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Historical Hnefatafl 7x7 (Irish Brandubh) curious positions : mmagari (1808) / Oddur (1482) 2
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complete 10th-century set.
This important collection of early chess pieces reveals how the the origins of the game are
rooted in India and the Middle East. Each of these remarkable pieces carries huge significance
in its evolution, including an extremely rare, early and almost complete 10th-century set.
rooted in India and the Middle East. Each of these remarkable pieces carries huge significance
in its evolution, including an extremely rare, early and almost complete 10th-century set.
Board Games in pre-Islamic Persia
Fonte:http://www.iranicaonline.org/
include the games of chess and backgammon. our knowledge of
other board games remains scanty. The study of ancient games relies on
archeological material which is supplemented by data from epigraphic and
iconographic sources, and direct evidence is lacking in most cases.
BOARD GAMES IN PRE-ISLAMIC PERSIA
In contrast to the extensive literature describing the role of ancient Persia in the transmission of the games of chess
and backgammon, our knowledge of other board games remains scanty. The
study of ancient games relies on archeological material which is
supplemented by data from epigraphic and iconographic sources, and
direct evidence is lacking in most cases. This is due to the perishable
nature of the material, such as textile, leather, and wood, which was
used in making the artifacts, as well as because of the fact that often
the games were simply drawn on the ground. Ethnography can help
reconstruct some games, since many of them are still played nowadays
(Watson, pp. 199-202). Despite their popularity, the names and the rules
of ancient games remain unknown. Today’s expressions derive most often
from a description of the board, as it is the case with “the game of 20
squares” or “the game of 58 holes,” both of which will be discussed
further on.
Another major problem for the study of ancient games is the
identification of the material as gaming material. Board games consist
of a surface usually structured by a geometrical pattern (rows of holes
or squares, grids of lines, etc.), on which counters are placed and/or
moved, sometimes according to the result given by a random generator
(dice, sticks, cowry shells, etc.). In practice, the same holds true for
the abaci (mathematically structured boards on which counters are
placed and moved to perform calculations), as well as for certain
objects used in divination practices (see DIVINATION).
This makes it often difficult, if not impossible, to determine whether a
board has been used as a game board or as a board for calculation (see,
for example, the clay tablet measuring 6.2 x 8.4 cm with 3 x 8 holes in
Edwards, 1983, p. 298, fig. 147.1 and pl. 16e) or divination. These
functions are not mutually exclusive: Greek boards for the game of “five
lines” seem to have been used for calculation as well, as was the case
with the chess board (Murray, p. 338; Pritchett, pp. 187-215). Toys,
sometimes evoked in games studies, also raise questions of
identification, but they are not dealt with here.
The game of 20 squares. The so-called “game of 20 squares”
was certainly one of the most popular games in ancient Egypt,
Mesopotamia, and Persia. Its conventional descriptive name is very close
to the original Egyptian name “the game of twenty” (Pusch, 1977, pp.
209-11; Idem, 2007, pp. 69-86, with modifications).
The earliest example of a board for this game found in Persia comes
from the site of Šahr-e Suḵta (also spelled in literature as Shahr-i
Sokhta or Shahr-e Sukhteh) in southern Sistān (Piperno and Salvatori,
1983, pp. 179-89, figs. 5-7, pl. VI; FIGURE 1).
The form of the wooden board and the order of the individual spaces or
fields follow the earlier examples from the royal cemetery at Ur
(Woolley, 1934, pp. 274-79, pls. 95-98). The central row of eight fields
is accompanied on either side by four fields on one end of the board,
making a rectangle of 4 x 3 fields, and by two fields on the other end
of the board, making a rectangle of 2 x 3 fields (see FIGURE 1 and FIGURE 2). On the board found at Šahr-e Suḵta the fields are fashioned by the coils of a snake, carved in relief (FIGURE 1).
In December 2004, the finding of another board of similar design
together with two cubic dice was reported on the Internet (“World’s
Oldest Backgammon Discovered in Burnt City”).
The only type of the board known to have existed in Egypt differs
from the ones found at Ur and Šahr-e Suḵta in the arrangement of the
fields: its longer central row has twelve fields and is accompanied by
two shorter rows of four fields at each side, but on one end only. Thus,
the thicker part of the board forms a “head” of 3 x 4 fields, while the
continuation of the longer central row makes a “tail” of eight fields (FIGURE 3).
Many boards have the forth, the eighth, and the last field of the
central aisle marked by a cross or another symbol. The hitherto earliest
board of this type seems to be a stone board from Jiroft in Kermān
province in southeastern Iran (Majidzāda, 2003, pp. 120, 197;
Dunn-Vaturi and Schädler, 2006, pp. 2-3, fig. 1). It has 21 fields,
which are arranged as a curling snake, similar to the older boards from
Šahr-e Suḵta; the 21st field is at the end of the snake’s tail. Three
other fragmentary boards of this type have been unearthed at Susa and
are preserved in the Louvre Museum in Paris. The fragment from Ville
Royale at Susa has been misinterpreted when drawn for the final report
(Mecquenem, 1943, fig. 39.1; Allinger-Csollich, 2003, p. 41, board
III.1, erroneous drawing after Mecquenem). The end of a “tail” with a
cross is visible on the reverse side of a 58-hole game from the “Dépôt
du Temple d’Inshushinak”—a votive deposit buried near the sanctuary of
the god Inshushinak, the city god of Susa—which dates to about 1300-1200
BCE (Mecquenem, 1905, fig. 350). In Egypt, games of 20 squares can
often be found on the reverse side of boxes for playing senet
(the game of 30 squares). Another fragment from Susa without
archeological context preserves only the last six fields of the central
row with two marked fields.
