Gameboard and Gaming Pieces

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The blue faience inlays of this game box and the gaming pieces (01.4.1b–h and 01.4.1i–p) were discovered in a tomb at Abydos. This tomb also contained a scarab inscribed with the cartouche of Thutmose III, a papyrus burnisher inscribed with the name and title of the scribe Merymaat, a silver earring, and a painted pot. Only some of the faience inlays of the original box were preserved. The ancient tiles are now displayed on a box made of modern wood, and the missing tiles have been replaced with modern copies. The side visible in this photograph is laid out for the game of senet, which required 30 squares. The underside would have been laid out for the game of 20 squares which may be seen on another game box in the collection.

Egyptian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Met collection of ancient Egyptian art consists of approximately 30,000 objects of artistic, historical, and cultural importance, dating from about 300,000 BCE to the 4th century CE. A signifcant percentage of the collection is derived from the Museum's three decades of archaeological work in Egypt, initiated in 1906 in response to increasing interest in the culture of ancient Egypt.

Metropolitan Museum of Art