Other Ancient Games

Aseb – Game of 20 Squares

Aseb, the Egyptian variant of the ancient Middle Eastern Game of 20 Squares, holds a fascinating historical significance. Some historians believe the Egyptian name for this game was Tjau, which in ancient Egyptian slang meant “got it” or “bingo,” though others argue this is a misinterpretation. Closely related to the Royal Game of Ur in its older forms, Aseb likely made its way to Egypt from ancient Sumer during the 17th Dynasty. Remarkably, versions of Aseb have been discovered not only in Egypt but also in Sudan, Crete, and even as far as India.

Aseb Rules

1. Number of players is 2.
2. The game includes the board of 20 squares arranged into 3 rows of 4 columns and a line of 8 cells, 5 conoid pieces, 5 round spindle pieces, and 4, two sided, throwing sticks are included in the game to serve as dice, with one side rounded and the other side flat.
3. In some versions of Aseb, a single 4 sided knucklebone, a single 4 sided stick, or a single 4 sided conoid dice is used instead of the throwing sticks. This slightly changes the game, because such a dice has an equal probability of any of the dice values, where as the throwing sticks do not.
4. The game starts with all of the pieces located off the board, on the long fields adjacent to the line cells.
5. All 4 throwing sticks are thrown at the same time. The score is determined as follows:
   1. If one throwing stick landed on the flat side and the other three landed on the round side the score is 1.
   2. If two throwing sticks landed on the flat side and the other two landed on the round side the score is 2.
   3. If three throwing sticks landed on the flat side and the fourth one landed on the round side the score is 3.
   4. If all four throwing sticks landed on the flat side the score is 4, which is the maximum obtainable score.
   5. If all four throwing sticks landed on the rounded side the score does not count and the player needs to throw the sticks again.
6. Additional throws of the sticks by a player in a single turn are not allowed.
7. To determine which player starts the game, both players throw the sticks. Whoever scores 1 first moves first.
8. The player who gets the first move throws the sticks again to determine how many cells they will move.
9. Each score of the dice determines how many cells the player moves from 1 to 4.
10. A player can chose to move any of his pieces on any move, as long as the move is allowed.
11. With each throw of the sticks the players can either add a piece to the board or move a piece that is already on the board.
12. The players begin by moving pieces into cells #1-4 and #17-20, depending on what their initial dice score was.

Mancala

Mancala is an ancient game, traditionally played on the ground using holes, or dimples, dug out in the sand or rock, and using tree seeds or pebbles. Its origins are shrouded in mystery, but given its widespread use and simplicity of materials, it likely dates back over 2,000 years. The game’s oldest variants are predominantly found in Africa. As the African slave trade expanded, Mancala spread to Asia, the Caribbean, the Americas, and Europe. Today, there are over 100 known variants of Mancala worldwide.

Recent claims have suggested the discovery of the oldest Mancala boards in Israel, at Gadara in Roman bathhouses, and in Ethiopia at Aksum. However, a closer examination of the hole patterns carved in these rocks reveals they are not Mancala boards, as the number of holes differs. The Aksum board features a 3×10 grid and is clearly Senet, the Game of 30 Squares, while the boards in Gadara, Israel, display a variety of patterns, most notably 5×2, indicative of the Greek game Pente Grammai. It appears that the Romans, ancient Egyptians, and Axumites did not play Mancala. Instead, it was primarily a pastime of African tribes, remaining undocumented until Europeans encountered it in Africa.

The name Mancala is derived from the Egyptian Arabic word “naql” (نقل), meaning “to move.” Thus, Mancala roughly translates to “movement.” The earliest known mention of the game by name is found in the Sunni Islamic law code, Kitab al-Umm (كـتـاب الأم) (VI, 213), written by Imam ash-Shafii (767-820 CE), where it is referred to as Hizzah, described as “a piece of wood in which there are holes for playing.” A commentary on Kitab al-Umm, titled Az-Zawajir an Iqtiraf al-Kabayir (II, 191), written by Ibn Hajar Al-Haytami (1503-1566 CE), confirms that Hizzah is similar to Mancala, stating: “Hizzah is a piece of wood with three rows of holes into which small pebbles are placed for playing. It may also be called fourteen (shahardah / arbaata ashara). In Egypt, it is called manqalah. In the Taqrib of Sulaym, it is described as a board with twenty-eight holes, fourteen on each side, for playing.”

The game begins with the first player placing all 72 pebbles into the middle 4 cells (8-11 and 2-5) they want on their side, as well as in the opponent’s cells directly opposite the ones where they placed their pebbles. The outermost cells on each side (cells 7, 12, and 1, 6) are left empty. For example, if the player placed pebbles in cells 8, 9, and 11, and left cell 10 empty, they must also place pebbles in cells 5, 4, and 2, since they are opposite cells 8, 9, and 11.

