Board Games History
Board games are games for families, adults and kids. A rainy day can be made interesting by sitting around a fire and playing some interesting board games. Some of the board games are educational, others require some amount of gray matter, and there are still more that are plain entertaining. Imagine how boring life would be without board games? While these games help us to pass time and help kids to learn certain skills, not many people think about the history of these games. |
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While too much is not known about board games history, the first board game to be discovered in 1926-1927 is the Royal Game of Ur. This board game was found in the tombs of Iraq by Sir Leonard Woolley and is believed to be from 2,500 BC. Ur is the town where Abraham used to live and many believe that this board game may have kept the people from Biblical times entertained and busy. Around four boards with similar designs were found, so researchers believe that each board was used by a different class of people. The rich played with ornate pieces, while the poor played with less elaborate pieces.
Another board game that was found and played thousands of years ago was the Mancala. Some of the boards used to play this game have been found carved in the slabs of structures from ancient Egypt. Some of the mancala board games have also been found in the pyramid of Cheops. There are different versions of this game played and one version has 2 rows of 13 holes. This version was found in Kenya by Richard Leaky and it is believed that this board was used during the Neolithic period. Some of the mancala boards may have been used as calculators, but it is certain that some of them were used for entertainment and playing the game.
When you check board games history, it is impossible not to mention Go, which is a Chinese board game. This game has used the same rules for thousands of years and it is believed to be one of the oldest board games known to mankind. While the game was invented in China around 2,300 BC, it spread to far off countries, such as Korea and Japan. This particular game concentrates on capturing territories and hence, it is categorized as a war game. However, the game is not just about capturing territories, it is also about using your intelligence, so that you end up owning more space on the board than your opponent.
Another ancient board game that originated some 4,000 years ago is Mahjong. This game came about when the Tang Dynasty was ruling China. There is some debate on whether paper cards were used initially or tiles, but from historical records we know that this game was played initially by the royalty and the rules were not known to outsiders. It is only after China became a republic that the rules were disclosed to the people. So, it is quite possible that the earlier versions of the game were very different from the one that is played today.
Another ancient board game is the Senet, which was played by the ancient Egyptians. This board games has been found in many tombs and based on the different discoveries, it is known that both royalty and common man played it.
Board games have been around from the very beginning, but it is just in the 20th century that they started getting popular and after the Second World War, popularity of board games surged, as people had more free time to relax and play. Truly, board games history is old and long and no one can say when any game was invented.
More Articles :
Astral Castle: A History Of Board Games
http://www.astralcastle.com/games/index.htm
Games Info Depot: History Of Boardgames
http://www.gamesinfodepot.com/games/board/history/
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Dogs have always been known as friends of mankind. It is impossible for many people to live without their faithful companion. Just as humans have made a name for themselves in history, there are some famous dogs in history, who have carved a niche for themselves too. Some famous dogs in history do not need an introduction, but there are others, who are not known to the rest of the world. 