Faras Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Box Contents
• Objective
• Setup
• Playing the Game
  • Scorpions
  • Sand
  • Archaeologist Cards
• End of the Game
  • The Dam
  • Ending the Excavations
• Scoring
• Simplified Variant
• Expert Variant
• Archaeologist Card Descriptions
  • Pottery, Paintings, Bones, Symbol Tiles (Miscellaneous)
  • Extra Baskets
  • Medicine
  • Guests
  • Professor
  • Library Research
  • Valuable Find
  • Scientific Dispute
• Background
  • Archaeologists in Faras
  • Paintings
  • Pottery
  • Bones
  • Miscellaneous
  • Professor Kazimierz Michałowski
  • A Day in the Life of the Archaeologists at Faras
  • Time Is Running Out!

Box Contents

• Game board
• 30 archaeologist cards
• 48 find tokens
• 12 symbol tiles (miscellaneous)
• 12 paintings
• 12 bone fragments
• 12 pottery fragments
• 8 scorpions
• 8 sand tokens
• Starting player token
• Dam under construction (in the box)

Objective

Players work with four types of finds: pottery, symbol tiles (miscellaneous), paintings and bones. Each token has a picture on it, but the symbol in its upper right corner shows which type the token belongs to.

Two finds of the same type form a pair. Each player tries to collect as many pairs as possible, as in the well-known game MEMO. However, besides good memory, archaeologists also have cards that can significantly affect the course of the game. Moreover, the players themselves lay out the finds on the board before the round begins! Everything depends on their memory and on their strategy for winning tokens. The player who has the most finds in their collection at the end of the game wins.

Setup

Place the game board on the table with the side showing the silhouettes of the tokens facing up. All tokens are dealt out to the players evenly (when three play, one of them receives one token more).

The player who last touched the ground with their fingers (helping in the garden, sunbathing on the beach, etc.) receives the starting player token.

Starting with the player who has the starting player token, each player in turn places one token on the game board. The tokens must be placed so that the symbol in the upper right corner of each token is visible. When all tokens are on the board, the players have time to memorize the details. Then the players turn the tokens face down, so that the sand on the back is visible.

The starting player token is kept outside the game board.

Shuffle the archaeologist cards and deal three cards to each player. Place the remaining cards in a pile next to the game board. Now you can start the game!

Playing the Game

The starting player chooses one of their archaeologist cards, lays it in front of themselves, and reveals two tokens so that all players can see them. If the tokens turn out to belong to the same type (bones, pottery, paintings or miscellaneous), the player keeps one of the revealed tokens in front of themselves, and the other, closed (face down), is sent to "construction" of the dam in the box. If the player did not reveal a pair, they turn the tokens face down, set aside the archaeologist card they just played to the side, and take a new card from the pile.

Turns then pass to the next player.

Scorpions

If a player reveals a scorpion token, they are out of luck! They must give the scorpion token, together with one of their own tokens, to the construction of the dam. If the player has no tokens, they lose nothing.

Sand

An archaeologist does not always come across valuable and interesting finds. If the token the player has revealed shows sand, the player gets nothing. The sand token remains on the game board.

Archaeologist Cards

Archaeologist cards can change the course of the game and help apply your own tactics by analysing the situation on the board. Keep in mind that the principles of using archaeologist cards always take precedence over the basic rules of the game. A detailed description of the rules for the game with archaeologist cards is given below in these instructions.

After each turn, a player must have 3 archaeologist cards. If the pile of archaeologist cards runs out during the game, shuffle the cards and form a new pile.

End of the Game

The game ends when one of the following situations occurs:

• The dam is built.
• The players have finished the excavations.

The Dam

Construction of the dam is complete when all 18 silhouettes of tokens in the box are covered by tokens. When this happens, the game continues until the end of the round, i.e. until the turn of the player sitting to the right of the starting player. Then scoring begins.

Ending the Excavations

If at the end of a round 8 or fewer tokens remain on the game board, the game ends.

Scoring

Each token a player has acquired during the game is worth one point. The player who has collected the greatest number of tokens wins. If the players have collected the same number of tokens, the result is a draw.

Simplified Variant

The simplified rules remove the construction of the dam. As soon as 8 or fewer tokens remain on the game board, the game ends.

Expert Variant

To make the game more challenging, you can use the other side of the board, which has no markings for the tokens. Each turning over of the tokens slightly changes their location, which makes it harder to memorize their positions.

Archaeologist Card Descriptions

Pottery, Paintings, Bones, Symbol Tiles (Miscellaneous)

When a player reveals two tokens with symbols that match the symbols shown on their active archaeologist card (the one they laid down before the start of the turn), they take both tokens into their collection. If a player reveals two tokens with identical symbols that differ from those shown on the archaeologist card, they keep one and send the other to the construction of the dam.

Extra Baskets

If a player reveals two sand tokens, they may take them into their collection, just like finds. If they reveal two tokens with another symbol, they keep one and send the other to the construction of the dam.

Medicine

In this game nobody is protected from meeting scorpions, so you need to have medicine! If a player reveals a scorpion token, they send it to the dam and do not lose their find. If two scorpions are revealed, the player may take them into their collection, as finds. If a player reveals two finds with other identical symbols, they keep one and send the other to the dam.

