Royal Game of Ur

c. 2600–2400 BC · Sumer

A twenty-square board game whose rules were decoded from a later Babylonian tablet, and which people still play today.

Date

c. 2600–2400 BC

Civilization

Sumer

Found at

Ur

Where it is today

British Museum, London

Play it here

Related pieces

• 
  c. 2600 BC

  Queen Puabi’s headdress

• 
  c. 2900 BC

  Painted pot from the Royal Cemetery of Ur

• 
  c. 2500 BC

  Cow’s head from the Silver Lyre

• 
  21st century BC

  Ur III cylinder seal

• 
  c. 2600 BC

  Embossed gold leaf with a combat scene

• 
  21st century BC

  Stone plate of the priestess Enmahgalanna

All museum pieces