[Nfb-krafters-korner] {Disarmed} Re: What is Mancala?
Terrence van Ettinger
terrencevane at gmail.com
Thu Dec 23 23:10:28 UTC 2010
LOL Lynda! I don't think I'd mind it so much if it wasn't pain-induced.
Terrence, praying for sleep.
Twitter: www.twitter.com/terrencevane
Skype: LandrasPhaelan
Words with Friends ID: terrencevak
On Dec 23, 2010, at 1:59 PM, "River Woman" <riverwoman at zoominternet.net> wrote:
> OH, temporary Space Cadet, huh? Well, I am a permanent Space Cadet, and it's not so bad. haa Lynda
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Terrence van Ettinger" <terrencevane at gmail.com>
> To: "List for blind crafters and artists" <nfb-krafters-korner at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Thursday, December 23, 2010 4:38 PM
> Subject: Re: [Nfb-krafters-korner] {Disarmed} Re: What is Mancala?
>
>
>> Wow! Lots of stuff there! Will have to read through some more of it when I'm not still spaced from novicane or whatever they used on me this morning.
>>
>> Terrence the temporary space cadet
>>
>> Twitter: www.twitter.com/terrencevane
>> Skype: LandrasPhaelan
>> Words with Friends ID: terrencevak
>>
>>
>> On Dec 23, 2010, at 11:18 AM, Blindhands at aol.com wrote:
>>
>>>
>>> Mancala
>>>
>>> From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
>>>
>>> Jump to: _navigation_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mancala#mw-head) ,
>>> _search_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mancala#p-search)
>>> Mancala is a family of board games played around the world, sometimes
>>> called "_sowing_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sowing) " games, or
>>> "count-and-capture" games, which describes the game-play. Mancala games play a role in
>>> many African and some Asian societies comparable to that of _chess_
>>> (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess) in the West, or the game of _Go_
>>> (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go_(game)) in Eastern Asia. The list of mancala games
>>> best known in the Western world includes _Kalah_
>>> (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalah) and _Oware_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oware) . Other games are
>>> _Congkak_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congkak) , _Omweso_
>>> (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omweso) , _Ünee tugaluulakh_
>>> (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ünee_tugaluulakh) , _Bao_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bao_(mancala_game)) ,
>>> _Sungka_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sungka) and _Igisoro_
>>> (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Igisoro) .
>>> The word mancala comes from the _Arabic_
>>> (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_language) word naqala meaning literally "to move." There is no one game
>>> with the name mancala; instead mancala is a type, or designation, of game.
>>> This word is used in Syria, Lebanon, and Egypt, but is not consistently
>>> applied to any one game.
>>> In the USA, however, "mancala" is often used as a synonym for the game
>>> _Kalah_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalah) .
>>>
>>> Contents
>>> [_hide_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mancala#) ]
>>> * _1 General gameplay_
>>> (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mancala#General_gameplay)
>>> * _1.1 Equipment_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mancala#Equipment)
>>> * _1.2 Object_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mancala#Object)
>>> * _1.3 Capturing_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mancala#Capturing)
>>> * _2 History_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mancala#History)
>>> * _3 Psychology_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mancala#Psychology)
>>> * _4 See also_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mancala#See_also)
>>> * _5 Bibliography_
>>> (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mancala#Bibliography)
>>> * _6 References_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mancala#References)
>>> * _7 External links_
>>> (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mancala#External_links)
>>> [_edit_
>>> (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mancala&action=edit§ion=1) ] General gameplay
>>> Mancala games share a common general game play. Players begin by placing a
>>> certain number of seeds, prescribed by the variation in use, in each of the
>>> pits on the game board. A player may count their stones to plot the game.
>>> A turn consists of removing all seeds from a pit, sowing the seeds (placing
>>> one in each of the following pits in sequence), and capturing based on the
>>> state of board. This leads to the English phrase "Count and Capture"
>>> sometimes used to describe the gameplay. Although the details differ greatly,
>>> this general sequence applies to all games.
