| Kwahilka Aitidikus |
| Other Names: Shèdan |
| First Description: Harold Courlander, 1943 |
| Cycles: One |
| Ranks: Three |
| Sowing: Multiple laps |
| Region: Eritrea, Ethiopia |
Kwahilka Aitidikus, also called Shèdan, is an exercise for Eritrean and Ethiopian children of three or four who learn their first steps in playing mancala games.
Rules
Kwahilka Aitidikus can be played on one half of the Selus board or in holes dug in the ground. Thus the board has three rows each with three holes. Each hole contains one seed except the first one , which has two.
The game is played by just one player.
Initial Position
The player starts with the first hole and sows them counterclockwise around the center hole, which is never used in the game although it contains a seed.
If the last seed is dropped into an occupied hole, its contents are distributed in another lap.
If the last seed fell into an empty hole, the contents of the next occupied hole are picked up and distributed.
Nothing is ever captured and the game continues as long as the player wishes since the game has no objective.
References
- Courlander, H.
- The Ethiopian Game of Gobeta. In: The Negro History Bulletin 1943; 7 (10): 23.
Copyright
© Ralf Gering
Under the CC by-sa 2.5 license.