Editing Backgammon (section)

== Mediterranean and West Asian cultural significance ==

[[File:Damascene-style inlaid Backgammon board, Cairo, Khan el-Khalili.jpg|thumb|270px|[[Damascening|Damascene]]-style [[marquetry]] backgammon board, [[Khan el-Khalili]], Cairo]]
Backgammon is considered the national game in many countries of the Eastern Mediterranean:<ref name="Arab American Almanac 1984">{{cite book |title=Arab American Almanac |publisher=News Circle Publishing Company |year=1984 |isbn=978-0-915652-03-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4j0OAQAAMAAJ |access-date=2022-05-03 |page=47|quote=Backgammon: Throughout the Eastern Mediterranean region, it is unquestionably the single most popular game ; tric trac or towleh (table), as it is called, is practically the national sport of Lebanon }}</ref> Egypt,<ref name="Allatson Gallimard (Firm) 1995">{{cite book |last=Allatson |first=W. |author2=Gallimard (Firm) |title=Egypt |publisher=Alfred A. Knopf |series=Knopf Book and Cassette Classics Series |year=1995 |isbn=978-0-679-75566-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zh8ZAQAAIAAJ |access-date=2022-05-03 |page=495|quote=...''tawla'' (backgammon), the national game…}}</ref> Turkey,<ref name="Ergil 2014">{{cite web |last=Ergil |first=Leyla Yvonne |title=Top Tavla tips for expats to play like a Turk |website=Daily Sabah |date=2014-10-11 |url=https://www.dailysabah.com/life/2014/10/11/top-tavla-tips-for-expats-to-play-like-a-turk |quote=Tavla, otherwise known as backgammon, can easily be considered Turkey's national game and, in the way it is played a metaphor for life in Turkey.}}</ref> Cyprus,<ref name="Hinebaugh 2019">{{cite book |last=Hinebaugh |first=J.P. |title=More Board Game Education: Inspiring Students Through Board Games |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers |year=2019 |isbn=978-1-4758-4834-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GPd7DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA49 |access-date=2022-05-03 |page=49|quote=Tavli (Backgammon in Greek) is the national game of Cyprus}}</ref> Syria,<ref name="Los Angeles Times 1988">{{cite web |title=Love of Backgammon : To Arabs, It's the 1 Game That Counts |website=Los Angeles Times |date=1988-02-04 |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-02-04-mn-40503-story.html |quote=While other games--chess, bridge, even poker--have made inroads from time to time, backgammon has been for centuries the pastime of the Middle East}}</ref> Israel,<ref name="The Israel Economist 1978">{{cite book |title=The Israel Economist |publisher=Kollek. |issue=v. 33 |year=1978 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0WseAQAAMAAJ |access-date=2022-05-03 |quote=Even in Israel [Rummikub] took a long time to make an impact, though today it ranks only just behind Shesh-Besh (backgammon) as the national pastime }}</ref> and Palestine,<ref name="Khūrī Ḫūrī 1990">{{cite book |last1=Khūrī |first1=F.I. |last2=Ḫūrī |first2=F.I. |title=Tents and Pyramids: Games and Ideology in Arab Culture from Backgammon to Autocratic Rule |publisher=Saqi Books |year=1990 |isbn=978-0-86356-334-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N_SNAAAAMAAJ |access-date=2022-05-03}}</ref> Lebanon<ref name="Arab American Almanac 1984" /> and Greece.<ref name="Team 2018">{{cite web |last=Team |first=GCT |title=All You Need To Know About Tavli, Greece's National Board Game |website=Greek City Times |date=2018-01-23 |url=https://greekcitytimes.com/2018/01/23/all-you-need-to-know-about-tavli-greeces-national-board-game/ |access-date=2022-05-02}}</ref>

The popularity of the game across the region is primarily an oral tradition,<ref name="Los Angeles Times 1988" /> and appears to have been strengthened during the era of the Ottoman Empire, which controlled the whole Eastern Mediterranean in the early modern period. [[Afif Bahnassi]], Syria's director of antiquities, stated in 1988: "For some reason, backgammon became the rage of the Ottoman Empire. It really spread across the Arab world with the Turks, and it stayed behind when they left."<ref name="Los Angeles Times 1988" /> The game is a common feature of coffeehouses throughout the region. Since at least the early 19th century, [[Damascus]] became well known as the preeminent location for [[Damascening|Damascene]]-style wooden [[marquetry]] backgammon sets that have become famous throughout the region.<ref name="Los Angeles Times 1988" />

