Dear Dr. Ahmad,

A superb colorful article, which goes back to 2003, appears in the link. I am nearly sure that you have seen it because of your interest in the subject but I like other RG scholars to see it.

My regards.

http://nabataea.net/games3.html

Dear @Ahmad, I am not an expert, but some resource might be helpful! Ancient Board Games in Perspective. Papers from the 1990 are attached and some other resources, so you can trace the author, even here at Research Gate. Good luck!

http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2008/2008-09-48.html

http://1000awesomethings.com/2009/01/21/847-old-classic-board-games/

Article An Ancient Indian Board Game as a Tool for Authentication

Conference Paper A Modern Implementation of an Ancient Game

Article Board-games and divination in global cultural history a theo...

Yes Dr. Nizar, this is exactly what I am talking about, however, as you see in the article, they do not know how this game was played, I solved the mystery.

Thanks,  Ljubomir for those rich resources.

http://nabataea.net/Photos/gboard16.jpg

Such game might date back to Ancient African and Hindu civilizations:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pallanguzhi

http://creative.sulekha.com/pallanguzhi-as-old-as-civilization_36143_blog

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sources_of_ancient_Tamil_history

In my mother tongue 'Tamil', it is called Pallanguzhi.

History repeats itself. One can see, again and again, similar or modified form of certain materials, things, behaviors, and customs seen across ancient cultures.

'the maritime trade between Tamilakam and the Roman empire, including the names and locations of many ports on both coasts of the Tamil country'. - wikipedia

One should take into account of ancient silk route: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silk_Road

Finally, there is no single method of playing the game. I think it also depends on the number of players.

You can see similar artifacts from Indus Valley Civilization

I am not an expert on board games. Just telling you what is coming to my mind based on what I see here!!!!

Thanks Pandi, yes you are right, I traced a version of the game played in Yemen and Oman.

Jean Marie Lhôte - Histoire des jeux de société - Ed.Flammarion, 1994

Dr. Peter Piccione, U South Carolina.  Definitely an expert - not me.

Thanks Carol, I just have contacted him.

I would suggest you take a look at a single game, like chess.  The game as played in the West, China, Japan and Korea is quite different.  The expert in a single game is also important to get acquainted with.  They expert should be able to explain its movement through China where it was transformed and onto Korea and Japan where the game was again transformed.

[BOOK] A short history of chess

HA Davidson - 2012 - books.google.com

... 500. There we strike a barrier behind which historical research has not penetrated ... SeeChapter

3 for the history of the change in the title and powers of the queen; Chapter 4 for a review of the

changes in the name and functions of the bishop; Chapter 5 for the story of modern ...

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[CITATION] Games of the Orient: Korea, China, Japan

S Culin - 1958 - CE Tuttle Company

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[PDF] from ludicum.org

[PDF] Origin of chess-a phylogenetic perspective

AR Kraaijeveld - International Journal for the Study of Board Games …, 2000 - ex.ludicum.org

... Historical sources are necessary to provide evidence for this theo- ry, for instance by showing

that some of the larger variants ... The History of Chess. ... The Chinese game of Chess as compared

with that practised by Western nations, In: Journal of the North-China Branch of the ...

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The ancient Oikoumenê as an historic culture aggregate

AL Kroeber - Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain …, 1945 - JSTOR

... anthropology is a contextual study, at any rate so far as its orientation is historical. ... in Western

Asia; but archweological search began more recently and our recovered story is shorter in ...

century.15 Stirrups.-The stirrup saddle comes to the surface of history about simultaneously ...

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[DOC] from sfr.fr

[CITATION] Korean Games: with notes on the corresponding games of China and Japan

S Culin - 1895 - University of Pennsylvania

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[PDF] from uq.edu.au

The challenge of Go as a domain for AI research: a comparison between Go and chess

J Burmeister, J Wiles - … , 1995. ANZIIS-95. Proceedings of the …, 1995 - ieeexplore.ieee.org

... We then present a brief history of research projects involving Go and commercial Go- programming

efforts in section 3. ... Go, which are exceedingly simple to learn, and assume that the reader will

be familiar with the rules of chess because of its higher profile in Western culture ...

Mongolian chess and chess‐men

G Montell - Ethnos, 1939 - Taylor & Francis

... In his classic work on the history of the East Mongols, Ssanang Ssetsen casually, and in passing ...

which was passed on to modern chess, of which Blickle maintains the first historical mention

was ... To Japan chess arrived at an early date from China, or Korea, and has in the former ...

