Armenian Backgammon Set Hand Carved - Geghard, Contour Outline

Armenian Backgammon Set Hand Carved - Geghard, Contour Outline, by Hrachya Ohanyan

The monastery of the spear, on a board with a shape of its own. This is the contour outline — sides that curve in and out in scallops, a cusped arch along the top, stepped rims under your hand — and at the heart of the cover, inside a round frame ringed with rope and beads, master Hrachya Ohanyan carved Geghard Monastery in relief: the main church with its conical dome and the gavit before it, the cliff face rising behind, and the paved path leading up to the door, all standing off a finely stippled ground. Around the frame runs a field of fine carved lattice between lobed panels edged in rope and beads, inside a wide carved border, and the whole board is stained a warm honey brown. A handmade Armenian backgammon set hand-carved from a single piece of beech at the full 23.6″ / 60 cm — a church that was cut out of a mountain, cut again into wood.

Undo the cast-bronze clasps and the 23.6″ / 60 cm hand-carved wooden backgammon board opens on a carved wheel ornament in a scrolled ring at the heart of each half, pale points tipped with fleur-de-lys flourishes and an ornate bronze hinge on the centre bar. Thirty-two checkers in light and dark wood, a dice set and the branded carrying case come with it. This is the handmade backgammon board for the family that lights a candle at Geghard every summer, the pilgrim who came home with one photograph, and the friend who once heard singing in the rock chamber and has never quite left.

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: Geghard Monastery carved in relief — domed church, gavit, cliff and paved path on a stippled ground — inside a round rope-and-bead frame; carved lattice field, lobed panels with rope-and-bead edges, wide carved border; wheel ornaments and fleur-de-lys points inside
• Outline: contour — scalloped sides and a cusped top edge, with carved stepped rims
• Hardware: cast-bronze hinges and clasps
• Handmade in Armenia 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

• A church cut from stone, cut in wood: the dome, the gavit, the cliff and the paved path are carved in relief by hand in the Hrachya Ohanyan workshop, on a stippled ground that keeps the shadow — and no two boards come out the same.
• A silhouette of its own: the scalloped sides and cusped top are cut into the wood itself, so closed on a shelf the board reads as a carving before it reads as a game.
• 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 monastery and the stippled ground beneath it, the lattice, the rope and beaded borders, the contour edges and the wheel ornaments inside are all cut into the wood by hand, not printed or pressed. 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.

Geghard, the Monastery of the Spear

Geghard takes its name from the spear that pierced Christ on the cross, which Armenian tradition says the apostle Thaddeus brought to Armenia and which was kept in this monastery for centuries. It began in the fourth century as Ayrivank, the monastery of the cave, founded by Gregory the Illuminator at a spring inside the rock; the main church was built in 1215, and in the decades after, the princes of the Prosh family had whole chapels hollowed out of the mountain — rooms where the walls, the columns and the dome are all one piece of living stone, and where a single voice fills the space like a choir. It stands at the head of the Azat gorge, a few kilometres above Garni, and has been on the UNESCO list since 2000. Master Ohanyan carves the church and its paved approach in beech and gives the board a contour of its own. On a nardi board it is the place Armenians go to when they want to feel the country under their feet, closed, on a shelf.

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 a christening, a wedding blessed at Geghard, a pilgrimage remembered or the friend who has stood in the rock chamber while somebody sang, a hand-carved Armenian backgammon set with the monastery on the lid is the backgammon gift set that brings the mountain church into the house. We send it at Christmas, on 21 September and to Armenians far from home. It gets opened, played and passed on.