Ancient Egyptians at Play
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Ancient Egyptians at Play 30646.indb 1 21/09/2015 13:48 Bloomsbury Egyptology Series editor: Nicholas Reeves Ancient Egyptian Technology and Innovation, Ian Shaw Archaeologists, Tourists, Interpreters, Rachel Mairs and Maya Muratov Asiatics in Middle Kingdom Egypt, Phyllis Saretta Burial Customs in Ancient Egypt, Wolfram Grajetzki Court Officials of the Egyptian Middle Kingdom, Wolfram Grajetzki Te Egyptian Oracle Project, edited by Robyn Gillam and Jeffrey Jacobson Hidden Hands, Stephen Quirke Te Middle Kingdom of Ancient Egypt, Wolfram Grajetzki Performance and Drama in Ancient Egypt, Robyn Gillam 30646.indb 2 21/09/2015 13:48 Ancient Egyptians at Play Board Games across Borders Walter Crist Anne-Elizabeth Dunn-Vaturi Alex de Voogt Bloomsbury Academic An imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc LONDON • OXFORD • NEW YORK • NEW DELHI • SYDNEY 30646.indb 3 21/09/2015 13:48 Bloomsbury Academic An imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc 50 Bedford Square 1385 Broadway London New York WC1B 3DP NY 10018 UK USA www.bloomsbury.com BLOOMSBURY and the Diana logo are trademarks of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc First published 2016 © Walter Crist, Anne-Elizabeth Dunn-Vaturi and Alex de Voogt, 2016 Walter Crist, Anne-Elizabeth Dunn-Vaturi and Alex de Voogt have asserted their rights under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as Authors of this work. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers. No responsibility for loss caused to any individual or organization acting on or refraining from action as a result of the material in this publication can be accepted by Bloomsbury or the authors. British Library Cataloguing- in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN: HB: 978-1-47422-118-4 PB: 978-1-47422-117-7 ePDF: 978-1-47422-120-7 ePub: 978-1-47422-119-1 Library of Congress Cataloging- in-Publication Data Crist, Walter, author. Ancient Egyptians at play : board games across borders / Walter Crist, Anne-Elizabeth Dunn-Vaturi, Alex de Voogt. pages cm — (Bloomsbury Egyptology) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-4742-2118-4 (hb : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-1-4742-2117-7 (pb : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-1-4742-2119-1 (epub : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-1-4742-2120-7 (epdf : alk. paper) 1. Board games—Egypt—History. 2. Egypt—Antiquities. 3. Egypt—Social life and customs. 4. Divination—Egypt—History. I. Dunn-Vaturi, Anne-Elizabeth, author. II. Voogt, Alexander J. de, author. III. Title. IV. Series: Bloomsbury Egyptology. DT62.B5C75 2016 794’.0932—dc23 2015034318 Series: Bloomsbury Egyptology Typeset by RefineCatch Limited, Bungay, Suffolk Printed and bound in India 30646.indb 4 21/09/2015 13:48 Contents List of Illustrations viii Acknowledgments xi Egyptian Chronology xiii 1 Ancient Egyptians at Play: An Introduction 1 A range of casting devices 5 Board games across borders: Identifying Egyptian games 12 2 Mehen and men: Te First Signs of Egyptian Board Games 15 Mehen: Te game of the coiled serpent 15 Mehen boards 17 Mehen pieces 24 Rules of mehen 26 Pictorial evidence 27 Textual evidence 29 Archaeological evidence and social context 31 Te demise of mehen in Egypt 32 Mehen in Nubia 33 Mehen in the Levant and Mesopotamia 34 Mehen in Cyprus and the Aegean 34 Men 37 Two rows of thirteen and forty- two and pool 39 3 Senet across Borders 41 Early evidence for senet 41 Old Kingdom: Ritual use and graffiti 44 Middle Kingdom: Changes and consistency 49 New Kingdom: Religious meaning 52 Later history of senet 60 Playing pieces 64 Senet in Nubia 67 30646.indb 5 21/09/2015 13:48 vi Contents Senet in the Levant 69 Senet in Cyprus 74 Te game of thirty- three 77 4 Te Game of Twenty: A Foreign Acquisition 81 Origins and chronological distribution 82 Beni Hasan playing scenes 85 Ancient names 86 Boards for the game of twenty 87 Special squares and decorations 91 Archaeological contexts 97 Rules for the game of twenty 98 “Uniting of the twenty squares” or thirty- one 99 Te Levant and Cyprus: Games as heirlooms 101 5 Te Game of Hounds and Jackals: From Tebes to Susa 103 Boards for hounds and jackals 104 Gaming pegs 110 Beni Hasan playing scenes 112 Te game outside of Egypt 114 Reconstructed rules 118 Symbolism of the game 120 Te