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The global chess game… or is it go? Market‐entry strategies for emerging markets

C Nielsen - Thunderbird International Business Review, 2005 - Wiley Online Library

... Paradigms of Competition: The History of Board Games Board games can be grouped into

generalized categories, with most games classified as (1) Racing to Win; (2) Going to War; and

(3 ... The Global Chess Game . . ... The story looks “uncannily similar to the story of the Koreans . ...

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ALEX de Voogt from  New York is the Best specialist 

best  regards 

VCh

Vincent,  i did a cursory review of "ALEX de Voogt" suggested by you, and I found many writings by him but not on (1) a general history of board games nor (2) an intensive history of all games, such as chess, which is among the most prolific games in history.  ALEX de Voogt appears to be strong in mancala and related games, though.

Could you cite a book or set of articles on history and or ancient histories of board games that he has published, i.e. in order to just share in the discussion a bit more what you were referring to by ALEX de Voogt.

Dear Ahmad Hassanat,

you can have a look at the bibliography of this article by Professor Antonio Panaino (Alma Mater Studiorum - University of Bologna) where you can find some indications: http://history.chess.free.fr/papers/Panaino%20a.pdf

Still one of the best treatises is "La novella degli Scacchi e della Tavola Reale. Un'antica fonte orientale sui due giochi da tavoliere piu diffusi nel mondo euroasiatico tra Tardoantico e Medioevo e sulla loro simbologia militare e astrale" by the same Author. You can find a review here: http://www.cci-italia.it/ving/palah.htm.

Another review is the one by Professor Alberto Cantera.

Best regards,

Eleonora Bacchi

http://history.chess.free.fr/papers/Panaino%20a.pdf

http://www.cci-italia.it/ving/palah.htm

http://www.amazon.co.uk/novella-orientale-tavoliere-tardoantico-Medioevo/dp/8887231265/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

Article La novella degli scacchi e delle tavola reale. Un’antico fon...

Article Reseña del libro : Paniano, A. (1999). "La novella degli sca...

There are many ancient board-games from different civilizations. I doubt there are any world-experts in board-game history. Since you are at the university of Mu'tah I would assume you are referring to the game-boards in the Petra region. I looked into this a few years ago, and as far as I could determine, these games were similar to ones played by the Bedouin, using thrown sticks instead of dice. But I am not aware of anyone who has published anything on these board-games outside of Dr. Bilal Khrisat of the Hashemite University who presented a paper at the Second Annual Conference for Nabataean Studies some years ago.  I would be interested in learning more if you find more information. My web-article is linked below.

http://nabataea.net/games1.html

 Thank you Dan

Am working now with ALEX de Voogt, and we are almost there, I will let you know about the results soon.

Jeux de paume (an Italian sport exported to France) is not only evolved to modern tennis, but it played a relevant role in initiating French Revolution.

Dear Ahmad,

Here is "Gebeta" an Ethiopian board game and its history.

https://ethiopianism411.wordpress.com/2011/01/05/gebeta-worlds-oldest-board-game/

Thanks Dejenie for the useful link

Thanks to all for the fascinating links and information. We find these stone gaming boards here in South Africa near old Rock Art sites and some on the Mapungubwe Hill, the early African kingdom fortress where they made wonderful gold objects. I have even found them in India on the pavements in ancient temple sites! Have also learnt to play in Botswana where most of the people still play and are really expert! I bought  a wooden board for myself in Madagascar where they sell thousands with wonderful semi-precious stones as the pebbles.  

"Senet"- Game of Passing -  is an ancient Egyptian board game and dates back to pre-dynastic times (about 3100 b.C.). - It consists of 3 rows of 10 squares each. A complete Senet was found within the intact KV62 tomb of king Tutankhamun.

Another ancient Egyptian board game is Mehen, which is shown often as hieroglyph "Men" such as in the king's name of Seti I: "Men-Maat-Ra" or "Enduring is the Divine Order of Ra".

"While the iconic board game Monopoly is embedded in our culture, it’s likely that few, if any, of us have given much thought to how it came to be. In “The Monopolists: Obsession, Fury, and the Scandal Behind the World’s Favorite Board Game,” author and journalist Mary Pilon offers a fascinating look at the game’s surprisingly contentious roots...

