Senet - An Egyptian Board Game Abstracts: ï¿½Senet was a popular board game in ancient Egypt and may possibly be one of the ancestors of Backgammon. People of all levels of ancient Egyptian society played it and some believe it had religious meaning. Senet was the favorite pastime of king tut and in fact his mother in-laws name "Nefertiti" can be traced to one of the symbols on the gameboardï¿½. The popularity of this game is evident from the number of sets that have been found in Egyptian tombs, from those of commoners to those of the Pharaohs. So far, almost fifty sets have been discovered, many of them in perfect condition with the pieces and "dice" (either knucklebones or sticks) still intact. The oldest known reference to Senet is in a wall painting in the tomb of the Third Dynasty Pharaoh Hesy (c. 2650 BC), which shows the game being played with seven pawns per player (sets and paintings have been found with as many as ten pawns per player). These first paintings show Senet being played between two players, but later paintings show a single player playing against an invisible opponent.

From these two different depictions, it is very possible that Senet began as a game, but later acquired a magical or holy quality and became something of a ritual in and of itself. This situation does have parallels in our era; witness the mystic aura Chess has developed in movies such as The Seventh Seal and works of literature where the hero plays Chess (or a similar game) against Death, the Devil, a god, etc. Oddly enough, no rules for Senet have ever been found, either written on papyrus or painted on a tomb wall. It appears as though the game may have been so popular that it was taught entirely by word of mouth from one player to another, because almost everyone knew how to play it anyway. Still, a number of people have created what they believe are the closest reconstructions of the rules of Senet, based on tomb paintings of the game, references to it in Egyptian writing, and by looking at its descendants: games such as Dublets, Tables, and our modern Backgammon.

The Senet board is made up of 30 squares in three rows of ten squares apiece, like so: The squares are numbered on the first row 1-10 from left to right, on the second row 11-20 right to left, and on the third row 21-30 left to right. The pieces, or Pawns, follow the path of the numbers, left to right on the top row, then right to left on the middle row, and left to right on the bottom row (or in some versions, the reverse of that). Squares 26 through 30 have symbols on them, as does square 15, which in some variations is the starting point for the pieces. In some sets, square 30 does not have a symbol, but is rather painted a different color. Each player has between 5 and 10 pawns, depending on the variation and desired difficulty of the game. The movement of the pawns was decided by the throw of four two-sided casting sticks (as shown in the Hesy painting) with a mark on one side and blank on the other, or by the casting of knucklebone dice.

What follow are two reconstructions of the rules. Which one is closer to the original (if either) is impossible to say, but both sets of rules are fun to play, and the player is invited to create his own variants of Senet. The Bell Variant (created by R. C. Bell) Each player has 10 pawns. At the beginning of the game there are no pawns on the board. Throw the four casting sticks to determine the move: each marked side up counts as one point. If all blank sides come up, it counts as five points. Each player in turn throws the sticks and puts his pawns on the board in squares 30, 29, 28, 27, and 26 according to the number of points thrown (1 point means put a pawn in Square 30, 2 points, Square 29, etc.). Only one pawn may be placed in each square; if there is already a pawn in that square, the turn is wasted. After the five squares are filled, the game begins.

In turn, each player throws the sticks and can either move one of his pawns that number of spaces up the board, or place a new pawn in one of the five symbol squares (Squares 26-30) if any are empty. If a pawn is moved to a square already occupied by an opponentï¿½s pawn, the opponentï¿½s pawn is removed and must start over at the beginning. This does not apply to the five symbol squares. Any number of pawns may be moved to them, but they may only be placed in empty squares. The player who manages to get a pawn to Square 1 earns a bonus of five points. That player must now try to get all of his pawns to the odd-numbered squares on the first two rows before his opponent can move all of his pawns to even-numbered squares. When a pawn has reached its finishing square, it is "locked" and cannot be landed on, though it may be moved through by other pawns. The first player to move all of his pawns to his own squares wins the game and earns 10 points. He gets an additional point for each move his opponent makes while placing all of his remaining pawns.

The Kendall Variant (created by Timothy Kendall) The winner is the first player to move all his pawns off the board. Each player receives seven pawns. The pawns of both players alternate along squares 1-14. The fifteenth square is treated as the starting square. Throw the four casting sticks to determine the move: each blank side up counts as one point. If all four marked sides come up, it counts as five points. Move one of your pawns a number of squares equal to the number of points you "rolled." If a pawn is moved to a square occupied by an opponentï¿½s pawn, the moving pawn is placed in that square and the opponentï¿½s pawn is placed in the square that pawn started the move from. Certain squares have special effects on play: The House of Rebirth - the starting square and the square pawns return to when landing on The House of Water. The House of Happiness - all pawns finish a move here, even if they threw enough to move past it. The House of Water - any pawn finishing a move on this square must go back to The House of Rebirth.

