Summary This re-evaluation of existing data on board games from the Near Eastern Bronze Age demonstrates their function as social lubricants in cross-cultural interaction. Board games are situated theoretically as liminoid practices, which lie outside the bounds of normative social behaviour and allow for interaction across social boundaries. Utilizing double-sided game boards, with an indigenous game on one side and a newly introduced game on the other, the games of senet, mehen and twenty squares provide evidence for social interactions. Cypriots had adopted Egyptian mehen and senet by the third millennium BC, and indigenized the games. This lies in contrast to the game of twenty squares, which had a particular role among elites in the Late Bronze Age interaction sphere. This anthropological discussion of evidence relating to gaming seeks to inspire further research on the role of board games in society.

中文翻译：

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促进互动：作为古代近东社会润滑剂的棋盘游戏

总结对近东青铜时代的棋盘游戏现有数据进行的重新评估表明，它们在跨文化互动中起着社会润滑剂的作用。棋盘游戏在理论上是作为类动物实践而存在的，它超出了规范的社会行为的范围，并允许跨越社会边界进行交互。使用双面游戏板，一方面是本地游戏，另一方面是新近推出的游戏，senet，mehen和20个方格的游戏为社交互动提供了证据。塞人在公元前三千年前就采用了埃及的mehen和senet，并使奥运会成为本地化。这与二十个正方形的游戏形成对比，后者在青铜时代晚期的互动领域中对精英阶层具有特殊作用。