Dr. Irving Finkel, one of the few living humans who can sight read cuneiform letters, plays the Royal Game of Ur, which was first played 45OO years ago.
It's not surprising the game is fun/challenging, though I doubt the rules are certain. The ancients were not fools. They were just less productive than are we, due to less technology. And they lived in smaller societies.
That's really why class divide was so important to them: In order to support an educated lifestyle, one would need to live off the surplus labour of others. Such arrangement can be mutually beneficial, isn't necessarily parasitic. We have today politicians, priests, academics just the same.
Very nice, ty.
ReplyDeleteIt's not surprising the game is fun/challenging, though I doubt the rules are certain. The ancients were not fools. They were just less productive than are we, due to less technology. And they lived in smaller societies.
ReplyDeleteThat's really why class divide was so important to them: In order to support an educated lifestyle, one would need to live off the surplus labour of others. Such arrangement can be mutually beneficial, isn't necessarily parasitic. We have today politicians, priests, academics just the same.
We have today politicians, priests, academics just the same.
DeleteTrue.