Strongly related to the “head-and-tail” type are the stone gaming
boards in the shape of animals found at Jiroft. They come as birds of
prey (Majidzāda, 2003, pp. 130-32, 200-1; Dunn-Vaturi and Schädler,
2006, pp. 4-6, pl. 1, 3a), scorpions (Majidzāda, 2003, pp. 136 and 201;
Dunn-Vaturi and Schädler, 2006, pp. 5-6, pl. 2a), and as a scorpion-man
(Majidzāda, 2003, pp. 135 and 201; Dunn-Vaturi and Schädler, 2006, p. 6,
pl. 3b). The complete scorpion-board from Jiroft confirms the earlier
identification of a fragment from the site of Tepe Yahya (Yaḥyā) in
Kermān province in southeastern Iran as belonging to a similar board
(Potts et al., p. 55, pl. 19B, fig. 22C; Lamberg-Karlowsky,
1988, fig. 2F, pl. XX.C; Dunn-Vaturi and Schädler, 2006, pp. 5-6, pl.
2b). These boards have two rows of four fields (located within the wings
of the bird, the pincers of the scorpion, and the arms of the
scorpion-man) and a central row of fields running through the body and
tail. While most of these boards have the usual number of twenty fields,
some boards have a central track of only eight fields (double-headed
bird and scorpion-man), thus reducing the track for each player’s
movements to twelve fields. It is obvious that the astrological
connotations of the number twelve have an important role in the game.
The reduced size and the fact that the boards appear to have never been
used for playing suggest that the gaming boards from Jiroft had been
intentionally produced as grave goods. This assumption is corroborated
by the choice of animals used for the gaming boards. In the iconography
of the items from Jiroft, the birds of prey, the scorpions, and the
snakes frequently appear in association with each other, but they remain
decidedly distinct from such irenic motifs as bulls, antelopes, and
water streams. Apart from the fact that these threatening and agile
creatures correspond to the competitiveness required in a race game, it
seems that an apotropaic and chthonic aspect characterizes these
animals, which also transcend the human sphere, serving as a link
between the earth and the underworld (snake, scorpion) or the heavens
(bird) respectively.
As far as the rules of the game of 20 squares are concerned, the
counters and random generators (stick dice and pyramidal dice),
associated with the game boards at Ur, indicate that the game was
designed as a race between two players. It is generally assumed that the
four squares on each side of the board served as entry fields, where
the two players had to enter their counters. This assumption is now
strongly corroborated by the zoomorphic boards from Jiroft.
Consequently, the counters of each player met only in the central aisle.
The aim of the game seems to have been to move one’s counters down that
central line until the final field and then off the board. The marked
squares seem to have functioned as lucky fields, be it that a piece was
safe from being captured or that landing on it gave the player another
throw. From the fact that the marked squares, which can be found on a
number of boards, are placed exactly at a distance of four fields, it
can be concluded that the track to run through on the boards of the Ur
type was as indicated in the diagram (FIGURE 2;
a different proposal is given in Finkel, 1995, p. 66, fig. 1). In fact,
on the snake-board from Šahr-e Suḵta one square is particularly
emphasized, that is the square where the head and the tail of the snake
meet, probably to indicate the final field of the track (see FIGURE 1, top left corner of the 2 x 3 block on the right).
A recently discovered late-Babylonian cuneiform tablet dating to
177-176 BCE contains a description of a race game with a plausible
reference to the game of 20 squares (Finkel, 1995; Idem, 2007). The game
is called “a pack of dogs” (Babyl. illat kalbi), which seems
to preserve the original name of the game, whereas the counters (five on
each side) bear the names of birds. They are moved according to the
throw of two knucklebones, and special results are needed to enter each
of the birds-counters into the game. Thus the counters are of five
different values, and it seems that such a distinction, which later was
to characterize the game of chess, has been introduced here for the
first time (Schädler, 1999). The obverse of the tablet is inscribed with
a zodiacal divinatory diagram, and one would be tempted to interpret
the five birds of the game and its central row of twelve squares in an
astrological context.
The backgammon/nard family. Among the game boards found at
Jiroft, another type of game board, hitherto unknown, has come to light.
By depicting four curling snakes comparable to the 20-square boards
from Šahr-e Suḵta, it shows three parallel rows of twelve (two groups of
six) circular fields. The arrangement of the fields is similar to that
of the backgammon board, with the exception that while the backgammon
board has two rows of twelve fields at its two sides, the board from
Jiroft has three such rows; the rows are interrupted in the middle to
form two blocks of six fields on each side. Such an interruption is a
very peculiar and important feature common to and characteristic of
backgammon-type boards: it is not just twelve fields on one side of the
board, but two times six fields (Majidzāda, pp. 108 and 192; Finkel,
2004, p. 95, fig. 7.7; Dunn-Vaturi and Schädler, 2006, pp. 10-11, pl.
4a). A second board of the same type, but more precisely cut, is
preserved at the Swiss Museum of Games (Musée Suisse du Jeu) in La
Tour-de-Peilz. Thus the structure of the board with its three rows of
twelve fields divided in the middle into groups of six is identical to
the Roman boards of a much later date for a game of the backgammon type,
which was called “the (game of) 12 points” (Lat. ludus duodecim scriptorium, duodecim scripta) in Republican and early Imperial times, and simply “dice” (Lat. alea)
in later Roman times (Schädler, 1995). The game obviously existed until
at least the 7th century CE, and it is attested not only by Isidore of
Seville’s description (Origines, 18.60-64), but also by the depiction in a wall painting from Object VI, no. 13 at Panjikant
near Samarqand dating to about 700 CE (identification proposed by
Panaino, 1999, p. 204; see Belenitskiĭ, 1958, pp. 146-47, fig. 48;
Belenitskiĭ and Piotrovskiĭ, 1959, pls. XIV-XV; Azarpay, 1981, pp. 181
[dating] and 194).
