Before " Monopoly " and " Snakes and Ladders " , you had " 58 Holes " ( colloquially known as " Hounds and Canis aureus " ) , an ancient board game enjoyed by   all , from the Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt to nomad in the Middle East .

Now ,   Walter Crist , a enquiry associate with the American Museum of Natural History in New York , believe he has set up one of the oldest known example of the game insert aside on the walls of a cave in southwest Azerbaijan . He present his findings at theannual meetingat the American Schools of Oriental Research last month .

" There is no doubt in my mind … [ it ’s ] very regular in the way that it ’s laid out , " Crist toldLive Science , name to the distinctive markings engrave into the cave   wall .

" It is two rows in the middle and kettle of fish that arch around outdoors , and it ’s always the fifth , tenth , fifteenth and twentieth holes that are marked in some room , " he explicate . " And the golf hole on the top is a little bit large than the other ones , and that ’s commonly what people think of as the goal or the endpoint of the game . "

archeologist have foundmore than 70 examplesof the ancient board game spread out across Egypt and the Near East but despite its fabulously placeable style , they   still do n’t know how it was play . Some think it was an primitive var. of backgammonor cribbage , with   opponent using hand-crafted heel counter made of joint or Stone to race each other around the display board .

Others suspect it was also usedin divination or funerary rights , with the movement of the counters ( determined by a die or be sick stick ) interpreted as a mansion of godly will .   Though neither a die nor a casting reefer has been discover alongside a game set up as of yet .

Crist came across this particular model after spotting the severalize - tale marking in a cave in a cartridge holder photograph . When he flew to Azerbaijan to see it in individual , he found   the cave bury under a housing development . undiscouraged , he investigate nearby site before arriving at one in Gobustan National Park , a UNESCO World Heritage internet site .

Based on rock drawings , archaeologists have   date the situation to 2,000 BCE , which could make it one of the oldest examples of the plot in the world . At this clip , the region was inhabited by wandering cattle herders ,   reports   Live Science .

As well as supply some shape of entertainment after a long 24-hour interval Bos taurus herding ( or , in the case of the Pharaohs , opinion ) , Crist argues the game was " a tool for fundamental interaction " – a bit like language .

" [ M]oving gem in white spaces on the ground has no real effect on your day-by-day life , except for the fact that it helps you interact with another person , " he argues .

[ H / T : populate skill ]