Ancient Dice
Backgammon is a very popular game descended from the ancient times. The author’s name and origin country of backgammon – Mesopotamia, Egypt, Persia or India – are still a mystery. A certain thing is that people have been playing backgammon for six millenniums (there are undeniable records in history). Therefore the oldest gaming board was found in Asia Minor and is dated back to 5000 BC, whereas a game very similar to backgammon was discovered in the grave belonging to the Pharaoh Tutanhamon (XVth century BC).
There are numerous legends related to the appearance of backgammon. Here is the most popular one:
Once upon a time Hindu population decided to verify intellectual capacities of the Persians and to this end they sent a set of chess-men, being absolutely certain of the fact that Persians won’t be able to guess how to play chess. Not only the wisest Persian Buiziurcmehr discovered the secret of chess, but also proposed to Hindu a new game – backgammon (nard tahte). It is said that Hindu have been trying to determine the goal and rules of this game along 12 years.
The Backgammon Players, Adriaen van Ostade (1610–1685)
In the IIIrd century BC in Persia backgammon had a symbolic and mystical character. Persian astrologists were predicting rulers’ destiny by means of backgammon. The sky was believed to represent the gaming board, whereas moves of stars were treated as moves of checkers. Generally speaking, all games that were originating from backgammon had a similar gaming board; everything could be divided by 6 and was in close connection with time: 12 fields on each part of the gaming board represented 12 months of a year, division of field into 4 parts symbolized seasons, 24 fields – number of hours in one day and night, 30 checkers – number of days in one month, circular movement represented movement of stars on the sky, black and white colors symbolized day and night. The sum of points on the opposite sides of a die, equal to 7, corresponded to the number of planets (known at that time already), where all evil and good were coming from, as it was deemed at that time.
The gaming board and checkers have been usually made of stone or wood, whereas dice have been made of ivory, stone or were clay-moulded.
This game enjoyed popularity in several countries under different names: Greeks called it “diagramismos”, Turks – “tavla”, Spanish – “tablero”, Germans – “bretspiel”, Italians – “tavola reale”, French – “tric-trac”, whereas English called it “backgammon”. In Mesopotamia this game was known under the name of “tahte nard” or “tahte” and was translated as “fight on the wooden board”. During the ancient times the most renowned name of this game was “tables” or “royal tables”.
A Short Treatise on the Game of Back-Gammon – Hoyle, Edmond 1743
The spread of backgammon throughout Europe took place simultaneously with the return of crusaders from the crusades in the XIIth century. The game was extremely popular under the name of “tric-trac”, perhaps due to the sounds produced by dice thrown on the wooden board. For a very long period of time backgammon was played by aristocracy only.
Although backgammon is originating from East, modern rules have been set up by the English Edmon Hoyle in “A Short Treatise on the Game of Back-Gammon”, edited in London in 1743. The term “Backgammon” is said to have been derived from either the Saxon “baec” (back) and “gamen” (game) and is closely linked to the fact that the “beaten” checker of the enemy is back in the game. The Cube Rule was introduced in the USA in 1931 and was recognized in the International Rules of Backgammon.