The fact that this type of board existed simultaneously with the game
of 20 squares suggests that the backgammon type of board derives
neither from that game nor from the much later Egyptian combination
boards for “senet” and “20 squares” with their three rows of 12 squares.
The backgammon family of games followed a trajectory of its own, with
its apparent origins in ancient Persia around 2000 BCE.
A great variety of game boards. A gypsum slab with up to thirteen holes approximately 1 cm deep and 1 cm in diameter has been found at the Neolithic site Čoḡā Safid
in Ḵuzestān (Hole, 1977, p. 215; pl. 48-h). If it is a game board, this
is one of the earliest examples in the Near East, with other Levantine
specimens known from the 7th millennium BCE (Rollefson, 1992). Game sets
are rarely found complete, which raises issues of identification:
boards can be mistaken for a kind of abacus and vice-versa. The clay
tablet with 3 x 8 dots on its surface, found at Haftavān Tepe
in the Urmia basin in northwestern Iran (late Period VI B, 1900-1550
BCE), is interpreted either way (Burney, 1975, p. 159, pl. IVa; Swiny,
1986, p. 44).
Slabs with 3 x 7 squares have been discovered at Bābā Jān Tepe
in northeastern Luristan (Goff, 1976, p. 21, pl. VIIIa)—the original
number of squares could well have been 30—and Susa (Mecquenem, 1943, p.
45; Allinger-Csollich, 2003, p. 23, no. I.A.11 7); graffiti of 3 x 9
squares have been noticed at Persepolis (Curtis and Finkel, 1999).
Objects with variants of 20-, 30-, and 36-square diagrams are also
attested at Susa for different periods. Two of them are reported from
the end of the Elamite period, 8th-7th century BCE (Mecquenem, 1943, pp.
44-45, fig. 39, nos. 2-3; Allinger-Csollich, 2003, pp. 20-21, nos.
I.A.1 and I.A.3). They have the shape of a brick with 3 x 12 perforated
fields made as quadrangles (FIGURE 4).
The quadrangles of row 4 and row 9 are filled with dots. The fact that
dice from a contemporary level bears the same dotted pattern on one side
leads one to consider these boards to be a part of a game (Mecquenem,
1943, p. 46, fig. 40, no. 14; FIGURE 5).
A slab from Susa bears the pattern of 3 x 10 squares and has three
cavities on the side, which were probably meant for counters (Mecquenem,
1943, p. 45, n. 1; Allinger-Csollich, 2003, p. 21, I.A.4: erroneous
sketch after Mecquenem; FIGURE 6).
The marks on this board must be compared to those on a fragmentary
board with 3 x 5 squares found in the “Dépôt du Temple
d’Inshushinak”(Mecquenem, 1905, p. 105, fig. 349; Jouer dans l’Antiquité,
p. 163, fig. 158b; Allinger-Csollich, 2003, p. 25, I.A.16, no. 5), and
therefore its identification as a game of 20 squares is questionable. A
game of 58 holes appears on the other side of the board, like seen
previously on another example.
The game of 58 holes. This game refers to two symmetrical
circuits of twenty-nine perforations, each one to be completed by a
player, thus making the total of fifty-eight holes on the board (FIGURE 7). The players, each possessing five pegs, start from the posts marked as A and A' on the diagram (FIGURE 7)
and follow their respective circuits which lead to the common goal
marked H. This 30th post is sometimes surrounded by additional holes.
Certain cavities are differentiated by colored inlays, or motifs in the
form of a rosette, or inscriptions denoting the stages in the evolution
of the game. Some of these posts (B-F/B'-F' and C-D/C'-D') are linked by
a line which permits a player to advance his piece or, on the contrary,
obliges him to retreat. The game of 58 holes was practiced in the Near
East from the 2nd millennium until the 1st millennium BCE. Ten boards
are known to date from different regions in Iran: Tepe Siālk near Kāšān
in west central Iran (Ghirshman, 1939, p. 42, pl. XXII.8; FIGURE 8), Susa (Mecquenem, 1905, pp. 104-6, figs. 345-351; FIGURE 9), northwestern Iran (British Museum, Reg. No. 1991.0720.1), and Lorestān (Luristan; see Amiet, 1976, p. 98, no. 240; FIGURE 10).
These boards were found with knucklebones at Susa and Tepe Siālk, but
with no pegs unlike in Egypt, where zoomorphic sticks are well known and
led to the game being called “Hounds and Jackals.” Most of the pegs,
being made of wood, have perished. Others, fashioned out of ivory or
metal, have probably been ignored or erroneously catalogued as pins,
like a peg with a monkey figurine associated to the fragmentary games in
the “Dépôt du Temple d’Inshushinak” (Dunn-Vaturi, 2000; FIGURE 11).
Games seem to have been among the favorite funerary offerings. At
Gohar Tepe in Māzandarān, a woman was buried during the 1st millennium
BCE with a significant amount of bone gaming pieces (Anonymous, p. 6). A
terracotta 58-hole game board was unearthed in an Iron Age grave at
Tepe Siālk, and faience pendants imitating this game have been found in
the same cemetery (Ghirshman, 1939, p. 44, pl. XXVII, 9 and 10), which
attests to the miniaturization of games adopted as symbols. Sophie Erdös
suggested that the anthropomorphic shape of the 58-hole boards from
Susa refers to a cult of rebirth (Erdös, 1986, p. 118-19). The player
had to move the peg along the board/body to ensure the revival. The god
Inshushinak, who received a few boards as gifts, had, among other
functions, precisely that of delivering the last judgment of the
deceased.
Merels (Merreles) or Nine Men’s Morris. A terracotta board
from Susa (12.3 x 11 cm) exhibited in the Louvre (Sb 20908) shows a
square crossed by one vertical line, one horizontal line, and two
diagonal lines (FIGURE 12).
