Board games have been an important part of cultures worldwide for centuries. Our most famous board games today include games like Monopoly, Chess, and Life. While these games are fun ways to occupy time, they do not have the deeper meaning and connection to society that ancient board games did. One ancient board game I researched was the game Senet. It is thought to have connections to religion, the afterlife, and other aspects of society. In this paper I will go into detail about the Senet game’s rules, revolution and deeper symbolism.
Background Information on the Senet Board
The board game, Senet, with ties to Egypt, Upper Egypt, Thebes, Asasif and Abydos, was a popular recreational game that eventually gained religious symbolism. The Senet board I found from The Metropolitan Museum was discovered during the Second Intermediate Period-Early New
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However, ancient tomb writings and Senet artifacts that have been uncovered provided some clues as to how the game was originally played, (Kendall, p. 1, 1978). Timothy Kendall, a historian of Ancient Egypt, worked to reconstruct the rules of Senet. Kendall explains that the game has a total of 30 squares divided into 3 rows of 10. Each player had seven pawns and alternates them on the first 14 squares. Whoever has the black pawns go first by tossing up sticks in the air. The sticks have a light side and a dark side. The number of sticks with the light side showing represents how many spaces the piece is to be moved. The player can only move their piece to an empty square or where the opponent's piece is. If the piece is moved onto the opponent's square, it will bump off that piece and the opponent must put their piece where the moving piece came from. Like most games, Senet has special rules for certain squares. For example, landing on one square might have the player miss a turn, move back or be frozen on the square until further notice, (Kendall, p. 1,
Never before in history did any monument receive such wide attention from the public and media like the Great Sphinx of Giza. The 73.5m long and 20m high (Dieter Arnold) stone carved statue not only fascinates people from all around the world, but also created countless movie ideas, novels, video games and raises questions to those who are interested. Undoubtedly, Sphinx has become one of the most notable figures of ancient Egyptian culture just beside the pyramids in the eyes of westerners. However, many questions remained in mysteries for almost decades until the excavation of 1925 by Emile Baraize revealed the Sphinx’s exotic design to the world's view. Why did the ancient Egyptians build this massive structure? For what purpose would they want to invest such resources and labors to initiate such complex project? How was it built and how did the Egyptians overcome the enormous difficulties with past technologies? The purpose of this paper would be discussing the possible identity of whom the Sphinx might be and compare and analyze the evidence from a material culture point of view. The paper would be lay out to four different sections. First part would briefly describe the purpose of this study as well as giving a brief modern history of the Sphinx. Second part would be discussing the style/meaning and its association and context with the pyramids of the Giza and how the Sphinx was built. The third part would be discussing kings who possibly commissioned the Sphinx to be built and analyze the style of the Pyramid to the style of those kings. Two kings that could be the owner of the Sphinx are Khafra and Khufu, which would be my main focus here and I would be discussing the pros and cons of the scholars’ different ideas. Last p...
Johnson, Paul The Civilization of Ancient Egypt (New York: Harper Collins Publishers 1978,1998 and 1999)
The statue of King Menkaure and his Queen exhibits with clarity the Egyptian devotion of art to a cannon of proportions. Its strictly frontal view point, the rigid poses of the figures, and a faithful accordance to rules and established customs can be interpreted as manifesting the nature of the Pharaoh’s authority over his subjects while at the same time exemplifying the highly regulated, hierarchical structure of ancient Egyptian society. The measured grid of verticals and counterbalancing horizontals, the stiff artificial postures and the overall idealized anatomical shapes of the bodies combined with naturalism is indicative of Egyptian taste for art and a representation of the character of Egyptian culture.
When Tut was alive, however the Egyptians had a flair for playing games and telling stories. All Egyptians enjoyed contests and stories, but the wealthy pursued those pastimes with an elegant flourish. Royalty such as Tut, was portrayed on the walls of his tomb playing the game senet, which reenacted the quest for eternal fulfillment after death. This game is played on a checkerboard table with thirty squares arranged in three parallel rows. Each of two players has an equal number of counters (ranging from five to seven) in two series of different shapes. The counters are moved with sticks or small bones.
John Baines, Leonard H. Lesko, David P. Silverman. Religion in Ancient Egypt. New York Cornell University Press 1991. Pages 92-100.
The artworks of Mesopotamia, Ancient Egypt, the Aegean cultures, and Ancient Greece have similarities that not only reflect objects and images, but also the media, style and representation. These countries were not always wealthy, clever, creative and powerful enough to gain supplies, but they all find a way to create art with what they had. They have all influenced on each other’s cultures and belief through their artistic values and ways, ranging from the materials and tools they use, position and representation of their monuments and their religious intent.
