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Encyclopedia ID 695

Egyptian backgammon

Also known as Tawla · Tawla zahr · Mahbousa · Shesh Besh

Illustration pattern only. No free-licence photograph yet: can you suggest one?

Dice-driven race game of bearing off all checkers; the locked-piece variant mahbousa is the best-known Arab form.

Heritage note

Part of the living heritage of Egypt.

Origins

Usually placed in the era of River Valleys and First Cities (about 3000 to 1000 BCE), although its exact origins are uncertain, within the cultural world of Africa: Nile and the Horn.

Sources

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