Since Lane’s description of the rules is the oldest available, I quote both of them here.

The first set is called, The Game of the Ignorant, (Leab El-Ghasheem), and the second set of rules is called The Game of the Wise, (Leab El-Akil). Lane describes two different sets of rules for the Egyptian Mancala. The game that he saw was played on a 2×6 board with 12 dimples in total, with 72 pebbles or cowry shells, used as playing pieces. The earliest detailed description of Mancala rules was described by Edward William Lane in 1833, where he saw it played in Egyptian coffee shops during his visit to Egypt in 1825-1828. In the Taqrib of Sulaym, it is explained as a board in which there are twenty eight holes, fourteen on one side, and fourteen on the other, for playing.”Ģ×6 Mancala Board, Dan People, West Africa, Mid 20th Century – Penn Museum, It may also be called fourteen (shahardah / arbaata ashara). Its earliest mention by name is in the Sunni Islamic law code, Kitab al-Umm (كـتـاب الأم) (VI, 213), written by Imam ash-Shafii (767-820 CE), where the game is called Hizzah and is described as, “a piece of wood in which there are holes for playing.” A commentary on Kitab al-Umm, called Az-Zawajir an Iqtirafal-Kabayir (II, 191), written by Ibn Hajar Al-Haytami (1503-1566 CE), confirms that Hizzah is a similar name to Mancala, by saying: “ Hizzah is a piece of wood in which there are three rows of holes into which small pebbles are put for playing. So the name Mancala roughly means “movement”. Mancala is the Egyptian Arabic name of the game, derived from the word naql (نقل), meaning “to move”. The game seemed to be more of a pass time of the African tribes and hence remained undocumented until the Europeans came to Africa.Ģ×6 Mancala Board, Senufo, Guro, Baule People, West Africa, Early 20th Century – Penn Museum, It does not seem to appear that the Romans, ancient Egyptians, or Axumites played Mancala. The Aksum board have a 3×10 grid and is obviously Senet, the Game of 30 Squares, and the boards in Gadara, Israel have a variety of patterns, most notably 5×2 which is the Greek game Pente Grammai. However, a closer look at the hole patterns carved in the rocks clearly shows that these are not Mancala boards, because the number of holes is different. There have been many claims in recent years of oldest found Mancala boards found in Israel in Gadara in Roman bathhouses and in Ethiopia at Aksum. There are over 100 Mancala variants around the world.Ģ×6 Mancala Board, Yoruba People, Nigeria, Early 20th Century – Penn Museum, 8.1 As the African slave trade spread the game spread as well to Asia and the Caribbean, as well as the Americas and Europe. The game’s older variants exist mostly in Africa. Its origins are unknown, but from its wide spread, usage, and simplicity of materials it would seems that it is at least over 2000 years old. Mancala is an ancient game, traditionally played on the ground using holes, or dimples, dug out in the sand or rock and tree seeds or pebbles.