History Of Board Games

Board games are one kind of entertainment that has stood the test of time. While many of the games that were played in the past are not in existence today, they are still one of the popular methods of family fun. They have been played in just about every culture since recorded history began and probably in pre-historic times. They were around long before any form of literacy developed in many cultures.

The earliest board games are those belonging to the Jiroft Civilization of about 3500 B.C. that existed in what is now part of Iran. These games consisted of holes on eagle boards that bear great similarity to boards unearthed at ancient Egyptian sites. Senet was one of the board games discovered from ancient Egypt. This game was a grid of thirty squares, arranged in three rows of ten. It was a race game for two players with the moves determined by tossing a knucklebone.

Mehen is a board game from ancient Egypt, as well, that is believed to date from 3000 B.C. The board depicts the body of a coiled snake that is divided into rectangular pieces. Believe it or not the ancient peoples of Mesopotamia played backgammon with artefacts showing dice and checkers. The Royal Game of Ur dates back to about 2500 B.C. This game was played with two sets of seven markers and three dice shaped like pyramids.

Liubo is an ancient Chinese board game and is believed to be a battle game. In excavations of the Kuma Temple in Egypt, archaeologists have uncovered pictures of board games etched on the walls of the temple.

As you can see people have always enjoyed board games, but their popularity really increased during the early decades of the 20th century due to a rising middle class that had disposable income to spend on leisure pursuits. Most of the board games considered classics today date from the Second World War. Some of the modern board games contain various types of media, such as CD’s and DVD’s to accompany the games