Pebbles should not be evenly distributed across all cells (i.e., 6 per cell), as this would guarantee a loss for the starting player.

Typically, the player should place at least 4 pebbles per cell, but this is not mandatory.

If the opposing player is dissatisfied with the pebble distribution, they can choose to switch sides. However, doing so forfeits their first turn, making them the second player.

Once the pebbles are distributed, the other player begins their turn by picking up all the pebbles in any chosen cell on their side and placing one pebble per cell in a counterclockwise direction until they run out. The opponent may stop the moving player to count the pebbles in the chosen cell.

If the last cell in which a player places a pebble contains only 1 pebble (meaning the cell was empty before the move), the player’s turn ends, and the opponent takes their turn.

If the last cell and/or any preceding cells in order contain 2 or 4 pebbles after the move, the player collects the pebbles from those cells and the cells directly opposite, adding them to their score pile. Each pebble counts as 1 point. For example, if a player moves from cell 10, which contains 6 pebbles, they distribute one pebble per cell counterclockwise, ending at cell 4. If cells 4 and 3 contain 2 or 4 pebbles each, the player takes the pebbles from cells 3 and 4, and also from cells 10 and 9, as they are opposite. However, if cells 12 and 1 also contain 2 or 4 pebbles, those pebbles are not collected as they are not in sequence with the last cell (cell 4), due to cell 2 breaking the sequence by not having the correct number of pebbles (i.e., not 2 or 4). After scoring, the player gets a second turn, starting from any cell on their side.

If the last cell contains 3, 5, or more pebbles after a move, the player gets a second turn. They take the pebbles from the last cell and distribute them counterclockwise again.

If a player has more than one pebble in any cell on their side, but the opponent has no pebbles on their side (i.e., their side is empty), the player must place a single pebble in the opponent’s first empty cell (cell 7 or cell 1).

If only one pebble remains in the game, it becomes the property of the player on whose side it resides and is added to their score.

When the board is completely cleared of pebbles, both players count the pebbles in their score piles. The player with the most pebbles wins the round, with their victory margin being the difference in the number of pebbles scored.

Players continue to play additional rounds until one reaches a final score of 60. The first player to achieve a score of 60 wins the game.

Ludus Latrunculorum (Latrunculi)

Ludus Latrunculorum, or Latrunculi, is an ancient Roman game of pure strategy. Archaeological findings have revealed various boards with grids of 7×7, 7×8, 8×8, 8×9, 9×9, and 9×10. It is a game steeped in military tactics, bearing some resemblance to checkers. The name Ludus Latrunculorum translates to “The Game of Mercenaries.”

Latrunculi at Housesteads Roman Fort or Roman Corbridge

Complete with pottery counters and dice containers, Latrunculi sets have been found at Housesteads Roman Fort or Roman Corbridge, dating back to the 2nd-3rd century CE. These artifacts are housed at Corbridge Roman Town and Museum, under the stewardship of English Heritage. Photo: Historic England Archive.

The earliest mention of Latrunculi in Roman literature is by Varro (116-27 BCE) in his work De Lingua Latina (On the Latin Language), Book X, 22, referring to the board’s grid. Although no Roman writer provided a comprehensive account of the game’s rules, a detailed strategy can be gleaned from the anonymous Roman poem Laus Pisonis (Panegyric on Piso) (lines 190-208), penned in the 1st century CE. The poem offers enough insight to reconstruct the rules with considerable accuracy:

“If mayhap you please, when weary with the weight of studies, to be nevertheless not inactive but to play games of skill, then on the open board in more cunning fashion a piece is moved into different positions and the contest is waged to a finish with glass soldiers, so that white checks the black pieces, and black checks white. But what player has not retreated before you? What piece is lost when you are its player? Or what piece before capture has not reduced the enemy? In a thousand ways your army fights: one piece, as it retreats, itself captures its pursuer: a reserve piece, standing on the alert, comes from its distant retreat — this one dares to join the fray and cheats the enemy coming for his spoil. Another piece submits to risky delays and, seemingly checked, itself checks two more: this one moves towards higher results, so that, quickly played and breaking the opponent’s defensive line, it may burst out on his forces and, when the rampart is down, devastate the enclosed city. Meanwhile, however fierce rises the conflict among the men in their divided ranks, still you win with your phalanx intact or deprived of only a few men, and both your hands rattle with the crowd of pieces you have taken.”

English translation from Duff, J. Wight, and Arnold M. Duff. “Minor Latin Poets”. Loeb Classical Library, Harvard University Press (1935). pp. 310-311.

The poem mentions key gameplay elements: capturing pieces, strategic positioning to avoid capture, moving pieces backward and forward, removing captured pieces permanently, and reintroducing a piece when it has advanced too far.