The most interesting museum artefacts. Part 3. Chess pieces

We continue to acquaint you with the interesting artifacts of our museum.

The Navahradcy, the inhabitants of the chronicle Navahradak, knew how to play chess. Among twenty East Slavic cities of time of the Polotsk and Turau principalities, in which at least one chess piece was found, fifteen are located within modern Belarus. And among these 15 cities, Navahradak stands out.

Chess pieces from Navahradak belong to the category of abstract chess pieces made on the Arabian model. These chess pieces date back to the 12th - 14th centuries.

Approximately in the XI-XII centuries, we can see a transfer from the eastern canon - abstract forms. The figure is placed on a turned, almost like in modern chess, round base with a short neck divided by a circular side into two tiers. As you can see, the chess pieces presented in the exhibition just have such a round base.

To find out why things from Arab countries and other places were found in Navahradak, we invite everyone to visit our museum!

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