Board games
Ancient Egyptian game-piece in the collection of the British Museum. Board games were developed before the invention of the wheel, with the earliest evidence of them dating back over six thousand years. This piece is an example of the Ancient Egyptian game of senet. Read more here.
© The Trustees of the British Museum.
Egyptian papyrus of lion and gazelle playing senet, approx. 1250BCE-1150BCE. Campbell Price, Egypt Curator at Manchester Museum says: “This image is from a ‘so-called “Satirical Papyrus” showing animals taking on human roles, dating to around 1200 BCE. There are occasionally more formal scenes showing people playing board games, but they play alone—perhaps in an attempt to get into the afterlife.” Read more here.
© The Trustees of the British Museum.
Ancient chess-men found in the Isle of Lewis, Archaeologia: or, miscellaneous tracts relating to antiquity, Society of Antiquaries of London, 1832.
Archaeologia: or, miscellaneous tracts relating to antiquity, Society of Antiquaries of London, 1832
In her 2001 book, Birth of the Chess Queen, Marilyn Yalom proposed that the Queen first fully developed into the most powerful chess piece in 15th-century Spain, during the reign of Isabella of Castille. Prior to the middle ages, the piece next to the King had been called the Vizier or Counsel, and was relatively ineffectual, moving only one square at a time.
Yalom suggests that the new version of the game, initially called Queen’s chess, may have been popularised throughout Europe by Jewish refugees. Having been protected in Spain under Muslim rule, all Jewish people were expelled by the new Christian conquerors Isabella and Ferdinand in 1492.
Associated Event
Watch Quinns from gaming website Shut Up & Sit Down on 8000 years of board game history:
