Ancient Egyptians Played a Board Game Called 58 Holes

Ancient Egyptians Played a Board Game Called 58 Holes The 4,000-year-old board game 58 Holes is also called Hounds and Jackals, the Monkey Race, the Shield Game, and the Palm Tree Game, all of which refer to the shape of the game board or the pattern of the peg holes in the face of the board. As you might guess, the game consists of a board with a track of fifty-eight holes (and a few grooves), in which players race a pair of pegs along the route. It is thought to have been invented in Egypt around 2200 B.C. It flourished during the Middle Kingdom, but died out in Egypt after that, around 1650 B.C. Around the end of the third millennium B.C., 58 Holes spread into Mesopotamia and maintained its popularity there until well into the first millennium B.C. Playing 58 Holes The ancient game 58 Holes most closely resembles the modern childrens game known as Snakes and Ladders in Britain and Chutes and Ladders in the United States. In 58 Holes, each player is given five pegs. They begin at the starting point to move their pegs down the center of the board and then up their respective sides to the endpoints. The lines on the board are the chutes or ladders that allow the player to quickly advance or to just as quickly fall behind. Ancient boards are generally rectangular to oval and sometimes shield or violin-shaped. The two players throw dice, sticks, or knucklebones to determine the number of places they can move, marked on the game board by elongated pegs or pins. The name Hounds and Jackals comes from the decorative shapes of the playing pins found at Egyptian archaeological sites. Rather like Monopoly tokens, one players peg head would be in shape of a dog, the other in that of a jackal. Other forms discovered by archaeologists include pins shaped liked monkeys and bulls. The pegs that been retrieved from archaeological sites were made of bronze, gold, silver, or ivory. It is quite likely that many more existed, but were made of perishable materials such as reeds or wood. Cultural Transmission Versions of Hounds and Jackals spread into the near east shortly after its invention, including Palestine, Assyria, Anatolia, Babylonia, and Persia. Archaeological boards were found in the ruins of Assyrian merchant colonies in Central Anatolia dating as early as the 19th and 18th centuries B.C. These are thought to have been brought by Assyrian merchants, who also brought writing and cylinder seals from Mesopotamia into Anatolia. One route along which the boards, writing, and seals might have traveled is the overland route that would later become the Royal Road of the Achaemenids. Maritime connections also facilitated international trade. There is strong evidence that 58 Holes was traded throughout the Mediterranean region and beyond. With such widespread distribution, its normal that a considerable amount of local variation would exist. Different cultures, some of which were enemies of the Egyptians at the time, adapted and created new imagery for the game. Certainly, other artifact types are adapted and changed for use in local communities. The 58 Holes gameboards, however, seem to have maintained their general shapes, styles, rules, and iconography - no matter where they were played. This is somewhat surprising, because other games, such as chess, were widely and freely adapted by the cultures that adopted them. The consistency of form and iconography in 58 Holes may be a result of the complexity of the board. Chess, for example, has a simple board of 64 squares, with the movement of the pieces dependent on largely unwritten (at the time) rules. Gameplay for 58 Holes depends strictly on the board layout. Trading Games The discussion of cultural transmission of game boards, in general, is currently of considerable scholarly research. The recovery of game boards with two different sides - one a local game and one from another country - suggest that the boards were used as a social facilitator to enable friendly transactions with strangers in new places. At least 68 gameboards of 58 Holes have been found archaeologically, including examples from Iraq (Ur, Uruk, Sippar, Nippur, Nineveh, Ashur, Babylon, Nuzi), Syria (Ras el-Ain, Tell Ajlun, Khafaje), Iran (Tappeh Sialk, Susa, Luristan), Israel (Tel Beth Shean, Megiddo, Gezer), Turkey (Boghazkoy, Kultepe, Karalhuyuk, Acemhuyuk), and Egypt (Buhen, Thebes, El-Lahun, Sedment). Sources Crist, Walter. Board Games in Antiquity. Anne Vaturi, Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures, Springer Nature Switzerland AG, August 21, 2014. Crist, Walter. Facilitating Interaction: Board Games as Social Lubricants in the Ancient Near East. Alex de Voogt, Anne-Elizabeth Dunn-Vaturi, Oxford Journal of Archaeology, Wiley Online Library, April 25, 2016. De Voogt, Alex. Cultural transmission in the ancient Near East: twenty squares and fifty-eight holes. Anne-Elizabeth Dunn-Vaturi, Jelmer W.Eerkens, Journal of Archaeological Science, Volume 40, Issue 4, ScienceDirect, April 2013. Dunn-Vaturi, Anne-E. The Monkey Race - Remarks on Board Games Accessories. Board Games Studies 3, 2000. Romain, Pascal. Les reprà ©sentations des jeux de pions dans le Proche-Orient ancien et leur signification. Board Game Studies 3, 2000.

