Editing Senet (section)

== History ==
{{Infobox hieroglyphs
|title = Senet
|width = 270px
|name = <hiero>O34:N35:X1-Y5</hiero><br/>''znt'' ("passing")
|image1 = Maler der Grabkammer der Nefertari 003.jpg
|image1-width = 240
|image1 description = Painting in tomb of Egyptian queen [[Nefertari]] (1295–1255 BCE) playing senet.
|}}

Fragmentary boards that could be senet have been found in [[First Dynasty of Egypt|First Dynasty]] burials in Egypt,<ref name="Piccione2">{{cite web |last=Piccione |first=Peter A. |title=In search of the meaning of Senet |url=http://www.gamesmuseum.uwaterloo.ca/Archives/Piccione/index.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080918080211/http://www.gamesmuseum.uwaterloo.ca/Archives/Piccione/index.html |archive-date=2008-09-18 |website=Games Museum |publisher=University of Waterloo |place=Canada}}</ref> {{c.}} 3100 BCE. The first unequivocal painting of this ancient game is from the [[Third Dynasty of Egypt|Third Dynasty]] tomb of the high official [[Hesy-Ra|Hesy]] ({{c.}} 2686–2613 BCE).<ref name="Sebbane" /> People are depicted playing senet in a painting in the tomb of the [[Fifth Dynasty of Egypt|Fifth Dynasty]] vizier [[Rashepses]] as well as from other tombs of the Fifth and Sixth Dynasties ({{c.}} 2500 BCE).<ref name="Metha2">{{cite journal |last=Wijoyono |first=Metha Melissa |last2=Raditya |first2=Alvin |date=10 July 2014 |title=Perancangan Permainan Media Edukasi Sebagai Pembelajaran Cara Melindungi Diri Dalam Menghadapi Bencana Alam Bagi Anak Usia 7–12 Tahun |url=http://publication.petra.ac.id/index.php/dkv/article/view/2021 |journal=Jurnal DKV Adiwarna |language=id |volume=1 |issue=4 |pages=12}}</ref> There are depictions of individuals such as [[Tutankhamun]] and [[Nefertari]] (wife of [[Ramesses II]]) playing senet in tomb art as well during the [[New Kingdom of Egypt|New Kingdom]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Solly |first=Meilan |date=February 6, 2020 |title=The Best Board Games of the Ancient World |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/best-board-games-ancient-world-180974094/ |access-date=January 14, 2023 |website=Smithsonian Mag}}</ref>

Senet is depicted in ancient texts, including in Chapter 17 of the [[Book of the Dead]], where the individual who has died plays the game against an invisible opponent.<ref name=":2">Crist 2019 p. 108</ref> The game of senet is also depicted in a scene depicted on papyrus dating from roughly 1250–1150 BCE that shows a lion and a gazelle playing senet (in the possession of the British Museum).<ref>Konstantakos 2022 p. 262</ref>

A game that could be ''senet'' is also referenced in the Roman-era Egyptian literary work that has been given the title in modern times of ''[[Setne Khamwas and Si-Osire]]''.<ref>Konstantakos 2022 p. 460</ref> In this story, Naneferkaptah challenges Setne to a board game, with the winner taking a book he had been looking for as a prize.<ref name=":4">Konstantakos 2022 p. 461</ref> The game in this story is not explicitly stated; however, similarities such as the religious implications and structure of the game support the idea that it could be senet being depicted.<ref>Konstantakos 2022 pp. 461–462</ref>

The oldest intact senet boards date to the [[Middle Kingdom of Egypt|Middle Kingdom]], but graffiti on [[Fifth Dynasty of Egypt|Fifth]] and [[Sixth Dynasty of Egypt|Sixth Dynasty]] monuments could date as early as the [[Old Kingdom of Egypt|Old Kingdom]].<ref name=":02">{{cite thesis |title=The Historical Development of the Game of Senet and its Significance for Ancient Egyptian Religion |last=Piccione |first=Peter A. |degree=PhD (unpublished) |publisher=University of Chicago |year=1990 |location=Chicago}}</ref> However, there have been no actual senet boards that have been dated to the Fourth through Sixth Dynasties, just evidence that they did exist from depictions in tombs.<ref name=":22">Crist 2019 pp.108</ref> In a painting from the Third Dynasty tomb of Hesy-Re, a senet game is depicted along with other boardgames from this era.<ref>Crist 2019 pp. 107–108</ref>

A study on a senet board in the [[Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum]], dating back to the early [[New Kingdom of Egypt]], showed the evolution of the game from its secular origins into a more religious artefact.<ref name=":3">Crist 2019 pp. 109</ref> However, the archaeological context of this senet board in question is unknown—it was acquired by the Rosicrucian Museum in London in 1947, and due to poor archaeological practices of the time, the [[provenance]] at this point appears to not have been recorded.<ref name=":3"/>

Some historians believe that senet could have originated in the [[Levant]] before Egypt; however, due to Egypt's involvement in the Levant, Egyptian influence could have introduced the game.<ref name=":5">Crist 2021 p. 16</ref> Senet was also adopted in [[Cyprus]] around the end of the third millennium BCE and continued until at least the Bronze Age.{{dubious|reason=Late 3M BCE *is* in the Bronze Age! Maybe late 4M, or into the IRON Age?|date=September 2023}}<ref name=":5"/>

Though some historians argue that senet essentially disappeared after the Romans, there are some examples of senet graffiti on the roof of the Roman [[Dendera Temple complex|Temple of Dendera]], which dates to the Roman period, and which would be the most concrete evidence that the game was played or did exist to some extent during the Roman period.<ref>Crist 2021 p. 17</ref>{{clear left}}

Senet was rediscovered and reintroduced to the world by Egyptologists during archaeological excavations in Egypt in the 1930s. As no complete record of the game's rules survived, the Swiss archaeologist [[Gustave Jéquier]] analyzed recovered senet boards and artistic depictions of senet to devise a conjectural set of rules for the game, which precipitated the initial revival of senet in the modern era. The Jéquier rules were eventually replaced by alternative sets of rules that were reconstructed in the latter half of the 20th century by the Canadian historian [[Robert Charles Bell|R. C. Bell]] and the American archaeologist Dr. Timothy Kendall.<ref name="Soubeyrand2">{{cite web |last=Soubeyrand |first=Catherine |title=The Game of Senet |url=http://www.gamecabinet.com/history/Senet.html |access-date=2014-10-25 |website=GameCabinet}}</ref> Various other Egyptologists have proposed additional rule sets over the years, but these have generally been discredited by subsequent archaeological findings.<ref name="Piccione3"/>