A second board also from Susa shows an identical design (Louvre, Asb
11386). Unfortunately, neither board has a stratigraphic reference. The
design is typical for the game of Three Men’s Morris, or Smaller Merels,
where two players attempt to place their three counters in a straight
line, at the same time preventing the opponent to do so. However, the
identification of these boards as game boards is not without doubts,
since similar designs have been used as apotropaic symbols also.
The same holds true for the board of Nine Men’s Morris, which was found in a room of the upper fort at Besṭām
in western Azerbaijan (Kleiss, 1979, p. 155, fig. 2.4 and p. 152, no.
74/54) and is incised on a pithos shard from a stratum of Urartean
debris and dating to the first half of the 1st millennium BCE, but this
seems far too early with regard to the earliest sources which definitely
describe the game (Ovid, Ars Amatoria 3.365-66; Ovid,Tristia 2.481-82).
Random generators and counters. A great variety of random generators are known from ancient Persia:
a) A binary die of pyramidal shape, similar to the ones found in the
royal graves of Ur and dating to the first half of the 3rd millennium
BCE, is reported from Susa (Mecquenem, 1943, p. 46, fig. 40, no. 2).
While the dice from the royal graves of Ur have two tops painted and two
left blank, the one from Susa has only one top painted and three left
blank, and, therefore, it reflects some acquaintance with stick dice.
b) Four wooden four-sided long dice with faces numbered 1 to 4 have
been found at Šahr-e Suḵta and associated with the gaming board for “20
squares” (Piperno and Salvatori, pp. 179 ff., fig. 7).
c) Four-sided dice of unusual tetrahedral shape with numbers 1 to 4
have been found at Susa (Mecquenem, 1943, p. 46, fig. 40, nos. 7 and 8);
they are dated to neo-Babylonian times.
d) Knucklebones of sheep (and possibly goat) and cattle, but also
artificially made from bronze seem to have been commonly used as random
generators (see Muscarella, 1974, p. 80, n. 21 with a list). Several
examples including two bone knucklebones with one hole in the broad
sides and one piece made of bronze and dating to the 12th century BCE
come from Susa (Mecquenem, 1943, p. 46, fig. 40, nos. 9-12 and 13,
bronze), as well as from Denḵā Tepe
in Azerbaijan (Muscarella, 1974, p. 80). They become more numerous from
the second half of the 2nd millennium BCE onwards, being frequently
found in children’s graves. Children also used knucklebones for a number
of games of skill that are played until now. The site of Nuš-e Jān,
located about 60 km south of Hamadan, has produced a number of
interesting knucklebones from cattle (Curtis, 1984, p. 48, fig. 16, nos.
432-34). The knucklebones have small holes to indicate the values of
the four sides: the smaller faces resemble a human ear and a bird’s head
(called vulturius by the Romans or “dog” by Greeks and Romans)
and have 4 and 3 holes respectively (Schädler, 1996; Idem, 2007, p.
11), whereas the large faces, that is the rounded one (called “belly” by
Aristotle) and the one with the deepening in the middle (called “back”
by Aristotle), count 2 or 0 and 1 point respectively, thus clearly
attributing the higher scores to the faces the knucklebone comes to lie
on less frequently. A similar numbering has been observed on a
knucklebone from Geoy Tepe
near Urmia in western Azerbaijan, dating from the pre-Islamic Iron Age
period: it has one hole in the “back” (as the one from Nuš-e Jān) and
two holes in the “ear” (Burton Brown, 1951, p. 175, pl. XIII.1531).
e) Cubic dice made of bone, stone, or clay have been in use since the
3rd millennium BCE with different systems of distributing the points.
One of the earliest examples seems to be the dice from the settlement
Tepe Gawra located near Mosul in northwestern Iraq (Mecquenem, 1943, p.
46), which has the numbering 1-6, 2-4, and 3-5.
At Susa, several numberings have been attested (Mecquenem, 1943, p. 46, fig. 40):
a) blank-small circle-four identical faces (one side blank, one with a
small circle, and the other four with an identical ornament different
from the two mentioned sides; no. 1, ca. 3000 BCE).
b) 1-2, 3-4, 5-6 (no. 3, end of the 3rd millennium BCE; no. 6, from an Elamite grave, 13th-12th century BCE).
c) 1-?, 2-3, /-X (/ is a diagonal stroke, and X is a variety of the cross; no. 5, from an Elamite grave, 13th-12th century BCE).
d) 1-1 (6?), 2-X, 3-4 (no. 4).
e) blank-1, 2-3, X-X (no. 14, end of Elamite period).
f) 1-6, 2-5, 3-4 (no. 16, 1st century BCE).
g) 1-3, /-2, 4-X (no. 18).
h) 1-4, 3-5, 2-6 (no. 15, Sasanian-early Islamic).
i) /-1, 2-5, X-3 (no. 17, Sasanian-early Islamic).
k) blank-/, 2-4, X-3 (no. 19, Sasanian-early Islamic).
l) blank-3, 2-X, /-4 (no. 20, Sasanian-early Islamic).
m) 1-2, 3-5, /-X (no. 21, Sasanian-early Islamic).
The 2 and 3 dots are variously arranged: 2 dots can be arranged
either diagonally, as nowadays, or vertically, especially during the
Sasanian period, whereas 3 dots can be arranged diagonally, or
vertically, or in a triangle.
While the modern system of the opposite sides adding up to seven
comes into more general use only in Hellenistic times, as reflected by
the dice from Pasargadae (Stronach, 1978, p. 215, fig. 42.8 and pl. 169
e-g, numbering 1-6, 2-5, 3-4, dated not later than 280 BCE) and from
Masjed-e Solaymān (Ghirshman et al., 1976, pl. 42, no. GMIS 208: black
stone, numbering 1-6, 2-5, 3-4, Parthian; Idem, p. 146, pl. 73, no. GIMS
658: black stone, 250-379 CE), a probably Parthian example from Nuš-e
Jān still bears another system (Curtis, 1984, pp. 53-54, fig. 19, no.
