Ancient Mesopotamia games were more than just entertainment; they were a meaningful part of culture, blending strategy, social interaction, and religious beliefs within one of the first great civilizations. Also, look at my page Ancient Mesopotamia Fun Facts For Kids Who Love History for more hands-on history ideas.
Too, grab more history game ideas on my page Kids History Games Boosts Learning & Promotes Critical Thinking.
When we think about Ancient Mesopotamia, we often picture ziggurats, cuneiform writing, and mighty rivers like the Tigris and Euphrates. But the people of Mesopotamia also enjoyed something very familiar to us today: games
Board games were a popular form of entertainment over 4,500 years ago, bringing families together for fun, strategy, and even spiritual reflection.
One of the most famous ancient games ever discovered is the Royal Game of Ur.
We’ll explore how games fit into Mesopotamian daily life, learn about the Royal Game of Ur, and then make our own playable version.
Of course, I have some resources, facts, and more to share with you.
BOOKS ABOUT MESOPOTAMIA FOR KIDS
Next, look at these books about Mesopotamia.
7 Books to Read About Ancient Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia is a region situated within the Tigris–Euphrates River system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia occupies modern Iraq. In the broader sense, the historical region included present-day Iraq and parts of present-day Iran, Kuwait, Syria, and Turkey.
Gilgamesh, half-god and half-man, in his loneliness and isolation becomes a cruel tyrant over the citizens of Uruk. To impress them forever he orders a great wall to be built, driving his people to exhaustion and despair so that they cry to the Sun God for help.
5,000 years ago in ancient Mesopotamia during a terrible drought, Jomar and Zefa's father must send his children away to the city of Ur because he can no longer feed them. At fourteen, Jomar is old enough to apprentice with Sidah, a master goldsmith for the temple of the moongod, but there is no place for Zefa in Sidah's household. Zefa, a talented but untrained musician, is forced to play her music and sing for alms on the streets of Ur.
Describes the enormous accomplishments of the Sumerians and Babylonians of ancient Mesopotamia in every scientific area, a heritage which affects our own everyday lives
Explores Sumerian, Babylonian, and Assyrian cultures, discussing social structure, lifestyles, and the military in these societies.
Lugalbanda woke with a jolt. He opened his eyes and what did he see but the terrible Anzu bird beating its wings in its nest high above. . . . Did he quake? Did he quail? No. Lugalbanda the Brave sat and stared, and into his head came a brilliant idea.
Presents the history of ancient Mesopotamia, describing the different groups of people who lived there, and their government, cities, everyday life, religion, and writing.
Invites readers them to become the main character. Each book uses humorous illustrations to depict the sometimes dark and horrific side of life during important eras in history.
Next, look at more activities.
ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIA FUN FACTS
- How To Craft A Fun Headdress: Mesopotamia Art And Craft
- Easy Mesopotamian Art: Make Your Own Clay Relief Masterpiece
- Ancient Mesopotamia Games & How To Make The Royal Game Of Ur
- How to Create An Easy LEGO Mesopotamia Chariot
- How To Make A Craft Of The Golden Bull: A Mesopotamian Adventure & Review
- 10 Facts About Assyrians & How to Make a Battering Ram
- Discovering the Stars: The Astronomy of Mesopotamia and How to Make a Clay Star Pattern Tablet
- How to Make a Reed Sailboat: Ancient Mesopotamia Sailboat Facts
- The Food of Mesopotamia | How to Prepare Traditional Mersu
- Babylon Activities & How To Make The Gate Of Ishtar Craft
- How Mesopotamian Culture Shaped the World & Easy Gilgamesh Puppets
- A Journey Through Time: Easy Mesopotamian Pottery Craft With Kids
- Mesopotamian Himri Fun Facts and Fascinating Marine Life
Games were an important part of Mesopotamian culture for both children and adults.
GAMES IN ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIA
Archaeologists have found game boards, dice, and playing pieces in homes, temples, and even royal tombs. This tells us that people of all social classes enjoyed games.
The games were usually made out of clay, and the pieces were either thrown or moved around the board. The Sumerians are credited with the invention of checkers.
Mesopotamians believed games were more than entertainment. Many thought games were connected to fate, luck, and the will of the gods.
Dice rolls were sometimes seen as messages from the divine, and winning or losing a game could carry symbolic meaning.
A few other games that originated in Mesopotamia
- Tavla- A version of Backgammon very popular in Turkey.
- Dogs and pigs game was found in the Basur Mound.
- XXII Scripta- Similar to modern-day backgammon.
- Mangala- The Turkish version of Mancala.
The Royal Game of Ur is one of the oldest known board games, dating back to around 2600 B.C.E.
WHAT IS THE ROYAL GAME OF UR
It was discovered in the 1920s by archaeologist Sir Leonard Woolley in the Royal Tombs of Ur (in modern-day Iraq).
The original boards were beautifully decorated with lapis lazuli, shell inlays, and red limestone, showing that this game was highly valued.
Basic Structure of Ur
- It is a two-player race game.
- Each player has seven pieces.
- Players race their pieces along a set path.
- Dice rolls determine movement.
- Certain spaces give bonuses or protection.
- Some spaces are marked with rosettes, which were considered lucky. Landing on one might give you an extra turn or protect your piece from being sent back.
HOW TO MAKE THE ROYAL GAME OF UR
Materials:
- Cardboard or cardstock
- Ruler
- Pencil
- Markers or paint pens
- Craft paint/paintbrush
- 14 small tokens (beans, beads, LEGO studs, coins)
- 4 small tetrahedron dice or homemade pyramid dice
First, cut a piece of cardboard a little larger than the size of the game you want to make.
Paint a solid color and set aside to dry, or leave it unpainted.
Once the paint is dry, mark spots with a ruler and pencil, one end has two rows of three, then a “hallway” of two single squares that join to a section of 3×4 squares.
When your squares are as you like them, go back over the pencil lines with a permanent marker or paint pen.
Use a straight edge to cut the board around the outer borders you made.
For our pieces, we are going to use air-dry clay, but you can cut circles out of the cardboard or use other game pieces. Shape 7 for each color, making sure they are smaller than the squares they will occupy.
Leave half white and paint the other half black. Once the paint dries, mark them with 5 dots in the center in the opposite color.
Use tetrahedron dice and color 3 of the points black, as in the original game, or make your own from clay or paper.
THE ROYAL GAME OF UR CRAFT FOR KIDS
You will need to determine before the game which side of the dice represents 0,1,2, 3, 4.
To fill in the squares, this page All About Fun and Games gives a good image of the game, including its rosette and dice shapes, for you to recreate on your own board using paint pens.
It also gives a good overview of the game.
Once you have all the squares filled in and dry, you are ready to play the Royal Game of Ur.
Rules of Ur:
- Begin on opposite sides in a rosette square.
- Take turns rolling. Moves are 0,1,2,3, and 4 depending on the dice throw.
- Move one piece forward along the path.
- Only one piece at a time may occupy a square.
- New pieces may enter on any throw.
- If you land on a square occupied by an opponent’s piece, you remove the opponent’s piece.
- Moving a piece by ‘jumping’ over other pieces does not affect those pieces.
- Pieces are also safe from capture in the outside squares on each player’s side of the board.
- Landing on a rosette square gives the player another throw; you can move any piece with this extra throw.
- Exiting requires an exact throw, so to exit from the final square, you must throw a 1.
- Landing on an opponent’s piece sends it back to the start.
- An opponent can land on and capture a piece in the central long section (except on the rosette square). This knocks the captured piece off the board to start over.
- Rosette spaces are safe and give an extra turn.
- The first player to move all pieces off the board wins.
