The Senet Game

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This is the Senet game of the king. Four complete game board and parts of another tow were found in the Annex of the tomb of King Tutankhamen. The annex also produced large number of playing pieces; the casting sticks as well as seven knucklebones.

Judging from the number of boards in the tomb we suggest that it was one of the favorite games for the king

The significance of this game:

The name of this game means to pass which refers to passing in the netherworld or the afterlife. However, this idea of the passing to the netherworld developed since the New Kingdom when it acquired a magical religious value and in the introductory formula in Chapter 17 in the Book of the Dead. It was considered essential that the deceased played a game against an invisible opponent to ensure his own survival.

It was a popular game from the earliest times in Egypt that is why it was included in the funerary furniture.

We have some proof which indicates that it was played everywhere and by all social levels form the Old Kingdom onwards:

<!--The official Hsy ra has a scene in his tomb at Saqqara showing him playing senet

<!--Prince ta Htp mentions the Senet game in his list of funerary objects.

<!--We found some ostraca belonging to the builders of the pyramids showing them while playing Senet

<!--Ramses III was also shown in his temple at Madinet Habu while playing Senet with his daughters.

When Carter saw it he said that it looked like a modern Egyptian game called Sega while non Egyptians like to compare it with chess  

Nobody knows exactly how it was played but there are some suggestions:

It consists of three rows of ten squares each player had an equal number of playing pieces probably about five or seven different from their opponent’s pieces. These pieces were generally pawn life or reel shaped. Most probably they were placed inside the drawer of this game but maybe these pieces were not the original ones of the game and most probably the original ones were stolen because they were made out of precious metals like gold or silver.

Movement of the pieces was dictated by throwing the knuckle bones or the casting sticks; they act like our modern day dice.

The main idea of this game was to move the gaming pieces over the 30 squares in a backward S shape. The aim was to eliminate the pieces of the other player.

Most of the squares are plain except for the final five squares which were inscribed with special characters maybe to explain some rules of this game. The mw sign which means water for example might have symbolized something dangerous or other signs could be of advantage to the player like the nfrw sign.

Nothing is known with certainty about the rules of play for the game but it is believed that the aim of each player was to be the first to reach the square at the angle of the L shaped arrangement inscribed with three signs meaning Happiness, beauty. The square preceding it may have been a hazard because its hieroglyphs represent water.  Certainly it was a game of chance, the moves being determined by the throw either of knucklebones or of four casting sticks, both of which were found in the tomb. The casting sticks were of two kings one pair having ends in the form of the tips of human fingers and the ends of the other being carved in the form of a long ear canine animal probably a fox. Both pairs consist of black ebony in the upper half and white ivory in the lower half. Perhaps the number of points scored from a cast depended on the number of sticks that finished with the white or black side uppermost when they were cast.

Description:

This game is made out of wood veneered with ebony and the 30 squares are inlaid with ivory. It is mounted upon an ebony stand with its legs taking the shape of animal’s probably feline feet each resting on a gilded drum. Beneath the drums is an ebony sledge. At one of the board there is a small drawer for the gaming pieces.

The inscribed band of hieroglyphs on the sides are wishing the king life, prosperity and mentioning his titles and epithets.

The Tjaw game:

On the other side of the board game there is another game called tjaw a word which means thieves. It consists of 20 squares, a middle row of 12 squares flanked by 4 squares on each side at one end. The way of playing it is also unknown.