Free Essays on The First Native Americans

The First Americans Throughout time our ancestors have always been the race that we have descended from. To this day scientists and philosophers still don’t grasp the true revelation, of who owns the past. The controversies of the Kennewick man very well define some of our many questions about the actual origin of the 9300 year old skeleton. The remains are an ongoing battle with the American anthropologists and the NAGPRA. And archeologists may never know the biological evidence of linkage between us and the Kennewick man. The origin of the human remains is still not known to this day, although archeologists believe to be of a Caucasoid descent. Originally the Kennewick man was thought to be a fur –trader or pioneer. Obtained though a CAT scan and was thought to be dated from 9000 to 4500 years ago. The NAGPRA claims that these remains are from a Paleo-Indian tribe and believes that they should preserve and keep the remains. The only problem with this claim is that this tribe is a fairly new tribe and with radiocarbon dating the facts just don’t match. Controversy surrounds the whole situation of the Kennewick man, the remains, the origin, and the possessions is all being fought over. Since this skeleton was found on land that the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. The Committee also believes that the remains are closely related or are one of a Paleo-Indian Tribe. For many archaeologist the find of these remains are huge, mainly because a huge portion of the skeleton was found. This piece could very well tell us the many things we still have to learn about our early ancestors. Native Americans believe that there is a close ancestral relationship between the Kennewick man and a modern tribe. The tribe has been around for many years, but not more that 4500 years ago. The radio carbon dating on the fossil dated back to about 9300 years ago this would throw this theory in the water. T... Free Essays on The First Native Americans Free Essays on The First Native Americans The First Americans Throughout time our ancestors have always been the race that we have descended from. To this day scientists and philosophers still don’t grasp the true revelation, of who owns the past. The controversies of the Kennewick man very well define some of our many questions about the actual origin of the 9300 year old skeleton. The remains are an ongoing battle with the American anthropologists and the NAGPRA. And archeologists may never know the biological evidence of linkage between us and the Kennewick man. The origin of the human remains is still not known to this day, although archeologists believe to be of a Caucasoid descent. Originally the Kennewick man was thought to be a fur –trader or pioneer. Obtained though a CAT scan and was thought to be dated from 9000 to 4500 years ago. The NAGPRA claims that these remains are from a Paleo-Indian tribe and believes that they should preserve and keep the remains. The only problem with this claim is that this tribe is a fairly new tribe and with radiocarbon dating the facts just don’t match. Controversy surrounds the whole situation of the Kennewick man, the remains, the origin, and the possessions is all being fought over. Since this skeleton was found on land that the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. The Committee also believes that the remains are closely related or are one of a Paleo-Indian Tribe. For many archaeologist the find of these remains are huge, mainly because a huge portion of the skeleton was found. This piece could very well tell us the many things we still have to learn about our early ancestors. Native Americans believe that there is a close ancestral relationship between the Kennewick man and a modern tribe. The tribe has been around for many years, but not more that 4500 years ago. The radio carbon dating on the fossil dated back to about 9300 years ago this would throw this theory in the water. T...

