Watch: Ancient Egyptian games
Child: Life looked tough in Ancient Egypt.
It doesn鈥檛 look like they had much time for fun.
What鈥檚 this?
鈥楽enet鈥, a board game dating from around 3000BC.
Ancient Egyptian person: Can I help you?
Child: Oh, hello!
Ancient Egyptian person: Do you play?
Child: Play? Oh no, I鈥檝e never tried.
Ancient Egyptian person: Shame, it鈥檚 good.
I hear the last pharaoh was even buried with his favourite Senet boards!
It鈥檚 not surprising really.
The game shows the journey into the afterlife.
Child: What about this snake one?
Ancient Egyptian person: You mean 鈥楳ehen鈥? It鈥檚 named after a god in the form of a snake.
Oh yes! That鈥檚 very popular.
Though I鈥檓 not keen on snakes myself.
Child: I like this one.
Ancient Egyptian person: 鈥楬ounds and Jackals鈥! Do you know, I always forget the rules to that one!
Child: 贬尘尘尘鈥
Ancient Egyptian person: We have toys too, like this cute little horse, and this doll!
Child: I鈥檓 too old for dolls!
Ancient Egyptian person: Maybe you鈥檙e after something a bit more physical?
I鈥檝e got juggling balls, a hand ball, and even bows and arrows!
Child: Hmm鈥 I think I鈥檇 like to play this one.
Ancient Egyptian person: Ahh, 鈥楢seb鈥! Yes, this is my favourite.
I can show you how to play if you like.
I should warn you, I am one of the best players around.
Child: Ok then. I鈥檒l give it a go.
Ancient Egyptian person: Well, you need to throw this dice and you need a four鈥
Child: Yay! I win!
Ancient Egyptian person: Ok鈥 Ok鈥 best of three!
Boards, dice and pieces
Take a look at some ancient Egyptian game pieces.
- Image source, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Image caption, The ancient Egyptians played Aseb on one side of this box and Senet on the other side. Look closely at the picture and you can see some knuckle bones. The ancient Egyptians would use these as dice.
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What was the Mehen game?
Image source, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
- The gameboard was a coiled snake split into rectangular spaces.
- The game was played with lion shaped pieces and small marbles or balls.
Activities
Activity 1: Explore Ancient Egyptian games
Click on the market stall to learn about four Ancient Egyptian games.
Games included 鈥楽enet鈥, 鈥楬ounds and Jackals鈥 鈥楢seb鈥 and 鈥楳ehen鈥.
Activity 2: Name the game
Solve the riddle and type the correct game name.
Activity 3: Quiz 鈥 Ancient Egyptian games
Activity 4: Make your own Mehen board
Download our ancient Egyptian Mehen board game and play the game yourself!
Activity 5: History Explorer game
Play this game to test your knowledge and learn even more facts about Ancient Egypt.
History Explorer: Secrets through time
History Explorer: Secrets through time: KS2 History
Bitesize Primary games. game
Play fun and educational primary games in science, maths, English, history, geography, art, computing and modern languages.
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