Ancient Egyptian Mehen game board, Petrie Museum

3D Model

This ancient Egyptian limestone artefact is one of the most remarkable items in game history. The coiled stone serpent represents the Snake god, Mehen, protector of Ra, the Sun god. Tomb walls from the Old Kingdom show the same type of design being played as a board game and a picture on the wall of tomb of Hesy-Re (3rd dynasty) showed an entire set of Mehen board and playing pieces.

Only a few such stone boards are known and this is one of only three that are from Predynastic times - more than 5100 years old. No known board games are older - The Royal Game of Ur and the Egyptian games of Senet and Men all appeared later.

It’s not known if this tablet itself was ever played upon but, such designs had evolved into Mehen, the board game, by the time of the first Egyptian dynasty, the same era that civilisation emerged and writing was invented. If you’ve ever enjoyed playing any board game, gaze at it some more - you may be looking at the original ancestor of them all…