History of Backgammon

For the last 6000 years, backgammon has been part of man's history, being one of the oldest recorded games. Believed to have originated in Mesopotamia, the game was played on etched or painted board (wood or stone) with polished stones and dice carved from bone, wood or pottery. Backgammon has always been associated with the leaders and aristocrats of ancient civilizations, and has been seen in relics and literary references from Persia, Greece, Rome, Egypt and the Far East. In Iran, excavations at the “Burnt City” show that a similar game existed there around 3000 BC. These artifacts include 2 dice and 60 pieces.

Ancient Board	Dice Made From Bone

Senet is one of the oldest of these games, originating in ancient Egypt. The Egyptian kings played Senet to prepare for the afterlife. It was   thought after one dies, they play the God Thot in a game. Judgement of the dead was based on the sins or good actions while playing Thot. Carved game sets were buried with the later Egyptian kings, a talisman for gaining Thot's blessing in the afterlife.

Thot

Ludus duodecim scriptorum (“game of twelve lines”) is a game the ancient Romans played. Around 800Ad in southwest Asia or Persia, the game “Nard” appeared. It was also called “Takhteh Nard” meaning “battle on wood”. The board represents a year; each side contains 12 points for months of the year, 24 points are for the hours in the day, 30 pips represent the days of the month; the sum of opposing sides of the die represent the 7 days of the week; the contrasting colors for each set of checkers represents the day and night.

T'shu-p'u was the Chinese name for Nard thought to be invented in Western India and arrived in China during the Wei dynasty (220-265AD) and was popular from 479-1000AD, while the Japanese called it "Sugoroku". Nard introduced into Europe via Italy or Spain following Arab occupation of Sicily in 902AD. The term "Tabula" was used by several cultures making it likely that the game was widespread by the Roman Empire while "Nard" was similarly spread throughout Asia by the Arabs. The Arabian game Nard appears to be a slightly modified version of Tabula, perhaps incorporating aspects of Egyptian Senat. The main difference between the two versions was that Tabula used 3 dice while Nard used 2. The use of 2 dice for Tabula later became increasingly popular.

Unnamed	Lancret Backgammon Afternoon

The first mention in English print was in The Codex Exoniensis "These two shall sit at tables..." in 1025 as Nard or "Tables" was played throughout the Middle Ages and was popular in English taverns. Chess overtook Tables in popularity around the 15th Century. The game was even banned for some time due to its prevalent gambling nature until the reign of Elizabeth I. In fact, the game enjoyed popularity in several countries under different names including: Tavola Reale (Italy), Tables Reales (Spain), Tavli (Greece), Tavla (Turkey), Tric Trac (France), Backgammon or Tables (Britain), Puff (Germany), Vrhcaby (Czech), and Swan-liu (China). The term "Backgammon" is said to have been derived in 1645 from either the Saxon "baec" (back) "gamen" (game) or the Welsh "bac" or "bach" (little) "gammon" or "cammaun" (battle) with the first being more likely. Yet another theory was that it received it's name because it was frequently found on the "back" of chessboards, although this too is unlikely. By this time Tabula using 2 dice adopting the rule of playing doubles twice was much like the contemporary version with the exception of the doubling cube and the counting of gammons and backgammons. In 1743 Edmond Hoyle codified the rules of play with his Treatise on Backgammon, the first official set of modern rules in existence.

Tric Trac	Gentlemen Smoking and Playing Backgammon in an Interior (1627), by Dutch painter Dirck Hals

The doubling cube was introduced in 1927, New York City and is the most recent major development in backgammon. The cube not only requires players to select the best move, but they have to estimate the probability of winning the game. This helped transform backgammon into the exciting game it is today.

With the internet revolution, Backgammon is hitting all time highs in popularity. You can play at any time against people all over the world. This technology has also increased the skills of everyday players with the creation of backgammon software like Snowie and GNU that allows players to analyze games, and learn what moves are the best moves to make at any given time. There is also the Internet with all of its resources, like this one and all the site I used to create this history.

      Refrences:
http://www.backgammon.co.uk/history.htm
http://www.gammoned.com/history.html
http://www.natashascafe.com/html/popups/nard_history.html
http://www.dolphincovegames.com/dcgs/games/backgammon/hist.php
http://www.gammoned.com/history.html