Game Box Inscribed for Taia and His Family

Game Box Inscribed for Taia and His Family

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This wooden game box has two playing surfaces and a drawer for storing gaming pieces and throw sticks that were used as counters for determining moves in the games. The top surface is laid out with twenty squares for the game tjau (robbers). The bottom has thirty squares for the game senet (passing). In the New Kingdom, senet became associated with the underworld; the obstacles of the game corresponding to hazards met on the journey to the afterlife. In the tomb of Nefertari, principal wife of Ramesses II, a scene depicts the queen playing senet in the afterlife against an invisible adversary. The box is inscribed on the top and sides with funerary offering texts for the overseer of works Taia, his father, also named Taia, and his mother, Yuwi. On one end is a scene showing Taia and his wife, Tekhyt, seated on the right facing an offering table. Facing the table on the left is Takhyt's mother, Ahmose.

Egyptian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Game Box Inscribed for Taia and His FamilyGame Box Inscribed for Taia and His FamilyGame Box Inscribed for Taia and His FamilyGame Box Inscribed for Taia and His FamilyGame Box Inscribed for Taia and His Family

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.