486: numbering 1-6, 2-4, 3-5).
Counters have rarely been retrieved or documented. Generally, two
major types of counters can be distinguished; one type has a conical
shape, sometimes with slightly concave edges, while the other has the
form of a small disk. Both types have been attested at Tepe Yaḥyā for as
early as the 3rd millennium BCE (Lamberg-Karlovsky and Potts, 2001, p.
149 fig. 5.5; Potts et al., 1970, pl. 17, C3-4). Tell-e Bakun, located
2.5 km south of Persepolis, has produced pawns in the shape of small
decorated or plain disks, usually about 2.5 cm in diameter and 0.5 cm
thick. Fourteen of them (Langsdorff and McCown, 1942, no. PPA, pp.
471-84) were found in room IV.3 (storeroom), levels III and IV
(Langsdorff and McCown, 1942, pp. 69-70, pl. 82.38, no. 485 and pl.
82.39, no. 524). Among the finds associated with the famous snake-board
from Šahr-e Suḵta, two truncated cones can be identified as pawns
(Piperno and Salvatori, 1983, pp. 180-81, fig. 7), whereas it is rather
unlikely that the small plaques of different shape had anything to do
with the game. Two conical types are represented at Susa, one being
taller than the other (Mecquenem, 1943, fig. 3; fig. 23, nos. 25-29).
Nard. Although the origin and history of backgammon are
still poorly understood, it is clear that Persia played an important
role in the early development of the game. The new finds from Jiroft
testify to the fact that important characteristics of the backgammon
board (rows of twelve cells divided into groups of six) had already been
present around 2000 BCE. However, Persian tradition places the
invention of backgammon under its Persian name nard (nard) only
in the 3rd or even 6th century CE. The name of the game nard is an
abbreviated version of the original Persian name nardšir (Dehḵodā,
s.v.). The Middle-Persian text Kār-nāmag ī Ardaxšēr ī Pāpakān associates the invention of the game with Ardašir I (r. 224-41 CE), the founder of the Sasanian dynasty, whereas in the Middle Persian narrative Wičārišn ī čatrang ud nihišn ī nēw-ardaxšēr (Explanation of Chess and the Invention of Backgammon) it is Bozorgmehr (see BOZORGMEHR-E BOḴTAGĀN),
the vizier of Ḵosrow I Anūšīravān (r. 531-79 CE), who is credited with
the invention of the game. Essentially the same story is told around
1000 CE in Ferdowsi’s Šāh-nāma. However, another game has been
substituted for nard, which is most likely merely a literary fiction
combining elements of chess, nard, and the Greek game polis with the aim
of creating the ultimate game (Schädler, 2002, pp. 99-102), since
Ferdowsi’s nard is otherwise unattested.
In the Čatrang-nāmag, the game is interpreted in terms of
Zoroastrian cosmology: the board symbolizes the earth Spandarmad, the
black and white counters represent day and night, while the dice stand
for the revolution of the planets. The opposite points on the dice
adding up to seven and the twelve squares on the board represent the
seven planets and the zodiac. The movements of the counters, their being
born off and reintroduced symbolize life, death, and resurrection. This
very cosmology may also have inspired Indian artists who depicted the
game several times in representations of Shiva and Parvati (Soar, 2006;
Idem, 2007), despite the fact that the texts only mention a pure dice
game and that nard/backgammon is not attested to have actually been
played by human beings in India during the 1st millennium CE. The
earliest material evidence for the existence of backgammon/nard in
Persia is a 7-century silver and gilt bowl now preserved in the Sackler
Gallery in Washington, D.C. (Demagne, pp. 126-28, no. 70; Finkel, 2004,
p. 89, fig. 7.1; Semenov, p. 131, fig. 2; Gunter, 1991, p. 13; Harper,
1978, pp. 74-76).
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P. Amiet, Les antiquités du Luristan, Paris, 1976.
Anonymous, “Actualités,” Archéologia 427, November 2005, p. 6.
G. Azarpay, Sogdian Painting. The Pictorial Epic in Oriental Art, Berkeley, Los Angeles, and London, 1981.
A. M. Belenitskiĭ, “Obshchie rezul’taty raskopok gorodishcha drevnego
Pendzhikenta v 1951-1953 gg.” (General results of the excavations at
the settlement of ancient Panjikent in 1951-53), in Trudy Tadzhikskoĭ arkhelogicheskoĭ èkspeditsii, vol. III: 1951-53 gg., ed. A. Yu. Yakubovskiĭ and A. M. Belenitskiĭ, Moscow, 1958, pp. 105-54.
A. M. Belenitskiĭ and B. B. Piotrovskiĭ, Skul’ptura i zhivopis’ drevnego Pyandzhikenta (Sculpture and paintings of ancient Panjikant), Moscow, 1959.
Ch. Burney, “Excavations at Haftavan Tepe 1973: Fourth Preliminary Report,” Iran 13, 1975, pp. 149-64.
T. Burton Brown, Excavations in Azarbaijan, 1948, London, 1951.
J. Curtis, Nush-i Jan III. The Small Finds, London, 1984.
J. Curtis and I. Finkel, “Game Boards and Other Incised Graffiti at Persepolis,” Iran 37, 1999, pp. 45-48.
T. Daryaee, “Mind, Body, and Cosmos: Chess and Backgammon in Ancient Persia,” Iranian Studies 35/4, 2002, pp. 281-312.
F. Demagne, ed., Les Perses sassanides: fastes d’un empire oublié, 224-642, Paris, 2006 (exhibition catalogue).
A.-E. Dunn-Vaturi, “The Monkey Race—Remarks on Board Games Accessories,” Board Games Studies 3, 2000, pp. 107-11.
