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About This Quiz
One of the chief sources of income in Middle Eastern countries, especially Israel, is religious tourism -- people who come from all over the world to visit the sites mentioned in the Bible. They come to see the places where heroes of the Bible were born, died, suffered doubts, found their faith, and performed great acts. The Garden of Gethsemane, for example, was where Jesus prayed before his arrest and crucifixion. And where was the town where Simon Peter, Jesus' disciple, apparently grew up, and where Jesus performed several miracles mentioned in the Gospels?
The events of the Bible don't just fall within the geographic boundaries of Israel. Assyria (present-day Syria), the one-time kingdom of Babylon, Egypt, and Greece and Rome all had parts to play. The early Hebrews lived as slaves in both Egypt and Babylon, and captured heathen cities in what would become Israel. After Christ's day, the apostles would travel to cities in Greece and Rome, spreading the gospels to the Gentiles.Â
How well do you know the Biblical cities of Bethlehem and Nazareth, Jerusalem and Jericho, or Damascus and Rome? Do you really remember the events that transpired in these cities? Find out now with our quiz! Good luck! We have faith in you!
Jesus was born in a stable in this town.
Bethlehem
This one is famous for its association with Christmas. Several Christmas carols mention it by name, like "O Little Town of Bethlehem."
Bethsaida
Jerusalem
Megiddo
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This city was destroyed, along with Sodom, by the Lord.
Carthage
Gomorrah
Genesis 24 tells us that "... the Lord rained fire and sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah." The people of these cities were apparently given over to depravity, so much so that God considered the cities irredeemable.
Jerusalem
Sidon
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The Lord "confused the language" of the world's people in this city.
Babel
The Biblical story of the Tower of Babel is a famous one. Babel is where God created different languages, to keep humans from working together on such lofty projects, like a tower to reach the heavens.
Carthage
Megiddo
Ur
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Jesus grew up here as the son of a carpenter.
Bethlehem
Bethsaida
Nazareth
Jesus was born in Bethlehem, but remember, his parents were in the middle of a journey at the time. This is why Jesus is sometimes referred to as Jesus of Nazareth, not Jesus of Bethlehem.
Jerusalem
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Jonah went to this city and preached ... eventually.
Ai
Jericho
Nineveh
Jonah is known as the reluctant prophet. He didn't want to preach to Nineveh, and only being swallowed by a great fish and then rescued brought about his change of heart.
Rome
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Jesus rode into this city in triumph on a donkey's colt.
Bethlehem
Jerusalem
Jerusalem was Israel's capital, the center of religious and political life. Jesus's arrival there, and the adoring reception of crowds, gave the high priests of the day a problem they could no longer ignore, leading to his arrest and crucifixion.
Ur
Rome
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The walls of this city collapsed when the trumpets blew and the people of Israel shouted.
Cana
Jericho
This is commemorated in a Sunday School song, "Joshua fought the battle of Jericho." But the battle was mostly symbolic -- the Hebrews encircled the city and made a great noise at Joshua's command, and the city's walls simply fell down. So says Joshua Chapter 6, at least.
Jerusalem
Memphis
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The House of David came from this town, including his father Jesse and eventually the carpenter, Joseph.
Beersheba
Bethlehem
Joseph lived in Nazareth, but was from Bethlehem. This is why he had to take his very pregnant fiancee, Mary, on a journey there to be counted in a census. His line went way back in Bethlehem, to King David and even before that to Boaz and Ruth.
Capernaum
Ur
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King David won this city from the Jebusites in battle and made it Israel's capital.
Bethlehem
Cana
Jerusalem
This is the story told in 1 Kings. Secular history scholars suggest, though, that the Hebrews were simply a minority subculture living in and around Jerusalem until they gradually became a majority.
Sidon
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At a wedding here, Jesus turned water into wine.
Cana
This miracle is only recorded in the gospel of John. Even so, it's a popular Christian belief that this was Christ's first public miracle, turning water into wine at a wedding where the latter had run out.
Capernaum
Shiloh
Asshur
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Jesus prayed in the garden of Gethsemane just outside this city.
Beersheba
Gath
Jerusalem
The garden of Gethsemane is at the foot of the Mount of Olives, which in turn is part of Jerusalem. While Jesus prayed there, his disciples fell asleep, though they had promised to stay awake and keep watch.
Nazareth
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Jesus preached in this coastal city often mentioned in the same breath as Sidon.
Bethsaida
Beer-Sheba
Megiddo
Tyre
Tyre and Sidon are cities in present-day Lebanon. In Biblical times, it was known for its manufacture of rich purple dye, used in clothing only royalty and nobility were allowed to wear.
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A woman was turned into a pillar of salt for looking back at this wicked city while escaping it.
Babel
Memphis
Sodom
Lot's wife was warned not to look back at the city of Sodom, but did, and was turned into a pillar of salt. This story is very similar to that of Orpheus bringing his wife, Eurydice, out of Hades in Greek mythology, except he's the one who looks back at her.
Tyre
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Cain, the first murderer, built this city and named it after his son.
Beersheba
Enoch
Cain settled in the "land of Nod" after his banishment, where he built the city of Enoch. Therefore, he is not only the first murderer but the first city-builder.
Nazareth
Rome
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Abram (later Abraham), in his youth, left this great city with his father-in-law, Terah.
Bethsaida
Ephesus
Sidon
Ur
Ur, in ancient Sumeria, is considered to be one of the great early cities of mankind. However, it's not a key part of the Bible, though it is where Abram began his journey toward being a father of nations.
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In this Egyptian city, Joseph served Potiphar and interpreted the Pharaoh's dreams.
