Senet

Senet or senat (; cf. Coptic , 'passing, afternoon') is a board game from ancient Egypt that consists of 10 or more pawns on a 30 square playing board. The earliest representation of senet is dated to from the Mastaba of Hesy-Re, while similar boards and hieroglyphic signs are found even earlier, including in the Levant in the Early Bronze Age II period. Even though the game has a 2000-year history in Egypt, there appears to be very little variation in terms of key components. This can be determined by studying the various senet boards that have been found by archaeologists, as well depictions of senet being played throughout Egyptian history on places like tomb walls and papyrus scrolls. However, the game fell out of use following the Roman period, and its original rules are the subject of conjecture. Evidence of senet over time Fragmentary boards that could be senet have been found in First Dynasty burials in Egypt, . The first unequivocal painting of this ancient game is from the Third Dynasty tomb of Hesy (–2613 BCE). 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. There are depictions of individuals such as Tutankhamun and Nefertari (wife of Ramesses II) playing senet in tomb art as well. Senet is depicted in ancient texts, including in Chapter 17 of the Book of the Dead, where the individual who has died plays the game against an invisible opponent. The game of senet is also depicted in a scene depicted on papyrus dating from roughly 1250 - 1150 BCE that shows a lion and a gazelle playing senet (in the possession of the British Museum).