Mheibes () is a traditional

game A game is a structured form of play (activity), play, usually undertaken for enjoyment, entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator s ...

involving two teams. It is mostly played in the Arab Mashriq, and specifically in

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

and it is roughly equivalent to the English game Up Jenkins . The word ''Mheibes'' is a

cognate In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words in different languages that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymology, etymological ancestor in a proto-language, common parent language. Because language c ...

of the word ''Mihbes'' (), which means ring. The game involves two teams, with each team attempting to hide a ring from the other. The game begins with a player going around the team, to give the ring to one person, trying to prevent the other team from knowing which player holds the ring. The other team must then nominate a player, who has only one guess to find out who is holding the ring. The decision is based on studying the facial expressions of each team member. The player can also rule out players if he believes they do not hold the ring. He can rule out as many as he wants. When a player rules out a hand holding the ring, the ring is exposed followed by a shouting of the word ''Bat'' () implying in the iraqi-dialect "to sleep over" or to "stay the night", as the ring is once again hidden.

References

Mheibes – A traditional Iraqi game during Ramadan
- Prashant Rao Traditional games Iraqi culture Articles containing video clips {{game-stub