In the year 1996 a strange old Roman game was found in a burial site that was over 2,000 years old, in Essex, England. A complete game with all the pieces was found. The pieces were set up, giving us a lot more information on Roman Games than we had previously. The board had rotted away because it was wood but the board frame was metal and was still there. The game was thought to be a version of chess or draughts, which along with ludo, were the two most popular board games in Rome. The grave itself was that of a British noble but the Romans had been in Britain for at least 100 years, so it is not surprising that the natives would be playing Roman games.

The Egyptians liked board games and played them before there was ever a Rome. One of the most popular of their games was Senet, it may have been the ancient ancestor of Backgammon. So how popular was Senet? It was played by everyone, no matter what their social level. It was the favorite game of King Tut and Nefertiti. Some Egyptians thought that this game had some sort of religious significance. One way we know that this game is ancient is that a painting from 2650 BC has been found showing two people playing this game. No game rules have ever been found. Senet symbolized the struggle between good and evil. When King Tut was buried, four senet boards were put in his tomb.

Another game in Egypt was the Ouiji. Yeah it is the same Ouiji board that people think has some sort of connection to the occult today. The boards were used in games of telling the future. Another favorite game was Mehen, the game of the snake. You had to get your pieces from the tail of the snake to the head and the first person to do this won the game.

Many nations state that they invented chess, but the evidence seems to indicate that it was one of three ancient countries that did, China, India or Persia. Archaeologists have found, what they consider, the world's oldest recognizable chess set in Iran. But the key word here is recognizable It may be that other pieces have been found in other places, but we didn't recognize these pieces as chess pieces. Chess wasn't the only game played by ancient Persians. Recent illegal elevations at Jiroft have turned up board games that the authorities have confiscated. Three game boards look like eagles, one looks like a human headed scorpion and another is just a flat board with 12 or 18 holes in it. Game play is not yet understood.

In the ancient city of Ur, one of the oldest cities in human history, a board game was discovered that dates back at least to 2500 BC. It is called the Royal Game of Ur. It was discovered in a royal tomb in Iraq between 1926-1927. There are a group of games called the Mancala, these are composed of boards in which holes were made. This type of game is thousands of years old and is so old that no one knows for sure how far back it goes.

The Chinese are credited with the game of Wei-qi, which most of us know as Go. It may go further back than 2300 BC, which is were it is placed right now. Another ancient Chinese game is Mah Jongg. It is believed to be at least 4,000 years old. Only royalty played this game and to insure that remained true, the rules were kept secret for the populace for thousands of years. The ancient Chinese developed race games using dice and pegs but realized that they were only suitable for children since no skill was involved, so they developed hazards on the board.

As you can see, board games have been with us for thousands of years. If you thought that the Parker Brothers were the first to think of them, you were only off by about 4500 years or so.