Shaax

[The alchemist]

@Shimbiris Your comment reminded me I had this stored somewhere.

Players:

 

[Moon-]

thats really cool i wonder if people still play this game today or smth similar.
Its hard for me to visualise with just these words tho i have to see it in real life to understand

 

[Moon-]

did women play these boardgames too ?

 

[The alchemist]

thats really cool i wonder if people still play this game today or smth similar.
Its hard for me to visualise with just these words tho i have to see it in real life to understand

I've seen older men play the game before. It's still a thing.

 

[The alchemist]

did women play these boardgames too ?

I'm not sure, to be honest.

 

[The alchemist]

@Moon- I'm mentioning you since you're my engaging buddy on this thread.

The old Romans used to play a similar board game called Nine Men's Morris. The board set-up and parameters are the same, the difference being the game objective and rules. As we can, more likely than not, assume it came from the Romans through the ancient trade in the northern Somali peninsula, it would make sense that Somalis added and removed the original aspects, deviating from the original conditions for the game.

Roman flagon from the 3rd century found in Xiis:

Stringly, it is one of the lasting pieces of evidence that shows it was Somalis that traded with the ancient Romans because we play the game they introduced to this day.

2000-year material continuity preserved through a board game.

There can be an alternative explanation, though less likely, that the game through migration from the Nile Valley since there is a superficial indication that the game could have ultimate roots in ancient Egypt. But I find this less convincing unless we have evidence of other Cushitic groups that have the same game, shown with other games I am going to post.

 

[The alchemist]

With regards to other board games that have a strong diverse Cushitic presence is what they call Mancala.

This one had to be sourced somewhere in the Nile Valley because we have various Ethiopian groups have it, Somalis call it Layli Goobalay, Rendille, and Cushitic-mixed people have it in Kenya, but last but not least, Souch Cushites such as Iraqw play it, and if they have it, then we have to push the age of the game to perhaps 4000 years ago, or more in terms of how long our it has been played among Cushites.

 

[The alchemist]

Unlike Mancala, where it has a diverse Cushitic presence across the board, where one can easily infer an interpretation of an origin from southward migration from the Nile Valley; if Shaax does not have this presence among Cushitics away from the coast, then I'm not going to assume it came from migration but through Roman trade contacts.

 

[Angelina]

I wonder why they don’t play it anymore? Wish my grandfather was alive so I can ask if he played it as a kid.

 

[The alchemist]

I wonder why they don’t play it anymore? Wish my grandfather was alive so I can ask if he played it as a kid.

If you read my post above, the older men still play it today. I've seen it in Somaliland.

 

[Midas]

Apparently the sayyid use to play it as well snd was really good at it too.

 

[Melancholic]

@Shimbiris Your comment reminded me I had this stored somewhere.

Players:

"I think that it is, in all probability, borrowed from the east."

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[Melancholic]

did women play these boardgames too ?

It was restricted to men only. Women were excluded from playing.

Shax is played exclusively by men. One Somali male player of shax has offered the following explanation:

"First, women keep aloof from playing it perhaps because, like chess, it stands for war and thus calls for a quick and sharp mind to conduct tactical and strategic planning.

Secondly, this may be so because, like all games, it is a time killer and women hardly afford, at least in the good old traditions, the luxury to let time pass-by unutilised."

 

[The alchemist]

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It likely started in Egypt, passed on toward Rome, and then spread eastward. I think we got Shaax from Rome and not the Asiatic East or Egypt due to extensive trade with Romans. One good way to falsify that it was not a pre-migration game is how we're the only ones playing it among the Cushites.