Most of the patterns are more figurative than geometric. For some time it was thought to be the oldest board ever found and while that is not true any longer, the original, truly a special item, is displayed in a place of honour at the British Museum. In addition, the edges where made nice dark. Please note: The board itself has a smooth and untextured surface. In ancient Egypt, creation myths had a mound rising from the primordial waters.

The instructions were on a scroll, about four inches (10cm) wide which unrolled to about eight inches (20cm) long. Thanks for sharing. At Ancient Origins, we believe that one of the most important fields of knowledge we can pursue as human beings is our beginnings.
In the end it was really worth the effort.


An almost contemporary fragment of a board has been found at Mohenjo-Daro. I used the following measurements: Board: 30,1 cm (L), 11 cm (W), 2,4 cm (T) Dices: ~ 1,5 cm (Edge Length) As I have a 3D printer I used it to make the dice so they would become as accurate as possible. Can collating tantric centers in the boardgame continue?

Full rule book in English.

For some three thousand years this was the most popular board game across the whole of the ancient Middle East, played by kings and commoners alike. It was excavated during the 1920s by Sir Leonard Woolley, who uncovered it in a tomb in the royal cemetery at Ur in southern Iraq.

He is painted green and mummified like Osiris, holding in his hands a combined djed pillar and ‘was staff’, symbolizing stability and clarity. I have a big interest in hobby board games and I do love them. As I wanted the playing pieces more rounded I sanded their edges quite a lot. The advanced game is later in date and overlays extra features on the basic game. We’re the only Pop Archaeology site combining scientific research with out-of-the-box perspectives. On the board the next square displays sunlight again (Egypt’s version) – this time delivering life energy to the body/the world.

(Tomb of Queen Nefertari, c. 1250 BC, 19 th Dynasty (New Kingdom) / Egypt Museum / Provided by the author). These two again gave birth to Osiris, Isis, Seth and Nephtys.
  • 1 x game board for advanced game
    • The Theopetra Cave and the Oldest Human Construction in the World. In the game, two players start with 7 pawns each, take turn to roll 4 pyramid shaped dice and move pawns according to the roll.

    From the various sets of rules that have been hypothesised for this game, this author has struggled to find one that plays well, is elegant and which also seems likely to be an accurate rendition of the original. For people with printers i linked your instructable, hope this is fine for you. If you bumped into a Homo erectus in the street you might not recognize them as being very different from you. The tantric belief only has one center in the throat.

    The god Ptah from Memphis preceded Osiris with the djed pillar in the Old Kingdom.

    Kids lost all the pieces over time of course, but I still have the board.

    Strong weakness for Upcycling, Open Source Hardware / Software and Industrial Vintage Design. We also know that rosette spaces were lucky.The gaming pieces for this particular board do not survive. Archaeologists suggest that the Royal Game of Ur should date back to 2600 BC. Anyways, I tried to find the rules for this game, but there seems to be many varients that I'm not sure which are the true rules. While searching for suggestions, I came across a video of the British Museum about the game "The Royal Game of Ur" and was immediately impressed. Since it is not played today and because no definitive account of the rules is known, the following is no more than conjecture. And removed each of the three sides diagonally to the point so that a tip is formed. These rules are provided by Masters Traditional Games, an Internet shop selling quality traditional games, pub games and unusual games. It is translated as ‘stability’.

    Was the original boardgame also either inspired by or a gift from somewhere else?
  • 2 sets of seven game pieces for the basic game
    • I had a scrap piece of duck cloth (canvas) and made a Game of Ur board on it with a sharpie, then made the pieces out of foam sheet.

    Both players roll the dice to see who throws the highest – the highest score goes first. ( Public Domain ).

    :). Which I then successfully completed. With their eight red and blue leaves of the “flower” patterns that stand out visually. Royal Game of Ur is played on a board which has 20 squares in 3 rows. Elsewhere the numbers match: four in the torso part, and two in the head. Watch the video 
    I placed the orbital sander between my knees and the held the circular piece and pushed it around lightly against the sander. Firstly I was thinking of making the dice out of wood too, by carving them out of a block of wood. It still works. Present day Indian tantric meditation (of old, but unknown age) strives towards spiritual growth by means of refining energies in the body. (Provided by the author). If you are not entirely happy with anything you have purchased from the online shop, please contact Customer Services within 14 days of delivery. Let's see what happens with mine. Thank you for sharing that site. The Royal Game of Ur is an ancient game represented by two game boards found in the Royal Tombs of Ur in Iraq and date from before 2,600 BC.

    The Royal Game of Ur is a typical two player race game.

    This game was very popular in middle east and is considered a predecessor of backgammon.