In
Ancient EgyptAncient Egypt was an ancient civilization of eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. The civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh, and...
,
Mehen is both what appears to be a
mythological characterAncient Egyptian religion encompasses the various religious beliefs and rituals practiced in ancient Egypt over more than 3,000 years, from the predynastic period until the adoption of Christianity in the early centuries AD...
snakeSnakes are elongate legless carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes that can be distinguished from legless lizards by their lack of eyelids and external ears. Like all squamates, snakes are ectothermic amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales...
-
godGod is a deity in theistic and deistic religions and other belief systems, representing either the sole deity in monotheism, or a principal deity in polytheism....
and a game.
Texts, which do not currently appear to be descriptions of a game, indicate that Mehen was considered to be a snake-god who either coils around
ApepIn Egyptian mythology, Apep was an evil demon, the deification of darkness and chaos , and thus opponent of light and Ma'at , whose existence was believed from the Middle Kingdom onwards...
to protect
RaRA is an abbreviation or code which may refer to :Science* Right ascension, an astronomical term for one of the two coordinates of a point on the celestial sphere when using the equatorial coordinate system...
from him, during his journey through the night, or instead coils protectively around Ra and his boat, a form in which he is often depicted.
In
Ancient EgyptAncient Egypt was an ancient civilization of eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. The civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh, and...
,
Mehen is both what appears to be a
mythological characterAncient Egyptian religion encompasses the various religious beliefs and rituals practiced in ancient Egypt over more than 3,000 years, from the predynastic period until the adoption of Christianity in the early centuries AD...
snakeSnakes are elongate legless carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes that can be distinguished from legless lizards by their lack of eyelids and external ears. Like all squamates, snakes are ectothermic amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales...
-
godGod is a deity in theistic and deistic religions and other belief systems, representing either the sole deity in monotheism, or a principal deity in polytheism....
and a game.
The character
Texts, which do not currently appear to be descriptions of a game, indicate that Mehen was considered to be a snake-god who either coils around
ApepIn Egyptian mythology, Apep was an evil demon, the deification of darkness and chaos , and thus opponent of light and Ma'at , whose existence was believed from the Middle Kingdom onwards...
to protect
RaRA is an abbreviation or code which may refer to :Science* Right ascension, an astronomical term for one of the two coordinates of a point on the celestial sphere when using the equatorial coordinate system...
from him, during his journey through the night, or instead coils protectively around Ra and his boat, a form in which he is often depicted. Mehen was consequently sometimes merged, in depictions, with Set, who also, originally, was considered to protect Ra, and thus was shown as a serpent-headed man with a spear, standing in Ra's boat.
The relationship between snake-god and Mehen game
The precise relationship between character and
Mehen gameMehen is a board game played in ancient Egypt known by the name Mehen, a serpent god protecting Ra during his night-time underworld journey. Nothing else is known about it than that paintings and equipment found suggest that it is a game.-History of the game:...
is unknown. It is not known whether the game derives from the mythological character, or the character derives from the game, nor is it known whether the character was considered to be anything other than the game.
It is known that the board depicts a
gameA game is a structured activity, usually undertaken for enjoyment and sometimes used as an educational tool. Games are distinct from work, which is usually carried out for remuneration, and from art, which is more concerned with the expression of ideas...
rather than acts as a religious
fetishA fetish is an object believed to have supernatural powers, or in particular, a man-made object that has power over others...
due to studies of paintings in tombs and game boards and equipment found. Currently, the rules and methods for playing are completely unknown, although a program available
here contains a guess at how it may have been played. Also none of the associated objects fit neatly within the segments of the snake.