Collection
/
Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

Gaming Board

ca. 1938–1630 B.C.E.

1 of 4

Object Label

Senet (the passing) was one of the most popular and enduring board games in ancient Egypt. Players moved their gaming pieces along a rectangular board of thirty squares arranged in three parallel rows. Although this blue glazed faience board resembles the traditional senet playing surface, it has only twenty-one squares. Perhaps it was intended as a funerary offering that merely represented a senet board. Although the board and “pawns” displayed here may have formed a set, they could have been assembled from several sources.

Caption

Gaming Board, ca. 1938–1630 B.C.E.. Faience, 1 5/16 × 9 3/16 × 4 1/8 in. (3.3 × 23.3 × 10.5 cm) mount: 1 1/4 × 10 × 4 1/8 in. (3.2 × 25.4 × 10.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 36.2. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 36.2_overall_PS20.jpg)

Gallery

Not on view

Title

Gaming Board

Date

ca. 1938–1630 B.C.E.

Dynasty

Dynasty 12 to early Dynasty 13

Period

Middle Kingdom

Geography

Place made: Egypt

Medium

Faience

Dimensions

1 5/16 × 9 3/16 × 4 1/8 in. (3.3 × 23.3 × 10.5 cm) mount: 1 1/4 × 10 × 4 1/8 in. (3.2 × 25.4 × 10.5 cm)

Credit Line

Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund

Accession Number

36.2

Rights

Creative Commons-BY

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Frequent Art Questions

  • How do you play senet?

    The squares represent houses. The object of the game is to move through the different houses, eventually getting your pieces off the board. The number of squares that you move at a time is based on how you throw the senet sticks, which were painted dark on one side and light on the other. They functioned like dice. Only one piece can occupy a "house" at a time, so you must block your opponent or capture squares.
    It is believed that the progress of the game symbolizes the soul's journey through different stages of the afterlife. Spaces with specially markings are thought to represent monsters or other challenges.

  • We’re intrigued by this game senet! Do historians actually know how they played? Like would it in theory be possible to play it the way Egyptians did?

    While historians don't know for certain what the rules of the game are, they do know that it involved throwing to get a number and then moving that number of spaces, much like many board games today!
    They also do know that the senet board served as a metaphor for the journey to the afterlife and all of the obstacles one would have to get past.
    Wow cool!! We’re so impressed with how historians would figure that out. Throwing a dice-like object?
    I agree, it's fascinating.
    Sometimes! Most often sticks or knucklebones, basically small two-sided objects marked on one side and not the other were used, but sometimes they would also use a teetotum which it like cross between a die and dreidel.
    The number of marked sides facing up when thrown could then be counted to get the number of spaces the player would move on the board.
    Wow thanks!
    You're welcome! I'd be curious to see historians attempt to play it, there are some guesses as to the rules floating around, even if they don't know for sure!
    That would be so funny!!

  • Do we know the rules for the game senet?

    We don't know the exact rules for Senet, though scholars have a few guesses as to how it was played. We do know that it could have involved throwing sticks, knuckle bones, or teetotums (similar to dreidels) to determine the number of spaces the player would move on the board. The last five spaces on the board are marked to indicate that they are somehow different or special.
    Was it played against a person?
    Yes! Theoretically it was meant to be played between the deceased and a deity, but it was often played between living opponents.

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