I thought the Mahdi

The game of chess dates back nearly 1500 years, and historians differ in its origins whether it is from India, the Romans, China or Persia, and some also attribute it to the Prophet Solomon, peace be upon him.

Archaeologist John Olison of the University of Victoria, Canada, announced at the 2019 Annual Meeting of American Schools of Oriental Research that he had found a strange rock in Jordan, probably the oldest chess ever found.

The oldest cob
The intimate site is known for its historical importance as a commercial corridor, and it is likely that chess has moved to the Middle East and Europe through that intimate corridor.

Oleson believes that the stone, dating back to 1300 years ago, is sculpted from sandstone, and is similar to the cobbstone found in 1991 in the intimate area of ​​southern Jordan.

According to Oleson's analysis of the stone, the piece dates back 100 years earlier and finds it more like ancient chess stones than religious artifacts.

Tabia stone from the Metropolitan Museum of Art attributed to the late 11th and early 12th centuries (Wikimedia Commons)

From India to over the world
Olison believes that the shape of the rock corresponds to pieces dating back to recent times, engraved in stone, wood or ivory, and were discovered in the same area.

Based on one historical hypothesis that chess was spread from India by traders and traveling diplomats, John's analysis is also logical.

Although the shape of the discovered stone does not correspond exactly to the cobblestone traditionally found in contemporary chess, this does not deny that it was used in the same game before, as the shape of the stones has changed over time.

Stones on the modern chessboard

Amounts of the rank of a million
John expects the chess stone to attract this attention, and could be valued at a millionth rank in comparison to an old chess piece that was auctioned earlier this year, which is 8.8 cm high, made of ivory and named after the cob. A bearded warrior holding a sword in his right hand and a shield to his left, kept by an antique dealer for nearly 55 years after he bought it in Scotland for £ 5 in 1964, sold for 2019 for £ 735,000.

It is believed to be one of the famous Lewis Chesman stones found in the Bay of Lewis in Scotland, dating back to the late 12th or early 13th century.

Thus, the chess piece discovered by Oleson could be as old as this piece, and studies are still ongoing to fully verify the details of the piece, its history and what it is.