Alexandria
Cairo
Memphis
the city is not named
Genesis only tells us that Joseph was taken "down to Egypt" as a slave. Certainly he was in the middle of things, as he rose to a position of power, but the actual city he lived in is not named.
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It was here that the prostitute Rahab helped Hebrew spies.
Beersheba
Jaffa
Jericho
When Joshua and the Hebrews captured Jericho, everyone there died, except for Rahab and her family, who hid Hebrew spies in her home, and was rewarded for it.
Megiddo
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This is where the first temple to the Lord was built in Israel.
Bethlehem
Chorazin
Nazareth
Shiloh
Shiloh is where Hannah came to pray for a child in 1 Samuel. The Lord heard her prayer and gave her Samuel, who became one of the most influential priests in the Bible.
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This city was home of Goliath, and to where his fellow Philistines fled after Goliath's death.
Cana
Gath
Gath was one of the cities built by the Philistines, the enemy of the Israelites. When a mere shepherd defeated their hero, Goliath, the Philistine warriors fled to his home city.
Sidon
Ur
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Nebuchadnezzar ruled this city and kingdom, sacking Jerusalem and taking many Israelites captive.
Asshur
Babylon
Babylonia's army destroyed Jerusalem and took captives after Judah's king refused to pay tribute. That king, Jehoiakim, was killed when Jerusalem was sacked.
Nineveh
Ur
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The wicked Queen Jezebel was from this now-Lebanese city.
Cana
Jericho
Nazareth
Sidon
Sidon is often mentioned along with the city of Tyre; they are only about 40 miles apart. Both are now part of Lebanon.
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This city is sometimes poetically called "Zion."
Cana
Jerusalem
Zion is a symbolic name for the city of Jerusalem or the people/nation of Israel as a whole. This is why pro-Israel activists are sometimes called "Zionists."
Nineveh
Ur
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Jesus healed a blind man near here, but asked him not to return to the town, nor tell what had happened to him.
Bethsaida
Bethsaida is a town on the shores of the sea of Galilee. It might also be the place where Jesus fed 5,000 by multiplying loaves and fishes, but Biblical scholars aren't sure about this.
Carthage
Nazareth
Rome
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Solomon built the Lord a great temple in this city.
Beersheba
Jerusalem
This was not the first temple in Israel. However, because Solomon was the wealthy and successful son of King David, he was able to build a temple in grand style, compared to the previous one.
Memphis
Ur
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Saul (later Paul) had not yet reached this city when Jesus spoke to him in a vision.
Cana
Damascus
Saul was an avowed enemy of the early Christians. But then, on the road to Damascus, he saw a blinding light and heard a voice saying, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" Saul was blind for three days before his vision was restored.
Joppa
Nazareth
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The traveler in the good Samaritan parable was traveling between these two cities.
Bethlehem/Capernaum
Jerusalem/Jericho
We don't know where the good Samaritan was headed, just that he was on the same road as the man who'd been beaten. This parable can be found in the gospel of Luke.
Nazareth/Jerusalem
Sidon/Tyre
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This was the port city from which Jonah tried to sail to Tarshish.
Alexandria
Trieste
Joppa
Which geographical region "Tarshish" refers to in unclear; it might be Spain. But Joppa is well-identified as Jaffa, now absorbed into the port city of Tel Aviv.
Sidon
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In this city, Paul's teachings caused a riot in support of the goddess Diana.
Cana
Ephesus
To be specific, it was the threat to the idol-makers' trade that caused the riot. Incited by silversmiths who made idols of Diana, the people filled the streets, shouting, "Great is Diana of the Ephesians!"
Sidon
Tyre
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Paul arrived in this great city as a prisoner, near the end of the book of Acts.
Bethlehem
Cairo
Memphis
Rome
The book of Acts ends with Paul delivered to Rome for judgment, having offended the high priests in Jerusalem. However, Acts tells us he was allowed to live in his own quarters, guarded only by a soldier, and continued to preach the gospel.
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In this city, Peter had the vision that allowed him, and other believers, to convert Gentiles.
Bethlehem
Joppa
In this story found in Acts, Peter has a vision from God showing all kinds of creatures, of land and sea and air. When he says he cannot kill and eat "unclean" animals, a voice tells him, "What God has made clean, you must not call unclean." From this, Peter took the idea that if a Gentile sought his counsel, he must not refuse to teach and convert him.
Nazareth
Rome
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Here John received his revelation about the end of the world.
Bethsaida
Jerusalem
Patmos
The author of the book of Revelation is sometimes called "John of Patmos," to differentiate him from the other "Johns" in the New Testament. He was exiled to the Greek island of Patmos when he had his revelation about the End Times.
Rome
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In this heathen city, Shadrach, Meschach and Abednego were thrown into the fiery furnace.
Athens
Babylon
The three young men from Judah were to be punished for refusing to worship the Babylonian gods. But when they emerged from the fire unscathed, King Nebuchadnezzar was instead persuaded of the power of the God of Israel.
Cairo
Giza
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Saul, the first king of Israel, was crowned here.
Beersheba
Bethsaida
Gilgal
Gilgal is not one of the important cities of the Old Testament. It would soon be eclipsed by Jerusalem, which David would make his capital.
Nazareth
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Jesus healed several people in this city, including Peter's mother-in-law.
Asshur
Bethlehem
Cairo
Capernaum
Capernaum is a city near the sea of Galilee. It is thought to be Peter's hometown.
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Here, Paul was struck by a viper, but suffered no ill effects.
Alexandria
Capernaum
Malta
Technically, Malta is an island, not a city. But it was here that Paul was struck by a snake, which clung to his hand. He shook the snake off into the fire, and did not die or even become ill, after which the locals began saying he was a god.
Philippi
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