A STONE BLOCK FROM OLD SMYRNA: PENTE GRAMMAI? ABACUS?

The study examines, a stone block of unknown provenance preserved in a warehouse in Old Smyrna. On the flat surface of the stone, there are five parallel lines with round holes at the ends of each line, and a half-arc-shaped line on the top of one of the straight lines. The suggestions that stone blocks with different versions of this pattern, including five, seven, and eleven lines, were used for different purposes are controversial. While such stone blocks have been found in sanctuaries and settlements in the Greek mainland and on the islands, this specific Old Smyrna find provides an important contribution to Anatolian history. First researchers who worked on the subject defined these stones as a board for the Pente Grammai game, one of the lesser-known ancient games; later researchers described stone blocks with letters as abaci. In recent studies, it has been suggested on the basis of archaeological evidence that such stones functioned as a means of teaching mathematics in Greek educational system. The Old Smyrna find with its simple design is interpreted by us to be both a game board (Pente Grammai) and a simple calculating tool (abacus). The closest parallels to the design of the Old Smyrna example can be found at Stagira and at Eretria.