Customer Service-Techniques for Building Relationships Coursework

Customer Service-Techniques for Building Relationships - Coursework Example Marketing personnel are equipped to provide business entities with a type of customer support which creates customer relationships. This can be achieved through the use of social media podiums such as Facebook and Twitter. Marketers can also provide information, news, insight, advice, and even technical aid to customers (Peppers & Rogers, 2011). Those actions establish a long lasting customer relationship as it makes customers feel needed and valued by the business. The second technique that can be applied is through communicating effectively and openly. Communication is vital in any business relations. There is a huge range of means to keep in good contact with your customers. They vary from emails to social media, or even phone calls. One should make themselves available to clients so that they can always get back to them for any assistance and also reply politely and promptly to any enquiries. This ensures smooth development of the business and helps sort out any issues as soon as they occur (Burke, 2007). Lastly, a business should listen to its customers. The more the business listens to its customers and demonstrate that it truly values their opinions, the stronger there will be the relationship of the customers and the business. This will ensure that clients support the business and its mission. The business should consistently communicate that it values the customers feedback and appreciates their contribution (Peppers & Rogers, 2011). Because of the severe competition that exist in the markets, firms are constantly searching for new means to differentiate themselves from their competitors. A company’s most valuable asset is the customers, and that is the reason behind maintaining a good long lasting customer relation for the future growth of the

Exxon Mobile's Strategy Analysis Research Paper

Exxon Mobile's Strategy Analysis - Research Paper Example On the other hand, the chemicals segment handles manufacturing and sales of petrochemicals. The success and outstanding performance of Exxon Mobil Corporation emerge from several strategies implemented by its management executives. Just to name a few, the Corporation has a strategic management system that provides an elaborate framework for maintaining high standards and performance. This particular analysis paper looks deep into the strategies that Exxon Mobil implements to support its success. Exxon Mobil Corporation is guided by a corporate strategy that guides operation and enhances efficiency in its system. The organization strategy is reliant on the ability to innovate and develop in the new emerging markets by providing new products that suit the changing consumer needs. Ideally, it concentrates on their strong market positioning strategy to exhaust their market segments and fill the niches that can be identified by their competitors. The success arising out of this strategy is dependent on the broad portfolio. Exxon Mobile Corporation has a stronger business portfolio that emphasizes on the long-term profitability of the organization regardless of the volatile nature of the product prices in the industry. Additionally, the corporation relies on diversity strategy in production and sale of its products. Its global diversity principle act as a foundation for the long-term career oriented model to employment. Ideally, skills and expertise of the employees is quite critical to any organization. Competent employees usually work harder to boost the productivity of the organization. Exxon’s approach to employment is not only a relevant model but also a productive model to the general performance of the organization. The method fulfills the desired dreams of the organization through attracting, developing and retaining premier workforce diversity. It arguably fosters a productive work environment and culture where every

European Car Market Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

European Car Market - Essay Example In the real world, there is no such market as a perfect competition as every firm tries to differentiate its product from others and perfect competition involves perfect homogeneity. Perfect competition occurs where every characteristic of competition is known to the seller and as well as the buyer thus giving all information to the market. Due to the interaction of forces of demand and supply the market price stays for all thus the firms become price-takers and mainly compete on the terms of cost only. This raises the issue of profit maximization and firms in the perfect competition tend to increase their profits by only reducing costs. Further the point that perfect knowledge about the market means that despite of how much a firm produces it will get the same price throughout its production schedule as in a perfect market the average revenue is constant and so is the marginal revenue thus implying that the price elasticity is zero thus a decline or raise in price would bring about no change to the total revenue. In the perfect market, demand tends to stay constant throughout and since the firms are small, increment to the cost will only add up to the loss. The perfect market is more vulnerable to competition as there are many buyers and sellers. So the effect of entry and exit of a single supplier does not play a major role in upsetting the market whereas in the oligopolistic case, the effect of exit of any one firm plays a vital role in changing the entire market structure. Product Homogeneity and competition Product homogeneity is another factor that deters the taxonomy of the car industry as being perfect. In a perfect competition, the products are considered as homogenous thus they share the same attributes as of their rival products. This again reflects the point that this market is more prone to price changes and therefore entry and exit of firms will keep on happening. Consider that if the car market is to be called as perfect market then there would be many firms wanting to join the industry to reap better profits as it is a growing industry and so addition of new firms would keep on expanding the market thus there would be a time when the supply of cars will exceed the desired demand thereby causing a decline in price making many firms lose out. Thus only short term profits could be achieved and further it is possible that the losing firms may not be able to cover up their costs even. The point to be raised is that is there a substitute use of the machinery needed to manufacture cars Probably not as the technology required to build car engines would be in appropriate to be applied to Water-filters or cigarettes. In this case if the demand for cars falls so can the producer make a sudden move and go into the cigarette industry Never, it is difficult to shutdown large plants in a short period of time. Economies of Scale The point from which the economies of scale start is hard to attain at the momentary run. Economies of scale reflects the efficiency of the firm in the long run and in perfect competitio

