Ancient Games - Part 1

Anyone who has attempted to learn about the origins of games such as Tarot cards, and Ouija boards has probably experienced the same frustration I did when attempting to separate fact from fiction. Luckily, there are several researchers that have been successful in their pursuits and have written historically accurate accounts, but it was the inaccurate and romanticized stories of the development of such parlor games that led me to delving into the history of Sortilege (Cleromancy) and ancient board games in general. We owe much of our knowledge of early games from their inclusion in graves as burial goods and from archaeological digs at sacred sites where they have been found as offerings . An example of this is the ancient Egyptian game of Snt (Senet) which evolved into a talismanic game to guide the deceased through the afterlife, and is often buried with the dead and depicted in paintings within the tombs as well.

During my probing I became fascinated by the often intertwined and inseparable histories of both secular games created as simple pastimes, and tools that were used by shamans and priests to interpret the will of the Gods. What surprised me even further, were the many divination methods and spiritual belief systems that evolved from these ancient games of chance, and vice versa. It was with this revelation that I found myself researching the relationship between Board Games and Death in Ritual, Religion, Society and Pop culture. The blogs entitled "The Bones and Stones of Gods, Graves and Games" will be a synopsis of my explorations, and is in no way complete, but will be expanded upon in future posts.

Brief History of Ancient Games and Gaming Boards related to Divination

The earliest known "Gaming Boards" come to us from Egypt and the Near East and date from the Near East Neolithic Period, broadly defined as the period from 10,000 - 4,000 BC. Archaeological evidence of twelve possible gaming boards and a number of small objects that may be identified as gaming pieces are the earliest known examples and provide the data that this conclusion is based upon. Typically consisting of limestone or plaster, these "Gaming Boards" have been excavated at five Neolithic sites in the Levant and south-western Iran. The expert consensus of opinion is that these board games consist of race-games and games of position *1. The specimens are slabs with circular hollows ground out of one surface, in parallel rows and are virtually indistinguishable from Mancala boards. Mancala is one of the largest and most widely distributed board game families. Referred to as a "Count and Capture" or "Sowing" game, the origins and early development of which are poorly understood.

The ancient form of gaming that involved the use of "lots" (straws or pebbles) is more than likely the oldest form of play and the precursor of binary die. One of the earliest forms of die were fashioned from the tip of a tree branch, cut in half, so that one side would lie flat, and the other remained rounded. Later forms of dice were crafted from the knucklebones of sheep, or goats and were called "astragali". Ancient examples of Astragalus bones, most likely used for divination, were found in a Neolithic village in Anatolia in Asia Minor, dating to the sixth millennium BCE. When cast, these bones could land on one of 4 different sides, and each side was given a value. Astragalus bones were used for gambling, and racing games but were also used as a method for seeking council or advice from Gods. To use knucklebones as a divination method is referred to as astragalomancy, and evolved from the notion that the winning player was favored by or granted luck from the Gods. It is from knucklebones that our modern 6 sided dice derive.

The first evidence of a game board created directly from a divination ritual is "The Royal Game of Ur". Also referred to as The Game of Twenty Squares, and dating before 2600 BC, it is believed to be based upon the popular Mesopotamian method of divination by liver omens. This exquisite game board was first discovered in the graves of a Royal Cemetery in Ur between 1926 and 1930. The Royal Game of Ur is understood to have developed from the clay models of livers used to train young priests and diviners, as well as to record divination readings given for important matters or during events. The evidence to support this theory is based upon a crude, red painted liver model, excavated at Kamid el Loz (Lebanon), that on one side is inscribed with the Game of Twenty Squares in its second-millennium form. The shape of The Royal Game of Ur is also highly suggestive of this early form of divination, as it mirrors the same characteristic divisions used by priests to examine different parts of a liver during divination practices, and the grid of the game board is strikingly similar with its positive and negative scenes corresponding directly with that of ancient divination liver models. Although the discovery of a tablet partially describing the game-play exists, reconstructions of the detailed rules for the Game of Twenty Squares have differed widely. A more in-depth examination of the Royal Game of Ur and other ancient games of divination will be forthcoming in future posts.