A.-E. Dunn-Vaturi and U. Schädler, “Nouvelles perspectives sur les jeux à la lumière de plateaux du Kerman,” Iranica Antiqua 41, 2006, pp. 1-29.
M. Edwards, Excavations in Azerbaijan (North-western Iran) 1: Haftavan, Period VI, Oxford, 1983.
S. Erdös, “Les tabliers de jeux de l’Orient ancien,” M.A. diss., Sorbonne University I, Paris, 1986 (unpublished).
I. Finkel, “Board Games and Fortunetelling: a Case from Antiquity,” in New Approaches to Board Games Research: Asian Origins and Future Perspectives, ed. A. J. de Voogt, Leiden, 1995, pp. 64-72.
Idem, “The World Conqueror Emerges: Backgammon in Persia,” in Asian Games: The Art of Contest, ed. C. MacKenzie and I. Finkel, New York, 2004, pp. 88-95.
Idem, “On the Rules of the Royal Game of Ur,” in Board Games in Perspective, ed. I. L. Finkel, London, 2007, pp. 16-32.
R. Ghirshman, Fouilles de Sialk II, Paris, 1939.
R. Ghirshman, H. Gasche, T. Ghirshman, and J. Harmatta, Terrasses sacrées de Bard-è Néchandeh et Masjid-i Solaiman, Paris, 1976.
C. Goff, “Excavations at Baba Jan: The Bronze Age Occupation,” Iran 14, 1976, pp. 19-40.
A. C. Gunter, “Art from Wisdom, The Invention of Chess and Backgammon,” Asian Art 1/4, 1991, pp. 6-21.
P. Harper, The Royal Hunter: Art of the Sasanian Empire, New York, 1978.
A. J. Hoerth, “The Game of Hounds and Jackals,” in Board Games in Perspective, ed. I. L. Finkel, London, 2007, pp. 64-68.
F. Hole, Studies in the Archeological History of the Deh Luran Plain: The Excavation of Chogha Sefid, Ann Arbor, Mich., 1977.
Jouer dans l’Antiquité, Musée de la Vieille Charité, Marseille, 1991 (exhibition catalogue).
W. Kleiss, Bastam I, Ausgrabungen in den Urartäischen Anlagen 1972-1975, Berlin, 1979.
C. C. Lamberg-Karlovsky, “The ‘Intercultural Style’ Carved Vessels,” Iranica Antiqua 23, 1988, pp. 45-95.
C. C. Lamberg-Karlovsky and D. T. Potts, Excavations at Tepe Yahya, Iran, 1967-1975. The Third Millennium, Cambridge, Mass., 2001.
A. Langsdorff and D. McCown, Tell-i-Bakun A, Season of 1932, Chicago, 1942.
Y. Majidzāda, Jiroft: kohantarin tamaddon-e šarq/Jiroft: The Earliest Oriental Civilization, Tehran, 2003.
R. de Mecquenem, Mémoires de la Délégation en Perse 7, Paris, 1905.
Idem, Mémoires de la Délégation en Perse 29, Paris, 1943.
H. J. R. Murray, A History of Chess, Oxford, 1913.
O. W. Muscarella, “The Iron Age at Dinkha Tepe, Iran,” Metropolitan Museum Journal 9, 1974, pp. 35-90.
A. Panaino, La novella degli scacchi e della tavola reale, Milan, 1999.
M. Piperno and S. Salvatori, “Recent Results and New Perspectives
from the Research at the Graveyard of Shahr-i Sokhta, Sistan, Iran,” Annali 63, 1983, pp. 172-91.
D. T. Potts, C. C. Lamberg-Karlovsky, H. Pittman, and Ph. L. Kohl, Excavations at Tepe Yahya, Iran, Cambridge, Mass., 1970.
W. K. Pritchett, “Five Lines and IG², 324,” California Studies in Classical Antiquity 1, 1968, pp. 187-215.
E. B. Pusch, “Eine unbeachtete Brettspielart,” in Studien zur altägyptischen Kultur, vol. 5, ed. H. Altenmüller and D. Wildung, Hamburg, 1977, pp. 199-212.
Idem, “The Egyptian ‘Game of Twenty Squares’: Is it Related to ‘Marbles’ and the Game of the Snake?” in Board Games in Perspective, ed. I. L. Finkel, London, 2007, pp. 69-86.
G. O. Rollefson, “A Neolithic Game Board from Ain Ghazal, Jordan,” Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 286, 1992, pp. 1-5.
U. Schädler, “XII Scripta, Alea, Tabula—New Evidence for the Roman History of «Backgammon»,” in New Approaches to Board Games Research: Asian Origins and Future Perspectives, ed. A. J. de Voogt, Leiden, 1995, pp. 73-98.
Idem, “Spielen mit Astragalen,” Archäologischer Anzeiger 1, 1996, pp. 61-73.
Idem, “Vom 20-Felder-Spiel zum Würfelvierschach?” Board Games Studies 2, 1999, pp. 144-48.
Idem, “The Talmud, Firdausi, and the Greek Game ‘City’,” in Step by Step. Proceedings of the 4th Colloquium Board Games in Academia, ed. J. Retschitzki and R. Haddad-Zubel, Fribourg, 2002, pp. 91-102.
Idem, “Sort—Hasard—Fortune. Les nombreuses faces des dés,” in Jeux de l’Humanité. 5000 ans d’histoire culturelle des jeux de société, ed. U. Schädler, Geneva, 2007, pp. 9-19.
G. L. Semenov, Studien zur sogdischen Kultur an der Seidenstrasse, Wiesbaden, 1996.
M. Soar, “Shiva and Parvati at Play. Backgammon in Ancient India,” in The Art of Play. Board and Card Games of India, ed. A. Topsfield, Mumbai, 2006, pp. 45-56.
Idem, “Boardgames and Backgammon in Ancient Indian Sculpture,” in Board Games in Perspective, ed. I. L. Finkel, London, 2007, pp. 177-231.
