4,000-Year-Old Board Game Discovered In Oman
Archaeologists announced the discovery of a 4,000-year-old board game at the site of Ayn Bani Saidah in Oman earlier this month. The settlement was primarily focused on trade within the Qumayrah Valley during the Bronze and Iron Ages. The site consisted of several buildings and circular towers that may have been used for storage.
The excavations were carried out by the Polish Center for Mediterranean Archeology at the University of Warsaw under Director Piotr Bieliński and supervised by the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism under Director General of Antiquities Sultan al Bakri. The aim of this ongoing project is to study settlement patterns within the Qumayrah Valley.
RELATED: How To Enjoy Solo Board Games
“We finally found proof of copper working at the site as well as some copper objects. This shows that our settlement participated in the lucrative copper trade for which Oman was famous at that time with mentions of Omani copper present in the cuneiform texts from Mesopotamia,” Bieliński said.
While the settlement provides insight into ancient networks of trade in the region, the most remarkable find was a board game featuring a series of holes carved into a stone slab that were used for pieces. The artifact resembles many other board games which have been discovered throughout the Middle East over the years.
“Such finds are rare, but examples are known from an area stretching from India through Mesopotamia and even to the Eastern Mediterranean. The most famous example of a game board based on a similar principle is the one from the graves from Ur,” Bieliński noted.
The ancient city of Ur was excavated under the direction of Leonard Woolley between 1922 and 1934. The archaeologist became famous after discovering a
Read more on thegamer.com