Hazard And Hazard Management Construction Essay

Hazard And Hazard Management Construction Essay The construction industry is characterized by a relatively high injury and illness rate compared to other industries. In the past two decades more than 26,000 U.S. construction workers have died at work. That equates to approximately five construction worker deaths every working day. Safe practices can help eliminate the hazards present in the construction industry, and reduce the number of on-the-job injuries and deaths. The techniques in the construction industry have been improved due to the rapid development of science and technology. However, the constructional hazards are not decreased as expected. To reduce or prevent occupational hazards in the construction industry, some methods were proposed to provide a prevention and improvement technique against occupational hazards. A method was developed to identify important hazard types and hazard causes. Additionally, especial analyses were performed to assess the risk value of the hazard. 2. Hazard and Hazard Management: Hazards identification is the act of identifying the failure conditions or threats which could lead to undesirable events. It may be outlined as a condition, object, activity or event with the potential of inflicting injuries or sick health to personnel, injury to property, loss of fabric, or reduction of the ability to perform a prescribed operate or combination of those (DOSH, 2006). Paul Everitt and Anthony Price (2004) define hazard as à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¢any source or situation with the potential to cause harm to the safety and health of people or damage the environment or to plant / equipment. Because the existence of a hazard is not always obvious, and increases with human interaction a structured and systematic approach is essential in compiling a comprehensive list of hazards. The hazard management means, the method of implementing counter measures to decrease the chance of hazard. 3. The project features and their relation to the construction hazard To determine that how the project features contribute to construction hazard, it needs to categorize the project to the specific project features and breaking that down into a sequence of stages, and then, identifying all possible loss-of-control incident that may occur during the construction work. 3.1. The project features and the sequence of stages: Foundations: Excavation Pilling Structural activities Concrete Slabs Cast-in-place concrete columns and walls Erecting pre-cast slabs Erecting pre-cast walls Forming walls with stone cladding Finishing activities: Brick masonry Stone cladding Exterior plastering Gypsum boards Floor tiling Roof insulation Roof sealing Glazing Other activities Electrical installation Plumbing HVAC installation 3.2. Some sub-activities of the above stages are: According to the above category there are some sub-activities that would be hazardous in construction sites such as: Activity Sub-activity Hazard Event Foundation Excavation Cave- in Collapse the excavation wall Piling Sequencing of piling work Conflict with other parts of the project construction, creating unsafe working conditions Piles located in positions in restricted working space Personal injury from falling debris, crushing. Unsafe removal of guards or auger cleaners. Risk to third parties Piling near to the top of slopes Slope failure, rig overturning Working in excavations Access ramps and wall props can hold up working space Structural activities Concrete Slabs Slips, trips Fall Cast-in-place concrete walls with stone cladding Pouring concrete using a crane bucket Filling bucket Concrete spatter Exterior working Preparing the wall area Filling holes Dropping an object Casting lightweight concrete for drainage Casting concrete Pouring the concrete Dropping an object Concrete columns and walls Fix steel rebar cage Final ties Collision with steel bars Drywall construction Erecting the framing Attaching studs to exterior masonry or concrete walls Spatter of debris from drilling or nailing Exterior stucco Manually applying an insulating layer Curing and cutting protrusions Struck by a tool Cast-in-place concrete columns and walls Installing forms Cleaning and greasing forms in height Fall from a ladder Concrete columns and walls Casting concrete with a crane Lifting a bucket full of concrete Crane collapse A researcher argued that, according to the fatalities statistic, 40% of that involved incidents related to falls from height. Inadequate, removed, or inappropriate use of fall protection equipment contributed to more than 30% of the falls. As these statistics indicate, safety in construction remains a big problem. As good safety practices and records create a positive, hazard free, and productive work environment, planning for safety at the front-end of a project is not only the first but also a fundamental step for managing safety. There are some