[[File:Backgammon and Dominos numbers in Ottoman Turkish, 1907.jpg|thumb|Backgammon and Dominos numbers in [[Ottoman Turkish]], in [[V. H. Hagopian]]'s 1907 ''Ottoman-Turkish Conversation-Grammar''. [[James Redhouse]]'s milestone [[Ottoman Turkish]] dictionary in the 19th century described a similar phenomenon alongside many other Ottoman words of Persian or Turkish origin.<ref name="Redhouse 1890">{{cite book |last=Redhouse |first=J.W. |authorlink=James Redhouse|title=A Turkish and English Lexicon: Shewing in English the Significations of the Turkish Terms |publisher=American mission |issue=pt. 2, pp. 1000-2224 |year=1890 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mms7AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA1436 |access-date=2022-05-01 |page=1125|quote=P. [for Persian origin]: شش shesh, a. Six. شش اناز A player with six objects. 2. A player at backgammon. شش بش Six and five, in backgammon. شش و يك Six and one. شش بش كورمك (To take the six for a five) To see double. دو شش Sixes, in backgammon}}</ref>]]
A unique feature of backgammon throughout the region is players' use of mixed Persian and Turkish numbers to announce dice rolls, rather than Arabic or other local languages.<ref name="Gippert">{{cite book |last=Gippert |first=Jost |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YdwNAAAAYAAJ |title=XXIII. Deutscher Orientalistentag: vom 16. bis 20. September 1985 in Würzburg : ausgewählte Vorträge |publisher=F. Steiner Verlag Wiesbaden |year=1989 |isbn=978-3-515-04961-0 |editor=Einar von Schuler |series=Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft, Volume 139 (or Volume 7 of Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft: Supplement) |pages=259–273 |language=de |chapter=Ein persisch-türkisches Zählsystem beim Würfelspiel ["A Persian-Turkic counting system used in dice games"]}} This can be read online at [https://titus.fkidg1.uni-frankfurt.de/personal/jg/html/jg1985b.htm] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20020203231823/https://titus.fkidg1.uni-frankfurt.de/personal/jg/html/jg1985b.htm archived]</ref> Related to this phenomenon, the game is frequently referred to as ''Shesh Besh'', which is a rhyming combination ''shesh'', meaning six in Persian (as well as many historical and current Iranian languages), and ''besh'', meaning five in Turkish. ''Shesh besh'' is commonly used to refer to when a player scores a 5 and 6 at the same time on dice.<ref name="BoueriBoutros2006">{{cite book |last1=Boueri |first1=Marijean |last2=Boutros |first2=Jill |last3=Sayad |first3=Joanne |title=Lebanon A to Z: A Middle Eastern Mosaic |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VIemBhgNmpAC&pg=PA59 |publisher=PublishingWorks |date=April 2006 |pages=59– |isbn=978-0-9744803-4-3}}</ref> This language contains six types of [[irregular inflection]]s:

* 1) doubles in pure Persian, (6–6 and 3–3);<ref name=Gippert />
* 2a) unequal throws in pure Persian, higher followed by lower<ref name=Gippert />
* 2b) unequal throws in pure Persian, with a connecting vowel in between<ref name=Gippert />
* 3) Mixed Turkish-Persian numeral (6–5, 5–5, 4–4)<ref name=Gippert />
* 4) alternatives for 2a and 2b in pure Turkish (6–4, 5–4, 5–1, 2–1)<ref name=Gippert />
* 5) special cases (3–2, 2–2, 1–1); where 3–2 is a version of 2a with a "ba" added for phonetic reasons, 2–2 is {{langx|fa|دوباره}} for "twice" or two-times-two, and 1–1 is a hybrid Turkish-Persian where ''hep'' is Turkish for "altogether".<ref name=Gippert />

