There is an unexplored archeological/anthropological investigation to be about the relationship between board games and counting boards in ancient history. Cou

There is an unexplored archeological/anthropological investigation to be about the relationship between board games and counting boards in ancient history. Counting boards were used for (of course) counting large quantities and doing arithmetic, the classic example being the Salamis board [1]. Separately, were divination methods used to determine the will of the gods, an example of which were the Urim and Thummin of the Old Testament [2], apparently some form of dice. Senet, the Egyptian game, was also closely tied to religious belief and ritual [3]. At some point, no one knows when, these came together and became games that were played for fun. IANAA, but perhaps some caution needs to be exercised before announcing that "XX ancient people were having fun playing gamez!" and consider whether they were trying to count bushels of grain or trying to find out if it would rain the next day. [1]. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salamis_Tablet https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salamis_Tablet [2]. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urim_and_Thummim https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urim_and_Thummim [3]. http://www.eloquentpeasant.com/2010/10/14/its-not-just-a-game-its-a-religion-games-in-ancient-egypt/ http://www.eloquentpeasant.com/2010/10/14/its-not-just-a-gam... PS: All that said, it sure looks like a Mancala board to me.