hazard identification tools, such as: Text Brainstorming Checklist Structured What-if (SWIFT) 4. Some Common Construction Hazard Issues: 4.1. Construction Hazards: Construction hazards may include falls, extreme heights, falling from rooftops, machinery failure, unguarded machinery, being struck by heavy construction equipment, electrocutions, silica dust, asbestos, lead, welding emissions, accidents, structure collapse, roofing and pavement tar, engine exhaust fumes, and other hazards. Construction sites include residential construction, bridge erection, roadway paving, excavations, demolitions, and big painting jobs. 4.2. Construction Hazard Statistics According to OSHA : Figure 1 shows that falls from elevation generally represent the leading cause of a death due to construction related activity, representing about 33% of all construction fatalities. Getting struck by some object, caught in-between two objects, and electrical shock is also leading factors of construction fatalities. Together, these make up about 90% of all construction fatalities. It is important to note that over the last few years, these numbers have statistically declined or increased in a linear, proportion fashion. The occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Statistics show that about 90% of the fatalities occur from four types of injuries. These injuries may be from falls from height such as scaffolding or ladders, being struck by objects, being caught between objects, and electrocution. There are other common hazards in construction sites that may include power tools and equipment, Heavy machinery, excavations, and confined. 4.3. Is the Engineers and Safety Staff are blame? Failures in hazard identification are often due to the limited expertise or oversight of engineers or safety staff when planning or executing safety practices, or poor training of construction staff. Examples are tasks in design for safety, safety inspection, and monitoring safety. Failure in any of these can result in increased risk of exposing workers to hazards in the construction environment. Safety planning in construction is generally done separately from project execution planning and involves different actors. This separation and the resulting lack of communication create difficulties for safety engineers to analyze what, when, why, and where the hazards located for preventing accidents. 5. Fall Hazards Identification and Preventive Measures: As mentioned above, 40% of involved incidents are related to falls from height, due to that here will focus on Identifying and assessing the hazards and risks as an essential step in safety management. The potential fall hazards regarding to construction features are, holes in slabs, leading or unbounded edges of the floor slab, and openings in walls. According to OSHA a slab hole means a gap or void of 2 in. (5.1 cm) or more in its least dimension. A hole can exist at several heights, for example, on a floor (e.g., concrete slab), a roof (e.g., skylight), or any other walking/working surface. Similar rules exist for openings in walls, for example, unprotected windows. Regardless of the size of the hole or opening, if the location of the object is elevated more than 1.8 m (6 ft), it would be hazardous. The preventive measure for falls include, always using appropriate fall protection, installing and maintaining perimeter protection when working from heights, covering and securing all floor openings, and following safe practices when using ladders and scaffolds. 6. Conclusion: The construction industry has been considered an accident prone industry. Alarming statistics indicate that the construction industry accounts for 55,000 fatal injuries each year. That is because construction sites are often filled with potential hazards that can lead to serious injury or death. Safety planning can be considered in the scheduling stage for early detection, including identification of a hazardous location, and schedule for implementation of protective safety equipment. Construction sites, unlike other production facilities, undergo changes in topography, topology and work conditions throughout the duration of the projects. These features make managing construction site-safety more difficult than managing safety in manufacturing plants. Mostly in construction, a different approach is needed to identify hazards and risks, increase safety and prevent accidents. The employee is responsible for reporting any defects in the workplace or on any of the equipment that is being used. A workplace inspection is a critical part of a comprehensive safety and health program in which the workplace is examined closely on a regular basis for the purpose of: Identifying and recording potential and actual hazards associated with buildings, equipment, environment, and processes. Identifying hazards which require immediate attention. Ensuring that existing hazard controls are functioning and recommending corrective action.

Research objectives Essay

Because of the success of balance scorecard, there are enormous volumes of information on the practice of BSC, but this study will examine the phenomenon of balance scorecard with Saudi Pepsi as the reference agency. The study will review the book (Translating strategy into action) by Kaplan and Norton as well as many relevant literature on the subject. It is the position of this study that BSC is a genuine business elevator, so this project will make the necessary efforts to present authentic evidence in support of that position. research objectives: The objectives of this study are to outline and analyze the fundamental principles of the Balanced Scorecard system. The paper will trace the formulation of the system and review some of the available data on its effectiveness. Also the paper will make an objective judgement on the advantages and disadvantages of its application. Since this is designed to ascertain the adaptability of BSC to Pepsi of Saudi Arabia, the paper will conclude with a critical insight on how Pepsi could benefit from BSC, based largely on data from  the performance review of other corporations that have implemented the BSC management system. QUESTIONS EXPECTED TO BE ADDRESSED BY THIS STUDY: Though questions abound on this study, but this discourse will focus greatly on the matters that address the application, and the structure of Balance Scorecard. The major perspectives as advanced by Kaplan and Norton will be presented and analyzed in depth . It must be emphasized that the system is an objective, responsive system. It could be followed with appropriate data analysis, and adjustments could be made when  desirable. The paper will provide the necessary steps that could be followed in order to attain a desired result. Because this dialogue has taken sides in favor of the BSC, it will clearly present the known benefits of implementing the system. But it must be emphasized that there are some drawbacks in the BSC system. Those drawbacks would equally be outlined. All the important steps in the implementation of the BSC will be discussed, and the different roles that different levels of a corporate entity would need to play will be enumerated as well. All of the team members must not only make a commitment, they must participate in the process. Every department must know its participating role in the implementation of BSC, and this work will detail what those roles ought to be, and how to ensure that they are diligently executed. It should also be recognized that it is not enough to design and construct a BSC, the question is would it be used? No benefits would accrue if the built BSC is not used. Of course the most important question is that of the applicability of the system by Pepsi Saudi, that question  will be adequately addressed in this process. CHAPTER TWO: BOOK AND LITERATURE ANALYSIS. PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT: Before the advent of BSC, a questionnaire by the national association of accountants indicated that about 60% of accountants were â€Å"not satisfied by their performance measurement system†, primarily because of its reliance on purely financial metrics. But since the implementation of BSC that dire view is turning around. (Nevin 2003). Performance measurement technique is used to compile data on many subjects, high  school academicians use performance measurement to keep record of behaviors of students whose behaviors required to improvement. The significant point here is that the actual behavior improvement could be measured empirically, scientifically and with discerning accuracy. So it is not surprising that corporations would also adopt performance management system. Corporations use performance measurement to keep record of its effectiveness, and its efficiency. It is used to tabulate quality and productivity. It is also used to keep records of timeliness and safety. (Nevin, Paul 2003). With an effective performance measurement system, companies can a develop a sustainable structure for its strategic planning, and its goals. It helps companies assemble a clear mission, with appropriate resources, on long term intervals. With it companies can maintain accountability for its performance or lack of performance. By using performance measurement companies are better able to analyze and validate its results. It can also use it to acquire timely feedbacks, which could be used to change the direction of a given project or to move a project forward. So in total, performance measurement could help and organization to make informed decisions, to appraise its performance and to initiate an improvement as needed. (Nevin, Paul 2003). I suppose we can say that performance measurement is a close â€Å"cousin† of BSC. However a performance measurement system could limit its benefits if it loses sight of key performance drivers. And it could be quite expensive to set-up a performance measuring unit, but most companies seem to agree that the cost is worth it at the long run. (Kaplan & Norton 1996).