The Knossos Game

Printable Knossos Game Board

History

This is the only representative of a very enigmatic game board discovered in archaeological excavations by Sir Arthur Evans at the Palace of Knossos on the island of Crete, dating to around 1500 BCE. The board is, by many criteria, unusual and some historians have doubted that it is even a game at all.

Objective

It is very likely that the game was a race game similar to other ancient games from the Middle and Far East. An easy speculation, attributed by the Sir Arthur Evans, the discoverer of the game, is that the four blue circles, shown here at the bottom of the board and sometimes referred to as the fortresses or citadels, represent the objective of the game. If two players had two counters each, attaining both of them into position on these circles would be as logical as any other reconstruction.

Play

The manner this game was played is unknown. Any reconstructions must be highly conjectural and speculative. A few similarities with older games such as The Jiroft Games, The Royal Game of Ur, and Tau are apparent, such as a speculative entry of counters onto the wings at the upper end of the board, but this game is unusual in several regards, especially at the top portion. Some special roll of the die or dice was likely required to cross the river, and this idea has also been applied to other games such as the crossing of the "bridge" or narrow central squares in the Royal Game of Ur, "shorts cuts" in the 58 Holes Game or quick advancements along ladders in the game of Snakes and Ladders.

Sources