Insights into Al Uqsar scroll 3 – part 2

June 13th, Gamealogical Institute

[part 2 in a 3 part series]

“It was all very exciting.” Professor Binder exclaimed. “Once the scrolls were taken out of the crate, we were back in the library’s document preparation area. We pretty much named the scrolls in the order we removed them from the crate. As we began our preliminary review it was clear that scrolls 1 and 2 would need careful treatment to be opened further than the few inches we were able to reveal.” Binder now pointed to the scroll on the table before us. “As you can see, this scroll, number 3, we were able to completely open. Notice these symbols at the top; these same symbols were at the top of the other 2 scrolls. They reveal that these are not actually official documents of the type most people expect with ancient writings.”

Professor Binder proceeded to explain that what had been received with the artifacts was most probably a dairy or journal of a stone worker. This was particularly exciting for two reasons; a better look into the lives of the “ordinary” folks involved in the building of the great structures of the Egyptian past and secondly, and possibly more interesting, a worker who was able to read and write and had the time or means to keep a journal!

However, it was not this information, knowledge that could change our understanding of early Egyptian society that had Inga Binder really energized. No, what really made it worth coming into work for Inga was the discovery of a previously unknown game described in the texts of the journal.

I suppose one should expect as much from a member of the original faculty of the Gamealogical Institute. I can only hope that they will eventually share what they may consider the “more mundane” aspects of their find with the greater archaeological community.

“You see, when I consulted with Professor Speckless and he showed me the dice like artifacts he had extracted, my journal made sense, what with all the talk of scarabs and scorpions that stole a day’s wages. There were other strange references to being blessed by Atum, a god often represented with Scarabs, or being cursed by Hedetet, a goddess associated with the scorpion. There was even more confusion when he combined these expressions with the stones not being right.” Binder pulled out some of her work book pages to show me where her translation efforts would start strong and then just come to a complete stop. Very much like when any of us have started a sentence with one though in mind an then realizing it just wasn’t going to “make good English” by the time we tried to finish it.

“When I saw the dice; some with Scarabs on them and others with Scorpions, I had a better context to work through the translation. The stones that Shugli was talking about was not his work, it was the dice in the game”. Then she paused, “What Mister X had provided us with were the key components to extract this game from history!”

Finally, I got a chance to ask about who our mysterious stone worker was. Professor Binder explained that his name was Shugli, a Sumerian, who had apparently moved to the Al Uqsar area to work his trade. He often referred to an Omar, an Egyptian name, who must have been a good friend or possibly his contact who helped provide for introductions amongst the stone working community. [Ed: see the instruction sheet from the “Scarabs and Scorpions” game for a recreated fictional narrative of the game being played by Omar and Shugli].