Equipment

A Mehen board was in the form of a coiled snake partitioned into dozens of playing squares along the length of the snake's body. The head of the snake was often carved into the board and lay in the centre while at the outer perimeter of the playing area tail was drawn from the final playing square tapering to complete the board. The number of partitions or playing squares varied enormously and could be from seventy to several hundred.

A typical Mehen board came with 3 pieces in the shape of a lion, 3 pieces in the shape of a lioness and 36 marbles in at least three different colours. A board with 70 playing spaces is a good number to play with. One player has three lions, the other three lionesses and both take six marbles each, one of which is raced along the track towards the middle. The other are retained for marble-guessing.

The Story of Mehen

The Mehen board held by the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford was made more than 5300 years ago, making it the oldest known game board, and the game seems to have been part of a religious ritual based on ancient myths. When an ancient Egyptian pharaoh (god-king) dies, his spirit begins a dangerous journey through the underworld. Enemies attempt to intercept the Pharaoh and if they defeat him, he will be condemned to live in the underworld forever. Fortunately, the sun god, Ra sends his protector, the powerful snake god, Mehen to assist. Mehen uses the coils of his own body to protect the dead pharaoh and to provide a pathway for the dead king to reach his goal. If the valiant pharaoh reaches the head of Mehen, he will be reborn through it into the afterlife and can live with Ra for eternity.

Set-up

The game is for 2, 4 or 6 players in 2 teams. Lions are assigned to one team, lionesses to the other.
Each player takes a set of six marbles (or other small game piece). One represents the pharaoh to be moved along the track starting with the first space next to the tail. The other five are for deciding the moves by marble guessing.
Basic Game
Each turn, the team first decides which of their pharaohs will move. If that pharaoh is not under attack by a lion, the player puts 1 – 5 marbles in a fist and an opposing player guesses the number.

• If the guess is wrong, the pharaoh moves that many places along the track.
• If the guess is correct, the guessing player moves their marble that many places, instead. The guessing player optionally may also choose to unleash a lion to attack the other player's piece. Attacking lions are placed perpendicularly to the track pointing towards the piece under attack.
• If a pharaoh’s move finishes on a space occupied by an opposing pharaoh, the opposing pharaoh is sent back to the starting place of the moving pharaoh (the two swap places).
• If the move finishes on a space occupied by a pharaoh on the same team, the moving pharaoh moves again to the next space. If another piece occupies that space, the appropriate rule is followed, and so on.

Lion Attack

A pharaoh being attacked by a lion can only move if he first kills the lion. The player owning the lion puts 1, 2 or 3 marbles in one hand and the player who owns the pharaoh guesses the number.

• If the guess is correct, the pharaoh kills the lion which is placed in the lion graveyard (the protruding trapezium, on boards that have one, otherwise a designated area). The player then continues with a normal move.
• If the guess is incorrect, the lion continues its attack, the turn ends and no move is made.
• If a player guesses the marbles for a move correctly two turns in a row, a deceased lion owned by that team, if one exists, is brought back to life. Move the lion from the lion graveyard back into the team's possession.

Clarifications

• If a lion obstructs another piece, reposition it while ensuring that it still faces the piece under attack. A piece on the outer coil can be attacked by positioning the lion outside the board facing inwards.
• If a pharaoh is being attacked by a lion when landed on by an opposing pharaoh and the lion follows the attacked piece as it moves backwars and continues its attack.
• If a pharaoh making its first move onto the board lands on an opposing pharaoh, the attacked pharaoh is removed from the board and must start again.

Winning

As soon as a pharaoh reaches the hood of the snake, the deceased king is reborn into the afterlife where he will be with Ra for eternity, visible as a new star in the night sky. An exact throw is not required.
The team that first delivers all their pharaohs into the afterlife wins.