Ur game british museum

Updated 21 December, - dhwty. Read Later Print. References Brouwers, J. Login or Register in order to comment. Eric Stevens wrote on 26 December, - Jackson Kent wrote on 21 December, - Civilization collapses centuries passed, really think that the game was complete?

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I have presented here the most interesting and challenging set of rules which is specific to the Royal Game of Ur and require square markings on each square, as opposed to just blank squares.

The paper goes into detail on the difficulty involved in translating the broken cuneiform tablet, but it was clear the original rules involved betting. Basically each piece had its own value, and getting each piece into the board required a specific role of the dice or sticks to get it on the board.

Landing on a rosette square earned you tokens, the number being dependent on the value of the piece. It also may have entitled the player to another roll.

Going by the above illustrations, each player entered the board on their side from 4th square to the first. Then they both moved up the middle until reaching the end on the 8th square. Finally they separated again, back toward their respective directions and exited the board after the 7th square. Later boards had the middle going straight to the end so that each piece was vulnerable until it left the board. Those versions help narrow down the direction of play.

I believe they were borrowed in part from another person before the tablet was fully understood. Personally I find rules that give each decorated square a special significance a bit convoluted and not supported by the evidence.

Eyes are used for decoration a lot in Middle-Eastern cultures. There are even some decorative eyes around the sides of the board. We know the big quincunx squares are decorative, and look at how they alternate in a pattern with eye squares. There is no apparent significance to the positioning of the eye squares, and being able to stack pieces but only on two of the four squares in your home area makes very little sense gameplay-wise.

I do like the path you describe as it links up all the rosette squares by moves of 4, however, this path does make the game quite long.

B1 is particularly interesting, being the only unique square on the board. It must have some special significance. The image looks like it could either be a scoring table or an abstract representation of two armies facing off.

I agree that B3 and B6 also have a special meaning. They only appear in the central lane, where both colour pieces can be found, and so these squares having some special conditions for interactions between opposing pieces makes sense.

If they are not special squares then why not just repeat the eye pattern like you would expect? Either they are the square where piece get flipped, and so the safety prevents them from being captured by opponent pieces that have just been flipped also; or perhaps the players have a choice of which way they wish to loop around the small end of the board, this would mean a piece can be taken on the rosettes A7 and C7, and A8 and C8 being safe squares forces the opponent to take the other direction.

The rule set presented here is the most interesting one for modern players, at least among the non-betting variants. After working my way up to level 5 I think I may have discovered a flaw in the game. Once a player forms a stack of two on B6 consisting of a dotted piece of his own over a blank piece of the opponent, the game is essentially over. This strategy is particularly powerful for the first player to occupy B7, since he can then sit there with a dotted piece like a spider waiting for a fly.

An alternate solution might be to alter rule 6 so that when a player with pieces on the board has no moves either he wins, or he is able to move a piece that would normally be blocked. Another solution might be to change the rule governing the 4-eyes square B7, perhaps removing its safety, so that the spider would be in danger of capture. This looks like a very interesting game. Is there someone offering it for sale? In my opinion, these diamonds are placed too arbitrarily to be an adornment.

Even more so, they are drawn attention to by the pattern on the sides of the game — or the lack of it. I think they indicate something just as a guess, to announce times for betting? Anybody with a suggestion?

This game uses the two-sided chips, most like representing children or servants, sent to collect the grain dole from the granary for a family unit B1 2-parents and 4-grandparents, the home square. Or a Bring Your Tithes to the Storehouse. This is a game for many on multiple levels, 7 chips may represent children or the wealth of employing servants, note: a healthy fruitfulness for civilization growth, FRR 7.

The longevity and play of the game is congruent to the importance and longevity of storehouses and food dole. A8 and C8 are safe spaces, the chip leaving the space is flipped, spaces B3 and B7 are safe stack to limit four chips, block when full. Leaving a Rosette, throw six dice to move. Casting 6 0s is a bonus burst, a 4 is a spot of good luck at the landing on the next Rosetta.

Spotting 6 4s for one piece, an P-Ur-feat run. Bell , R. London [reprinted with corrections and revisions by DoverBooks, ]. Finkel, Irving L.

London: British Museum, pp. Murray, H. Oxford: Oxford University Press, The Royal game of Ur is an ancient game and a lot is still is known including its original name. Among the various sets of rules proposed for this game it is hard to tell which version is closest to the original.

All Rights Reserved. The Royal Game of Ur. Rules One square can hold only one piece at a time. If you land on a non-safe square occupied by an opposing piece, that piece is returned to it's starting area.

If a piece lands on Rosette square, you get one extra roll. If a piece lands on Rosette square on the middle row the opposing player can't knock that piece of the board. The piece can be removed of the board by the exact roll of dice required to move it to the last square plus one of the board.

If no move is possible, then player loses a turn. History The Game of Ur is one of the oldest games in the world, that was first played in ancient Mesopotamia during the early third millennium BC.

Finkel This path is the shortest of these four versions. Murray H. Masters Game board maker, J.