House of the Three Truths - a pawn landing here may only leave the board if a three is thrown. House of Re-Atoum - a pawn landing here may only leave the board if a two is thrown. The following is a very nice article on how to play Senet: The Game of Senet Senet is an Egyptian race game and may be the ancestor of our modern backgammon. We know of this game through ancient Egyption boards that have survived to this day. More than 40 have been discovered, some in very good condition with pawns, sticks or knucklebones still intact. The oldest known representation of Senet is in a painting from the tomb of Hesy (Third Dynasty circa 2686-2613 BCE). The game board is composed of 30 squares: 3 rows of 10 squares each.

If we number each square, the board can be represented like this: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 The path of the pawns probably followed a reversed S across the board. Squares 26 to 30 have symbols on them. We will represent them in order by X, O, III, II and I. It seems that the square with an X, carrying the sign nfr, was beneficial, whereas the one with an O, associated with water, had a negative meaning. Square 15, also called the "square of Rebirth," might have been the starting square. Other elements found with the gameboards were pawns. The Hesy painting shows a game with seven pawns for each player. Then, some time after 1600 - 1500 BCE, the players were represented with seven or five pawns.

Some games have even been found with ten pawns per player. The movement of pawns was probably decided by the throw of four, two-sided sticks (as depicted in the Hesy painting) or, later, knucklebones might have been used to determine the moves. What was the function of Senet? A game or something more? In his book, Lhï¿½te notices that the first pictures show two human players whereas later the human player is depicted alone with an invisible opponent. It appears that Senet began as a simple game and later acquired a symbolic, ritual function. Of course, the original rules of Senet are not known. No record of the rules on papyrus or tomb wall has ever been discovered. It is very difficult to reconstruct the game through the pieces and the tomb images. Kendall's Rules A summary of Timothy Kendall's work on the reconstruction of the rules of Senet is given in the book by Lhï¿½te. At the beginning of the game the seven pawns per player alternate along the 14 first squares. The starting square is counted as the 15th. In the oldest games this square featured an ankh, a "life" symbol.

The pawns move according to the throw of four sticks or, later, one or two knucklebones. When using the sticks the points seemed to have been counted from 1 to 5: 1 point for each side without a mark and 5 points if the four marked sides were present together. When a pawn reached a square already occupied by an opponent pawn, they have to exchange their positions. The special squares have the following effects on play: 15 : House of Rebirth, starting square and the return square for the pawns reaching square number 27. 26 : House of Happiness, a mandatory square for all the pawns. 27: House of Water, a square that can be reached by the pawns located on squares 28 to 30 which moved back when their throws did not allow them to exit the board. They have to restart from square 15. 28 : House of the Three Truths, a pawn may only leave when a 3 is thrown. 29 : House of the Re-Atoum, a pawn may only leave when a 2 is thrown. The winner is the first to move all of their pawns off the board.

Bell's Rules Another version of the rules was proposed by RC Bell. Each player has 10 pawns. Four two-sided sticks (one side painted) are thrown to determine movement. When only one painted side is visible : 1 point. With two : 2 points. With none : 5 points. At the beginning of the game there are no pawns on the board. Each player in turn throws the sticks, and puts his pawns on the board on the squares with the symbols I, II, III, X, O according to the number of points thrown. Only one pawn may be present on each square. So if a pawn is already present the turn is lost. A player may either move one pawn or add a new pawn to the board, if possible, with each throw. The pawns located on the marked squares are in shelters. Pawns may not be stacked. When a pawn arrives on a square already occupied by an opponent pawn, the opponent is removed and must restart from the beginning. This rule does not apply for the marked squares which are shelters.

The first pawn to reach square number 1 earns a bonus of five points and it fixes the goal of the game: that player's other pawns have to reach odd squares whereas the opponent must reach the even squares. The game ends when the pawns of the two players are alternately placed on the first and second rows. When a pawn has reached its last square, it cannot be attacked. The first player to have put all his pawns on his own squares wins the game and earns 10 points. He also gets one point for each move his opponent makes while placing all of his remaining pawns. You may freely reprint this article or place it on your website by adding this statement: Courtesy of Ancient Egyptian Game of Senet Ancient Egyptian Game of Senet Ancient Egyptian Game of Senet Play the ancient game of the Pharaohs. Ancient Egyptian Game of Senet Board games were a favorite pastime in Egypt, and Senet was the most popular of these. It was played by two people, either on elaborate carved and inlayed boards like the one found in Tutankhamen’s tomb, or simply scratched into the earth.

