• DOI:10.1179/tav.2001.2001.2.213
• Corpus ID: 162219908

Board Games from Canaan in the Early and Intermediate Bronze Ages and the Origin of the Egyptian Senet Game

@article{Sebbane2001BoardGF,
  title={Board Games from Canaan in the Early and Intermediate Bronze Ages and the Origin of the Egyptian Senet Game},
  author={Michael Sebbane},
  journal={Tel Aviv},
  year={2001},
  volume={28},
  pages={213 - 230}
}

• M. Sebbane
• Published 1 September 2001
• History
• Tel Aviv

Board games are among the earliest and most frequently found games in ancient times; playing boards, gaming pieces and throw sticks have been found throughout the ancient Near East (e.g., Peterson 1975:853-5; Weippert 1977: 310-311; Decker 1984:1150-1152; Hallo 1993; Sebbane 2000; with earlier literature). Gameboards found in Pre-Pottery Neolithic B contexts at sites such as Beidha and cAin Ghazal (Kirkebride 1966:34, Fig. 8; Rollefson 1992), Wadi Tbeik in southern Sinai (BarYosef 1980:30, Pi. 7), and el-Kom in northern Syria (Marechal 1982:228, Fig. 14) indicate their popularity at least as early as the seventh millennium BCE. Our knowledge of popular board games in the ancient world is limited. Apart from the fact that we do not know all of the games that were played, we also lack basic information on most of the gameboards that have been found the name of the game, its rules, its origins, its geographical distribution and the time period in which it was widely used. As a rule they are "move games" for two or more players, who are supposed to move counters on a defined board. Some of them are games of chance, some require a great deal of skill and strategy and some are a combination of the two. This paper examines the board games found in Canaan from the Early and Intermediate Bronze Ages. While the picture is still far from clear, the large sample of gameboards from Arad, together with similar boards excavated in southern Canaan and Egypt, make a more comprehensive discussion possible and certain implications discernible.