A recent archaeological study has revealed that an ancient board of a game, known as the fifty-eight-hole game, and found in 2018 on the Absheron peninsula, located in present-day Azerbaijan, is the oldest one known. This discovery challenges previous theories about the origin and spread of this enigmatic pastime, which was played in various parts of Asia and Egypt over three thousand years ago.
The Game of Fifty-Eight Holes, also known as “Dogs and Jackals” due to the figures carved on the early game pieces found, has been identified at several archaeological sites in Egypt, the Levant, Mesopotamia, Iran, and Anatolia. However, the appearance of this game on the Absheron Peninsula is an unprecedented finding that suggests the existence of cultural and commercial interaction routes connecting this region of the Caucasus with societies further south.
The game, which dates back to the third millennium B.C., was played on a board with fifty-eight holes arranged in two parallel rows of ten holes each, surrounded by an arc of thirty-eight holes. The game pieces, whose shapes varied depending on the region, moved along this pattern, and some specific holes were marked or connected by lines, suggesting complex game rules.
The oldest discovery of such a board was made in Egypt, in the tomb of el-Asasif, dated between 2064 and 1952 B.C. This finding, along with other boards found in Anatolia, the Levant, and Mesopotamia, had led archaeologists to consider that the game might have originated in Egypt or southwestern Asia. However, recent discoveries on the Absheron Peninsula challenge this hypothesis and raise new questions about the exact origin of the game.
On the Absheron Peninsula, archaeologists have identified six similar game patterns at different sites, suggesting that the practice of this game was widespread in the region during the third and second millennium B.C. The sites of Çapmalı, Yeni Türkan, Dübəndi, and Ağdasdüzü have revealed stone-carved boards that correspond to the distinctive geometry of the Game of Fifty-Eight Holes.
The best-documented board was found at the site of Çapmalı, within the Gobustan National Reserve, southwest of Baku, near the Caspian Sea coast. This site houses a rocky shelter covered with petroglyphs from the Bronze Age and later periods, indicating continuous occupation over millennia. Inside this shelter, archaeologists found a game board carved into a rock, alongside pottery fragments and other artifacts dating from the second millennium B.C.
The arrangement of the boards at sites like Çapmalı indicates that the game might have been an integral part of daily life, possibly used during the winter months when shepherds settled in shelters like Gobustan.
The analysis of the pottery found at these sites supports this hypothesis, as it suggests seasonal occupation by pastoral communities. The objects found include ceramic fragments from the Khojaly-Gadabay culture, dating from the 13th to the 7th century B.C., along with older pieces from the Middle and Late Bronze Age. This mixture of materials indicates that the Çapmalı site and others nearby were repeatedly occupied over the centuries, possibly by the same communities sharing a common cultural tradition.
These findings suggest that, far from being an isolated region, the Absheron Peninsula was part of a broader cultural network that connected the peoples of the Caucasus with the civilizations to the south, such as Mesopotamia and Egypt.
While some researchers have proposed that the game originated in Egypt due to the age of the boards found there, the appearance of boards in peripheral regions like Absheron suggests that the game may have developed in multiple locations simultaneously or was quickly transmitted through these cultural networks.
SOURCES
Crist W, Abdullayev R. Herding with the Hounds: The Game of Fifty-eight Holes in the Abşeron Peninsula. European Journal of Archaeology. Published online 2024:1-20. doi:10.1017/eaa.2024.24
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