text: [Themes: edutainment, historical]
  
  Well it was about time! You have arrived in a seemingly peaceful ancient city and for once not in a warzone or on a ship caught in a storm. It is pleasantly warm - not as hot as in Babylon - and it is nighttime. When you walk out of the dark alleyway, you are pleased to see the Parthenon in the close distance, however you also notice that the street is crowded with improvised wooden huts, almost blocking the street entirely. A great number of people are lying in the streets, some are lying immobile others are just sitting there gazing into the heavens, sometimes assisted by a lover or relative providing them with water and care, but all deprived of their clothing. At the far end of the street an overcrowded tavern (or maybe the house of an Athenian) where a party seems to be taking place. You shrug as you see a man leaping onto the street, vomiting and then straggling on towards you with a cup of wine in his hand. The man is definitely drunk and as he approaches you can see that he is also terribly ill: he has a reddish and livid complexion, here and there some leaking pustules are visible. He reaches out to you and wants to speak, but only manages to let out a hard cough followed by a violent spasm which makes him fall down on the cobblestones...he grabs you by your sleeve in an attempt to get up.
  
  Oh great! You have arrived in Athens at the time of the Great Plague!
  
  You are correct my dear contestant. It is 429 B.C., you are in Athens and it is the second year of the Peloponnesian War. I'm sure that you don't want to stay here longer then you want to, so here's my question to you:
  
  After the successful conclusion of the Greco-Persian War in 480 B.C., a number of Greek city-states formed a league under the leadership of Athens in order to protect Greece from future Persian aggression. After a while however, Athens managed to greatly increase its own power reducing his allies to tribute paying vassals. This allowed Athens to fund massive public work programs and to build up a massive naval fleet. By 431 B.C., the member of the coalition had had enough of Athens bullying and treachery and - with the support of Sparta - decided to take up arms against Athens. This caused the Peloponnesian Wars which would last until 404 B.C.
  
  What was the name of this alliance of Greek city-states or league, formed in 478 B.C.?
  
  > Delian League
  That is correct...it was the Delian League!
  
  The League got its name from the island of Delos, the place where the meetings of the allies took place and where the treasury stood until Pericles moved it to Athens in 454 B.C. Now wasn't that a nice and obvious gesture of him?
  
  Anyhow, let's continue
  on immediately before you get the disease and start spreading it all across time and space...Say goobye to Athens!!!!
  
  > Continue...
  You find yourself at the entrance (or exit) of a cave hewn into the side of a rockface at the edge of a sandy landscape. It is nighttime and in the sky a full moon shines brightly, revealing a desert. It is nice and cool, a gentle breeze brushes your face. Just a little ahead of you, you can make out two shadowy figures loading stuff on their horses with much haste. Their whispers to each other are excited and incomprehensible - at least to you. Suddenly, from behind you above the rockface, you notice the presence of a group of men on horseback. The two shadowy figures in front of you don't notice these horsemen until they start decending the rockface by way of a sandy slope to your left. The shadowy figures immediately start to panick. One of them drops his gear as he jumps his mount, revealing a sack filled with all kinds of relics and valuables - probably worth a fortune. They immediately start galoping away, but are hotly pursued by the group of horsemen...but not all of them! Two of the horsemen are approaching you!
  
  To be honest my dear timetraveler, the two shadowy figures have just robbed a tomb in the Valley of the Kings and are now being pursued by the guards of the Necropolis. Not your problem you might think as you have not stolen anything, but unfortunately the governor of the Necropolis leading the group and his guard don't know this and are coming your way. As you well know the punishment for robbing a grave was severe in Ancient Egypt: impaling, burning or decapitation will await you if you are caught! So better answer me this question ASAP.
  
  In order to find out where you are in time I will describe you the pharaoh who is currently ruling these lands and who will personally sentence you in the 'Great Kenbet' or High Court.
  
  The pharaoh ruling Egypt at this time is considered to be one of the most successful and peaceful rulers of Ancient Egypt, in power for more than twenty years. This pharaoh was the fifth pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty and would be known for reestablishing the famous trade networks which had been disrupted during the Hyksos occupation and organizing the famous trade expedition to the Land of Punt. This pharaoh was a profilic builder, commissioning hundreds of projects in both upper and lower Egypt. This pharaoh would be succeeeded by Thutmose III.
  
  Who am I talking about?
  
  > Pharaoh Amenhotep I
  Unfortunately this is the wrong answer: Amenhotep - sometimes also called Amenophis - was indeed also from the Eigtheenth dynasty and he also ruled for 22 years, from 1527 until 1506 B.C. Amenhotep is a less well-known Egyptian ruler being predecessed by his father Ahmose I, who expelled the Hyksos out of Egypt, and his successor Thutmose I who expanded Egypt well beyond the known borders. Records of Amenhoteps reign are scant and vague but we do know that he came to the throne unexpectedly as he was not the oldest son of the reigning pharaoh. Amenhoteps reign was fairly quiet. He was not a conqueror and except for a few successful campaigns to Nubia he maintained the borders which existed prior to his ascendency. He is credited for founding the workmen village at Deir-El-Medina and for revolutionizing the mortuary complexes by seperating the tombs from the mortuary temples to prevent grave robbery, which was a real plague in Ancient Egypt.
  
  So, your timetravel ends here in Ancient Egypt in 1472 B.C..The governor of the Necropolis, Harwa, is about to grab you by your collar. You will soon find out who is currently ruling Egypt as you will be standing trial in front him/her in the Great Kenbet. I assume you don't know Ancient Egyptian so you won't be able to talk yourself out of it and who would believe you anyway if you claim to be from the 21st century? Fact is that grave robbery is one of the worst offenses in Ancient Egypt. By robbing a grave you not only stole the possessions of an influential Egyptian but you also their chance to live happily in their afterlife. Better start deciding: do you want to be impaled, decapitated or burned?