The oldest known representation of Senet is in a painting from the tomb of Hesy, from 2686 BC. Many actual boards, with their counters and throw sticks (or “knucklebones”) have survived intact, but the rules of the game are not fully understood, there have been a number of attempts to reconstruct the game. The game board had thirty squares laid out in three rows of ten. Some of the squares had symbols on them and the path of the counters probably followed a reversed S across the board. Ancient Egyptian Game of Senet The symbols represented ether good or bad fortune, and affected the play accordingly. The movement of the counters was decided by throwing four two-sided sticks or, in some cases, knucklebones. Senet, means “passing” and had a religious significance – the aim of each player being to move their pieces around the board and avoiding hazards. Good luck was a blessing from the gods and the winner was the first to pass into the afterlife by getting all their pieces off the board. With colourful -graphics and fun sound effects this reconstructed version of Senet is not only a game of chance, a bit of skill and strategy is also required.

You may use the material on this site for Educational, non-profit purposes provided I’m credited with a link back to this site. To use the materials on this site please eMail me and ask permission. All Text & artwork is © Mark Millmore. Discovering Egypt Website Established 1997 Number of items in basket: 0 Your basket is empty. 10 Most Important Board Games In History - Listverse 10 Most Important Board Games In History Alan Boyle January 20, 2013 For thousands of years, board games have been a source of entertainment for people across the world. Evidence of board games pre-dates the development of writing—and in many cultures they have even come to have a religious significance. What is particularly striking about a number of these games is how their original ethics and morals have been stripped by big business realising they could make a quick buck off them. Here are ten of the most important board games from ancient and modern history: 10 Tafl Tafl was a very popular game among the Vikings. One player aims to get his king from the centre of the board to the edges, while the other does everything he can to capture him.

Tafl spread across Europe (just like Viking genes) and became the chess of its day; noblemen would boast of their skill on the board. Tafl was the inspiration for the game Thud , based on Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series. There is still the occasional World Championship—but the fact that these take place on an island with a population of eighty-six makes me doubt how much of a “world” championship it really is. A bit more pillaging may be in order. 9 The Landlord’s Game The Landlord’s Game was invented in 1903 by Maryland actress Lizzie Magie. The game board consisted of a square track, with a row of properties around the outside that players could buy. The game board had four railroads, two utilities, a jail, and a corner named “Labor Upon Mother Earth Produces Wages,” which earned players $100 each time they passed it. This should all sound quite familiar: the fact is, The Landlord’s Game was patented three decades before Charles Darrow “invented” Monopoly and sold it to Parker Brothers.

The Landlord’s Game —later known as Prosperity —was intended to illustrate the social injustice created by land ownership and “rent poverty.” It also offered a solution to this injustice: players could opt to have rent from properties they owned paid into a communal pot, which would then be shared out, making things better for everyone. The great irony of the story is that when the idea was stolen by Darrow, the prosperity-for-all ideal was removed completely—and the game that went on to be played by more than one billion people ended up encouraging them to make their opponents bankrupt. 8 The sixteenth century Indian game of Vaikuntapaali —also known as Leela —was a tool for teaching morality and spirituality . It was the game that went on to be launched as Chutes and Ladders in America (and Snakes and Ladders elsewhere). In the original version, the climbing of a ladder was supposed to show players the value of good deeds in the search for enlightenment; the chutes—or snakes—were meant to show that vices such as theft and murder would bring spiritual harm to the sinner. The Victorians altered the moral teachings when they brought the game to England in the late nineteenth century.

Although in the original one could achieve a state of eternal Nirvana, the British fondness for understatement meant that in the Western version, one simply achieved “success.” By the time Milton Bradley brought it to America in 1943, all anyone really wanted was a bit of distraction (something must have been weighing on people’s minds in the early 1940s), and so the game became what it remains today: a basic race to the finish. 7 A precursor to Tick-Tack-Toe, Nine Men’s Morris is a game in which counters are placed on a grid with the aim of creating lines of three. Once all the pieces are down, they can be moved one space per move. Whenever a player forms a row of three, he can remove one of his opponent’s pieces from the board. The first player down to two pieces loses. The simplicity of the game board meant that people across the world could create their own without much hassle. Boards dating as far back as 1440 B.C. have been found carved into steps and rocks in Sri Lanka, Bronze Age Ireland, ancient Troy and the Southwestern United States—note to Mormons: this is not archaeological evidence in support of the Book of Mormon .

Not content with scarring the landscape alone, it seems that fans through history carved the board into seats, walls, and even tombstones across England. For all the concern over World of Warcraft , we’ll know computer game addiction has become truly serious when people start vandalizing their nearest graveyard for a quick fix. 6 When Parker Brothers republished The Mansion of Happiness: An Instructive Moral and Entertaining Amusement in 1894, they claimed that it had been the first board game published in the US—way back in 1843. The game was in fact probably the second game published in the US; but it is still noteworthy as a successor to the “race to the afterlife” theme common in many older religious games. The game designers had to use technicalities to get past the the then-sinister connotations of gambling (a six-sided die is Satanic, a six-sided spinner not so much). The board consisted of a basic roll-and-move track—saturated with more Puritanism than should rightfully fit on a piece of cardboard. Sabbath-breakers are sent to the whipping post (whips sold separately), and the vice of Idleness will land you in Poverty.

