Note: The images on this homepage and
subsequent pages are copyrighted: copyright 1996 P.S. Neeley, all
rights reserved.
I am the lord of
fire who lives on truth,
The Lord of
Eternity, Maker of Joy, Against whom the otherworldly serpents
have not rebelled.
I am the God in
his shrine, The Lord of Slaughter, who calms the storm,
Who drives off
the serpents, the many-named one who comes forth from his shrine,
The Lord of the
Winds who foretells the Northwind,
Many-named in
the Mouth of the Ennead,
Lord of the
Horizon, Creator of Light,
Who illumines
heaven with his own beauty
I am He! Make
way for me . . .
(an ancient
Egyptian spell from 'The Coffin Texts')
Senet for Windows
Senet was an immensely popular game in ancient Egypt. Played
by both commoners and nobility, it took on even religious
significance in later times.
The most common playing pieces were 5 cones shaped pieces
pitted against 5 reel shaped pieces (These pieces were called
'ibau' which means 'dancers' in Egyptian).
The game was played on a board of 30 squares; the object
being to get one's pieces on the board, then around the board in
an S-shaped pattern, and finally off again at the far end. The
game requires strategy in the face of whimsical chance -- the
'chance' coming from 'casting sticks', used as the 'dice' in
older times, or in latter times, perhaps from 'knuckle bones'.
Senet is a two player game but during the New Kingdom period
a game in progress would often appear painted on tomb walls as a
'one' player game -- the opponent being a spirit from the
afterlife. The silver engraving on the 'Splash Screen' is just
such as situation. In the engraving, the nobleman Amenmose (to
the right) fights against Fate, with the stakes being
immortality. May your games never be so serious.
Senet was ancient Egypt's national game for 3000 years. Now
it is here again in the present, re-created through the magic of
electrons and phosphorus, for you to play.
Welcome to the game of the Pharaohs!
But are you good enough to beat the Mummy at
his own game?
Go
to 'Bytes 'o History' to download Senet.zip
or
Download it right from here (senet.zip
-- 491 Kb)
Interested in just the rules and history of the game?
Then download just the Windows Help file if
you'd like.
Note: This program requires VBRUN300.DLL
to exist on your system.
Looking for 'Ancient Egypt' on the Web? Any of the following
are great starting points:
