Today, Nard is the name for the Persian version of backgammon, which has different initial positions and objectives. Murray details many versions of backgammon; modern Nard is noted there as being the same as backgammon and maybe dating back to 300–500 AD in the Babylonian Talmud, although others believe the Talmud references the Greek race game Kubeia. The history of backgammon can be traced back nearly 5,000 years to its origins in Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq). The world's oldest set of dice (made from human bone) were recently discovered in that part of the world. Modern Iraqis continue to enjoy playing the game. The Royal Game of Ur, originating in ancient Mesopotamia before 2600 BC, may also be an ancestor of modern-day table games like backgammon. It used tetrahedral dice. In the modern Middle East, backgammon is a common feature of coffeehouses. Race board games involving dice have a long history in Iraq, including the Royal Game of Ur in Babylon. Today the game is commonly played in Iraq, Lebanon, Egypt, Syria, Jordan, and other Arab countries. In the (modern) Arab Levant and Iraq it is called "tawle", which means table, and it is also called "shesh besh" (shesh means 6 in Hebrew, Aramaic and Phoenician, but derives from Phoenician. However, shesh also means 6 in Persian and 5 is likely to be closely related to "Penj" meaning 5. Shesh Besh is commonly referred to the situation when a player scores a 5 and 6 at the same time on dice). Backgammon or nardi () is very popular among Armenians. The word is derived from Persian word "nard" (). There are two games of nardi commonly played:  Short nardi: Set-up and rules the same as backgammon. Long nardi: A game that starts with all fifteen checkers placed in one line-on 24-point and on 11-point. The two players move their checkers in opposing directions, from the 24-point towards the 1-point, or home board. In long nardi one checker by itself can block a point. There is no hitting in long nardi. The objective of the game is bearing all checkers off the board. There is no doubling cube. "Tάβλη (tavli)" meaning "table" or "board" in Byzantine Greek, is the oldest game with rules known to be nearly identical to backgammon; it is described in an epigram of Byzantine Emperor Zeno (AD 476–491).