The game also includes what is perhaps the worst rule ever prescribed in the history of board games, with a player sometimes required to wait “till his turn comes to spin again, and not even think of happiness, much less partake of it.” Luckily, “do not partake of happiness” is a rule that didn’t really catch on. 5 Senet Senet is the oldest board game known to exist. Sets have been found in burial chambers from as far back as 3,500 B.C.— including four in Tutankhamen’s tomb . Game boards were three squares wide and ten squares long, and sets typically had five to seven pieces for each player. Though the original rules have been lost, there is general consensus that the aim is to race one’s pieces across the board, using thrown sticks as an equivalent for dice. Though it began as a secular form of entertainment, Senet soon took on a religious significance for the Egyptians. The squares were marked with various symbols representing the gods and other aspects of the afterlife.

When you play modern board games, the best you can hope for is entertainment; but players completing Senet “ ritually joined with the sun god while still alive and thus assured their survival of the ordeals of the netherworld even before dying.” Handy. 4 Mancala Mancala refers to a family of games with the same basic method of play. Known as count-and-capture games, there is some evidence to suggest that they may be the earliest games played —predating even Senet but further verification is needed. To play the game, all you need is a patch of soft ground and a handful of seeds or pebbles. Rows of holes are dug alongside one another, and players distribute counters one at a time in a path round the board. There are a number of goals; but the key to victory in every version is basically to count really fast. Mancala was little-known in Europe and America until relatively recently. A report from the Smithsonian Institute described it as the “national game of Africa.” 3 are the original cross-and-circle games, of which the best known example in the West is the much-simplified Ludo . Players aim to race their pieces around the board, with moves determined by a throw of cowry shells.

An opponent’s pieces can be captured by landing on the same square, and two of a player’s pieces on the same square can merge into a “super-piece”. The Mogul Emperor Akbar I played the game on a giant board, using slave-girls instead of pieces. How two of these “pieces” merged into a “super-piece” is unclear—and a Google search for “slave girl pieces” returns results about, shall we say, other things. 2 Chaturanga Chaturanga is a game that deserves to be known, if only because of its enormous legacy: chess. There are few games as widely known as chess. Chess became an extension of the Cold War in 1972; it has ousted all contenders in Europe for the title “Game of Kings”—and the western game is not alone. The Chinese have Xiangqi , the Japanese play Shogi , and there are equivalents in Korea, Thailand and India. Chess is sometimes used as an analogy for life itself, and in the popular mind it is a symbol of genius. Chaturanga —which dates from as far back as the seventh century A.D.—is the common ancestor of all the modern versions of chess.

The board and most pieces are the same, though the exact rules are sadly forgotten. But it seems that the creators of Chaturanga hit upon the formula that would go on to spread the game throughout the world: The pure battle of skill. The almost infinite complexity. The scope for beauty. And the resemblance to much of real life. 1 The Royal Game of Ur The Royal Game of Ur is the oldest-known board game for which the original rules survive. The oldest sets, discovered in Iraq in the 1920s, date to around 2600 B.C. The Royal Game of Ur is a race game, much like Senet , in which one throws dice to move one’s pawns towards the goal. The game had been thought long-dead—superseded by backgammon 2000 years ago—until game enthusiast Irving Finkel (who had poetically discovered the game’s rules carved into an ancient stone tablet) stumbled upon a surprising photograph of a game board from modern India.

A small amount of detective work later, Finkel met a retired schoolteacher who had played what was basically the same game as a youngster—making this the game that has been played for longer than any other in the history of the world . You can play it by clicking the link here . As you play, bear in mind that it has outlasted all of the world’s greatest empires, and is older than all the world’s major religions. That’s the power of board games. Don’t let this one die at the hands of the Playstation. More Great Lists Egypt: Games of the Ancient Egyptians Contact Us About us Tour Egypt aims to offer the ultimate Egyptian adventure and intimate knowledge about the country. We offer this unique experience in two ways, the first one is by organizing a tour and coming to Egypt for a visit, whether alone or in a group, and living it firsthand. The second way to experience Egypt is from the comfort of your own home: online. Egypt: Games of the Ancient Egyptians Games of the Ancient Egyptians By Raymond Binder Games in ancient Egypt were diverse, and took many forms. Just as today, there were games favored by adults, children or both.

