04 | Senet game and flute

[flapping] AHMOSE: Come on, Cleo!

[flapping continues]

[padding footsteps]

CLEO: Ahmose, if you tell me … to come on … one more time …

AHMOSE: I just want to play a game with you.

CLEO: I like games.

AHMOSE: Well, check this out then.

CLEO: Ooh, is that a board game?

AHMOSE: Yeah, it’s called Senet.

CLEO: Okay, let’s play! AHMOSE: Three main problems with that.

CLEO: What are they?

AHMOSE: One, I don’t think all the pieces are there. CLEO: We’ll make our own.

AHMOSE: Two, it’s thousands of years old and very precious.

CLEO: I’ll be super careful.

AHMOSE: And three, no one knows the rules anymore.

CLEO: Oh … We can make up our own rules! Like we put the box on a table,

then the first one to knock it off the table, me, because I’m a cat, wins!

Meow!

AHMOSE: Uh, yeah, sure.

What we do know is that Senet was played over 4,000 years ago.

This one was owned by a man named Baki, who was a butler.

Look closely, and you can see some writing carved into the wood.

It says Baki felt proud that someone thought he was a good worker.

CLEO: I wonder if his boss gave it to him for being a good butler.

AHMOSE: Maybe.

You can also see there are squares on the top, a bit like chess.

It looks like it was a two-player game, where each player had up to five pieces each,

that they had to move across the board.

The design of the board looks like there are good squares and a dangerous squares to land on.

CLEO: What does ‘Senet’ mean?

AHMOSE: Great question.

Senet means ‘passing’, or ‘pass through’, in ancient Egyptian.

There are pictures on ancient Egyptian tombs of people playing Senet,

which suggests there might be a religious aspect to it.

Maybe passing meant passing onto the afterlife when someone dies.

Maybe that’s what the game was about.

CLEO: Meow! That’s a really great idea for a game.

But look there’s another fun thing just over here. Look! It looks like a musical instrument.

AHMOSE: It is! It’s a flute.

CLEO: I tried to play the flute once,

it didn’t sound so good. No lips you see.

AHMOSE: Sure.

CLEO: This flute looks pretty similar to flutes these days.

AHMOSE: Yeah, very similar just made from reed instead of metal.

CLEO: It looks a bit like bamboo or something?

AHMOSE: Exactly. It’s made from a reed similar to bamboo. The ancient Egyptians loved music,

just like we do. Where do we hear music today?

CLEO: Um, parties? AHMOSE: Yep, same in ancient Egypt.

CLEO: Festivals? AHMOSE: Yep, same in ancient Egypt.

CLEO: Markets?

AHMOSE: Yep, and religious events too, like rituals and funerals, just like today.

CLEO: Meow! Amazing! What’s next? AHMOSE: Let’s find out.

[flapping, padding footsteps]