In the early 20th century, as use of Classical Arabic was being promoted with the rise of Arab nationalism, efforts were made to replace the Persian-Turkish numbers used in backgammon play.<ref name="Suleiman 2013 p. 8">{{cite book |last=Suleiman |first=Y. |title=Arabic Sociolinguistics: Issues and Perspectives |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-136-77937-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o8xdAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA8 |access-date=2022-05-01 |page=8}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
! colspan="5"| Dice throw language used across the Eastern Mediterranean
|-
! colspan="2" |Throw
! colspan="3" |Language
|-
! Image !! Numbers !! Turkish !! Persian !! Bulgarian
|-
| [[File:Dice-1.png|20px]][[File:Dice-1.png|20px]] || 1–1 || Hep Yek || هبت يك || Еп-ек (еци, епеци); Ep-ek (eci, epeci)
|-
| [[File:Dice-2.png|20px]][[File:Dice-2.png|20px]] || 2–2 || Dubara || دوبارة || Дю-бара (дубари); Du-bara (dubara, dubari)
|-
| [[File:Dice-2.png|20px]][[File:Dice-1.png|20px]] || 2–1 || Dü yek; yek-i dü; Iki Bir || دُو يك || Ик-и-бир; Ik-i-bir
|-
| [[File:Dice-3.png|20px]][[File:Dice-3.png|20px]] || 3–3 || Dü Se || دوسة || Дю-се (ме-се); Du-se (me-se)
|-
| [[File:Dice-3.png|20px]][[File:Dice-2.png|20px]] || 3–2 || Seba-i Dü || سِه دُو || Себа-и-дю; Seba-i-du
|-
| [[File:Dice-3.png|20px]][[File:Dice-1.png|20px]] || 3–1 || Se Yek || سِه يك || Се-и-ек; Se-i-ek
|-
| [[File:Dice-4.png|20px]][[File:Dice-4.png|20px]] || 4–4 || Dört Cihar (Dört Caar) || درجي || Дьорт-джехар (джаар, дорджар); Djort-jahar (jaar, dordjar)
|-
| [[File:Dice-4.png|20px]][[File:Dice-3.png|20px]] || 4–3 || Cihar-ü Se (Caar-i Se) || جهار سِه || Джехар-у-се; Jehar-u-se
|-
| [[File:Dice-4.png|20px]][[File:Dice-2.png|20px]] || 4–2 || Cihar-i Dü (Caar-i Dü) || جهار دُو || Джехар-и-дю; Jehar-i-du
|-
| [[File:Dice-4.png|20px]][[File:Dice-1.png|20px]] || 4–1 || Cihar-ı Yek (Caar-i Yek) || جهار يك || Джехар-и-ек; Jehar-i-ek
|-
| [[File:Dice-5.png|20px]][[File:Dice-5.png|20px]] || 5–5 || Dü Beş || دبش || Дю-беш; Du-besh
|-
| [[File:Dice-5.png|20px]][[File:Dice-4.png|20px]] || 5–4 || Beş Dört; Cihar-ü Penc (Caar-i Penc) || پنج جهار || Беш-дьорт; Besh-dyort
|-
| [[File:Dice-5.png|20px]][[File:Dice-3.png|20px]] || 5–3 || Penc-ü Se || پنج سِه || Пендж-и-се; Penj-i-se
|-
| [[File:Dice-5.png|20px]][[File:Dice-2.png|20px]] || 5–2 || Penc-i Dü || پنج دُو || Пендж-и-дю; Panj-i-du
|-
| [[File:Dice-5.png|20px]][[File:Dice-1.png|20px]] || 5–1 || Penc-i Yek; Beş Bir || پنج يك || Пендж-и-ек; Panj-i-ek
|-
| [[File:Dice-6E.png|20px]][[File:Dice-6E.png|20px]] || 6–6 || Dü Şeş || دشش || Дю-шеш; Du-shesh
|-
| [[File:Dice-6E.png|20px]][[File:Dice-5.png|20px]] || 6–5 || Şeş Beş || شيش بيش || Шеш-беш; Shesh-besh
|-
| [[File:Dice-6E.png|20px]][[File:Dice-4.png|20px]] || 6–4 || Şeş Cihar (Altɨdört) || شيش جهار || Шеш-джехар; Shesh-jehar
|-
| [[File:Dice-6E.png|20px]][[File:Dice-3.png|20px]] || 6–3 || Şeş-ü Se || شيش سِه || Шеш-у-се; Shesh-u-se
|-
| [[File:Dice-6E.png|20px]][[File:Dice-2.png|20px]] || 6–2 || Şeş-i Dü || شيش دُو || Шеш-и-дю; Shash-i-du
|-
| [[File:Dice-6E.png|20px]][[File:Dice-1.png|20px]] || 6–1 || Şeş-i Yek || شيش يك || Шеш-у-ек; Shesh-u-ek.
|}