An unusual find in Oman - Polish archaeologists found a board game from 4000 years ago. This is the "most exciting" discovery in the last season of research.
The unexpected discovery was made during the work on the Omani-Polish research project "Development of settlement in the mountains of northern Oman in the Bronze Age and the Iron Age", led by Professor Piotr Bieliński from the Center of Mediterranean Archeology of the University of Warsaw and Dr. Sultan al-Bakri, director of antiquities in Ministry of Heritage and Tourism of the Sultanate of Oman.
This season, the Umm an-Nar settlements near the modern village of Ayn Bani Saidah in Oman were investigated. - Ayn Bani Saidah is strategically located , at the intersection of the roads connecting Bat in the south, Buraimi and Al-Ayn in the north and the coast near Sohar in the east - explains prof. Bieliński. - Along this road you can find large remnants of the Umm an-Nar period . Therefore, we hoped that our position would prove to be equally valuable .
Game board found by Polish archaeologists
The scientists' suppositions turned out to be correct. Four towers were discovered, including three round towers and one risalit. - One of the round towers was not visible on the surface despite its considerable size reaching 20 meters in diameter. She was only found during the excavation - says Dr. Agnieszka Pieńkowska from the Center of Mediterranean Archeology of the University of Warsaw. - The purpose of these structures found at many sites in Umm an-Nar has not yet been clarified . The evidence found for the processing of copper and copper items proves that the investigated settlement was involved in the lucrative trade for which Oman was famous at that time.
The most unexpected and unusual discovery, however, concerns something completely different. In one of the rooms a game board was found! It is made of stone with marked boxes and cup openings. Games based on similar assumptions were known and popular in the Bronze Age in numerous economic and cultural centers. - Finds of this kind are rare, but we do know a few examples from India, Mesopotamia, and even the Eastern Mediterranean. The best known example is a similar game board from one of the tombs of Ur - says prof. Bieliński.
Bibliography:
- Qumayrah Valley in Oman:ancient towers, copper trade and games, Center of Mediterranean Archeology of the University of Warsaw, 4/01/2022 (access:10/01/2022)