Games of Ancient Egypt: Tab - A Running Fight

A strategy board game from the Ancient Games of Egypt collection from New Venture Games, Tâb is the Egyptian name of a running-fight board game played in several Muslim (mostly Arab) countries, and a family of similar board games played in North Africa (as sîg) and Western Asia, common in ancient Iran and Turkey. It is also found in Somalia, where a variant called "deleb" is played.

Tâb has been continuously played in Egypt at least since the Middle Ages until today and its rules are known. The earliest known mention of Tâb is in a poem by the Medieval Arabic Mamluk poet from Egypt, Ibn Daniyal (1248 – 1310 CE), preserved in a manuscript with his poetry in Turkey. Also known as Tâb Wa-Dukk, the game has both, luck and strategic aspects. Many Tâb boards have been found carved into stones in Egypt, Jordan, and other Middle Eastern countries, however their dating is problematic, and we do not know if they have been carved by the Bedouin in the last few hundred years, or if they date to antiquity.