Board games were becoming increasingly popular, and in search of a new medium to reflect her progressive political views, in 1902 Magie invented “The Landlord’s Game.” Pilon shows us in her book how it may have been the earliest precursor to modern-day Monopoly. While Magie’s game contained anti-monopoly messages, many of the modern Monopoly game’s traits — like the “Go to Jail” space — can be traced back to her original game board..."

http://www.idahostatesman.com/2015/09/27/4004662_readers-corner-author-uncovers.html?rh=1

Irving Finkel's Ancient Board Games in Perspective is something you should probably look at:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ancient-Board-Perspective-Irving-Finkel/dp/0714111538

thanks Robert 

Eddie Duggan has written some interesting papers.

https://ucs.academia.edu/eddieduggan

Nice articles Dan, thanks

Just to let you update, Alex still not convinced that the board game is Nabataean, he insists that it is made by the Bedouins 200-400 years ago? 

I haven't read them yet, but I've just seen two interesting articles by Helène Whittaker concerning finds in funerary contexts and funerary symbolism. See: 

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/264844537_Board_games_and_funerary_symbolism_in_Greek_and_Roman_contexts_1

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/33417767_Game-Boards_and_Gaming-Pieces_in_Funerary_Contexts_in_the_Northern_European_Iron_Age

Article Game-Boards and Gaming-Pieces in Funerary Contexts in the No...

Article Board games and funerary symbolism in Greek and Roman contexts 1

You might want to look at these articles by Roland Austin that helped me understand references to games in Plato and Aristotle:

“Zeno's Game of τάβλη (A. P. ix. 482)”

Roland G. Austin

The Journal of Hellenic Studies

Vol. 54, Part 2 (1934), pp. 202-205

Published by: Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies

DOI: 10.2307/626864

Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/626864

“Greek Board-Games”

R. G. Austin

Antiquity / Volume 14 / Issue 55 / September 1940, pp 257-271

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0003598X00015258, Published online: 02 January 2015

Link: http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=9404051&fileId=S0003598X00015258#

http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=9404051&fileId=S0003598X00015258#

http://www.jstor.org/stable/626864

многоуважа́емый профе́ссор П.Ф. Забродский

большо́е спаси́бо!

Ahmed, you are right in that the question really is, how does one date the ancient board-games found in southern Jordan. This is why I directed you to Dr. Bilal Khrisat's study, where he was trying to establish this exact thing.  I examined many of the same boards, and came to the conclusion that they were ancient by three observations: 1. The board games in Petra are all "out of the way." They are not on the main though-affairs, but off in corners, indicating that people played these games while there was busy traffic on the main walkways. In other-words, Petra was a busy place when the game-boards were in use.   2. The Bedouin are reluctant to talk about these games, since they used methods that are disapproved.  The used thrown sticks that are similar to the thrown arrows of ancient times. Also, in my years traveling with the Bedouin, I did not observe these games being played, and when asking the older Bedouin about them, some knew of their existence, but they could not tell me how they were played. This was among the Howitat, and the tribes around Petra, in the very area where all the boards are found carved in rocks. 3. Dr. Khrisat studied the weathering of the rocks, and his observation was that they were from antiquity. So my assumption is that they are very old. If Alex can find Bedouin that play these games, then I will graciously concede this point. Perhaps he can find mention of these games in the accounts of the early western explorers of Arabia?  In the end I suspect that we will all have to admit to guesswork.

Ahmad, I am a great chess fan but do not know much about other board games. However, if you are interested in chess -- arguably the most prominent board game of all times -- you should check out Edward Winter. He is arguably the most prolific writer and the greatest expert in the history of the game: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Winter_(chess_historian)

His book Chess Facts and Fables may have some anecdotes that may be interesting for you (depends on what is your exact goal). I think that the game of chess may also have, among others, Nabatean roots, so that it may be interesting to consider chess for your research.   

Thanks Florian 

I am a big chess fan too.

we may play together one day.