There were indoor games, well organized outdoor sports games, and more informal games played by children. Indoor Games One of the most popular indoor activities was a board game known as senet. Tourists who visit Egypt with a cautious eye may well run across a simple version of the board, sometimes found at antiquity sites marked out on the pavement or stone. However, much more elegant boards are to be found among the wealthy, including one found in the tomb of Tut. This game was an ancestor of draughts, with a checkered board known as the "perw" (houses) of three rows of 10 squares. Pieces of the opposing sides were distinguished by their size, color or shape. Each opponent usually had seven pieces. Moves were determined by throwing sticks, or "astragals (knuckle-bones). The object was to move the pieces around a snaking track to the finish, landing on a number of specially marked squares representing good or bad fortune. Senet, which means "passing" became so popular it took on religious significance. Another board game thought to have come from Asia was twenty squares.

Several boards have been discovered, and it is known that the game was played by two players using five pieces, but otherwise the rules of this game are now lost. Other games are recorded using different numbers of squares, but all were position games usually played by two people sitting face to face. There were several games that could be played by more than two people. In the game of "snake" (mehen), up to six people could play. It used a long field scratched out on the floor and stone pieces int he shape of dogs, lions and balls that were moved along it. In yet another game, pegs with their tops shaped into dogs, jackals and other animals were stuck into a row of 30 to 60 holes drilled into a board. Unfortunately, we currently know little about the rules for any of these games. Sports Games Many organized sports games were confrontational. Some of the favored sports were wrestling, boxing and fencing with sticks, and of these, wrestling was probably favored.

However, the early Egyptians seemed to have their own early Olympics, with competition including an early form of hockey, handball, Gymnastics, spear throwing (javelin), weightlifting, various equestrian sports, high jump, swimming competition, boating competitions, archery, long distance running, tug of war and others. There is currently an effort in Luxor to revive some of these old games into a national event. The Games of Children Children's games appear to be much less organized, most often taking on spur of the moment challenges such as balancing, racing, wrestling, and tug of wars. We have also found that children played some sort of ball games, having found various balls made from papyrus. In one picture we find girls playing a game called "pressing the grapes". While we know nothing of this game, the girls are pictured holding hands in a circle. Dancing, which was very popular among children, may also have been made into a game by girls. It is also clear that children had many different toys to play with, some very complex in fact. What is clear is that while the Egyptians labored to build pyramids, fought wars and practiced religious ceremonies, they also could, and did, have a good time.

Last Updated: June 13th, 2011 General Travel Ancient Board Games and the Nabataeans Ancient Board Games and the Nabataeans Copyright CanBooks 2003 At the Second Annual Conference for Nabataean Studies, Dr. Bilal Khrisat of the Hashemite University presented a paper that introduced the conference to the various board games that are found in ancient Petra. That paper also introduced us, (nabataea.net) to this fascinating aspect about Petra. In response to Dr. Khrisat's studies, we here at Nabataea.net have started to search through Petra and other Nabataean sites to learn about these games and try and find how they were played. In order to do this, we first did some basic research into ancient games, so we would be better informed about what we might be looking at as we searched Nabataean sites. Second, we rounded up several Nabataea.net activists and made several sweeping tours of Petra. Instead of looking up at the marvelous monuments, we kept our heads down, and scoured the ground. It was an exciting activity because game boards started popping up all over the place.

Third, we then visited other Nabataean sites to look for board games and fourth, we solicited the help of folk at CanBook's Game Division. Kenneth Betts, the game logistics expert and others then worked hard at trying to reconcile the game boards we found with what is known about ancient games, to see if we could figure out how they might have been played. The initial results have now been written up in this paper. Many of the pictures we took are found on the web page Petra, City of Board Games . The Nabataean Game Throughout Petra and in other Nabataean sites, we discovered that the most common ancient board game was from a game played on a 4 x 12 or in some cases a 4 x 14 playing board. Each of the playing spots was actually a small cup carved into the rock. (See below) Left: you can see a typical 4 x 12 playing board. This one was found near the Dier monument in Petra, and is typical of the most common type of game in ancient Petra. Other game boards included: 7 x 7 and 7 x 8 layouts as well as 8 x 14.

(For more pictures, see Petra: City of Board Games ) As we researched these game boards, several suggestions were made as to what they could have been. Mancala Mancala has its origins in either Africa or the Arab world, depending on which scholar's theory you choose to believe. Some of the oldest evidence is found in the National Geographic sponsored archaeological diggings that searched back to 7,000 to 5,000 BC in present-day Jordan. Excavations of an ancient house uncovered a limestone slab with two parallel rows of circular depressions. The layout was easily recognizable to an archaeologist on the dig as a Mancala playing board. Murray, a noted scholar, traced the origins to ancient Egypt's Empire Age (about the 15th to 11th centuries BC). Many experts surmise that Mancala may in fact be the oldest board game ever. The earliest recorded writings describing the game were found in references to mancala in Arab religious texts dating to the Middle Ages. Some scholars believe that the game originated in the Middle East and spread from there to Africa.

