The game of Backgammon has a history that dates back centuries. It is commonly believed that the game possibly originated in Mesopotamia which is known today as Iran, Iraq and Syria. The game in its earliest stages was played on various surfaces like wood. Stones were used as the markers and dice were typically constructed of bones. This game can indeed be traced back thousands of years and compared to board games that were played by Egyptians, Romans and others.

The game has been associated with the aristocracy of ancient countries as evidenced by excavated artifacts and references from Persia, the Far East, Greece and even Rome. The game boards typically consisted of perhaps 3x10, 3x12 and 3x6 squares, and many were found in Egypt. It is known that the game was called 30 Squares, but it was also known as Senat. Some of these artifacts have been dated back to as far as 3000 BC. The rules for the ancient version of this game, as well as the use of the dice remain unknown to this day.

The Roman version of Backgammon was called Ludus Duodecim Scriptorum, the translation being “The Game of 12 Lines”. This version used leather game boards and markers came in sets of 30. 15 were ebony, and 15 were ivory. This set can be dated back as far as 600AD and it is believed to have been a version of the Egyptian game of Senat. The game then made its way to Britain around the first century with the Roman conquest and was referenced with the name Tabula. This name was generic name for the game board.

The Asian version of the game was called T’shu-p’u which was their name for Nard which is believed to be invented in Western India. The game arrived in China sometime around the Wei Dynasty and was extremely popular. This game appears to have been a modified version of the aforementioned Tabula and seems to have been incorporated with certain aspects of the Egyptian game Senat. It seems to be that the primary difference between the 2 was the fact that Tabula made use of 3 dice while the game of Nard used only 2. As time progressed, it seems that the use of only 2 dice for Tabula became increasingly popular.

Backgammon as we know it today seems to have gained in popularity in the early 1920’s and it is believed to be around that time that the doubling cube was added to the game. The popularity of the game continued to grow throughout the 1960’s and by present day, with the advent of technology, the popularity continues to grow with variations of the game being played online with money as the stakes for winners.