We and our trusted partners use technology such as cookies on our site to personalize content and ads, provide social media features, and analyze our traffic. You can read more about it and change your preferences here.
Games are an integral part of all cultures and are one of the oldest forms of human social interaction. Games are formalized expressions of play which allow people to go beyond immediate imagination and direct physical activity. Common features of games include uncertainty of outcome, agreed upon rules, competition, separate place and time, elements of fiction, elements of chance, prescribed goals and personal enjoyment.
Royal Game of Ur, southern Iraq, about 2600-2400 BC
Board game with inlays of ivory, rock crystal and glass paste, covered with gold and silver leaf, on a wooden base
Modern reconstruction of the Roman board game, Ludus latrunculorum (The bandits’ game or the soldier’s game), Museum Quintana of Archaeology, in Künzing, Germany
ADVERTISEMENT
A Senet gameboard and game pieces from the KV62 tomb of Tutankhamun—originally from Thebes.
4
0