History thumb|right|Clay tile fragment from the archeological museum at Mycenae showing what appears to be a Nine Men's Morris board According to R. C. Bell, the earliest known board for the game includes diagonal lines and was "cut into the roofing slabs of the temple at Kurna in Egypt"; he estimated a date for them of BCE. Friedrich Berger wrote that some of the diagrams at Kurna include Coptic crosses, however, making it "doubtful" that the diagrams date to 1400 BCE. Berger concluded: "Certainly they cannot be dated." However, these Coptic crosses themselves certainly are dated no earlier than 42CE according to Coptic Orthodox tradition, very near the end of the known architectural development of the temple. On the other hand, the earliest known board for the game certainly can be dated before the Common Era,but R. C. Bell certainly could not have estimated the date so confidently unless he knew which "roofing slabs of the temple at Kurna in Egypt" the earliest known board for the game was cut into and the game already existed at the time that part of the temple was being built or that an earlier part of the temple had been defaced with the game board in that year as this article shall explain subsequently.
History thumb|right|Clay tile fragment from the archeological museum at Mycenae showing what appears to be a Nine Men's Morris board According to R C Bell the earliest known board for the game includes diagonal lines and was "cut into the roofing slabs of the temple at Kurna in Egypt"; he estimated a date for them of BCE Friedrich Berger wrote that some of the diagrams at Kurna include Coptic crosses however making it "doubtful" that the diagrams date to 1400 BCE Berger concluded "Certainly they cannot be dated" However these Coptic crosses themselves certainly are dated no earlier than 42CE according to Coptic Orthodox tradition very near the end of the known architectural development of the temple On the other hand the earliest known board for the game certainly can be dated before the Common Erabut R C Bell certainly could not have estimated the date so confidently unless he knew which "roofing slabs of the temple at Kurna in Egypt" the earliest known board for the game was cut into and the game already existed at the time that part of the temple was being built or that an earlier part of the temple had been defaced with the game board in that year as this article shall explain subsequently