^ Unless someone starts a thread about the statue. :)
Speaking of Egypt...
Still going through my Games magazines. In the May/June 1978 issue, there's an article about the Egyption game of Senet. It could possibly be "the oldest board game in the world". It bares some resemblance to Backgammon, what with opposing players' pieces moving through the board.
The squares on the board, like in Rebirth, however represent different aspects of the soul's journey. In Senet, it's fighting the enemies of Osiris after one's death, in an effort to join with Osiris. One player is the dead soul, called the "ba", the other is "the powers of darkness".
I should scan the image in the magazine, as every square of the board is illustrated.
The pieces, called "dancers", are moved through the board like an "S". The light player, goes from 1 to 30. The dark, from 30 to 1.
Like in Rebirth, each square, called a "house" has a meaning. I couldn't find a good site for all this, so I'm cutting an pasting from a blog post I found:
Four sticks, called "fingers", are thrown to determine the numbers of squares moved. They're light on one side, dark on the other. The number thrown is the number of light sides facing up. If all dark, you get a 5. You keep throwing until you get a 2 or a 3, at which point you use all your thrown numbers to move your pieces. (It's not throw, move, throw, move, but throw throw throw move move move. This way you can reorder your numbers to your advantage.
Each piece can only enter the board on a 1. The light player's dancers have to stop at square 26, "Beauty House." It's when embalming occurs.
After square 26, each piece must exit the board with either a 5, or two numbers that add to 5. This makes square 27, the "House of the Waters",
a most dreaded square.
Anyhow, rather than get into the finer points of the rules (because there are actually many different versions - no one knows the real rules for sure), the mythology behind the game is interesting.
When someone dies, his ba begins it's journey into the realm of the dead, called "duat". His journey leads him to the judgment hall of Osiris, lord of the dead. There, he has to prove he's led a life free from sin. His heart is placed on a scale, to be weighed against a "feather of truth". If it did not balance, his heart was immediately thrown to a crocodile-headed monster, called the "devouress".
If his heart balances, he is "justified" and is absorbed into the body of Osiris. As a gift, his soul is now allowed to "go forth by day", which means he can take the journey on Ra's "sun ship" as the sun rises, and go back to Earth. He can wander about in any form he wishes, but at nightfall, must get back on the sun ship, to go back to the netherworld.
Senet appears in the The Book of the Dead, which also shows images of ba returning as human-headed birds, and also of the heart balancing the feather.
I'm guessing the "feathers of truth" come from Hurleybirds.
Speaking of Egypt...
Still going through my Games magazines. In the May/June 1978 issue, there's an article about the Egyption game of Senet. It could possibly be "the oldest board game in the world". It bares some resemblance to Backgammon, what with opposing players' pieces moving through the board.
The squares on the board, like in Rebirth, however represent different aspects of the soul's journey. In Senet, it's fighting the enemies of Osiris after one's death, in an effort to join with Osiris. One player is the dead soul, called the "ba", the other is "the powers of darkness".
I should scan the image in the magazine, as every square of the board is illustrated.
The pieces, called "dancers", are moved through the board like an "S". The light player, goes from 1 to 30. The dark, from 30 to 1.
_1 _2 _3 _4 _5 _6 _7 _8 _9 10
20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11
21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11
21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
Like in Rebirth, each square, called a "house" has a meaning. I couldn't find a good site for all this, so I'm cutting an pasting from a blog post I found:
- House of Thoth: Thoth is the God of magick and protector of Osiris. Meaning: power, protection.
- House of Setting Up the Djed and the Tiyt: The djed is a column representing stability; the tiyt is
a red knotted cord, thought to symbolize the blood of Isis. Meaning: renewal, intervention, female power.
- House of Neith: Neith, mother of Ra, beckons to the holy city of Abydos. Meaning: secret knowledge.
- Unknown House: The original name and nature of this square are unknown.
- House of Ma'at: Ma'at, !$#+*+$ of Justice, weighs the hearts of the dead. Meaning: karma, consequence.
- First House of Tenet: Tenet was a festival in honor of Osiris. Its exact significance is unknown.