Then, the game spread to Asia with Arab traders and much later came to the Caribbean around 1640 via the African slave trade. Other experts try and place the origins in Central Africa. Above: A traditional Mancala board found in Asia. They can be anywhere from 2 x 8 to 2 x 12, and usually have a bin on either end. Picture above used from the Expat Web Site Association Right: Two game boards found in Petra. On the right is a more traditional Mancala type board, but appears to have three rows of cups. On the left is a second game: a Nabataean 4 x 12 game board. Today, Mancala is known by numerous names around the world. These names are taken from the local culture, using words that reflect where the game is played, the manner of winning, the mode of play and the board or counters used. In English it is often referred to as Count and Capture. In some West African countries the depressions in the board are referred to as Warri or Awari, which means houses, thus giving the game the name Wari.

In Nigeria the game is known as Adi, which is the name of the seeds used to play the game. In our survey for ancient game boards in Petra we found many game boards with small hollow cups that most likely served for playing games of the Mancala family. These games used no dice but relied entirely on counting and computing. (For Instruction and Links to other sites about Mancala , click here ) Mancala boards come in many different sizes. One Mancala board in the British Museum has four rows of 26 hollows each, plus two larger bins at each narrow end. Most of the others with four rows are eight cups long, but other variants exist. The configuration with only two rows is a very popular Mancala version among present day Bedouin Arabs. For more on Mancala boards, see "Mancala Board Games" by Alexander J. De Voogt, British Museum Press, 1997, (see page 23 for the above 4 x 26 board). Also consult recoveredscience.com (e-books on riddles in science, easy to read and hard to forget) by H. Peter Aleff.

Other Games of the Mancala Family Over the centuries other games have been developed from Mancala. The game Olinda Kaliya (right) is from Shri Lanka. It has seven cups plus two bins at each end. The cups are large and the movers are very small. The picture of Olinda Kaliya on the left has been taken from The Online Guide to Traditional Games Used with permission. Ancient Egyptian Version. A game board similar to Mancala was found on the roof of the temple of Seti I in Egypt. The Temple of Seti I was completed by Ramses II for his father, Seti I, likely within the first 5 years of his reign. It was used as part of the Abydene pilgrimages for over 1000 years, and was eventually closed down during the Roman period. Since roofs of temples were often used by priests to observe the stars, they would spend hours in these locations. When waiting for the stars to come out, or for the sky to clear, they apparently played games. There are numerous game boards are hollowed out in the sandstone blocks of the temple. Omweso is a Mancala type game from Uganda, with 4 rows.

Note that the seeds are small, and the holes are large, in order to accommodate a large number of seeds, which could accumulate to more than twenty in a spot. The picture of Omweso on the right was been taken from The Online Guide to Traditional Games. Used with permission. Bao, left, is a similar game played in East Africa. It also uses large cups and bins on each end.The picture of Bao on the left was been taken from The Online Guide to Traditional Games. Used with permission. Check out the Bao game site at: You can also buy the book: " Il libro (quasi) completo del gioco del Bao ", 2010 at There are several problems with trying to classify the Nabataean boards as a variant of the Mancala game. First, Petra's game boards are a puzzling 4 x 12 or 4 x 14 holes. They have no bins at the end, making them different from other games in the Mancala family. Second, they have very small holes. As the pictures above illustrate, Mancala requires large holes, in case they have to hold a large number of counters.

If the board is 2 x 8, then the number of counters is quite limited. However, if the board becomes longer, the number of counters rises dramatically. Game designer and logistics expert, Ken Betts, tried several variations of Mancala, including placing movers in every second hole, but no matter what configuration was used, the spaced needed to contain many movers. In the end he concluded that it seems very unlikely that the Nabataean boards were any known variation of the Mancala game. So our search continued. Seega The ancient game of Seega has been played for centuries throughout Egypt and other parts of the Middle East. It is a simple game in terms of materials and rules, but it involves plenty of strategy and thinking once you are playing. In Egypt, 5x5 game boards were common, while 7 x 7 or 9 x 9 board do exist. The larger boards are more complex, and created a greater challenge for the players. Does the presence of 7 x 7 boards indicate a Nabataean preference for challenges? The game of Seega requires only one mover per location, so the holes do not have to be large.

