Archaeologists unearth 'thousand year game' in Oman

The archaeological effort is part of a project to study Iron and Bronze Age settlements in the Qumayrah Valley. The project involved Sultan al Bakri, leader of the Omani Ministry of Heritage and Tourism, and researcher Piotr Bielinski from the Center for Mediterranean Archeology at the University of Warsaw, Poland.

Thousand years game.

It is one of the least studied archaeological sites, although experts say the Qumayrah Valley may have been a trade route between many ancient Arab cities.

In addition to the set of 'thousand years' games, the Qumayrah Valley archaeological team also found many round stone columns dating from the Bronze Age, in addition to many square towers. They also found traces of a copper smelting tower, indicating that the area was once bustling with buyers and sellers.

Archaeological site in Oman.

We have seen many times ancient games appear in many archaeological sites, dating back millennia: like the game Senet and Mehan of ancient Egypt, or ludus lantrunculorum (mercenary game) played by mercenaries. favored by the Roman legions. In the new discovery, the board game board may be the 'predecessor' of a game that existed in the ancient Middle East, called Royal Game of Ur.

British archaeologist Sir Leonard Woolley is honored as the discoverer of the Royal Game of Ur. His team excavated the Royal Cemetery at Ur, and found five gaming tables dating back to 3,000 BC.

Table used to play Royal of Ur.

No one knew how these games played until the early 80s, when a British Museum specialist named Irvign Finkel translated Babylonian clay inscriptions describing how the Royal Game of Ur was played. As it turns out, the task of the two players is to find a way to get their pieces around the table before the opponent.

However, a research report published in 2013 shows that the rules can both shape the table and change over time; The team of scientists came to the conclusion after analyzing more than 100 boardgames of Near Eastern origin. As of the 1950s, there was still the village of Kochi in India that played a version of this game called Aasha.