- House of the Thirty: Thirty gods judge Horus and Seth. Meaning: righteousness.
- Second House of Tenet: see 6.
- House of Setting Up the Tiyt and the Djed: see 2.
- House of Wadjet: Wadjet, God.dess of Fire, appears as a cobra to defend Osiris. Meaning: guidance, help.
- House of Mut: Mut is the Vulture God.dess, identified with Isis; her name means "mother," and She is protectress of the dead.
Meaning: self-reliance, charity, messages from ancestor spirits.
- House of Orion: Sah (Orion) appears in the Boat of Millions of Years. Meaning: mastery, dominion.
- House of Life: A per ankh symbol, representing the Temple of the Word of Life. Meaning: god-force.
- House of Passing With The Sun: The ba rides in the boat of Osiris. Meaning: devotion, divine favor.
- House of Repeating Life/House of Rebirth: Heqet, the frog god.dess, resurrects Osiris. Meaning: fertility, renewal, rejuvenation.
- House of the Net: A celestial net catches the unwary ba. Meaning: obstacles, danger, wrong direction.
- House of the Netting Implements: The adj and medjet symbols protect the ba. Meaning: escape, skill.
- House of following Osiris in Ro-Peker: Ro-Peqer is the burial place of Osiris. Meaning: change, crisis, underworld journey.
- House of the Steering Oar: The ba serves in the boat of Osiris. Meaning: service, blessedness, humility.
- House of Bread: Bread was left in tombs to feed the ba on its journey. Meaning: respite, hope, vigor.
- House of the Ba: Male and female ba sit atop their tombs. Meaning: spirit, enlightenment, wisdom.
- House of Spitting: Believed to be associated with the serpent-god Mehen. Meaning: healing, victory.
- House of Cool Waters/House of Libation and Greeting: The ba receives libations from the living. Meaning: communication.
- House of the Towrope: Jackals pull the barge of the sun. Meaning: fate, inevitability, lack of control.
- House of the Papyrus Thicket: An image from the judgment hall of Osiris. Meaning: truth, justice.
- Beautiful House/House of Happiness: The per nefer, or house of Embalming, ruled by Isis.
- House of the Waters: The Nile and the mystical Lake of Truth, ruled by Osiris.
- House of the Two Truths: The house of divine judgment, ruled by Maat and Sutekh.
- House of Atum and Re: Representing the divine creation, this house is ruled by Nephthys and Amon Ra.
- House of Horus/House of Rising Sun: The ba "goes forth by day" and is reincarnated.
Four sticks, called "fingers", are thrown to determine the numbers of squares moved. They're light on one side, dark on the other. The number thrown is the number of light sides facing up. If all dark, you get a 5. You keep throwing until you get a 2 or a 3, at which point you use all your thrown numbers to move your pieces. (It's not throw, move, throw, move, but throw throw throw move move move. This way you can reorder your numbers to your advantage.
Each piece can only enter the board on a 1. The light player's dancers have to stop at square 26, "Beauty House." It's when embalming occurs.
After square 26, each piece must exit the board with either a 5, or two numbers that add to 5. This makes square 27, the "House of the Waters",
a most dreaded square.
Anyhow, rather than get into the finer points of the rules (because there are actually many different versions - no one knows the real rules for sure), the mythology behind the game is interesting.
When someone dies, his ba begins it's journey into the realm of the dead, called "duat". His journey leads him to the judgment hall of Osiris, lord of the dead. There, he has to prove he's led a life free from sin. His heart is placed on a scale, to be weighed against a "feather of truth". If it did not balance, his heart was immediately thrown to a crocodile-headed monster, called the "devouress".
If his heart balances, he is "justified" and is absorbed into the body of Osiris. As a gift, his soul is now allowed to "go forth by day", which means he can take the journey on Ra's "sun ship" as the sun rises, and go back to Earth. He can wander about in any form he wishes, but at nightfall, must get back on the sun ship, to go back to the netherworld.
Senet appears in the The Book of the Dead, which also shows images of ba returning as human-headed birds, and also of the heart balancing the feather.
I'm guessing the "feathers of truth" come from Hurleybirds.
