If you’re having trouble finding something to play with family and friends, consider playing an ancient board game found in Sharui Sokta in southeastern Iran. Almost 50 years after it was excavated in 1977, experts have devised rules for the game.
What is believed to be a complete set, including a board, 27 pieces, 20 circular spaces for the pieces, and four dice with circular shapes embedded in them, was found in a tomb about 4,500 years ago. Recovered. It’s similar to another game from the time called royal game of urthere were enough differences that it was difficult to know the exact rules.
Sam Gervais, a computer scientist at the University of Essex in the UK, along with independent archaeologist Hossein Moradi, used a combination of physical evidence and modeling to come up with a reasonable set of rules.
“By uncovering the meanings of specific game pieces, this study has the potential to reshape our understanding of board games in the Near East.” write The researchers state in their paper:
“The proposed rules are historically accurate and aim to give importance to each component of the game board.”
ur royal game giloftThe researchers used a probabilistic model to determine the role of the retrieved pieces. Two sets of 10 “runner” pieces (one set for two players), plus a star-shaped piece and a cone-shaped piece that serve as “safe houses.” A piece that could have been used as a “blocker”.
The board resembles a snake, with a main section where pieces are placed, a bridge section that acts as a path to survival, and a third section for the snake’s head and tail. Players roll dice to advance their pieces and move around the board faster than their opponents.
Of course, we can’t know exactly how the game was played, but the new rules are consistent with the board, pieces, and dice, and when tested with 50 modern players, we found them to be original and replayable. It was ranked good in terms of.
“The proposed Ancient Rules do not introduce the original rules used in the Ancient Rules. [Shahr-i Sokhta] Rather than the board, we will suggest how the game was played based on our understanding of the hypothetical rules of the Ur game and our analysis of the game. [Shahr-i Sokhta] Game pieces write researchers.
Reaching its peak in the 3rd millennium BC, Shahl’i Sokta was one of the most important cities of its time in the Eastern Highlands of Iran, and the board games recovered there are dated to around 2600-2400 BC .
Over a hundred similar games Different materials and board layouts have been found in this part of the world made around the same time, evidence of the popularity of passing time this way.
“Archaeologists call this type of game the ‘game of 20 squares’ or the ‘game of 20.'” write researchers. “We don’t know the exact name of the game yet, as each culture may call it differently.”
This study Iran: Journal of the British Persian Institutewith preprint available online.
