Chess, one of 100 objects, Northern Sea Trading Routes, India and Persia ...

Checkmate – that finality in a game of chess .. the call of the young child .. ‘I beat you’ ‘checkmate’! I could never master chess properly – sufficiently to play – but almost always to be beaten quite easily – how about you?

The British Museum, that bastion of a house of treasure, holds in its collections seven million objects from around the world, originating from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human history and culture from its beginning to the present.

It was established in 1753, largely based on the collections of the physician and scientist Sir Hans Sloane as a “universal museum”; Sir Hans had, over the course of his lifetime, amassed an enviable “collection of curiosities”, and not wishing to see his collection broken up after his death he bequeathed it to King George II, for the nation, for the princely sum of £20,000.

Above: The Lewis Chessmen in the British Museum from the 12th century most of which are carved in walrus ivory

Guests from Overseas, 1901 (Varangians in Russia) Nicholas Roerich [Varangians: northern peoples travelling east; more likely to be known as Vikings with their seafaring ventures westwards]

I just love way the history of the Museum has been described: The Foundation – logical, I agree, with Sloane’s 71,000 objects, to which the King added two libraries .. the Cottonian Library dating back to Elizabethan times; the collection of the Earls of Oxford and finally by the Royal Library: these four “foundation collections” included many of the most treasured books now in the British Library, including the Lindisfarne Gospels and the sole surviving copy of Beowulf.

What an amazing start to what is an incredible institution today .. The "Cabinet of Curiosities" was the next part in its development (1753 – 1778), whereby the Trustees decided it needed a permanent home: the book collection continued, but now the first antiquities of note were being gifted to this "Cabinet of Curiosities". The next part is known as “Indolence and Energy” (1778 – 1800) , when exploration was really happening,with the round the world voyages of Captain James Cook, amongst others. Despite the "Indolence", the collection “grew like Topsy” with the "Energies" of those intrepid 18th and 19th century explorers.

I digress though! Back to today and the BBC and the British Museum’s collaboration and decision to select 100 objects from this huge collection. They have been selected to cover the broadest possible chronological and geographical period, and tell a history of the world from two million years ago to the present day. The 100 programmes being broadcast by the BBC throughout the year: bbc.co.uk/ahistoryof theworld/ (It opens with flash - hence no link)

Ivory label depicting Den smiting an enemy; British Museum – King Den 4th Egyptian King of the First Dynasty (period 3050 - 2890BC)

I heard a BBC history podcast by the Curator of the Museum explaining this venture where one of the objects selected to be explained was the first recorded Christian chess set piece of a Bishop, discovered in 1831 on the Isle of Lewis, in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland. Other items, not discussed, but which are included in this exhibition are a Chinese Jade Axe, a Neolithic Food Vessel, the Rhind Mathematical Papyrus, dated to around 1650 BC, King Den’s Ivory Sandal Label, all of which can be viewed on the BBC’s 'A History of the World' site.

This Bishop chess piece was made in the 12th century out of walrus ivory, which then begged the question why was it made of walrus and not of elephant ivory; this has not been answered .. and the question remains – why did the elephant ivory trade stop, apparently suddenly?

The Bishop is included because it confirms various things relative to the object itself, as well as to explanations about the world at that time. Chess, “The game of Kings”, is thought to have originated in North-West India in the early 300 – 550 AD period; at that stage it was known for the four divisions of the military – infantry (pawns), cavalry (knights), elephants (bishops) and chariotry (rooks or castles). The Muslim world took the game up after the Islamic conquest of Persia (633 – 644 AD).

ros marus piscis (sea horse) in Carta Marina (Walrus)

The game then quickly spread along the Mediterranean trading routes, reaching Spain and Portugal, with various language name changes along the way – Persian, Greek, Spanish and Portuguese: the Persian shah (“king”), which was familiar as an exclamation, subsequently became the English word “check”, and ultimately “chess”.

The game reached Western Europe and Russia by at least three routes, the earliest being in the 9th century and by the year 1,000 the game had spread throughout Europe, and was actually described in a 13th century manuscript, The Libro de los Juegos, (“Book of Games”) [chess, dice and tables] in old Spanish completed in Alfonso X’s scriptorium in Toledo in 1283.

Knights Templar playing chess, Libro de los juegos, 1283

Walruses are only found in the Arctic circumpolar area, and have played a prominent role in the many indigenous Arctic peoples, who have hunted them for their meat, fat, skin, tusks and bone for many thousands of years. The name ‘walrus’ may have come from the Dutch words ‘walvis’ (whale) and ‘ros’ (horse); while the archaic English word for walrus – morse – is widely supposed to have come from the Slavic, and from this similar words in Russian, Polish, Finnish, French, Spanish, Romanian etc! So the walrus too has international connections.

People have been living in the Trondheim region for millennia, while in more recent times – a thousand years ago! – the Viking kings used the port of Trondheim as a northern seafaring military base and as the capital of Norway. Trondheim is not marked here but is to be found just above the left (west) of the name ‘Norway’ as shown on the map .. in the orange knitting bouncing down the coast! I’m not sure what the Vikings would have thought of their trading route being described this way?!

Map showing the major Varangian trade routes: the Volga trade route (in red) and the Trade Route from the Varangians to the Greeks (in purple). Other trade routes of the eighth–eleventh centuries shown in orange.

We can see from this map the various trading routes in early days when river and sea routes were component parts of moving goods around. Also depicted are the main connection links – across to China, to India, into the Byzantine Empire (including Persia) and west along the Mediterranean countries and coasts, even crossing to Africa, where there was a major trade route across the Sahara Desert.

So to find carved walrus ivory chess pieces on the islands of Scotland would not have been too unusual, considering the Viking trading routes from Trondheim to Scotland and on to Dublin, but it is the Bishop’s connection confirming the power and spread of Christianity since its early foray into Britain in the 4th century and the fact that that the Islamic game of chess had spread across the known world confirming and highlighting these different trading routes. Probably the actual game of chess came after the spread of carvings became popular as trading items or religious keepsakes.

It was interesting to hear the curator’s introduction to this BBC series and then to piece the idea together regarding the Christian Bishop chess piece and the reasons why it was selected as one of the hundred objects. Our ancients’ world is fascinating to cobble together, so we can get to grip with some of its knitting!

Dear Mr Postman – it does make a difference being a little warmer, though Spring is taking its time – they do say we should have a brilliantly coloured, rich and full burst of nature to announce its actual arrival – which will be glorious to look at. We’re still settling in .. but my mother is fine, weaker inevitably .. she’s just very grateful for company, holding hands and being peaceful.

Hilary Melton-Butcher
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