It is very possible that Petra's square game boards that are 5, 7, or 9 places square are Seega boards. For an overview of the rules, and links to sites on the Internet about Seega, click here . A board of 5 x 5 squares is marked out and each player has twelve distinctive 'stones'. Rocks and potsherds work nicely. If the board is increased to 7 x 7 or 9 x 9, each the players would have twenty-four or forty pieces. So, it is very possible that the square boards are Seega Board. While this explains the 5, 7, and 9 place square game boards, it still does not explain the others, especially the 4 x 12 or 14 boards. The Royal Game of Ur The most famous of the 'Royal Game of Ur' boards was found by Sir Leonard Woolley in 1927 in the tomb of a nameless king of Ur, where it had been either abandoned or overlooked by robbers looking for more lucrative spoil. It was hollow to allow a place for storing the pieces. It is made of fine inlays of shell, bone, lapis lazuli, and red limestone.

The board dates from about 2500 BC, and was one of five such boards (albeit the most richly decorated one) found by the famous archaeologist in various tombs of the royal cemetery of Ur. 'The Royal Game of Ur' is the most ancient board game known, predating even Egyptian Senet by about 300 years. It appears to have been very popular among the Sumerian rulers and to have spread from Sumer to sites all over the ancient world from India to the Mediterranean. The ancient Egyptian game '20-Squares' (dating from about 1800 BC), for instance, is very likely a version of this game. 'The Royal Game of Ur' was played in ancient Sumer and Mesopotamia since before at least 2500 BC. 'The Royal Game of Ur' is of course not the game's real name, as its actual name is lost in antiquity, but because of the examples of it found in the royal cemetery of Ur, the game soon came to be called 'The Royal Game of Ur' among archaeologists.

The game is played with fourteen markers (seven to a side) with two sets, one for each player, of three curious pyramidal dice. The boards the markers move on are variously made but all share distinct rosette markings on strategic squares. While this is an interesting game, it doesn't seem to be similar to anything we found in Petra. Istructions for this game can be found at: Senet Senet was an immensely popular game in ancient Egypt, and was played by both commoners and nobility. In later times it even seems to have taken on religious significance. The game was played on a board of 30 squares; the object being to get one's pieces on the board, then around the board in an S-shaped pattern, and finally off again at the far end. The game required strategy as well as chance. The most common playing pieces were 5 cones shaped pieces pitted against 5 reel shaped pieces (These pieces were called 'ibau' which means 'dancers' in Egyptian). Senet was originally a two player game but during the New Kingdom period a game in progress would often appear painted on tomb walls as a 'one' player game, the opponent being a spirit from the afterlife.

The picture on the right is a modern version of Senet, from The Online Guide to Traditional Games. Used with permission. The Senet board on the right came from the tomb of Ak-Hor at Dra abu el-Naga on the West Bank of Thebes. The game box is made of ebony and ivory, and the playing pieces are made of faience, a composite material of ground quartz with a colored, alkaline glaze. For the rules for Senet and links to Internet sites about the game click here . The 4 x 12 game boards in Petra could easily be some sort of Senet boards. The players basically rolled a dice, or cast sticks (see rules), and moved their pieces onto the board, and tried to race them to the end. If they landed on another player's piece, they could 'bump' him off of the board. The players generally moved in an S shaped direction (see left) Examples of 3 x 12 Senet boards were also common in Egypt. However, in our search for game boards in Petra, we did not turn up any traditional Senet game boards.

If the 4 x 12 or 4 x 10 game boards that we did locate were Senet games, then they would have had to be played as illustrated on the left. While this is an acceptable solution, it does seems to be just prolonging an already simple game. It would be even longer if played on a 4 x 23 or 4 x 24 board. (Yes, at least one of these boards was found in Petra by Dr. Bilal Khrisat). Left: A 4 x 23 game board. (Illustrating one found in Petra) Twenty Squares The picture on the left is of an ancient 20 squares board, and assorted casting sticks, dating from the 18th dynasty of Egypt. The playing pieces are blue faience. This game was played very much like Senet (sometimes called 30-squares) and since we do not know the name of this ancient game we can only refer to as 'The twenty squares game'. Some years ago, earlier in the last century, due to a misunderstanding, Egyptologists thought it to be called 'Tjau' (which means 'robbers').

20-Squares is often found on the reverse side of the ancient Senet boards and both games used the same pieces, although they are really quite different games. There is strong evidence that 20-Squares is not originally of Egyptian origin but instead 'invaded' Egypt from Assyria. It is most likely related to the 'Royal game of Ur' and may in fact be the same game (there are similarities in the board and board markings). In any case, 20-Squares became a distinctively Egyptian game and extremely popular in ancient Egypt from the period of around 3000 B.C. to 400 A.D. If 20-Squares is a form of the 'Royal game of Ur', it may pre-date even Senet by 300 or more years. The game was played on a board of, naturally, 20 squares; the object being to get one's pieces on the board, then move in a diagonal pattern around and down the central row of squares, and finally off the far end. The game requires some strategy, and a lot of chance. The 'chance' comes from 'casting sticks', used as 'dice' in older times.

