58 Holes Game

A 58 Holes Gaming Board from the Late Bronze Age of Megiddo, Israel on display at the Oriental Institute Museum at the University of Chicago

Alternate Names

Other names for the game refer to the form of the most well preserved board (The Shield Game), or its decoration (The Palm-Tree Game) or to the pieces (The Game of Dogs and Jackals). The game is also found in several different versions with varying lengths of routes. The pattern of the route itself, however, seems to be similar enough across different examples that all probably represent the same game.

No. of Players

Two

Equipment

The Deir-el-Bahri Dogs & Jackals board was found with five each of dog and jackal counters.

History

More than twenty boards of this type have been discovered at archaeological sites, mostly from ancient Egypt, but very similar boards have also been found at sites in Persia (Iran) Mesopotamia (Iraq), Assyria (Iraq) and at Megiddo in Jerusalem. The oldest games in Egypt date to the Egyptian Middle Kingdom around 2040 BCE. Artefacts, and sometimes, playing pieces, of variously shaped boards date over a period 2500 years.

The most famous of all boards of this type is from the Egyptian site Deir-el-Bahri. It is known by many names including The Palm Tree Game, from the design on the board; The Shield Game, from the shape of its board; Dogs & Jackals or Hounds & Jackals from the peg playing counters used to play it. The board is remarkably intact and complete with animal-shaped table legs.

Objective

Play

These game boards are unique amongst race games in that the board offers no interaction among the two players, i.e. their routes do not overlap, drawing comparisons to cribbage boards or other score-keeping implements. Most reconstructions utilize four binary dice.

Strategy

Variations

A few ancient and interesting boards of this game are made to resemble Egyptian fauna, including a frog, a hippopotamus, and a sea turtle.

Sources