“Turkish women playing mancala”
Plate from the Recueil de cent estampes représentant différentes nations du Levant based on Jean-Baptiste Van Mour (1671-1737). 1714, Ill. 53. Reproduction
Bibliothèque de Genève, BGE Cya 2077
©Photo Bibliothèque de Genève
Today we have forgotten the success in the Netherlands and Germany of the game of mancala – to use its common name in the Near East. In cafes as in a few princely courts, it was a short-lived fad which left little material evidence behind it. On the other hand, travel accounts and representations of life in the Ottoman Empire bear witness to the European fascination for this complex game, which it was not rare to see women indulge in.
D. Buyssens
