The Royal Game of UR Ancient Mesoptamian Board Game Played in Biblical Times: presented by Astral Castle

The Royal Game of UR: Its Discovery

The Royal Game of UR was well known during Biblical times. The discovery by Sir Leonard Woolley of four boards dating back more than 4,500 years -- three of them complete, and some with accompanying "dice" and playing pieces -- makes UR the oldest known complete board game found anywhere in the world. During excavation of the "Royal Cemetery" in the city-state of UR in Mesopotamia (about 105 miles west-northwest of what is now Basra in modern Iraq), four boards which varied from simple to fine workmanship were found in tombs which date primarily to the Early Dynastic IIIA period (around 2600-2500 B.C.E.).

Though the boards had been made of wood and were in varying states of decay, careful archeological work allowed at least one of the boards to have its playing surface preserved in its original configuration prior to being moved. (A modern replica of one of the complete boards found at the site is offered for sale by Astral Castle.)

One of the finer boards, made from shell and lapis lazuli, did not survive intact, but allows us to imagine the craftsmanship put into creating a game played by kings -- as well as commoners, since similar boards have been found throughout the near east dating back to 2,000 B.C.E., some of them scratched into paving stones by those who couldn't afford the "royal" version of the game.

Design, and How The Royal Game of UR is Played

The game board consists of three rows of eight squares, with two squares -- the fifth and sixth on the top and bottom -- left out. The board is marked with rosettes.

The games found in the city of UR were accompanied by pyramidical dice, each one with a corner shaved flat -- and each with two of its four corners decorated or inlaid in some way to make them stand out. When rolled, each die thus had a fifty-fifty chance of coming up "marked" or "unmarked" -- an unusual configuration and method, then or now, when we would use the flip of a coin. Each game had six dice -- two sets, one for each player -- and the rolling of three dice would then give four possible outcomes: one marked, two marked, three marked or no marked sides, representing moves of one, two, three or (no marks) four spaces. Four marks allowed not only a move, but another roll.

Fourteen playing pieces in two different colors -- seven for each player -- are moved around the board according to the throw of the dice (although some versions have five per player) -- with the object being to bear all your pieces off the board first. Rules written in cuneiform on tablets dating back to about 200 B.C. have provided most of the rules for the game of that time, except that there was no explanation of the direction of travel, so that still leaves room for some discussion as to how the game was played. The most common rules have pieces remaining on their own side of the board when not sharing the middle. The more logical is based on the distance between the rosettes marking the board and the maximum possible distance moved with a throw of the three dice -- four spaces.

Using the latter rules, the two colors first enter the board above the middle rosette on opposite sides -- black on the top, white on the bottom. They then head along to the rosette on their path on the long side of the board, then turn and return across the middle. Thus they start off alone on their path, and only meet conflict with the opponent when the pieces trek along the middle track; if a roll allows the player to land a piece occupied by the opponent's, then that piece is off the board and must start over -- with the exception of pieces resting on squares marked by rosettes -- they are safe and cannot be knocked off. Once the pieces cross the narrow middle bridge, they then follow a looping path around the small end -- first heading for the rosette on the opponent's side and then around the end squares to the rosette on their own side of the board, from which point they can bear off the board (exact throws are not required).

The popular version of the game has pieces remaining on their own sides or on the middle track -- not crossing in the final portion to the opponent's side -- but this makes for less exciting conflict and also less sense in terms of the distance from one rosette to the next.

Historical Context for the Royal Game of Ur

The city of Ur was the largest city in a fertile area, known as Mesopotamia, that lay between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, more than 6000 years ago. There were other cities in the area -- Ukak, Eridu, Nippur, Lagash and Kish -- but none was as grand as Ur -- all of these were called temple towns, and are considered the beginning of civilization -- moving from farming societies into true cities which eventually grew into city-states.

The first settlers in the area were known as the Ubaidians, but it was the Sumerians who came in the second wave of settlers who brought with them more complex art and literature. Biblical Abraham lived in Ur (he was born around 2170 BC) and it is said he was in this city when called by God. Ur was known in the bible as "Ur of the Chaldees" because, around 900 B.C. it was settled by the Chaldeans.

As is true of the history of mankind all over the planet, Ur experienced many long periods of war, suffered conquest, endured its own dark ages, but it also enjoyed years ruled by good kings, including Ur-Nammu (circa 2060 B.C.) who took time to rebuild his city, and who built the most spectacular of the buildings that, until recently, lay buried under the shifting sands: the Ziggurat (a ziggurat is a pyramid-shaped temple with receding terraces forming its triangular shape). Ur-Nammu is also considered to be the first creator of a code of law, which bears a relation to biblical law.

During all these periods, no doubt, The Royal Game of Ur was played by kings and the court, as well as the ordinary folks of the city.