Archaeologist discovered curious stone in Jordan, possibly oldest chess piece

An archaeologist has found a very curious rock in Jordan that he claims could be the worlds oldest chess piece to date. The archaeologist has dated the 'chess piece' at around 1,300 years old. The sandstone object has a bearing resemblance to a rook and was excavated in 1991 at Humayma in southern Jordan. The area is believed to be an important trading post.

Possibly the worlds oldest chess piece

According to John Oleson from the University of Victoria in Canada, this new piece could pre-date existing finds by 100 years. He believes the object to be a closer match to an ancient chess piece than a religious artefact of the time. Oleson has further explained that the piece has horn-like projections at the top of the object and it resembles a Nabataean altar, parallels of the appearance of the object can be found with early Islamic Chess pieces. 
According to Oleson, the shape of the rock matches up with the pieces dated to later in time which were carved out of stone, wood or ivory and discovered in the same region. The location of the find in Jordan makes sense as well because the game of chess is believed to have been brought westward from India by travelling merchants and diplomats and Humayma in Jordan is believed to be a famous trade route of the time that lies on the Via Nova Traiana.

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References to the game of chess can be found in Islamic Texts as far back as the 7th Century. While the curious stone does not look exactly like the rooks or modern-day castles, the game and the pieces have changed substantially over time. It is believed that in early chess sets, rooks were designed to look like dual-house chariots.
Things are not certain yet, a more detailed assessment and analysis are required to establish that the unassuming block of sandstone can really be the world's oldest chess piece out of all of those found. While the basics of the game of chess have remained the same for centuries, the game has seen a lot of change too. The findings have been presented at the 2019 annual meeting of the American Schools of Oriental Research.

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