Games on the seashore of Salalah: the discovery of mancala games in Dhofar, Sultanate of Oman
Year: 2014
Type: article
Abstract: During the 2013 fieldwork of the French archaeological mission along the shores of the Arabian Sea, mancala games were discovered on the seashore of Salalah at the site of Ad-Dahariz. They are cup-hole carvings made directly into rock slabs and distributed in six distinct zones of the site. They usually consist of fourteen cup-holes aligned in two lines of seven, two supplementary holes being sometimes present on each side. They are the first of their kind in South Arabia and can be compared to similar configurations of carved games elsewhere in Arabia, such as at Jebel al-Jassasiya, Qatar. This paper presents the potential origins of this game in the region, as well as a plausible dating of their use.
DOI: 10.1111/aae.12040
Institutions: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Archéologies et Sciences de l’Antiquité, Maison des Sciences de l'Homme Mondes, American Museum of Natural History, Archéorient, Maison de l'Orient et de la Méditerranée Jean Pouilloux, Université de Lyon, Environnement, ville, société, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne
Language: English
Subfield: Archeology
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W2091564720