While many teenagers argue that games also teach them life lessons, they fail to allow the player to “climb into his skin and walk around in it.” (p35) Harper Lee’s book, “To Kill a Mockingbird” (published in the 1960s), is a classic novel that contains many universal themes that is still evident today. While it teaches many themes, the novel also displays admirable characters who are also considered
The relief in the tomb of Hesira depicts a stately figure, one whose high social rank is made apparent at first glance. The artist achieves this portrayal in illustrating the subject’s body in a graceful, poised stance. Not only is his body depicted with great attention to detail, but his face is also shown with that same level of care. The musculature is carried out with great skill, and the body displays sleek athleticism, a perfect body that will be ready to travel to and through the afterlife. In both hands, Hesira holds objects, perhaps maces or rods, which proclaim his status. Accompanying these indications one can see above his head some hieroglyphs, certainly telling of his rank. Writing held great importance to the early Egyptians, and, thus, this writing is a most important attribution to Hesira that had to be prominently displayed, and very close to Hesira. Here, Hesira is likely the determinative of these hieroglyphs, emphasizing even further the fact th...
When they decided to end the game they all said that they would want to play again. The play observation illustrated Huizinga’s play detentions in terms of free activity, no material interest, own boundaries, and fixed rules. One person suggested to play hide and seek and the rest decided to join knowing that there is no material reward. The A team added their own rules in order to create their own boundaries. In addition, Eberle’s play framework elements of pleasure and strength were displayed by the game because each player demonstrated enjoyment during the game and they enhanced their strength by running quickly. The game also illustrated Brown’s play properties of play being voluntary, and how it diminishes consciousness of self and a desire to play again. Like stated before, every player decided to play at their own will no one forced them to. Moreover, each player did not care who played or how everyone looked like, no one felt self-conscious. Lastly, when the game ended each player said they would want to play
This depiction of Nebamun hunting in the marshes dates to around the late 18th dynasty . Its formal qualities depict that of an Egyptian scribe on an outing with his family, while utilising proportion to emphasise the Egyptian values and beliefs of the day. Further analysis reveals strong iconographic meaning, particularily in relation to the habitat surrounding Nebamun and his family. When studying the piece in relation to social context, we see how death and the Afterlife were an essential part of Egyptian life as a whole.
In conclusion we see how integral a part stelas played within Egypt’s history. Like many other Egyptian art forms, its function and use changed over time but some styles revived themselves throughout the years. The Metropolitan Museum of Art has one of the largest collections of Egyptian art and although crowded on the day I went, it was nice to be able to see some of the things in practice. It was also interesting to note the resourcefulness of the Ancient Egyptians and how art forms reappeared after somewhat of a hiatus.
The Palette of King Narmer reinforces King Narmer’s authority as the first king of the Early Dynasty showing his power over his people and both Upper and Lower Egypt. It is from the temple of Horus at Hierakonpolis, c. 2950, made from green schist, and is 63.5cm in height (Stokstad and Cothren, 51). It depicts King Narmer and his authority over both Upper and Lower Egypt by showing him wearing the White Crown of Upper Egypt and striking at a man who is believed to represent Lower Egypt according to Stokstad and Cothren (51). In this essay I will talk about how the Palette of King Narmer reinforces the authority that King Narmer has over both Upper, and Lower Egypt from the visual art of carved into the palette
Prisse, d’Avennes. Atlas of Egyptian Art. Egypt: The American University in Cairo Press. 200. Print
Egypt. (2012). In Cultural Sociology of the Middle East, Asia, and Africa. Retrieved from http://proxy.consortiumlibrary.org/login?url=http://www.credoreference.com/entry/sagecsme/egypt/1
In fact, Egyptians had a belief that the condition of the world was perfect from its creation and because of that, style was kept consistently preserved within religious functions in order to symbolize ritual and belief. (Teeter, 1994, 14) However, in everyday objects a trend of evolving forms are present. The uniformity of Egyptian art was due to a standardized proportional system that employed guidelines and grids. (Teeter, 1994 14) In fact, in 2700 BCE, human figures were proportioned from a figures hairline to the soles of ones feet, in an 18 square grid with the foot given three squares alone. By 700 BCE and the Roman Era, the grid was modified and figures were elongated. (Teeter, 1994, 15) This slight change demonstrates the minor changes Egyptian Art took within a tradition of consistent practice. More often than not, workshops would produce items that were official representations of kings and deities that were supervised by palace officials or temples. Everyday objects also reflected royal or religious symbolism that made a presence in individual life in every way. Art would often reflect the relationship the people had with the temples and royalty as the Pharaoh’s were Gods on earth. Art itself is a reflection of a kingdoms wealth; economy, trade relations, and political standing that will be elaborated throughout the