Senet
Senet is a board game from ancient Egypt.
The oldest known representation of Senet is in a painting from the tomb of Hesy (Third Dynasty circa 2686-2613 BC).
It is depicted in a painting in the tomb of Rashepes (c. 2500 BCE).
By the time of the New Kingdom in Egypt (1567-1085), it had become a kind of talisman for the journey of the dead. Because of the element of luck in the game and the Egyptian belief in determinism, it was believed that a successful player was under the protection of the major gods of the national pantheon : Re, Thoth, and sometimes Osiris. Consequently, Senet boards were often placed in the grave alongside other useful objects for the dangerous journey through the underworld, and the game is referenced in Chapter XVII of the Book of the Dead.
The game was also adopted in the Levant and as far as Cyprus or Crete but with apparently less religious significance.
