|
Senet is a board game from ancient Egypt.
The Royal Tomb of Merknera contains the earliest indication of ancient Egyptian Senet.
hjyBold textthis title include Go and Oware. It is impossible to prove which game is the oldest.) However, the oldest remnants we have of any ancient board game are those of Senet. Therefore, Senet is the oldest board game whose ancient existence may be proven.
The oldest known representation of Senet is in a painting from the tomb of Merknera (3300-2700 BC). (See external link below.)
Another painting of this ancient game is from the Third Dynasty tomb of Hesy (c. 2686-2613 BC). It is depicted in a painting in the tomb of Rashepes (c. 2500 BC).
By the time of the New Kingdom in Egypt (1567-1085 BC), it had become a kind of talisman for the journey of the dead. Because of the element of luck in the game and the Egyptian belief in determinism, it was believed that a successful player was under the protection of the major gods of the national pantheon : Re, Thoth, and sometimes Osiris. Consequently, Senet boards were often placed in the grave alongside other useful objects for the dangerous journey through the underworld, and the game is referenced in Chapter XVII of the Book of the Dead.
The game was also adopted in the Levant and as far as Cyprus and Crete but with apparently less religious significance.
External link
You can also learn how to build the game Senet.
| 