>>> [_edit_
>>> (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mancala&action=edit§ion=2) ] Equipment
>>>
>>> (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Igoware.JPG)
>>> Wooden Mancala Board from West Africa
>>>
>>>
>>> Equipment is typically a board, constructed of various materials, with a
>>> series of holes arranged in rows, usually two or four. Some games are more
>>> often played with holes dug in the earth, or carved in stone. The holes may
>>> be referred to as "depressions", "pits", or "houses". Sometimes, large holes
>>> on the ends of the board, called stores, are used for holding the pieces.
>>> Playing pieces are seeds, beans, stones, cowry shells, or other small
>>> undifferentiated counters that are placed in and transferred about the holes
>>> during play. _Nickernuts_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nickernut) are one
>>> common example of pieces used. Board configurations vary among different
>>> games but also within variations of a given game; for example _Endodoi_
>>> (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endodoi) is played on boards from 2 × 6 to 2 × 10.
>>> With a two-rank board, players usually are considered to control their
>>> respective sides of the board, although moves often are made into the
>>> opponent's side. With a four-rank board, players control an inner row and an outer
>>> row, and a player's seeds will remain in these closest two rows unless the
>>> opponent captured them.
>>> [_edit_
>>> (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mancala&action=edit§ion=3) ] Object
>>> The object of mancala games is usually to capture more stones than the
>>> opponent; sometimes, one seeks to leave the opponent with no legal move or to
>>> have your side empty first in order to win.
>>> At the beginning of a player's turn, they select a hole with seeds that
>>> will be sown around the board. This selection is often limited to holes on the
>>> current player's side of the board, as well as holes with a certain
>>> minimum number of seeds.
>>> In a process known as sowing, all the seeds from a hole are dropped
>>> one-by-one into subsequent holes in a motion wrapping around the board. Sowing is
>>> an apt name for this activity, since not only are many games traditionally
>>> played with seeds, but placing seeds one at a time in different holes
>>> reflects the physical act of _sowing_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sowing) . If
>>> the sowing action stops after dropping the last seed, the game is
>>> considered a single lap game.
>>> Multiple laps or relay sowing is a frequent feature of mancala games,
>>> although not universal. When relay sowing, if the last seed during sowing lands
>>> in an occupied hole, all the contents of that hole, including the last
>>> sown seed, are immediately resown from the hole. The process usually will
>>> continue until sowing ends in an empty hole. Another common way to receive
>>> "multiple laps" is when the final seed sown lands in your designated hole.
>>> Many games from the _Indian_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India)
>>> subcontinent use pussa-kanawa laps. These are like standard multilaps, but instead
>>> of continuing the movement with the contents of the last hole filled, a
>>> player continues with the next hole. A pussakanawa lap move will then end
>>> when a lap ends just prior to an empty hole. If a player ends his stone with a
>>> point move he gets a "free turn"
>>> [_edit_
>>> (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mancala&action=edit§ion=4) ] Capturing
>>> Depending on the last hole sown in a lap, a player may capture stones from
>>> the board. The exact requirements for capture, as well as what is done with
>>> captured stones, vary considerably among games. Typically, a capture
>>> requires sowing to end in a hole with a certain number of stones, ending across
>>> the board from stones in specific configurations, or landing in an empty
>>> hole adjacent to an opponents hole that contains one or more pieces.
>>> Another common way of capturing is to capture the stones that reach a
>>> certain number of seeds at any moment.
>>> Also, several games include the notion of capturing holes, and thus all
>>> seeds sown on a captured hole belong at the end of the game to the player who
>>> captured it.
>>> [_edit_
>>> (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mancala&action=edit§ion=5) ] History
>>>
>>> (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:AksumGebeta.jpg)
>>>
>>> (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:AksumGebeta.jpg)
>>> Ancient Gebeta (i.e. mancala) holes in the base of an _Aksumite_
>>> (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Aksum) _stele_
>>> (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stele) , _Axum_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axum) , _Ethiopia_
>>> (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethiopia) .