Apart from Alex de Voogt, one should look at what the "Board Game Studies" group did and does. They organize since 1995 a colloquium (now held annually: next year in Copenhagen) and they publish a journal, which is now available online. Not necessary to rely on outdated articles such as Austin's. Look here: http://bgsj.ludus-opuscula.org/

Moreover, members of the group (such as de Voogt, Duggan, Finkel, Dunn-Vaturi, Depaulis, myself and others) have published numerous books and articles on the history of games, ancient, egyptian, indian, scandinavian, medieval, chess etc. You might also want to have a look at my entry "Games, Greek and Roman" in the Wiley Encyclopedia of Ancient History with bibliographical references (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah22285/abstract) or my page on academia.edu with most of my publications.

http://bgsj.ludus-opuscula.org/

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah22285/abstract

"Indigenous Board Game Design in The Gift of Food" in Analog Game Studies!

"Elizabeth LaPensée attends to culturally responsive games and collaborative design processes in “Indigenous Board Game Design in The Gift of Food.” In this design-oriented essay, LaPensée outlines the design process and final outcome of a unique board game that contributes to the revitalization efforts of certain Pacific Northwest Native communities and shows how games can be powerful tools for facilitating the transmission and retention of community knowledge, particularly about specific ecosystems..."

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/indigenous-board-game-design-gift-food-analog-studies-lapens%C3%A9e?trkInfo=VSRPsearchId%3A577811291466261667040%2CVSRPtargetId%3A7316872013818876115%2CVSRPcmpt%3Aprimary&trk=vsrp_influencer_content_res_name

No expert but have done some study on the issue.  I have found reference to chess being played in my home town at the time of the Irish King Cuhullian while he is seen by most as nothing but a folk lore King I dont-I work hard on this subject matter it appears from my research that the Lewis chess pieces were infact made in Ireland despite recent claims that they were made else where by a woman. I will watch your research with much interest if I come on anything new I shall contact you Florians link is very interesting. good luck with all.

Thank you guys for all the answers and enlightenments. as a result of this question and its answers, I have cooperated with Alexander Johan de Voogt or simply Alex de Voogt, who is a Dutch researcher working as an assistant curator of African Ethnology at the American Museum of Natural History and best known for his work on the logics of traditional mancala games. 

We have done a joint project about an ancient game called "Tab" which has been played at Petra region for very long time. the results will be published soon by The Journal of Near Eastern Studies.

so what is wrong about my question to get a downvote?

Hello, Ahmad,

The Bryn Mawr Classical Review just published a review of a book by Despina Ignatiadou on ancient Macedonian glass making which touches on ancient game boards and pieces, and from which I quote:

---------------------------------------

Gaming boards of stone, reused roof tiles, and what is reconstructed as iron-framed wood were used with plain and unpolished glass plano-convex counters and bone dice to play different board games. Of the ten known gaming sets found in Macedonia, most were found in male graves, many of them around Pydna, and date between the second quarter and end of the fourth century. Some also include bone and/or pebble counters. Full sets, in any case, contained counters in as many colors as intended number of players. The author expands the topic to cover gaming and rules of play throughout the Mediterranean.4

---------------------------------------[The note:]

4. Thereby adding to the studies of Leslie Kurke, “Ancient Greek Board Games and How to Play Them,” Classical Philology 94 (1999): 247-267 and Coins, Bodies, Games and Gold. The Politics of Meaning in Archaic Greece (Princeton 1999).

---------------------------------------

You can read the entire review at:

http://www.bmcreview.org/2016/09/20160916.html

--Ralph

http://www.bmcreview.org/2016/09/20160916.html

Ralph, in the Roman Empire too, at its north-westernmost edge in Britain, the calculi used were of similar materials to their Greek predecessors - but accompanied by many examples in pottery, including 'samian ware' [sigillata]. But, I think, some of the Roman glass counters here do appear polished in some way.

Muchas gracias por las recomendaciones de todas los investigadores que ayudaron a Ahmed, pues de alguna manera me pueden servir a mi para mi investigación sobre los juegos tradicionales, para profundizar en el surgimiento y la llegada de muchos de los juegos a Cuba, ya que he podido comprobar que muchos juegos tradicionales (no sólo los de mesa) se han jugado en tiempos remotos en diferentes lugares al mismo tiempo, pero sólo cambia en nombre o la cantidad de judadores, ya que la esencia es la misma.

No obstante, si algún colega puede indicarme específicamente autores que hayan profundizado en juegos tradicionales que tengan implícito las habilidades motrices y las capacidades físicas, se lo agradeceré

سؤال مميز

This is an old question, but maybe you are interested in taking a look at Irving Finkel's work: https://thatmuse.com/2020/05/22/ancient-board-games/ and https://youtu.be/AfZb4kG614w.