Nefertari playing Senet. Painting in tomb of Egyptian Queen Nefertari (1295–1255 BC)

A Senet game from the tomb of Amenhotep III — the Brooklyn Museum, New York City

Senet (or senat^[1]), a board game from predynastic and ancient Egypt, is the oldest board game whose ancient existence has been confirmed, dating to circa 3500 BC.^[2] The full name of the game in Egyptian was sn.t n.t H'b meaning the "passing game." Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2024x1829, 355 KB) Description: Title: de: Grabkammer der Nefertari, Gattin des Ramses II.,Szene: Die Königin Nefertari beim Schachspiel Technique: de: Wandbild Dimensions: de: 61 × 70 cm Country of origin: de: Ägypten Current location (city): de: Theben Current location (gallery... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2024x1829, 355 KB) Description: Title: de: Grabkammer der Nefertari, Gattin des Ramses II.,Szene: Die Königin Nefertari beim Schachspiel Technique: de: Wandbild Dimensions: de: 61 × 70 cm Country of origin: de: Ägypten Current location (city): de: Theben Current location (gallery... A picture of Nefertari taken in her Abu Simbel temple. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 448 × 599 pixel Image in higher resolution (1712 × 2288 pixel, file size: 827 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) A Senet game from the tomb of Amenhotep III - the Brooklyn Museum - Picture taken by deror avi on 22nd September 2006. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 448 × 599 pixel Image in higher resolution (1712 × 2288 pixel, file size: 827 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) A Senet game from the tomb of Amenhotep III - the Brooklyn Museum - Picture taken by deror avi on 22nd September 2006. ... Nebmaatre The Lord of Truth is Re[2] Nomen Amenhotep Hekawaset Amun is Satisfied, Ruler of Thebes[1] Horus name Kanakht Emkhaimaat The strong bull, appearing in truth Nebty name Semenhepusegerehtawy One establishing laws, pacifying the two lands Golden Horus Aakhepesh-husetiu Great of valour, smiting the Asiatics Consort(s... The Brooklyn Museum, located at 200 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, New York, is the second largest art museum in New York City, and one of the largest in the United States. ... New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ... A board game is a game played with counters or pieces that are placed on, removed from, or moved across a board (a premarked surface, usually specific to that game). ... The Predynastic Period of Egypt (prior to 3100 BC) is traditionally the period between the Early Neolithic and the beginning of the Pharaonic monarchy beginning with King Narmer. ... Khafres Pyramid and the Great Sphinx of Giza, built about 2550 BC during the Fourth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom,[1] are enduring symbols of the civilization of ancient Egypt Ancient Egypt was a civilization in Northeastern Africa concentrated along the middle to lower reaches of the Nile River... (36th century BC - 35th century BC - 34th century BC - other centuries) (5th millennium BC - 4th millennium BC - 3rd millennium BC) Events ? - Formation of the Sahara Desert 3450 (?) - Stage IId of the Naqada culture in Egypt Significant persons Inventions, discoveries, introductions ? _ Irrigation in Egypt ? - First use of Cuneiform (script) Categories...

