Board games, a favourite pastime

Hippopotamus-shaped playing board with 58 holes

If you had been born in ancient Egypt, you might not have played a musical instrument, but you definitely would have played board games! Because everyone did: children and adults, the upper classes and ordinary people. Like other objects of everyday life, board games could be very refined and made of precious materials.  Some boards games are shaped like animals, like this hippopotamus (which has lost its head), and these board pieces, which are little sticks with the heads of jackals and dogs. That is why this game is called ‘the dog and jackal game’.  The rules are similar to those of Snakes and Ladders, which already existed in ancient Egypt. Make no mistake, games were not child’s play, and surrendering to the whims of chance was a way to convoke the gods and get a sneak peek at what the future held…