Replica Mehen Game - The Ancient Egyptian Game of the Serpent

Name: Expansion for 6 players - Masters Replica Mehen Game
Brand: Masters Traditional Games
SKU: M0T071R0G
Price: 18.99 GBP
Availability: InStock

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Mehen - The Ancient Egyptian Game of the Serpent (replica resin board and lions)

Ref: 007176

£74.90

£62.42 (Ex.VAT)

ETA: 1 working day + transit time

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A stunning replica Mehen board with lion and lioness pieces based on those found in Egypt and held in museums around the world. The ancient Egyptian Game of the Serpent is not only mind-bogglingly old, our set of rules based on new research is also great fun to play.

Replica Mehen game with a resin board, lions, lionesses and coloured wooden playing pieces
Probably the oldest board game in the world - board and lion pieces are based on Ancient Egyptian museum artefacts
Mehen is a strategic race game for 2 - 4 players using a unique method for determining how the pieces move
With suggested rules and brief history of the game of Mehen by James Masters
Presented in a sturdy green box with 4 lion/lioness pieces and 24 coloured wooden cube playing pieces
Made in Britain
Language of Rules/Instructions: English
For ages: 14+
Number of players: 2 - 4
Average game time: 20 minutes

When an ancient Egyptian pharaoh dies, their spirit must undertake a dangerous journey through the underworld via the coils of the snake God Mehen. Fighting off enemies en-route the objective is to be reborn through the head of Mehen into the afterlife where the dead King can be with the sun god Ra for eternity.

Mehen represents this last, most important journey of the pharaohs. Small pieces representing pharaohs race along the serpent track attempting to be the first to reach the head of Mehen while fighting off lions and the spirits of opponent's pharaohs en-route. Movement of the pieces is controlled by a unique mechanism of guesses, bluff and brinkmanship making the game lively and amusing to play, as well as being historically fascinating.

Mehen or the Game of the Snake is probably the oldest board game in the world. The game was played by the Ancient Egyptians at the start of the Old Kingdom and possibly well before that. In 1895, Flinders Petrie found a Mehen board that dates back to pre-dynastic period in Egypt, circa 3600 - 3300BC - at least 300 years before the earliest evidence for Senet, the Royal Game of Ur or any other board game.

The Masters Traditional Games replica board is derived from those held at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge and the Oriental Institute of Chicago. Both board and lion pieces are made from resin with felted undersides giving a nice feel to play. Although rules for playing Mehen are unknown, recent research by James Masters significantly reduced the possibilities as to how the game can have been played. The rules provided with our replica game are based on these findings and are believed to be closer to those played 5000 years ago than any previously published.

This base game is for 2 - 4 players. An expansion to 6 players is also available for those wishing to attempt to re-enact the Mehen game depicted on the tomb wall of Hesy-Re of the 3rd dynasty.