These are the rules reconstructed by Irving Finkel of the British Museum from a cuneiform tablet written in 177 BCE.
- Each player has seven pieces and a fourteen-square route: four squares in your own row, eight along the shared middle row, then two back in your own row, then off the board through your gate.
- Roll four tetrahedral dice and count the painted tips. Move one piece exactly that many squares. A piece enters through your gate, so a 1 places it on your first square.
- You can't land on your own piece. Landing on an opponent in the middle row sends it back to start.
- Landing on a rose gives you another roll. The central rose is a sanctuary: a piece there can't be captured.
- Bearing a piece off needs the exact count. The first player to bring all seven home wins.
Odds of each roll with four tetrahedral dice: