Mehen (game)

Mehen ( ancient Egyptian " rolled " for ) is the name of a board game in ancient Egypt, which is attested since about 3000 BC and enjoyed great popularity especially among the upper classes. The exact rules of the game are not recorded and therefore virtually unknown. For unexplained reasons, the game disappeared during the First Intermediate Period from the everyday life of the Egyptians.

Description

Mehen was played on a thickish, dish-shaped board or stone, which had the form of a coiled serpent. Along the back of the snake rectangular recesses were engraved on a regular basis. There was apparently no fixed prescribed number of wells, nor for the game pieces. In some versions of games the tail end of the snake had the head of a duck or goose. It is also mehen games are known in which both ends were schlangenköpfig. There also existed Mehen game boards with stand and those that could be comfortable to wear and carry with you.

Game rules

The exact rules of the game are not recorded in detail and can therefore only be reconstructed. Apparently, each player had a fixed number of marbles and play figures with flat, rectangular base. Seem to have been particularly popular figures of lions. The game was played with either the clockwise or counterclockwise. May have been the number of fields that could move for the current player, negotiated by throwing different striped sticks, or by guessing the hidden randomly in the hands of an opponent marbles. The goal of the game, it was probably to bring his checkers first either tail of the queue to snake head in the center, or the other way around.

Mythological significance

The Pyramid Texts of the 5th and 6th dynasty indicate that the game with the journey of the sun god Ra through the underworld on the "Road of Mehen " was associated. Mehen was the Egyptian mythology, a serpent god who protected both Re and the late king on his dangerous journey through the underworld by wrapped the body of the wearer's normal. This also explains the design of the game boards and tables.

Known representations and finds

Known, artistic representations of Mehen game boards and game scenes come mainly from the Old Kingdom. Best known are the representations from the grave of the high officials Hesire from the 3rd dynasty. At the grave walls of his mastaba Hesire had several and all colors of Mehen game boards attach. The remaining colors show black and white striped and yellow- black-green striped game boards. Another known representation is obtained Idu ( 6th dynasty ) from Saqqara in the grave of the high officials. The relief shows a scene from the game Mehen game, other games such as Senet, can be seen. From the grave of Peribsen (2nd dynasty ) at Abydos comes a game board made ​​of faience. The oldest specimens of Mehen game boards come from pre-dynastic tombs at Deir el- Ballas near Thebes. A total of ten complete and four fragmentary specimens from different eras are known.