View Original Ancient Egyptian 'board game of death' almost like Ludo was wont to ask deceased players within the afterlife 3,500 years ago
Senet was played across all of Egyptian society from 5,000–2,000 years ago
However, it took on a spiritual component around 700 years after its invention
Senet had begun to depict the passage of souls across the realm of the dead
An expert believes he had identified a rare board from the center of this alteration
The aim of the sport was likely to maneuver five pawn along a grid to the top square
An ancient Egyptian 'board game of death' that played during a fashion almost like modern-day Ludo was wont to commune with the deceased around 3,500 years ago.
The game — senet — was played across all levels of Egyptian society from its emergence 5,000 years ago until it fell out of recognition some 2,500 years later.
However, some 700 years after it had been first played the sport took on a spiritual component, with ancient texts hinting it had been believed to supply a link to the afterlife.
Now, an expert believes he has found a senet board from the center of this alteration — possibly one among the primary times the sport depicted the soul's journey to paradise.
An ancient Egyptian 'board game of death' that played during a fashion almost like modern-day Ludo was wont to commune with the deceased around 3,500 years ago. Pictured, the weird senet board from the collections of Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum in San Jose, California
Based on fragments of ancient texts, archaeologists think that senet was likely a game for 2 players — each with five pawns that move round the board, which featured a grid that was ten squares across by three down.
Players would likely throw a sort of gaming dice to ascertain how far they might move a pawn each turn, with the primary to maneuver all five pieces to the finish being the winner.
Each of the pawns would move all along the upper row, back left down the center row then right across rock bottom row, finishing within the thirtieth and final square within the grid's bottom-right corner.
The penultimate four squares featured symbols that probably held a special significance — it's thought that these were perhaps some equivalent of 'miss a turn' or 'go to jail' in modern board games.
When the sport first appears within the archaeological record around five millennia ago, there's nothing to suggest it served as anything but a sort of entertainment.
Around 4,300 years ago, however, and ancient Egyptian tomb art began to display images that depicted the deceased playing senet against living opponents.
Experts think that senet progressed from being essentially an ancient version of ludo to something closer to an Ouija — a conduit through which the living might commune with the dead
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