D. Stronach, Pasargadae, Oxford, 1978.
S. Swiny, The Kent State University Expedition to Episkopi Phaneromeni, pt. 2, Nicosia, 1986, pp. 32-65.
P. J. Watson, Archaeological Ethnography in Western Iran, Tucson, Ariz., 1979.
C. L. Woolley, Ur Excavations, vol. II: The Royal Cemetery, New York, 1934.
“World’s Oldest Backgammon Discovered in Burnt City,” available at www.payvand.com/news/04/dec/1029.html, accessed on 1 June 2009.
(Ulrich Schädler and Anne-Elizabeth Dunn-Vaturi)
(Ulrich Schädler and Anne-Elizabeth Dunn-Vaturi)
Originally Published: December 15, 2009
Last Updated: December 15, 2009
martedì 21 giugno 2016
Tactics of Historical Hnefatafl 7x7 (Irish Brandubh) : Tamarisco (1377) / mmagari (1808)
A uno sguardo superficiale sembra che il N non abbia nulla da temere e possa bere una buona birra irlandese scura, al doppio malto. A ben guardare invece appare che non sia venuto ancora il momento di rilassarsi. Le conseguenze derivanti da d1-c1 o da e2-c2 vanno soppesate con attenzione.
M.G.
Historical Hnefatafl 7x7 (Irish Brandubh) curious positions : mmagari (1808) / Oddur (1482)
Il compito di limitare l'azione del Re diviene quasi impossibile...
lunedì 20 giugno 2016
World Tafl Federation Rating Top 10 players, June 2016
Dal
sito della WTF
2071
Plantagenêt, Champagne-Ardenne, FR (366)
1991 Adam, Tønsberg, Norway (601)
1894 altti, ny, usa (957)
1879 Sigurd, Pennsylvania, Vinland (59)
1861 herjan, Formby, UK (49)
1813 OdinHimself, Kyustendil, Bulgaria (117)
1804 mmagari, Milano, Italia (379)
1773 crust, somerset, UK (2753)
1766 animals, Peterborough, UK (309)
1732 fjorlag, Valhalla, (23)
I numeri tra parentesi sono relativi alle partite giocate nel sito della World Tafl Federation
1991 Adam, Tønsberg, Norway (601)
1894 altti, ny, usa (957)
1879 Sigurd, Pennsylvania, Vinland (59)
1861 herjan, Formby, UK (49)
1813 OdinHimself, Kyustendil, Bulgaria (117)
1804 mmagari, Milano, Italia (379)
1773 crust, somerset, UK (2753)
1766 animals, Peterborough, UK (309)
1732 fjorlag, Valhalla, (23)
I numeri tra parentesi sono relativi alle partite giocate nel sito della World Tafl Federation
Historical Hnefatafl 7x7 (Irish Brandubh) The sacrifice - mmagari (1804) / tonythebook (1460)
Una posizione interesssante. Il B ha sacrificato una Guardia per disarticolare la formazione nemica ad Ovest. Ora dispone di diverse opzioni per trarre vantaggio da quanto è stato ottenuto, ma deve operare con precisione e rapidità altrimenti il nemico può riorrdinare le proprie forze, per lo meno a Nord-Ovest giocando a6-b6 o a6-c6 a seconda delle necessità e assegnando un ruolo nell'economia della Limitazione della Mobilità al Soldato collocato in f4.
M.G.
Copenhagen Hnefatafl 11x11 - Current board positions : the fifth seal / Thanir. 105 moves
the fifth seal / Thanir. 105 moves.
Copenhagen Hnefatafl 11x11
2016-06-20
Il N ha sigillato 3 angoli, ma una disperata battaglia ha luogo a nord-ovest...
domenica 19 giugno 2016
Historical Hnefatafl 7x7 (Irish Brandubh) curious positions : mmagari (1799) / tonythebook (1478)
Una posizione tra il centro partita e il finale. Il N ha giocato g3 - g4 per impedire che i Re nemico potesse scendere in g4 dopo un'eventuale e5xe1 ( ricordiamoci sempre delle proprietà degli angoli!... ). Ora il B gioca:
che ammette una sola replica. Apparentemente, sembra che il B riesca a dare coordinazione ai propri effettivi.
M.G.
sabato 18 giugno 2016
Chess, Super Blitz : Ding Liren vs Ian Nepomniatchi Aeroflot Blitz 2016
Profonda combinazione del fuoriclasse cinsese...
Chinese Grandmaster Ding Liren Becomes Aeroloft Blitz 2016 Winner and Make Himself as Number 3 Highest rated Blitz Player In The World ! Only Below 2 Blitz Monsters, Magnus Carlsen & Hikaru Nakamura. This Game He Played Very High Quality Game for Blitz time Control and Managed to Beat Super Strong Blitz Player Grandmaster Ian Nepomniatchi.
Chinese Grandmaster Ding Liren Becomes Aeroloft Blitz 2016 Winner and Make Himself as Number 3 Highest rated Blitz Player In The World ! Only Below 2 Blitz Monsters, Magnus Carlsen & Hikaru Nakamura. This Game He Played Very High Quality Game for Blitz time Control and Managed to Beat Super Strong Blitz Player Grandmaster Ian Nepomniatchi.
Historical Hnefatafl 9x9 (Saami Tablut) : vonraider / Oddur
vonraider / Oddur. 1 moves.
Historical Hnefatafl 9x9 (Saami Tablut)
2016-06-18
Historical Hnefatafl 9x9 (Saami Tablut)
2016-06-18
World Tafl Federation on facebook.
