Question: A clever treasure hunter discovered an Ancient Egyptian tomb after
a treacherous journey through the dark corridors of a pyramid. He saw six
bags of intricately carved gold pieces. The inscriptions on the wall of
the chamber warned would-be grave robbers that five of the bags contained
false gold and that the trip back would be impossible with more than one
bag. The hieroglyphics also showed that each of the real gold pieces was
1.1 Egyptian units of measurement and the false gold was one unit each.
The tomb contained a special scale that would work only once, and when
the amount to be weighed was placed on the scale, no pieces could be added
or removed to watch the weight fluctuate. The writings warned that if the
scale was misused the tomb would collapse. How could the treasure hunter
use the scale to determine which bag to take?
Answer: Place one piece from bag one, two pieces from bag two and three pieces from bag three on the scale. If the resulting weight is 21.1, the real gold was in bag one. If the weight is 21.2 it was in bag two. 21.3 would be bag three, 21.4 would be bag four, 21.5 would be bag five, and 21.6 would be bag six.
Question: You are an archaeologist and you have just uncovered an ancient Egyptian
palace. Your colleague has translated the hieroglyphics on the walls and
the writings describe the royal family who inhabited the palace. Before
she could finish figuring out the family tree she mysteriously disappeared.
Use the notes (below) she left behind to help her match Nephat, Samhut,
and Akham to their duties (Pharaoh, High Priest, and Scribe).
Zepssa is wife to the Pharaoh, her grandmother's brother, the High Priest,
has no daughters, one son and three grandsons, only one of the grandsons
(Samhut) is a father (of Nephat's nephew). The Pharaoh's brother-in-law
is a scribe who has one set of living grandparents; the scribe's grandfather
(Akham) has no nephews but a niece who is a mother. The Pharaoh has no
brothers, one sister and his parents are dead. Nephat's sister has married
a descendent of the High Priest and has a child.
Answer: Nephat is the Pharaoh, Akham is the high priest, and Samhut is the scribe. |