History

Senet may be the oldest board game in the world, although it is impossible to prove which game is the oldest. The oldest remnants of any ancient board game ever unearthed however are those of Senet, found in Predynastic and First Dynasty burials of Egypt^[2], circa 3500 BC and 3100 BC respectively. Senet is also featured in a painting from the tomb of Merknera (3300–2700 BC) (see external links below). Another painting of this ancient game is from the Third Dynasty tomb of Hesy (c. 2686–2613 BC). It is also depicted in a painting in the tomb of Rashepes (c. 2500 BC). The Predynastic Period of Egypt (prior to 3100 BC) is traditionally the period between the Early Neolithic and the beginning of the Pharaonic monarchy beginning with King Narmer. ... Known rulers, in the History of Egypt, for the First Dynasty. ... (36th century BC - 35th century BC - 34th century BC - other centuries) (5th millennium BC - 4th millennium BC - 3rd millennium BC) Events ? - Formation of the Sahara Desert 3450 (?) - Stage IId of the Naqada culture in Egypt Significant persons Inventions, discoveries, introductions ? _ Irrigation in Egypt ? - First use of Cuneiform (script) Categories... (32nd century BC – 31st century BC – 30th century BC – other centuries) (5th millennium BC – 4th millennium BC – 3rd millennium BC) Events 3000 BC – Menes unifies Upper and Lower Egypt, and a new capital is erected at Memphis. ... (34th century BC - 33rd century BC - 32nd century BC - other centuries) (5th millennium BC - 4th millennium BC - 3rd millennium BC) Events Unification of the first Ancient Egyptian state, marking the beginning of the Ancient Egyptian civilization. ... (28th century BC - 27th century BC - 26th century BC - other centuries) (4th millennium BC - 3rd millennium BC - 2nd millennium BC) Events 2900 - 2334 BC -- Mesopotamian wars of the Early Dynastic period 2775 - 2650 BC -- Second Dynasty wars in Egypt Germination of the Bristlecone pine tree Methuselah about 2700 BC, the... History of Egypt Third Dynasty While Manetho names one Necherophes, and the Turin King List names Nebka, as the first pharaoh of the Third dynasty of Egypt, some contemporary Egyptologists believe Djoser was the first king of this dynasty, pointing out that the order in which some predecessors of Khufu... Hesy-Ra was an official physician and scribe who lived during the Third dynasty of Egypt, served under the pharaoh Djoser, and was laid in an elaborate tomb at Saqqara. ... (28th century BC - 27th century BC - 26th century BC - other centuries) (4th millennium BC - 3rd millennium BC - 2nd millennium BC) Events 2900 - 2334 BC -- Mesopotamian wars of the Early Dynastic period 2775 - 2650 BC -- Second Dynasty wars in Egypt Germination of the Bristlecone pine tree Methuselah about 2700 BC, the... (28th century BC - 27th century BC - 26th century BC - other centuries) (4th millennium BC - 3rd millennium BC - 2nd millennium BC) Events 2900 - 2334 BC -- Mesopotamian wars of the Early Dynastic period 2775 - 2650 BC -- Second Dynasty wars in Egypt Germination of the Bristlecone pine tree Methuselah about 2700 BC, the... (Redirected from 2500 BC) (26th century BC - 25th century BC - 24th century BC - other centuries) (4th millennium BC - 3rd millennium BC - 2nd millennium BC) Events 2900 - 2334 BC -- Mesopotamian wars of the Early Dynastic period 2494 BC -- End of Fourth Dynasty, start of Fifth Dynasty in Egypt. ...

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: Ra, Thoth, and sometimes Osiris. Consequently, Senet boards were often placed in the grave alongside other useful objects for the dangerous journey through the afterlife and the game is referred to 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. The New Kingdom is the period in ancient Egyptian history between the 16th century BCE and the 11th century BC, covering the Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and Twentieth Dynasties of Egypt. ... (Redirected from 1567 BC) Centuries: 17th century BC - 16th century BC - 15th century BC Decades: 1610s BC 1600s BC 1590s BC 1580s BC 1570s BC - 1560s BC - 1550s BC 1540s BC 1530s BC 1520s BC 1510s BC Events and Trends 1567 - Egypt: End of Fifteenth Dynasty, end of Sixteenth Dynasty... Centuries: 12th century BC - 11th century BC - 10th century BC Decades: 1130s BC 1120s BC 1110s BC 1100s BC 1090s BC - 1080s BC - 1070s BC 1060s BC 1050s BC 1040s BC 1030s BC Events and Trends 1089 BC - Melanthus, legendary King of Athens dies after a reign of 37 years... For other uses, see Ra (disambiguation). ... Thoth (Ramesseum, Luxor) Thoth (his Greek name derived from the Egyptian *, written by Egyptians as ) was considered one of the most important deities of the Egyptian pantheon, often depicted with the head of an ibis. ... For other uses, see Osiris (disambiguation). ... The Book of the Dead comd A Section of Plate 3 from the Papyrus of Ani. ... The Levant The Levant (IPA: ) is an imprecise geographical term historically referring to a large area in the Middle East south of the Taurus Mountains, bounded by the Mediterranean Sea on the west, and by the northern Arabian Desert and Upper Mesopotamia to the east. ... For other uses, see Crete (disambiguation). ...

Gameplay

The Senet gameboard is a grid of thirty squares, arranged in three rows of ten. A Senet game has two sets of pawns (at least five of each and, in some sets, more). Senet was apparently a race game for two players, with moves determined by tosses of throwstick or, sometimes, knucklebone. Roman statue of girl playing astragaloi Knucklebones also known as hucklebones, dibs, jackstones, chuckstones or five-stones, is a game of very ancient origin, played with five small objects, originally the knucklebones of a sheep, which are thrown up and caught in various ways. ...

The actual rules of the game are a topic of some debate, although historians have made educated guesses. Timothy Kendall and R.C. Bell are two Senet historians who have proposed (different) sets of rules to play the game. These rules have been adopted by different companies which make Senet sets for sale today. Senet is a farting dum dum lolly pop!

References

See also

• Mehen, another ancient game.
• Tâb, a middle eastern game with a similar board.

In Ancient Egypt, Mehen is both what appears to be a mythological character, and a board game. ... Tâb is a board game played in several Arab countries, or a family of similar board games played in Northern Africa and South-western Asia, from Persia to West Africa and from Turkey to Somalia, where a variant called deleb is played. ...

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Senet

• Play a version of Senet online at the British Museum