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Welcome To Ancient Games From Around The World
Welcome To Ancient Games From Around The World
Senet may be the oldest board game in the world. It has been found in
Predynastic and First Dynasty burials of Egypt, circa 3500 BC and 3100 BC
respectively. Senet is also featured in a painting from the tomb of Merknera
(3300–2700 BC). Another painting of this ancient game is from the Third
Dynasty tomb of Hesy (c. 2686–2613 BC).
The game is played by two players who alternately place black and white
stones (playing pieces, now usually made of glass or plastic) on the
vacant intersections of a grid of 19×19 lines. The object of the game is to
control a larger portion of the board than the opponent. A stone or a
group of stones is captured and removed if it has no empty adjacent
intersections, the result of being completely surrounded by stones of the
opposing color.
Placing stones close together helps them support each other and avoid
capture. On the other hand, placing stones far apart creates influence
across more of the board. Part of the strategic difficulty of the game
stems from finding a balance between such conflicting interests.
Go originated in ancient China more than
2,500 years ago, and although it is not
known exactly when the game was
invented, by the 3rd century BC it was
already a popular pastime, as indicated by
a reference to the game in the Analects of
Confucius. Archaeological evidence
shows that the early game was played on
a board with a 17×17 grid, but by the time
that the game spread to Korea and Japan
in about the 7th century boards with a
19×19 grid had become standard.
Although luck plays an important role, there is a large scope for strategy.
With each roll of the dice players must choose from numerous options for
moving their checkers and anticipate possible counter-moves by the
opponent. Players may raise the stakes during the game. There is an
established repertoire of common tactics and occurrences.
Like chess, backgammon has been studied with great interest by computer
scientists. Owing to this research, backgammon software has been
developed capable of beating world-class human players.
BACKGAMMON
Jackie Bonner
The object of the game is for a player to win all of the opponent's treasure.
To do this, the players may need to play more than one round of the game.
In order to complete a round, a player needs to get all of the six jade
markers from the starting queue position to the ending square position on
the game board before the other player. The jade stone markers come in two
colors. One player would have an assortment of red colored jade markers.
The other player would have an assortment of blue colored jade markers.
PATOLLI
Michael Chandler
The players take turns tossing. Once a player is able to get on the board, the
game begins and the player is allowed to place one of the jade markers from
the queue onto the starting square of the game board.
The game board is shaped like a capital letter X that has square and triangular
shaped landing positions marked on it that run down one side and back up
the other side of the X. There are 52 landing positions in all. The game board
could be drawn on a bit of leather or on a straw mat and decorated with
colored dye or it could also be carved into the floor or table top.
Deneen Underwood
Royal Game of Ur – Sumeria
ROYAL GAME OF UR
Deneen Underwood
In 1926-27, the British archeologist
Leonard Woolley, while excavating
in the royal tombs of Sumer (modern
Iraq), discovered four game boards
and a number of playing pieces.
The tombs were in the city of Ur (in
red on the map on the left), once the
capital of Sumer about 2500 B.C.,
and the legendary home of the
Biblical Abraham. This area is in the
"fertile crescent", south of Baghdad
and Babylon. The Museum
document collection includes a
number of references to Woolley's
discovery, complete with a number
of colorful photographs such as the
one below. Woolley's finds are now
held by the British Museum.
ROYAL GAME OF UR
Deneen Underwood
This game is similar to the Egyptian game of
Senet, though it is a variation of the Egyptian
game in that there are a reduced number of cells
on the Ur board. Both game boards contain a
drawer which holds the playing pieces and
binary lots which are used like dice are used in a
contemporary board game to determine the
moves of the pieces. As do some of the Senet
boards, some of the Ur boards include conical
rather than flat pieces. Throw-sticks or lots were
included as a chance device in both games.
It appears to be a game for two players who
alternate their moves on the board. Various
markings on the board (such as the "rosettes")
appear to have had some consequence in the
play of the game if a piece lands on one of these
squares - sort of like in a contemporary board
game - "loose one turn", "go back three
spaces", etc.