Mehen is a board game that was played in ancient Egypt, taking its name from Mehen, a coiled snake deity of ancient Egyptian religion whose form the playing board itself resembles. Surviving boards are carved in a flat spiral divided into rectangular segments representing the body of the snake, and archaeological evidence places the game from the Predynastic period through the end of the Old Kingdom, roughly 3000 to 2300 BC. The exact rules of play have not survived, and the number of players and the movement of pieces around the spiral remain uncertain to researchers.
Facts
Sport
Game Type (category) In the Other Atlases
Found In
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Sources
1. Mehen game (Wikipedia)
LeadQuote, Lead
a board game which was played in ancient Egypt
2. Cyningstan Traditional Board Games: Mehen
Cyningstan Traditional Board GamesLeadQuote, Lead
It first appeared in about 3000 BC and continued until 2300 BC.
Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.
View At A Past Year
Choose a year to see this entry's facts and connections as the atlas records them at that moment: what it held then, what it held instead, and what it had not yet adopted. Choose Present for the current record.