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A Second 4,600-Year-Old Game Found at Iran’s Burnt City Has No Surviving Board
Archaeologists at Shahr-i Sokhta, Iran’s ancient Burnt City, have uncovered a second 4,600-year-old game, but unlike the famous gaming set discovered there nearly half a century ago, this one has no surviving board. The discovery was made during the 21st excavation season at the Bronze Age city in southeastern Iran. Excavation director Rouhollah Shirazi says…
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The Ruins of Ancient Ptolemais in Libya Became a Playground Centuries Later
Archaeologist Zofia Kowarska has documented more than 100 game boards carved into the stones of Ptolemais, revealing how the abandoned Greek city was reused by shepherds and local communities long after its urban life had ended. At first glance, the ruins of Ptolemais look like the remains of a once-important Greek city on Libya’s northeastern…
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Roman Board Game Mystery Solved: AI Reveals 1,700-Year-Old Strategy Game in the Netherlands
For more than a century, a carved limestone slab from the Dutch city of Heerlen sat quietly in a museum collection. Now, artificial intelligence has revealed that it was not decoration. It was a game. Researchers have reconstructed the rules of an unknown Roman-period board game carved into stone nearly 1,700 years ago — and…