Whose Game is it Anyway? Board and Dice Games as an Example of Cultural Transfer and Hybridity

Abstract

Board games in antiquity are characterized by their continuity in both shape and playing practice when crossing socio-political borders and centuries of time. But as much as these games appear similar throughout the archaeological record, traces of integration and appropriation are found in aspects not necessarily affecting rules of play or configurations of boards. Recently uncovered examples of the game of Duodecim scripta in Egypt and Sudan point to changes in board design or, at least, in design preference when compared to those found elsewhere in the Roman Empire. The presence of game boards in grave contexts further illustrates the extent of the appropriation that may have taken place. Egypt and Sudan in Greco-Roman times are on and across the border of the Roman world and provide ideal contexts for the understanding of the cultural appropriation process of board games in antiquity.