History of Dominoes
The history of dominoes may have begun with the Egyptians in 1355 B.C., where a domino set was discovered in King Tutankhamun's (King Tut) tomb in the ruins of Thebes. This ancient set is now preserved in King Tut's museum in Cairo, Egypt. The Chinese, however, are credited with this invention, thought to be the forerunner of maj jong, in the history of dominoes. The exact dates of the invention by the Chinese still remain a bit unclear in the history of dominoes. Some accounts present evidence of domino sets in China in the times of Hung Ming in 181 A.D. and again in 1100 A.D., with Keung T‘ai Kung.
In general, there seems to be a large lapse of time in the history of dominoes from the Egyptian era until the discovery of a set of 32 tiles or bones used by the Chinese in the year 1120 A.D. It is believed that these dominoes originated from cubic dice, introduced to the Chinese from India in unknown times. Each domino represented one of the twenty-one possible combinations in throwing two dice. One-half of the tile represents the first throw and the other half the pips from the second throw.
There is an interesting concept in the history of dominoes portrayed in the Chu sz yam, “Investigations on the Traditions of All Things.” The Chu sz yam states that dominoes were in fact the invention of a statesman in 1120 A.D., who then presented these to the Chinese Emperor Hui Tsung. During the reign of his son, Kao Tsung, in 1127 – 1163 A.D., an edict was issued for their circulation abroad. Whether this concept refers to the standardization of dominoes or to their invention, is open to interpretation by historians.
It remains somewhat of a mystery as to what transpired in the history of dominoes between 1120 A.D., and the middle of the 18 th century. Although a single domino, along with other gaming artifacts, was found in the wreck of the Mary Rose, a 16 th century warship of Henry VIII, there is little evidence of them in Western literature, as compared with many other games from the same period in history. The history of dominoes indicates that they were probably first played in the Western world in Italy, Venice or Naples, and from there in France. In addition to the game itself, the French invented domino puzzles, using tiles to complete matching patterns, in the latter part of the 18 th century.
It is suggested in the history of dominoes that the game was brought to England from France by French prisoners of war. Some time later, history does not say when, we know that dominoes arrived in America. The Inuits (Eskimos) play a game that is similar to dominoes, using bones instead of tiles. It is presumed, however, that this is not a unique invention, but rather a replica of the game of dominoes. It could indicate, however, that the game of dominoes migrated to America much earlier than history reveals.
The history of dominoes traces the derivation of the word itself, from the Latin “dominus,” or master of the house to the Scottish and English terminology for schoolmaster. Dominus was later shortened to domino in France and England, where it was first referred to as a type of black and white hood, worn by Christian priests in the winter. Subsequently, a domino represented the half-mask that was worn as a part of a masquerade costume. Eventually, it referred specifically to the 1-1 tile in a domino set.
The standard set of dominoes consists of the original 28 tiles, which includes all possible combinations between 0 and 6. The history of dominoes does not reveal whether the European sets were independently developed by the Western World or simply copied from the original version of the Chinese. The earlier sets of dominoes were black with recessed white dots; however, there are many types of sets today, white and black. The Chinese used tiles made of bone or ivory, hence the name bones for tiles, with pips of ebony. In Europe, the tiles were made by gluing together two pieces of ebony on either side of the tile. This allowed the bone to show through holes in the ebony. The pin in the middle was called the spinner. Although dominoes are no longer made in this fashion, the pin or spinner has been retained in modern sets. In addition, the European domino sets, in contrast to the Chinese sets, do not contain duplicates. There are, however, seven extra tiles, with six tiles, one-half representing the value of one dice throw and the other half blank. Both halves are blank in the seventh tile.
Today, dominoes are played in almost every part of the world, from North and South America to Europe and Asia. They are a popular pastime in villages, pubs, big cities, and small towns.
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