Game Board or Abacus? Greek Counter Culture Revisited

Datos Bibliográficos

ID22017694
AutoresDasen (0000-0002-2101-3105, University of Fribourg), Jérôme Gavin (HES-SO Genève)
Año2022
Volumen16
Número1
Páginas251-307
Fecha de publicación2022-04-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaBoard Game Studies Journal (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 2183-3311 • E-ISSN: 2183-3311
EditorialWalter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.2478/bgs-2022-0009
OpenAlexW4224885828
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas7
Referencias citadas38

A late 5th century BC funerary altar from the necropolis of Krannon (Central Greece) depicts a bearded man and a boy on either side of a board with five lines carved on a block. The fact that the man is seated and the horizontal position of the board reveal important information about Greek education and the history of Greek numeracy. This paper analyses the iconography of the relief, the link between the Five Lines game ( Pente grammai ) and abaci, examines the possible identification of the man as a “pebble arithmetician”, of the boy as a student, and suggests a new reconstruction of the reckoning system operated on an abacus composed of five horizontal lines. A special practical function is proposed for the half-circle at one end of the abacus. This five lines pattern and the related material, especially counters, are considered from a wider perspective, a system of cultural practices associated with boards and counters throughout the Greek world

Abacus (architecture) · Altar · Ancient history · Art · Iconography · Visual arts · Ancient Egypt and Archaeology · Classical Antiquity Studies · Classics · Historical, Religious, and Philosophical Studies · History