Tagged: Mehen game

Mehen, also known as the “Game of the Snake,” was a board game played in ancient Egypt. It was one of the oldest known board games, dating back to around 3,000 BC.

The game was named after the coiled serpent deity, Mehen, often depicted in ancient Egyptian art.

The Mehen game board was typically in the shape of a coiled snake, reflecting the serpent’s protective symbolism in Egyptian mythology. The game pieces were small lion-shaped objects or tokens, which represented the players or participants.

The rules and objectives of the Mehen game are not well-documented, and much of the gameplay remains a mystery. It is believed to have been a race-style board game, where players moved their lion-shaped pieces along the snake-like path on the board.

Some scholars have stated that the game may have had religious or ritualistic significance, as snakes and lions were associated with deities in Egyptian culture.