Hounds and Jackals is an ancient Egyptian game, though similar ones have been found elsewhere. The rules have been lost to time, but it is believed to be a sort of a race game. The start is the center at top, with the pieces moving down the outside of the board, and then back up the inside, along the trunk of the tree.

Each player was given five pieces (one player with hounds, one with jackals), and the sticks act as dice. The sticks are "rolled" similar to dice, and the combination of dark and/or light sides showing determined the number. One set of rules I found said that the older player is the one who gets to roll first! The sticks in the picture show a one. Rules vary, but some say a one is required to put a piece on the board, while others say a five (all dark sides showing) is needed.

Players then continue to roll, moving their pieces down their own side of the board with the numbers indicated on the dice. A piece that lands on one of the spaces with a line connecting another must be moved between those two spaces, both forwards and backwards. The dark spot without a line is probably one of those, "you cannot move until you roll a 5" type spots. All spaces moved must be exact, so if you are only two spaces until the end, you cannot move that piece until you roll a two. The first player to get all five pieces to the end wins!

This was given to me by my best friend as a late Christmas/birthday gift. Thank you raijenmule! Another Egyptian game, senet, is available also, that I very much want to get. I'll post pictures (and rules) of that, too, when I get it. :3

~ harui