Guests

When a player uses this card, they may reveal three tokens, which increases the chances of revealing a pair. If two of the revealed tokens have identical symbols, the player keeps one, sends the second to the dam, and leaves the third on the board. If all three tokens belong to the same type, one token still remains on the board.

Professor

In this case the player reveals two pairs of tokens (two times two tokens), but after revealing each pair performs the actions according to the standard rules.

Library Research

In this case the player does not conduct excavations. They may peek at the images on 4 tokens on the board, but so that the other players cannot see them.

Valuable Find

After revealing a pair of tokens of the same type, the player keeps one of them. Then they ask any other player to help them obtain the second token. Both players try to lift the token from the board using one finger. If this succeeds, the first player receives that token, and the second player receives any token from the dam. If for any reason the players cannot lift the token, they must return it to its place.

Scientific Dispute

The player who uses this card first carries out the usual excavation, and then asks one of the players who has the greatest number of tokens which types of tokens they have (bones, sand, paintings, scorpions, pottery, miscellaneous items). The player who was asked first gives an answer, and then reveals their tokens and checks. If they answered correctly, nothing happens; if they were wrong, they give one token to the player who asked the question. When a player has tokens of all types of symbols, they may answer that they have all types. Such an answer is correct.

Background

Archaeologists in Faras

The year is 1961. Faras is a village on the bank of the Nile, on the edge of the Sudanese desert. Nearby is an artificial mound. On the top of the mound are the ruins of an Arab fortress. Inside, much is unknown. And a sensational discovery! The mission led by Professor Kazimierz Michałowski uncovered the ruins of a cathedral from the 8th to 14th centuries. More than 120 paintings survive on the walls of the buildings. Faras attracts crowds of archaeologists, journalists and tourists who want to see the unique cathedral.

Paintings

The angel was the first. It slowly appeared out of the desert sand with the gentle movements of the archaeologists' brushes. First the hair appeared, then the face, and finally the whole figure, which had been painted on the wall about a thousand years earlier. It soon became clear that there were far more paintings. Images of saints, angels, scenes from the Bible, images of the rulers of Nubia and the bishops of Faras were created between the 8th and 14th centuries.

The tender image of Saint Anne was dubbed by journalists the Mona Lisa of Faras.

Pottery

Large and small, very fragile fragments of pottery are the most numerous finds the archaeologists dig up. The archaeologists carefully collect, wash and describe all the finds. The experienced eye of a researcher can read a great deal from them: what vessel the fragment came from, where and when it was made, and what it was used for. Some of the fragments still preserve inscriptions or drawings depicting, for example, animals. People have always loved beautiful things, just as we do.

Bones

What did they really look like? This is what the archaeologists studying the paintings of bishops were certainly curious about. The answer was revealed by... the bones found in the cathedral tombs, and by the plaques with inscriptions, thanks to which scientists were able to determine who had been buried in the graves. The skeletons belonged to the bishops who had been depicted on the cathedral walls. The results of the bone research showed that most of these people lived to old age, because at that age people often suffer from arthritis. Bishop Petros came from Sudan, from a region located south of Faras; Bishop Mariano was probably of Egyptian origin.

Miscellaneous

The archaeologists found in Faras not only paintings, pottery and bones, but also elements of stone decoration. As a rule, they were placed above the entrances to the rooms of the cathedral, around the doors and windows, like bars. Inside the cathedral about seven kinds of inscriptions were found. Small everyday objects were also found, such as oil lamps and pieces of cloth.

Professor Kazimierz Michałowski

He was the first Polish archaeologist to conduct excavations abroad, in Edfu, Egypt. There the largest well-preserved temple of the pharaohs was found. Later the professor worked on expeditions in Sudan, Syria, Cyprus and Greece. His excavations delighted people with important discoveries. Many people said the professor was simply lucky. However, Kazimierz Michałowski, above all, knew history, art and classical literature perfectly well. And this led to his choice of directions for expeditions being so successful.

A Day in the Life of the Archaeologists at Faras

At sunrise everyone wakes up. You have to be careful, because at night snakes, spiders and scorpions may hide in shoes. Until noon: work and breakfast at the excavation. The workers have uncovered a new room in the cathedral. There are very many baskets of sand. The archaeologists sketch, photograph and describe the results. At noon: the high air temperature is unbearable... The archaeologists return to base, the workers to their homes. In the second half of the day: work at base and dinner. Meeting with the village residents. Around midnight: some sit in the yard, next to a palm tree. The radio is on. With a favourable wind you can catch the waves of Polish radio and learn what is happening in the country.

Time Is Running Out!

The excavations at Faras were a rescue operation. After the construction of the Aswan Dam on the turbulent waters of the Nile was to change part of the river valley into the large artificial Lake Nasser, UNESCO appealed to archaeologists from around the world to study many ancient structures in Egypt and Sudan that were threatened with complete destruction. The Poles chose Faras. They showed that the cathedral had priceless paintings that had to be removed from the walls and preserved. The work was to be grandiose, but time was running out. In 1964 the village residents were evacuated, and the archaeologists were finishing their last investigations. All the finds were divided: one half was sent to Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, the other to the National Museum in Warsaw. You can see the finds in the Faras gallery.