Day 42. An African Game

As I was working my way through Timne Stories by Northcote W. Thomas (from Sierra Leone in west Africa), I got to an item that was not about a story but instead about a game... and I realized that this was a game I used to play with my mother when I was little: Mancala. When I was little, I thought it was just a fun game with beautiful smooth stones; I didn't ever think about where it came from.

Wikipedia tells me that mancala may have been a game that people played in ancient Egypt. The name "mancala" comes from Arabic, and the name given here in the Timne book matches up the west African versions known as Oware and similar words. Oware has its own article at Wikipedia too!

(owari - mancala)

Games spread from place to place, changing their names and details as they go... much like stories!

And here's a picture that shows up in Ellis's Vai Folklore book!

(gaming boards)