Game of Ur - NE-2
£295.00
Only 1 available
The second edition in the Game of Ur line up which Oakes & Oakes has renamed Needle Eye. This grand set has a cedar of Lebanon & bog oak play field embellished with hand painted rosettes. A walnut frame allows space for two vessels held under the play field which carry the cedar of Lebanon totems, pyramid dice and instructions/certificate. During play the larger vessel can be used for dice throwing whilst the small one holds pieces that have made it round the board to safety. A two player race game often thought as an early version of backgammon. All wood except for the dice.
Made in March 2021, this is the second edition in the Oakes & Oakes one of a kind Needle Eye game range. Serial number NE-2. No two game boards in the range are ever the same.
All game boards are hand made using no machinery.
How to play instructions and certificate included (not photographed).
Game board measures 33 x 13 x 9 cm.
Totems measure 4.5 x 2 x 2cm (2 sets of 7 one red one purple)
History of the Royal Game of Ur
Between 1922 & 1934 the English archaeologist Sir Leonard Woolley unearthed a game board during his excavations in a tomb at the Royal Cemetery of Ur. The city of Ur was an important Sumerian city-state in Mesopotamia, which is located near Nasiriyah in southern Iraq.
This game board dated between 2600-2400 BCE is now on display at the British Museum & has become commonly known as the Royal Game of Ur or the Game of 20 squares. Rules have been hypothesised by H.J.R Murray, Robert Charles Bell & most recently or most famously by Irving Finkel. The boards found in Ur were accompanied by small round counters, each with five dots on them, seven light and seven dark. Also found were six pyramidal dice each with two dots on the two of the four corners. The game was popular across the Middle East as boards have been found in Iran, Syria, Egypt, Lebanon, Sri Lanka, Cyprus and Crete. Although boards with various patterns have been found, the only consistent factor has been that five of the squares on the board have rosettes inscribed on them & the consensus has been that these squares have a special significance.
Oakes & Oakes has renamed the game, designed a new play field pattern & counters. Select rules from the different theories on how to play have been collected. Our version of the Royal game of Ur is now called Needle Eye.
About Bog Oak....
The bog oak used in this set has been sourced from the Fenlands of England. The story goes... approximately 7,000 years ago a rise in sea levels caused the rivers to back up and flood the East Anglian fenlands. The gigantic oak trees that lived on this land died standing, fell into the slit of the forest floor allowing them to be preserved in an oxygen starved environment. Fast forward to the present day and now the heavily cultivated farmlands around the fens often have the sub-fossilised oaks pop up to the surface. The process of drying the timber out is one of real skill. A slow process requiring an experienced eye. Typically by the end of the drying process a staggering 4 gallons of water gets extracted per cubic foot.
Please contact us with if you have any questions.
Made in March 2021, this is the second edition in the Oakes & Oakes one of a kind Needle Eye game range. Serial number NE-2. No two game boards in the range are ever the same.
All game boards are hand made using no machinery.
How to play instructions and certificate included (not photographed).
Game board measures 33 x 13 x 9 cm.
Totems measure 4.5 x 2 x 2cm (2 sets of 7 one red one purple)
History of the Royal Game of Ur
Between 1922 & 1934 the English archaeologist Sir Leonard Woolley unearthed a game board during his excavations in a tomb at the Royal Cemetery of Ur. The city of Ur was an important Sumerian city-state in Mesopotamia, which is located near Nasiriyah in southern Iraq.
This game board dated between 2600-2400 BCE is now on display at the British Museum & has become commonly known as the Royal Game of Ur or the Game of 20 squares. Rules have been hypothesised by H.J.R Murray, Robert Charles Bell & most recently or most famously by Irving Finkel. The boards found in Ur were accompanied by small round counters, each with five dots on them, seven light and seven dark. Also found were six pyramidal dice each with two dots on the two of the four corners. The game was popular across the Middle East as boards have been found in Iran, Syria, Egypt, Lebanon, Sri Lanka, Cyprus and Crete. Although boards with various patterns have been found, the only consistent factor has been that five of the squares on the board have rosettes inscribed on them & the consensus has been that these squares have a special significance.
Oakes & Oakes has renamed the game, designed a new play field pattern & counters. Select rules from the different theories on how to play have been collected. Our version of the Royal game of Ur is now called Needle Eye.
About Bog Oak....
The bog oak used in this set has been sourced from the Fenlands of England. The story goes... approximately 7,000 years ago a rise in sea levels caused the rivers to back up and flood the East Anglian fenlands. The gigantic oak trees that lived on this land died standing, fell into the slit of the forest floor allowing them to be preserved in an oxygen starved environment. Fast forward to the present day and now the heavily cultivated farmlands around the fens often have the sub-fossilised oaks pop up to the surface. The process of drying the timber out is one of real skill. A slow process requiring an experienced eye. Typically by the end of the drying process a staggering 4 gallons of water gets extracted per cubic foot.
Please contact us with if you have any questions.
