<em>Game Board with Separate Drawer</em>, ca. 1539–1295 B.C.E. Wood, 2 1/16 x 3 3/8 x 11 in. (5.3 x 8.5 x 28 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.93E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: , CUR.37.93E_37.94E_mummychamber.jpg)

Game Board with Separate Drawer, ca. 1539–1295 B.C.E. Wood, 2 1/16 x 3 3/8 x 11 in. (5.3 x 8.5 x 28 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.93E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: , CUR.37.93E_37.94E_mummychamber.jpg)

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Was this a game?

It was a game! The game of senet reflects the belief that the deceased encountered demons on the road to the underworld who blocked gateways. The Egyptian word senet means “passing,” a reference to avoiding the demons when passing through the gateways. The game board represents the zones through which the deceased had to travel to reach the place of judgment. A New Kingdom text suggests the game was played between the deceased and an unnamed opponent, the stakes being the deceased’s continued existence. We also have evidence that senet was popular with the living.

What is this?

That is a board game called Senet that was popular in Ancient Egypt. The game board represents the zones through which the deceased had to travel to reach the place of judgment and reflects the belief that the deceased encountered demons on the road to the underworld who blocked gateways.

Is Senet related to Mancala?

Senet is not related to mancala. Mancala actually originates in West Africa.

Senet is more like many of the board games we play today with dice and pieces that much move from space to space through the board (which, in the case of senet, is three rows of ten squares each).

The game is meant to be a representation of the journey to the afterlife. Marked squares indicate monsters and other perils the deceased might face.

Thank you!

Is this an Egyptian game?

Yes! It is! This object actually has two sides each with a board for playing the Egyptian games, senet and twenty squares.

Players would play by throwing marked sticks that determine the number of spaces they moved.

Are the rules of senet known? It looks kind of like Cribbage or Mancala.

The gameplay for senet is not well documented. Generally, we know that players would have thrown sticks with markings that determined the number of spaces you could move. The last five spaces were usually marked in some way suggesting that they represented some special rules.

The board in the mummy chamber is two sided and the side that is facing up is actually 20 squares!

20 squares originated in Mesopotamia and a single tablet from Babylonia details gameplay saying that each player has five pieces, each named after a different bird, that advance from the wider part of the board down the central aisle. This tablet says that moves are to be determined by the throwing of two astragali (certain bones).

Neat!

Indeed! The game became very popular in Egypt as well and many two-sided gameboards like this one are known, senet on one side, twenty-squares on the other.

What did Ancient Egyptians do for fun?

Ancient Egyptians weren't that different from us in that respect. They played games like senet and twenty-squares; they went to parties with music and dancing. Religious festivals even included entertainment like live reenactments of myths.

I've never heard of those games.

We actually have a game board that has twenty squares on one side and Senet on the other in the Mummy Chamber!

How was this played?

What you're looking at is an example of what scholars call "twenty-squares" because we do not know the ancient name of it. It originated in Mesopotamia and was played as follows:

According to an ancient text, each player has five pieces, each named after a different bird, that advance from the wider part of the board down the central aisle. To decide how many spaces they moved they would use one of three methods.

The most common in Egypt was throwing sticks. They are simply a set (two or more) of sticks, usually made of wood, bone, or ivory and decorated and/or convex on one side. The way that the sticks landed when thrown determined how many spaces a player could move in a game.

Astragali, a particular bone from the tarsal (ankle) joint of hooved animals, were also used. Sometimes the bones would be marked but this was not essential because each of the four sides of the bone was naturally different.

Finally, a die-like object known as a teetotum could be spun and the marked sides would indicate the number of spaces.

Ahhh, cool.

What's this?

It's a two-sided board and the side that we are seeing shows a game known as 20-squares since scholars aren't sure what it was called in antiquity.

The game originated in Mesopotamia and spread to Egypt from there. It seems that it got its start as a way of telling fortunes, but was also just played for fun.

Was senet actually played between living people, or was its presence just symbolic?

Both archaeology and ancient records suggest that the game was really played between living people as a form of entertainment.

This particular example helps support this too because it is a two sided board. One side is the Egyptian game, senet, and the other is a game that originated in Mesopotamia that scholars call, simply, "Twenty Squares," suggesting it was also a popular form of entertainment.

Sweet! Thanks!

Game Board with Separate Drawer

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

On View: Funerary Gallery 2, Martha A. and Robert S. Rubin Gallery, 3rd Floor

The game of senet reflects the belief that the deceased encountered demons on the road to the underworld who blocked gateways. The Egyptian word senet means “passing,” a reference to avoiding the demons when passing through the gateways. The game board represents the zones through which the deceased had to travel to reach the place of judgment. A New Kingdom text suggests the game was played between the deceased and an unnamed opponent, the stakes being the deceased’s continued existence. But there is also evidence that senet was popular among the living.

MEDIUM Wood

Possible Place Made: Thebes, Egypt

DATES ca. 1539–1295 B.C.E.

DYNASTY Dynasty 18 (possibly)

PERIOD New Kingdom

DIMENSIONS 2 1/16 x 3 3/8 x 11 in. (5.3 x 8.5 x 28 cm) (show scale)

COLLECTIONS Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

ACCESSION NUMBER 37.93E

CREDIT LINE Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund

CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Rectangular wooden box with squares for the playing of the games on two opposite long sides. One of the "boards" has 30 squares (arranged in three rows of 10 squares): row of 12 squares flanked by two rows of 4 squares. A sliding drawer in one of the short ends is provided for the storage of gaming pieces. (The pieces are 37.94E). Condition: Defects in wood plugged by new pieces during manufacture. Drawer slightly chipped on two pieces inside.

EXHIBITIONS

MUSEUM LOCATION This item is on view in Funerary Gallery 2, Martha A. and Robert S. Rubin Gallery, 3rd Floor

CAPTION Game Board with Separate Drawer, ca. 1539–1295 B.C.E. Wood, 2 1/16 x 3 3/8 x 11 in. (5.3 x 8.5 x 28 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.93E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: , CUR.37.93E_37.94E_mummychamber.jpg)

IMAGE group, CUR.37.93E_37.94E_mummychamber.jpg.

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