Description of Rules for the Royal Game of Ur

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This tablet shows the rules for a board game called the Royal Game of Ur. These are the oldest rules for a board game ever recorded in human history. The game consists of twenty tiles drawn in a particular fashion, with the objective being to get one’s pieces to the other side of the board. The Royal Game of Ur is also shown to have been used in gambling in addition to casual entertainment. Undoubtedly, Mesopotamian society was innovative and had leisure time for citizens to create and play games as they pleased.