SENET

Gaming Board for Amenhotep III with Separate Sliding Drawer, 
ca. 1390-1353 B.C.E.

SENET is a board game from ancient Egypt, whose original rules are the subject of conjecture. The oldest hieroglyph resembling a SENET game dates to around 3100 BC. The name of the game in Egyptian is thought to mean the "game of passing".

SENET is one of the oldest known board games. Fragmentary boards that could be SENET have been found in First Dynasty burials in Egypt, c. 3100 BC. A hieroglyph resembling a SENET board appears in the tomb of Merknera (3300–2700 BC). The first unequivocal painting of this ancient game is from the Third Dynasty tomb of Hesy (c. 2686–2613 BC). People are depicted playing SENET in a painting in the tomb of Rashepes, as well as from other tombs of the Fifth and Sixth Dynasties (c. 2500 BC). The oldest intact SENET boards date to the Middle Kingdom, but graffiti on Fifth and Sixth Dynasty monuments could date as early as the Old Kingdom.

SENET GAME

At least by the time of the New Kingdom in Egypt (1550–1077 BC), SENET was conceived as a representation of the journey of the "ka" (the vital spark) to the afterlife. 

This connection is made in the Great Game Text, which appears in a number of papyri, as well as the appearance of markings of religious significance on SENET boards themselves. The game is also referred to in chapter XVII of the ancient Book of the Dead.

People in neighbouring cultures also played SENET, and it probably came to those places through trade relationships between Egyptians and local peoples. It has been found in the Levant at sites such as Byblos, as well as in Cyprus. Because of the local practice of making games out of stone, there are more SENET games that have been found in Cyprus than have been found in Egypt.

        Senet pawns

The SENET game board is a grid of 30 squares, arranged in three rows of ten. A SENET board has two sets of pawns (at least five of each). Although details of the original game rules are a subject of debate, SENET historians Timothy Kendall and R. C. Bell have made their own reconstructions of the game. These rules are based on snippets of texts that span over a thousand years, over which time gameplay is likely to have changed. Therefore, it is unlikely these rules reflect the actual course of ancient Egyptian gameplay. Their rules have been adopted by sellers of modern SENET sets.

Watercolour copy of an ancient painting depicting Queen Nefertari playing SENET. Original in Egypt, Thebes, Valley of the Queens, Tomb of Nefertari; reign of Ramesses II (ca. 1279–1213 B.C.). Watercolour copy painted in 1921–22 by Nina de Garis Davies (1881–1965), a member of the Egyptian Expedition of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Tempera on paper, 17 x 18 1/8 in. (43 x 46 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Seems SENET was a very popular board game in ancient Egypt. Queens like Nefertari may have played it using a game box, while ancient Egyptians who were less wealthy may have played on a grid scratched into the floor. 

SENET game board pawns pieces

The original tiles and fragments were found in an ancient Egyptian tomb along with game pieces shaped like cones and spools. They are made of "faience", a ceramic material that was often produced in a blue or blue-green colour that symbolized life, most "scarabs" found in ancient Egypt have this distinguish colour. Conservators have filled in missing tiles and parts of tiles with modern material. You can see the difference, because the colour of the original faience appears darker while the modern ceramic material is a lighter blue. The conservators also used modern wood to reconstruct the box that held the tiles.

Playing SENET

Bird's eye view of the SENET game board

Two players determined their moves by throwing casting sticks or bones. A game piece started at square 1 on the upper left and zig-zagged across each row and down to the next, until it crossed square 30 on the bottom right. Each player could make moves to advance a piece and pass other pieces on the board. Each player could also block other pieces from moving forward or force their opponent backwards.

The last five squares (squares 26–30) are usually decorated. On the board to the right, two marked squares are preserved and a third one is fragmentary. Square 26 is usually marked with the sign for "good" (nefer). Landing in this special square gave the player a free turn. It seems that the players had to reach this sign before they could move on to win the game. Square 27 on this SENET board depicts a water hazard. If a game piece landed on this special square, it was removed from the grid before it could cross the final square on the bottom right. Players competed to cross the final square with all of their pieces.

Game boxes and depictions of SENET are found in a number of tombs. King Tutankhamun was buried with no fewer than five game boxes. The ancient Egyptians believed in an afterlife, which means an existence after death. To reach the afterlife, a person who died had to perform certain rituals and pass many obstacles. In the New Kingdom, the game SENET, became associated with the journey to the afterlife. Some of the squares of the game corresponded to the hazards a person might meet on their journey to the afterlife, while other squares helped the players. Because of this connection, SENET was not just a game; it was also a symbol for the struggle to obtain immortality, or endless life.

SENET Board on a Clay Tablet

Instruction for playing SENET
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Information gathered from internet articles and different sources.