Q 01/05

Which ancient Egyptian board game is often cited as one of the world's oldest?

A) Backgammon

B) Pachisi

C) Senet

D) Mancala

Answer · why

C) Senet

Senet may reach back some 5,000 years, to possible boards in First Dynasty burials; by the time sets went into New Kingdom royal tombs, the game had c...

Q 02/05

Which British archaeologist rediscovered the Royal Game of Ur while excavating the Royal Cemetery at Ur?

A) Arthur Evans

B) Howard Carter

C) Leonard Woolley

D) Flinders Petrie

Answer · why

C) Leonard Woolley

Leonard Woolley unearthed five boards in graves at Ur between 1922 and 1934, which is why a game once played right across the Middle East now carries ...

Q 03/05

Which family of 'sowing and counting' board games takes its name from an Arabic word meaning 'to move'?

A) Dominoes

B) Senet

C) Patolli

D) Mancala

Answer · why

D) Mancala

Mancala comes from the Arabic naqala, 'to move'. The games need no bought set: players can scoop rows of pits in the earth and sow stones, beans or se...

Q 04/05

The game of chess is believed to have originated from an ancient game called Chaturanga in which country?

A) China

B) India

C) Persia

D) Egypt

Answer · why

B) India

India gave chess its ancestor: chaturanga means the four divisions of an army, and its infantry, cavalry, elephants and chariots evolved into today's ...

Q 05/05

Which ancient Chinese board game was one of the 'Four Arts' of the cultured gentleman?

A) Go

B) Chess

C) Mahjong

D) Backgammon

Answer · why

A) Go

Go, or weiqi, sat beside calligraphy, painting and the guqin zither as a scholar's accomplishment. Legend says Emperor Yao had it devised to steady hi...