Researchers from the UK and Iran have reconstructed the rules of one of the oldest board games found in the city of Shahr-i-Sukht in southeastern Iran. This was done almost 50 years after its discovery, based on the analysis of surviving artifacts and computer modeling.
As Day.Az reports, the work was published in the journal Iran: Journal of the British Institute of Persian Studies (IJBIPS).
In 1977, a game was discovered in the city of Shahr-i-Sukht, the age of which is estimated to be approximately 4,500 years old. It consisted of a snake-shaped board, 27 pieces, 20 cells and four dice with round symbols. Although this game resembled the ancient “Royal Game of Ur”, already known to scientists, found in Mesopotamia, its unique elements for a long time did not allow us to determine how it was played.
In the new paper, programmer Sam Jelve of the University of Essex and archaeologist Hossein Moradi proposed a set of rules using the physical characteristics of the find and computer modeling. In their version of the game, players move pieces across three sections of the board and roll dice as they compete in speed. Some pieces play the role of “runners”, while others serve as “blockers”.
The proposed rules were tested on modern players, and they received high marks for originality and fun. Although it is impossible to completely restore the original process, the scientists’ version harmoniously combines the game elements and their functions.
“We don’t know the original name for this game because each culture may have called it something different,” Sam Jelve added.
Shahr-i-Sukhte was a major city in the east of the Iranian plateau in the 3rd millennium BC. The game found there testifies to the popularity of board games in the daily life of ancient civilizations.