Ancient Egyptians at Play: Board Games Across Borders

by Walter Crist, Anne-Elizabeth Dunn-Vaturi, Alex de Voogt

Overview

The rich history of Egypt has provided famous examples of board games played in antiquity. Each of these games provides evidence of contact between Egypt and its neighbours. From pre-dynastic rule to Arab and Ottoman invasions, Egypt's past is visible on game boards.

This volume starts by introducing the reader to board games as well as instruments of chance and goes on to trace the history and distribution of ancient Egyptian games, looking particularly at how they show contact with other cultures and civilizations. Game practices, which were also part of Egyptian rituals and divination, travelled throughout the eastern Mediterranean. This book explores the role of Egypt in accepting and disseminating games during its long history. Over the last few years, the extent and the modes of contact have become better understood through museum and archival research projects as well as surveys of archaeological sites in Egypt and its surrounding regions. The results allow new insight into ancient Egypt's international relations and the role of board games research in understanding its extent.

Written by three authors known internationally for their expertise on this topic, this will be the first volume on Ancient Egyptian games of its kind and a much-needed contribution to the field of both Egyptology and board games studies.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781474221184
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	02/25/2016
Series:	Bloomsbury Egyptology
Pages:	232
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.56(d)

About the Author

Walter Crist is a leading expert on Cypriot board games and a PhD candidate in archaeology at Arizona State University.

Anne-Elizabeth Dunn-Vaturi is a Research Associate in the Department of Ancient Near Eastern Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and is pursuing PhD research at Leiden University, the Netherlands, on the game of Hounds and Jackals.

Alex de Voogt is an Assistant Curator at the American Museum of Natural History, New York, and a leading researcher of board games in Africa and the Middle East.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations
Acknowledgements
Egyptian Chronology
1. Ancient Egyptians at Play: An Introduction
2. Mehen and men: The First Signs of Egyptian Board Games
3. Senet across Borders
4. The Game of Twenty: A Foreign Acquisition
5. The Game of Hounds and Jackals: From Thebes to Susa
6. Roman Board Games Crossing the Borders of Egypt
7. Arab and Ottoman Invaders Scratching the Surface
8. The Role of Board Games in Understanding the Ancient World
Index

Editorial Reviews

Meticulously researched … Crist, Dunn-Vaturi, and de Voogt have produced an appealing overview of board games in ancient Egypt … This volume compiles all relevant scholarship into a digestible size and makes new arguments for cultural exchange between Egypt and its neighbors. This book will be an invaluable tool for anyone seeking to identify board games in the field and a helpful resource for anyone interested in ancient board games, ancient Egypt, or cultural exchange.” – Classical Jourbanal

From the Publisher