New Kingdom
ca. 1390-1353 B.C.E.
Faience, glazed
Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
Brooklyn Museum
The Egyptian Game of Senet
Senet, the Egyptian game shown here in this example from Thebes, was a popular board game by the Third Dynasty of the Old Kingdom. The oldest reference is on the walls of the tomb of the Third Dynasty scribe Hesy-Re, which shows two men playing the game.
Senet is played on a rectangular board with three parallel rows of ten squares each. Senet boards like this lovely faience one from the New Kingdom were elaborate boxes with a drawer to hold the gaming pieces, cones and reels. The object of the game was to advance all of your gaming pieces off the board.
Many images in tombs show the deceased watching a Senet game, or playing in a Senet game, suggesting to scholars that Senet had a special meaning tied to death, judgment, or the ability to talk to the dead.
Sources and More Information
- What is Faience?
- TourEgypt has a feature story from Raymond Binder on Egyptian games
Tyldesley, Joyce A. 2007. Senet. Pages 11-14 in Egyptian Games and Sports. Shire Publications Ltd, Buckinghamshire, UK.
From February 12 through May 2, 2010, the Brooklyn Museum will present an exhibition of Egyptian artifacts, called To Live Forever. The exhibition features part of the Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund collection, which were taken from tombs dated between the Old Kingdom through the Roman period. This photo essay is built from photos provided by Brooklyn Museum.
