Senet gaming pieces

3 Rare faience gaming pieces form the ancient Egyptian senet game. One in dark blue, other in turquoise.

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.
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.

Size: 1,9 x 2,2 cm

Material: Faience

Period: 18th dynasty, c. 1567 - 1320 B.C.

Provenance: English private collection, collected between 1970 - 1980's

2012TG13        Price  €  1.500,--