>>>
>>>
>>> One of the earlist evidence of the game are fragments of a pottery board
>>> and several rock cuts found in _Aksumite_
>>> (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Aksum) _Ethiopia_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethiopia) in
>>> _Matara_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matara,_Eritrea) (now in _Eritrea_
>>> (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eritrea) ) and _Yeha_
>>> (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yeha) (in Ethiopia), which are dated by archaeologists to between the 6th
>>> and 7th century AD; the game may have been mentioned by _Giyorgis of Segla_
>>> (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Giyorgis_of_Segla&action=edit&redli
>>> nk=1) in his 14th century _Ge'ez_
>>> (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ge'ez_language) text "Mysteries of Heaven and Earth", where he refers to a game
>>> called _qarqis_
>>> (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Qarqis&action=edit&redlink=1) , a term used in _Ge'ez_
>>> (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ge'ez_language) to refer to both Gebet'a (Mancala) and Sant'araz (modern sent'erazh,
>>> Ethiopian _Chess_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess) )._[1]_
>>> (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mancala#cite_note-0) The similarity of some aspects of the
>>> game to _agricultural_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agriculture) activity
>>> and the absence of a need for specialized equipment present the intriguing
>>> possibility that it could date to the beginnings of _civilization_
>>> (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civilization) itself; however, there is little
>>> verifiable evidence that the game is older than about 1300 years. Some purported
>>> evidence comes from the _Kurna temple_
>>> (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurna_temple) _graffiti_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graffiti) in Egypt, as
>>> reported by Parker in 1909 and Murray in his "Board games other than
>>> chess". However, accurate dating of this graffiti seems to be unavailable, and
>>> what designs have been found by modern scholars generally resemble games
>>> common to the Roman world, rather than anything like Mancala.
>>> Although the games existed in pockets in _Europe_
>>> (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europe) -- it is recorded as being played as early as the 17th
>>> century by merchants in _England_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/England)
>>> [_citation needed_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed) ] -- it
>>> has never gained much popularity in most regions, except in the Baltic
>>> area, where once it was a very popular game ("_Bohnenspiel_
>>> (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Das_Bohnenspiel) ") and Bosnia, where it is called Ban-Ban and
>>> still played today. Mancala has also been found in Serbia[_citation needed_
>>> (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed) ],
>>> Bulgaria[_citation needed_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed) ], Greece
>>> ("Mandoli", Cyclades) and in a remote castle in southern Germany (_Schloss
>>> Weikersheim_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weikersheim_Castle) ).
>>> The _USA_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States) has a larger
>>> mancala playing population. A traditional mancala game called Warra was still
>>> played in Louisiana in the early 20th century. In Cape Verde, Mancala is known
>>> as "ouril". It is played in the Islands and was brought to America by Cape
>>> Verdean immigrants. It is played to this day in Cape Verdean communities
>>> in New England.
>>> [_edit_
>>> (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mancala&action=edit§ion=6) ] Psychology
>>> Like other _board games_
>>> (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Board_game#Psychology) , Mancala games have led to psychological studies. Retschitzki has
>>> studied the cognitive processes used by awale players._[2]_
>>> (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mancala#cite_note-1) Some of Restchitzki's results on memory and
>>> problem solving have recently been simulated by Gobet with the _CHREST_
>>> (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CHREST) computer model._[3]_
>>> (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mancala#cite_note-2) _De Voogt_
>>> (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_de_Voogt) has studied the psychology of Bao playing._[4]_
>>> (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mancala#cite_note-3)
>>> [_edit_
>>> (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mancala&action=edit§ion=7) ] See also
>>> * _List of mancala games_
>>> (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mancala_games)
>>> [_edit_
>>> (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mancala&a
>>
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