Coptic board game 122 6 Roman Board Games Crossing the Borders of Egypt 125 Te sources 126 Te game of five lines or πέντε γραμμαί 130 Duodecim scripta or ludus duodecim scriptorum 133 Latrunculi or ludus latrunculorum 138 Merels or mill game 141 Marbles 144 Remaining configurations 146 Te borders of Egypt 147 7 Arab and Ottoman Invaders Scratching the Surface 151 Graffiti games 151 Seeja or siga 154 30646.indb 6 21/09/2015 13:48 Contents vii Seeja playing rules 154 Tâb 158 Mancala 160 8 Te Role of Board Games in Understanding Antiquity 167 Spread of board games 167 Religiosity of board games 170 Site use 171 Unidentified board games and new approaches 172 References 175 Author Index 195 Subject Index 201 30646.indb 7 21/09/2015 13:48 Illustrations Figures All drawings, unless otherwise indicated, were made by Jennifer Steffey at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, who also designed the maps for each of the chapters. Dimensions of objects are indicated when available either as a scale on the photograph or in the caption. 1.1 Casting devices from Egypt and Sudan. 7 2.1 Map of sites mentioned in Chapter 2. 16 2.2 Mehen board demonstrating a Predynastic rendering of the game. 18 2.3 Mehen board bearing the name of Hor Aha. 19 2.4 Second Dynasty mehen board accompanied by spherical playing pieces. 21 2.5 Painting from the tomb of Hesy-Re showing mehen, senet and men. 23 2.6 Ivory mehen piece from Abydos in the form of a couchant lion. 25 2.7 Mehen game from Episkopi Phaneromeni, Cyprus. 35 3.1 Map of sites mentioned in Chapter 3. 42 3.2 Drawing of senet patterns, showing markings common during different periods. 46 3.3 Drawing of scene from the mastaba of Nikauhor showing senet playing. 48 3.4 Facsimile of a painting from the tomb of Nefertari. 56 3.5 Senet boards on terracotta platters from Twenty-Sixth Dynasty fortress at Tel Defenneh. 62 3.6 Playing pieces collected by F.G. Hilton Price. 65 3.7 Drawing of Merenptah playing senet. 69 3.8 Senet game from Arad, with drilled depressions as the playing spaces. 70 30646.indb 8 21/09/2015 13:48 Illustrations ix 3.9 Senet game from Hazor, with the game of twenty on the opposite side. 73 3.10 Senet games from the Episkopi region, Cyprus. 75 3.11 Senet game of Late Period date, with the game of thirty- three on the opposite face. 78 4.1 Map of the game of twenty from the mid- third to the first millennium BCE. 81 4.2 Te royal game of Ur with gaming pieces and tetrahedrons. 83 4.3 Te game of twenty in the second and first millennia BCE, and the route of play. 84 4.4 Playing scenes A, B and C in the tombs of Baqet III and Khety, Beni Hasan. 85 4.5 Game of twenty from Tebes with senet on the opposite side. 90 4.6 Ostracon from Deir el-Medina. 98 4.7 Drawing of the Turin Papyrus with four games. 100 5.1 Map of the game of hounds and jackals during the second and first millennia BCE. 103 5.2 Game of hounds and jackals from Tebes. 106 5.3 Violin- shaped game board. 108 5.4 Drawing of hippopotamus- shaped game board. 109 5.5 Turtle stand or simulacra from Dra Abu el-Naga. 112 5.6 Playing scene in Beni Hasan, probably from Tomb 17. 113 5.7 Boards from the deposit of the temple of Inshushinak, Susa. 117 5.8 Reconstruction of the numbering sequence of the holes. 119 5.9 Coptic board game. 123 6.1 Map of sites mentioned in Chapters 6 and 7. 127 6.2 Example of a Roman games context at Palmyra, Syria. 130 6.3 Five lines at the Luxor Temple and at Qasr al Ghweita. 132 6.4 Drawings of duodecim scripta boards from Qustul and Dawwi. 134 6.5 Duodecim scripta boards at Kom Ombo. 137 6.6 Drawing of a terracotta game board. 139 6.7 Latrunculi board at Kom Ombo. 141 6.8 Merels boards at Dendera, Kom el Dekka, Kom Ombo and Silsila. 143 30646.indb 9 21/09/2015 13:48 x Illustrations 6.9 Drawing of a nine- men’s- morris board as found on a column at the Ramesseum. 143 6.10 Drawing of a marble lane. 144 6.11 Two unidentified game boards at Beni Hasan and Silsila. 147 6.12 Possible seeja board at the Kharga Oasis. 148 7.1 Example of an Arab or Ottoman games context at Petra, Jordan and on Sai Island, Sudan. 153 7.2 Placement of first pieces on a seeja board. 156 7.3 Examples of seeja boards at Silsila, Medamoud, and el-Kab. 157 7.4 Examples of tâb boards at el-Kab. 160 7.5 Drawing of a mancala board at the “Tird Pyramid, Gizeh.” 161 7.6 Sudanese mancala boards carved in the temple of Tiye, Sedeinga, and on the temple of Soleb.