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Senet: A Dice Game From Ancient Egypt For Two Players

Senet is an ancient Egyptian board game for two players that has been played since 3000 BC. The objective is to be the first player to bear all five game pieces off the board beyond square 30. Players take turns rolling dice or sticks to determine how far they can move their pieces along the 30 square grid. Certain squares have special rules, such as squares 26-30 which must be landed on exactly or allow pieces to be borne off the board. The game represents the Egyptian belief in guiding one's soul through the afterlife trials.

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Saket Mishra
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101 views

Senet: A Dice Game From Ancient Egypt For Two Players

Senet is an ancient Egyptian board game for two players that has been played since 3000 BC. The objective is to be the first player to bear all five game pieces off the board beyond square 30. Players take turns rolling dice or sticks to determine how far they can move their pieces along the 30 square grid. Certain squares have special rules, such as squares 26-30 which must be landed on exactly or allow pieces to be borne off the board. The game represents the Egyptian belief in guiding one's soul through the afterlife trials.

Uploaded by

Saket Mishra
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Senet

A dice game from Ancient Egypt for two players

As this age-old game has been known in one form or another since approximately 3000 BC, the
exact rules are not known but partly reconstructed, partly subject to modern interpretation.

At the start of the game determine randomly which of the two types of pieces each of the players
will use. Also determine randomly which player goes first. If more than one game is to be played,
the players can agree on a fixed number of games. If multiple games are to be played, the player
that lost the previous one goes first in the new game.

The game board consists of 30 squares (a. k. a. “houses”), arranged as a 3x10 grid. Square 1 is
located in the upper left corner, square 20 at the left edge in the middle row, square 30 in the lower
right corner (see illustration below). That means, the pieces will change their direction of movement
twice as they are moved across the board. Squares 15 and 26-30 have special names and features
which will be explained later on.

After it has been determined which of the two types of pieces each of the players will use, the
pieces are placed onto the first row of the board (squares 1-10). The pieces light in colour (often
cone-shaped) are placed on squares 1/3/5/7/9, the pieces dark in colour (often spool-shaped) are
placed on squares 2/4/6/8/10.

The objective of the game is to be the first to bear off all five pieces from the board (beyond square
30). The game can be seen as an interpretation of the Ancient Egyptian belief in the hereafter: guide
your soul (symbolized by the five game pieces) through the underworld and its trials to be the first
to make it to the afterlife. However, there are other astronomical and mythological interpretations.

Players take turns in rolling either a d5 die or using the four traditional casting sticks (also further
referred to as “rolling”). The rules are as follows:
● Roll of one (the flat/marked side of one stick shows) > The player moves one of his pieces
one square forward and immediately rolls again (but not a third time!). It's then the
opponent's turn.
● Roll of two (the flat/marked sides of two sticks show) > The player moves one of his pieces
two squares forward. It's then the opponent's turn.
● Roll of three (the flat/marked sides of three sticks show) > The player moves one of his
pieces three squares forward. It's then the opponent's turn.
● Roll of four (all flat/marked sides of the sticks show) > The player moves one of his pieces
four squares forward and immediately rolls again (but not a third time!). It's then the
opponent's turn.
● Roll of five (none of the flat/marked sides of the sticks show) > The player does not move
any of his pieces forward and it's then the opponent's turn.
A square may only be occupied by one piece at any time. When a piece is moved onto a square that
is already occupied by an opponent's piece, this is considered an attack and the pieces swap places.
Thus, the attacked piece is moved to the square from which the attacking piece came from. A piece
may not be moved onto a square that is already occupied by one of the player's own pieces. Two or
more pieces from the same player that are adjacent to each other (located on consecutive squares)
cannot be attacked because they are protected. (This also applies to squares 28-30.) However, the
opponent may jump over them if he rolls a number high enough to do so.

In case that a player is unable to move one of his pieces forward by the number rolled, he has to
move one of his pieces backwards by the number rolled. In this case, it is not allowed to roll the die
a second time if the number rolled was a one or four. In case that moving backwards is also not
possible, perhaps because the squares that the player would have to move onto are already occupied
by his own pieces, he will not move any piece and it's then the opponent's turn. If the player, by
moving backwards, moves onto a square that is already occupied by an opponent's piece, the pieces
swap places, even if the opponent's piece would be considered protected for it is adjacent to others
of the opponent's pieces. Pieces occupying squares 26-30 may not be moved backwards – unless
they are attacked on squares 28-30 and are forced to move backwards because of that. See the rule
for these squares further down.

Square 15, “House of Rebirth”


This square only has a special feature when used in combination with square 27.

Square 26, “House of Beauty”


All pieces have to move onto this square by an exact roll before they can continue to
move to squares 27-30. This means, that this square cannot be jumped over. A piece
occupying this square may not be attacked, even if it is not adjacent to other pieces from
the same player.

Square 27, “House of Water”


(1) When a piece moves onto the House of Water by an exact roll (roll of one from
square 26), it has to be returned to the House of Rebirth (square 15). In case the House
of Rebirth is currently occupied by one of the player's or opponent's pieces, the piece
has to be moved to the next unoccupied square with a lower number (square 14, 13, ...)
instead.
(2) When a piece is forced to move onto the House of Water because it was attacked on
squares 28-30 (see the rule for these squares further down), the player can decide to
return the piece to the House of Rebirth (or the next unoccupied square with a lower
number). However, the player can also decide to try to bear the piece off the board with
an exact roll of four. In case that no four is rolled, the piece has to be returned to the
House of Rebirth (or the next unoccupied square with a lower number), the number
rolled is forfeit and (sort of a “penalty”) the opponent now will gain an advantage: He
may roll five times in a row. As usual, he may roll the die a second time if the number
rolled was a one or four. When the opponent has finished five rolls, it's then the other
player's turn again.

Square 28, “House of Three Truths”


For a piece occupying this square to be borne off the board with a single roll, a three has
to be rolled. If a two or one is rolled, the piece may of course be moved forward. If a
piece is attacked on this square, the pieces do not swap places, but the attacked piece is
forced to move onto the House of Water (square 27). The player who controls the
attacked piece then continues as described at Square 27, section (2).
Square 29, “House of Re Atum”
For a piece occupying this square to be borne off the board with a single roll, a two has
to be rolled. If a one is rolled, the piece may of course be moved forward. If a piece is
attacked on this square, the pieces do not swap places, but the attacked piece is forced to
move onto the House of Water (square 27). The player who controls the attacked piece
then continues as described at Square 27, section (2).

Square 30, “House of Horus”


For a piece occupying this square to be borne off the board with a single roll, a one has
to be rolled. If a piece is attacked on this square, the pieces do not swap places, but the
attacked piece is forced to move onto the House of Water (square 27). The player who
controls the attacked piece then continues as described at Square 27, section (2).

Enjoy!

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