Luxury Assyrian Backgammon Set Hand Carved - Hero with Lion and Winged Goddess

Luxury Assyrian Backgammon Set Hand Carved - Hero with Lion and Winged Goddess, by Hrachya Ohanyan

Two faces of Assyria, one board. On the front cover, in a round frame on a stippled ground, master Hrachya Ohanyan carved the bearded hero of the Khorsabad palace in deep relief — the long curled beard, the fringed robe, the lion cub held against his chest — with the word ATOORI, Assyrian, standing in raised letters beside him. Turn the board over and the back cover carries the winged goddess of the old Babylonian relief: crowned, standing on two lions, an owl at either side, the rod and ring in each hand, with letters in Assyrian script carved beside her. Around both frames runs a field of fine carved lattice between lobed panels inside a beaded border, and the whole board is cut in a contour outline: scalloped sides, a cusped top edge, stepped rims under your hand. A luxury Assyrian backgammon set hand-carved from a single piece of beech at the full 23.6″ / 60 cm, stained a deep honey brown.

Undo the cast-bronze clasps and the 23.6″ / 60 cm hand-carved wooden backgammon board opens on an Assyrian tree of life worked into the heart of each half, pale points tipped with fleur-de-lys flourishes, cuneiform signs running along the top and bottom rails and Assyrian script down one side. Thirty-two checkers in light and dark wood, a dice set and the branded carrying case come with it. The board photographed was carved with a family name along the other rail — yours can carry your own name, or none. This is the handmade backgammon board for the Assyrian household in Chicago, Sydney or Södertälje, and for the friend who can read the cuneiform.

Specifications

• Size open: 60 × 60 cm / 23.6″ × 23.6″
• Size folded: 60 × 30 cm / 23.6″ × 11.8″
• Material: beech wood, carved from one piece, stained honey brown and varnished
• Motif: front cover — the Assyrian hero holding a lion cub, with the word ATOORI, carved in deep relief in a round frame on a stippled ground; back cover — the winged goddess on two lions with owls, rod and ring, and Assyrian script; carved lattice field, lobed panels, beaded border; inside — tree of life at the heart of each half, cuneiform along the rails, fleur-de-lys points
• Outline: contour — scalloped sides and a cusped top edge, with carved stepped rims
• Hardware: cast-bronze hinges and clasps
• Entirely handmade by Hrachya Ohanyan

What's Included

• Backgammon board with bronze hinges and clasps
• 32 checkers made from beech and walnut wood, with velvet bases
• Dice set
• Branded carrying case

Why You'll Love It

• Carved on both covers: the hero on the front and the goddess on the back are both cut by hand in deep relief in the Hrachya Ohanyan workshop — whichever way it lies on the shelf, it shows Assyria, and no two boards come out the same.
• Assyrian inside and out: tree of life, cuneiform, Assyrian script and the word Atoori — the detail carries on where other boards stop.
• Ready for the table: full-size 23.6″ / 60 cm board, checkers in light and dark wood, dice and a carrying case — open it and play.

Good to Know Before You Buy

How big is it? Open, the board is 23.6″ / 60 cm square — the standard full size for a living-room table. Closed, it is 23.6″ × 11.8″ / 60 × 30 cm and stands on its own edge.

Is the carving real? Yes. The hero and the goddess, the lettering, the lattice, the rope and beaded borders and the contour edges are all cut into the wood by hand, not printed or pressed. Inside, the tree of life and the cuneiform are worked into the wood. The honey colour is a stain in the wood under the varnish.

What about shipping and returns? Shipping is free to the US, Canada and Europe, always tracked; other countries pay a flat $100 (Brazil, Chile and New Zealand $200). Every set is covered by our 30-day returns.

Can I add a name or a date? Yes — choose the engraving option on this page and tell us the text. A name or a date turns it into a personalized backgammon set, and it is the detail people remember years later.

How do I look after it? Keep it out of direct sun and away from radiators, wipe with a dry soft cloth, and store it closed in the case.

Atoori

Atoori means Assyrian, and the two figures on this board are the two most famous images the Assyrians' ancestors left behind. The bearded hero holding a lion cub stood at the gate of Sargon II's palace at Khorsabad in the eighth century BC; he is usually called Gilgamesh, though the palace never said so. The winged goddess with her owls and lions is the Queen of the Night, a clay relief from Babylon nearly four thousand years old, read by scholars as Ishtar or her sister Ereshkigal. Between them, inside, grows the Assyrian tree of life — the palm-and-lotus tree that the winged genies tend on every wall of Nimrud. Master Ohanyan carves all three into one nardi board for a people who kept their name through everything.

About the Artist - Hrachya Ohanyan

In 1985, National Master Hrachya Ohanyan began his fine wood craft, introducing a new approach to the age-old traditions of woodworking. After many years of dedication, the Hrachya Ohanyan workshop was established in 2010. Every board passes through 14 stages of production, with 14 separate craftsmen leaving their mark before it reaches its finished form — a piece of wood artistry admired both in Armenia and around the world. Read the story of master Hrachya Ohanyan or explore the full Hrachya Ohanyan backgammon collection.

A Gift That Lasts Generations

For an Assyrian wedding, a christening, a jubilee, the parish raffle or the friend who says Shlama before every game, a hand-carved luxury Assyrian backgammon set with the hero and the goddess on its two covers is the backgammon gift set that needs no card. We send it for Kha b-Nisan, the Assyrian New Year on 1 April, and at Christmas. It gets opened, played and passed on.