anatolia and the Levant to Mesopotamia, Persia and the Arabian Peninsula: 54 questions with four choices each.
Read the full guide
Five rounds, one region
Countries, capitals and the name asks who made the term Middle East known in 1902 and what the names Bahrain and Kuwait mean. Rivers, seas and deserts goes from the Dead Sea to the monsoon of Dhofar. Old cities and empires has Petra, Persepolis and the Ishtar Gate. Foods and borrowed words covers tabbouleh, mansaf and the Arabic behind admiral. Science and firsts reaches from the scribes' schools of Sumer to the windcatcher. Egypt has a pack of its own, so its facts are left there.
Questions and answers
What are some easy trivia questions about the Middle East?
Muscat is the capital of which country? Which herb goes into tabbouleh first? Who cut the Gordian Knot? What does Pamukkale mean in Turkish? The answers are Oman, parsley, Alexander the Great and cotton castle.
What is a hard trivia question about the Middle East?
Try this one: the great brick arch called Taq Kasra is the most conspicuous structure left of which ancient capital? The answer is Ctesiphon. Others ask what a shamal is and what an eduba was.
Why is it called the Middle East?
The term may have begun in the British India Office in the 1850s. It spread after the American naval strategist Alfred Thayer Mahan used it in 1902 for the area between Arabia and India.
How were these answers checked?
Each answer was read on October 8, 2026 in the Wikipedia article linked under its question. Left out: present-day conflicts and politics, borders, the teaching of any faith, population figures, office-holders and living people.