Historical rules of the ancient Scandinavian board game Hnefatafl
Historical Hnefatafl 7x7 (Irish Brandubh) curious positions : mmagari (1794) / Tamarisco (1377)
Una posizione singolare: al 7° tratto del N questi sembra aver giocato solo f4-f5, mentre il B sembra avere perduto un difensore, anche se non è facile capire in quale sfortunata circostanza. Unico elemento favorevole al B sembra essere "la testa di ponte" in f2. Sarà sufficiente?
M.M.
venerdì 17 giugno 2016
Historical Hnefatafl 7x7 (Irish Brandubh) curious positions : mmagari (1794) / tonythebook (1504) 2
Vedi Historical Hnefatafl 7x7 (Irish Brandubh) curious positions : mmagari (1791) / tonythebook (1507)
Una posizione tipica: il Re sembra poter raggiungere uno dei due angoli. Riuscirà il N a bloccarlo?
Historical Hnefatafl 7x7 (Irish Brandubh) curious positions : duhawk93 (1622) / mmagari (1794)
Il N ha posto in essere una dormazione semicircolare. Due elementi del B ( in d5 e in e4 ), possono essere catturati. Può il B trarre vantaggio da tale fatto?
http://aagenielsen.dk/
giovedì 16 giugno 2016
mercoledì 15 giugno 2016
Two chess pieces, a 'Bishop' and a 'Rook'
Two chess pieces, a 'Bishop' and a 'Rook', probably Nishapur, Persia, circa 12th century
Historical Hnefatafl 7x7 (Irish Brandubh) curious positions : mmagari (1787) / the fifth seal (1645) 2
Disgraziatamente l'ultimo tratto del N libera la 3 linea per l'attivazione del Re lungo la medesima arteria vitale ...
Diag 2
Con doppia minaccia. Come avrebbe continuato il B in caso di 11..e4 f4?
M.G.
Vedi
Historical Hnefatafl 7x7 (Irish Brandubh) curious positions : mmagari (1799) / the fifth seal (1651)
martedì 14 giugno 2016
Historical Hnefatafl 7x7 (Irish Brandubh) curious positions : mmagari (1799) / seeontic (1332)
11
Mossa al B... cosa giocare per liberarsi dall'accerchiamento?
lunedì 13 giugno 2016
sabato 11 giugno 2016
第64回NHK囲碁1-10王銘琬9段 ( Ou Meien 9 dan ) vs 藤沢里菜3段( Fujisawa Rina 3 dan )
The 64th NHK igo turnament 1st round
（● O Meien vs ○ Fujisawa Rina)
Bellissima prova di Fujisawa Rina per nulla a disagio nel misurarsi con un consumato professionista...
Fujisawa Rina 藤沢里菜
Historical Hnefatafl 7x7 (Irish Brandubh) mmagari (1792) / docbullen (1672)
Una posizione particolarmente didattica... si noti con la dovuta attenzione la collocazione dei rispettivi effettivi...
M.M.
martedì 7 giugno 2016
Al-Adli
Al-Adli (Al-Ádlí ar-Rúmí) est un joueur et un théoricien arabe du Shatranj, l'ancêtre arabe des échecs. Originaire d'Anatolie1, il est l'auteur vers 842 d'un des premiers traités décrivant le Shatranj, Kitab ash-shatranj2 (Le livre des échecs). Sous le règne de Al-Wāt̠iq et au début du règne du caliphe Al-Mutawakkil, il était reconnu comme le meilleur joueur du IXe siècle3 jusqu'à sa défaite contre Al-Razi qui eut lieu suivant les sources soit avant4, soit pendant5 le règne de Al Mutawakki (847-862).
Dans son traité, Al-Adli rassembla les idées de ses prédécesseurs sur
le Chatrang. Le livre est perdu mais ses problèmes ont survécu grâce à
ses successeurs4.
Les mansoubas étaient des fins de parties. La victoire s'obtenait soit
par le mat, soit par le pat, soit par le dépouillement du Roi adverse6,7.
De son œuvre, serait issu une variante8 du problème du mat de Dilaram (Dilaram mansuba ou mansouba)9 . Dans un manuscrit du début du XVe siècle,
un problème analogue était accompagné d'une histoire où Dilaram était
la favorite esclave d'un joueur d'échecs réduit à une position
désespérée dans une partie10 ,11. Cette version, appelée mat de Dilaram, analogue au problème d'Al-Adli est attribuée à Al-Suli12,4.
Bibliographie
: document utilisé comme source pour la rédaction de cet article.- Nicolas Giffard et Alain Biénabe, Le Nouveau Guide des échecs. Traité complet, Paris, Robert Laffont, coll. « Bouquins », 2009, 1710 p. (ISBN 978-2-221-11013-3)
- François Le Lionnais et Ernst Maget, Dictionnaire des échecs, Paris, Presses universitaires de France, 1967, 432 p.
- (en) David Hooper et Kenneth Whyld, The Oxford Companion to Chess, Oxford University Press, 1992 (ISBN 0-19-866164-9)
- (en) H.J.R. Murray, A History of Chess, Oxford University Press, 1913, 879 p. (ISBN 0-19-827403-3)
Notes et références
- Jean-Michel Péchiné, Roi des jeux, jeu des rois, Les échecs, Découvertes Gallimard, novembre 1997, p. 30.
- H.J.R. Murray 1913, p. 169
- (en) Harry Golombek (éditeur) The Penguin Encyclopaedia of Chess, Penguin, 1981, p. 11.
- Hooper et Whyld 1992, p. 408
- H.J.R. Murray 1913, p. 170 dit que selon an-Nadim, le match eut lieu en présence du caliphe Al Mutawakki.
- Le Lionnais et Maget 1967, p. 182
- Le Lionnais et Maget 1967, p. 236
- H.J.R. Murray 1913, p. 318
- Giffard et Biénabe 2009, p. 789
- Giffard et Biénabe 2009, p. 336
- Le Lionnais et Maget 1967, p. 116
- H.J.R. Murray 1913, p. 311
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