The most common playing pieces were 5 cones shaped pieces pitted against 5 reel shaped pieces (These pieces were called 'ibau' which means 'dancers' in Egyptian). 20-Squares was definitely played in Egypt for more than 3000 years. When Howard Carter open Tutankhamun's tomb he found four Senet boards, two of which were jumbled up and scattered, along with many other articles, by thieves in the distant past. One of these Senet boards is shown (circled), just as it was found. On the other side of this board (hidden from our view in this picture) is, you guessed it, a 20-Squares board. Note: Some of the 'Reel' and 'Cone' playing pieces were never found and it is assumed that they were made of silver and gold and were thus were prime targets for thieves.Unfortunately, there are no game boards in Petra that resemble the 20 squares board. While this is interesting to know about, we have not be able to link the 20 squares game to anything found within Nabataea.

On the other hand, it does illustrate that Senet type games could be shortened for faster play, but it doesn't lead us to believe that a larger board was in anyway appreciated. Quirkat Quirkat is a game of strategy that pits 2 armies of 12 men each, on a 5 X 5grid. It may be of ancient Egyptian origin, but first became known in the west when it came across the straits with Tariq's conquering Arab and Berber army in 711 A.D. and spread from Spain to Europe. It is first mentioned in written history somewhere in the 20 volumes of the Kitab al-Aghani (book of songs) which is poetic anthology on medieval Islamic society written by Abu al-Faraj Ali of Esfahan around 950 AD. Alphonso X recorded an (incomplete) set of rules and provided and illumination in his 'Libro de Acedrex, Dados e Tablas', a magnificently illuminated manuscript compiled between 1251 and 1282 AD).

Sometime later, around 1100, possibly in the South of France, somebody decided to play Quirkat on a chess board instead of the standard board. The game was played with 12 pieces on each side and was called Fierges or Ferses at first although this changed to Dames later. The game did not force a player to take enemy pieces when the opportunity presented itself. The compulsory rule forcing a player to take whenever possible was introduced in France around 1535, the resulting new game being called Jeu Force. At this point the old game became known as Le Jeu Plaisant De Dames or Plaisant for short. The first book written on the game was published in Valencia, Spain in 1547 and now resides in the Royal Library of Madrid. Jeu Force is the game played in England today under the name of Draughts and the game was taken to America and called Checkers. The first book in English about it was written in 1756 by Wiliam Payne, a mathematician from London.

The rest of Europe took to playing a different development of Le Jeu Plaisant De Dames which appeared in Paris in 1727 and which is now the internationally recognized game of Polish or Continental Draughts. This game is superior in complexity to English draughts (or checkers) by virtue of the fact that it is played on a board ten squares by ten squares. When researching this, we began to wonder if the 7 x 7 boards in Petra were Seega boards or large Quirkat boards. Since the Europeans expanded the board to 10 x 10, could the Nabataeans not have played the same game on a 7 x 7 board? In that case, a 7 x 7 board could be used for both Quirkat or Seega. Labyrinths In his report to the Second Annual Conference for Nabataean Studies, Dr. Bilal Khrisat mentioned that he had found Labyrinth symbols in Petra. This symbol has been used for many centuries, and is found in many different locations around the world. No one knows of its origin, it's meaning, nor why it was transported and adopted by so many different people around the world.

There was an ancient building, known as The Labyrinth. It was a Minoan palace/temple complex that was destroyed several times during its long history, but was finally abandoned around1380 BC. Interestingly, no examples of the labyrinth symbol have survived from the original site. The symbol right is a typical Labyrinth symbol as found in antiquity. No one knows if it was connected with the ancient Labyrinth temple. During the last few years, a growing number of websites have begun that focus on the Labyrinth symbol. Most of them are 'New Age sites' that try and attach some mystic or spiritual experience with the design. A small number of these sites also mention some of the historical and archeological background behind this symbol. You can read more about labyrinths by following the links on this page . Some of the ancient places around the world that this symbol has shown up are listed below. The pictures of labryinths below are taken from Caerdronia . (Used without permission) The earliest examples of labyrinths, for which an accurate date can be ascribed are to be found around the shores of the Mediterranean.

A labyrinth-inscribed clay tablet from Pylos, Greece is over 3200 years old; a similar date applies to labyrinths on pottery fragments from Syria. (right) The depiction of the labyrinth on a wine jar from Tragliatella dates to the 7th century BC; it shows armed soldiers on horseback running from a labyrinth with the word Truia (Troy) inscribed in the outermost circuit. (left) The famous labyrinth decorated coins from Knossos, Crete, date from the last three centuries before Christ. (right) Their designs are thought to allude to the legendary Labyrinth at Knossos in which the Minotaur was imprisoned.

Question: With what country was the game of Senet first associated?
Answer: Egypt