Doctor Curmudgeon® A Big Prize May Await You!

By Diane Batshaw Eisman, M.D. FAAP Doctor Eisman, is in Family Practice in Aventura, Florida with her partner, Dr. Eugene Eisman, an internist/cardiologist

Indeed! A big prize to someone who can guess my very favorite board game.

I know that all those who read my column are very excited about this contest: the first ever by Doctor Curmudgeon! Wow! Huzzah! Yippee!

That thunderous noise emanating throughout the planet is the joyful jumping up and down of those who are elated to find their email alerting them to another thing that can eat up spare time.

This past year has seen a resurgence of bored (Note: this is not a spelling error) games.

So, how did this pastime begin?

Well, I now know that this diversion began before the age of television and even radio.

The first appearance of board games appears to have begun before writing was invented.

Picture this: You are living about 7000 years ago in South East Turkey. You’re tired of tending the fire, hunting for food and grunting at you friends, family and significant others.

In those pre-historic days, you really needed something to help you relax while someone else is giving you a break and guarding the family cave against invaders and probably keeping the fire lit.

Thanks to a group of tireless Turkish archeologists, working away in the hot sun, wiping sweat from their brows…a eureka dig occurred!

49 little stones!

It is firmly believed that this was the first finding of dice!

The stones were painted many colors and were sculpted into different configurations, such as dogs, sphere and pyramids.

Thanks to Haluk Saglamtimur and his archeology team from Ege University in Izmur, Turkey, we have some confirmation that board games were played with these dice. His team believes that board games were popular along Egypt and the Fertile Crescent (From Wikipedia:
“The Fertile Crescent is a crescent-shaped region in the Middle East, spanning modern-day Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Israel, Jordan, and Egypt, together with the southeastern region of Turkey and the western fringes of Iran”)

For those who have guessed my favorite board game: here is your breathlessly awaited prize! As you hold dice in your hand, you can now impress all around you with your knowledge of the origin of dice and the archeologist who first made the discovery…if you can pronounce his name!

And my favorite board game is actually a crossword puzzle!

Dr. Curmudgeon suggests “Bitter Medicine”, Dr. Eugene Eisman’s story of his experiences–from the humorous to the intense—as a young army doctor serving in the Vietnam War.

Bitter Medicine by Eugene H. Eisman, M.D. –on Amazon

Doctor Curmudgeon® is Diane Batshaw Eisman, M.D., a physician-satirist. This column originally appeared on SERMO, the leading global social network for doctors.

SERMO www.sermo.com “talk real world medicine”

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