page_title: Nine men's morris
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Nine men's morris / History
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Bruchstück aus Mykene auf welchem ein Mühle Spiel abgebildet zu sein scheint. English: Clay tile fragment from the archeological museum at Mycenae showing what appears to be a Nine Men's Morris board. Español: Fragmento de azulejo de arcilla el museo arqueológico en Micenas que muestra lo que parece ser un tablero del Juego del Molino. 日本語: ミュケナイの考古学博物館所蔵の陶器片はナイン・メンズ・モリスのゲーム盤に見える. Svenska: Fragment av tegelplatta i Mykenes arkeologiska museum med något som liknar ett kvarnspel.
context_page_description: Nine men's morris is a strategy board game for two players dating at least to the Roman Empire. The game is also known as nine-man morris, mill, mills, the mill game, merels, merrills, merelles, marelles, morelles, and ninepenny marl in English. The game has also been called cowboy checkers and is sometimes printed on the back of checkerboards. Nine men's morris is a solved game, that is, a game whose optimal strategy has been calculated. It has been shown that with perfect play from both players, the game results in a draw. Its name derives from the Latin word merellus, 'gamepiece'.
  Three main alternative variations of the game are three, six, and twelve men's morris.
context_section_description: According to R. C. Bell, the earliest known board for the game includes diagonal lines and was "cut into the roofing slabs of the temple at Kurna in Egypt"; he estimated a date for them of c. 1400 BCE. However, Friedrich Berger wrote that some of the diagrams at Kurna include Coptic crosses, making it "doubtful" that the diagrams date to 1400 BCE. Berger concluded, "certainly they cannot be dated."
  One of the earliest mentions of the game may be in Ovid's Ars Amatoria. In book III (c. 8 CE), after discussing latrones, a popular board game, Ovid wrote:
  There is another game divided into as many parts as there are months in the year. A table has three pieces on either side; the winner must get all the pieces in a straight line. It is a bad thing for a woman not to know how to play, for love often comes into being during play.
  Berger believes the game was "probably well known by the Romans", as there are many boards on Roman buildings, even though dating them is impossible because the buildings "have been easily accessible" since they were built. It is possible that the Romans were introduced to the game via trade routes, but this cannot be proven.
  The game might have been played by the sculptors while they were building the huge temples. Inscriptions are seen in many places, carved on stone. The game peaked in popularity in medieval England. Boards have been found carved into the cloister seats at the English cathedrals at Canterbury, Gloucester, Norwich, Salisbury and Westminster Abbey. These boards used holes, not lines, to represent the nine spaces on the board—hence the name "nine holes"—and forming a diagonal row did not win the game. Another board is carved into the base of a pillar in Chester Cathedral in Chester. Giant outdoor boards were sometimes cut into village greens. In Shakespeare's 17th century work A Midsummer Night's Dream, Titania refers to such a board: "The nine men's morris is filled up with mud".
  Some authors say the game's origin is uncertain. It has been speculated that its name may be related to Morris dances, and hence to Moorish, but according to Daniel King, "the word 'morris' has nothing to do with the old English dance of the same name. It comes from the Latin word merellus, which means a counter or gaming piece." King also notes that the game was popular among Roman soldiers.
  In some European countries, the design of the board was given special significance as a symbol of protection from evil, and "to the ancient Celts, the Morris Square was sacred: at the center lay the holy Mill or Cauldron, a symbol of regeneration; and emanating out from it, the four cardinal directions, the four elements and the four winds."
caption: Clay tile fragment from the archeological museum at Mycenae showing what appears to be a Nine Men's Morris board
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