But then I grew up back when if you wanted to play a game, you had to use tokens...
The reason why those old ancient board games are so rare to find is that the game boards and pieces were usually destroyed due to them being used as blunt force weapons to murder the winner. Rage losers have been ruining games for thousands of years.
That must be why the one in King Tut's tomb had obviously never been used.
Is the top image a type of mancala? One of my favorite games growing up, but I've never seen one with different style pieces or a center row like the blue one. If someone can link to it or name it so j can Google it I would be appreciative.
Senet.
I think its the oldest known board game if I'm remembering right.
The Royal Game of Ur is older. Senet is based on it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Game_of_Ur
Here's a video of Irving Finkel (considered the world's expert on ancient Mesopotamia and also one of the world's top beard-growers) playing the game with a YouTuber named Tom Scott: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZskjLq040I
Oh, props to you for posting a senet game!
Welcome to the stone age... or the bronze age... or the iron age... heck, anything with an 'age' is welcome, except our modern age or any ages to come.
This is about what the internet was like thousands of years ago back when it all started. Like when Darius the Great hired mercenaries via Craigslist or when Egypt invented emojis.
CODE OF LAWS
1 - Be civil. No name calling, no fighting, keep your flint hand axes inside your leather pouches at all times.
2 - Keep the AI stuff to a minimum. It gets annoying and old fashioned memes are more fun for everyone.
3 - None of this newfangled modern 21st century nonsense. We don't even know what "21st century" means.
4 - No porn/explicit content. The king is sensitive about these things.
5 - No lemmy.world TOS violations will be tolerated. So there.
6 - There is no ~~rule~~ law 6.
Laws of justice which Hammurabi, the wise king, established. A righteous law, and pious statute did he teach the land. Hammurabi, the protecting king am I. I have not withdrawn myself from the men, whom Bel gave to me, the rule over whom Marduk gave to me, I was not negligent, but I made them a peaceful abiding-place. I expounded all great difficulties, I made the light shine upon them. With the mighty weapons which Zamama and Ishtar entrusted to me, with the keen vision with which Ea endowed me, with the wisdom that Marduk gave me, I have uprooted the enemy above and below (in north and south), subdued the earth, brought prosperity to the land, guaranteed security to the inhabitants in their homes; a disturber was not permitted. The great gods have called me, I am the salvation-bearing shepherd, whose staff is straight, the good shadow that is spread over my city; on my breast I cherish the inhabitants of the land of Sumer and Akkad; in my shelter I have let them repose in peace; in my deep wisdom have I enclosed them. That the strong might not injure the weak, in order to protect the widows and orphans, I have in Babylon the city where Anu and Bel raise high their head, in E-Sagil, the Temple, whose foundations stand firm as heaven and earth, in order to bespeak justice in the land, to settle all disputes, and heal all injuries, set up these my precious words, written upon my memorial stone, before the image of me, as king of righteousness.