No. 138 - Senet

On last week's episode of Lost one of the island's inhabitants finds a board and pieces to a game on the beach.

I learned today that the game is called Senet and it may be the oldest board game in the world dating back to ancient Egypt. Almost 50 game sets have been found in Egyptian tombs, many of them in perfect condition with the pieces still intact. Senet boards were often placed in the grave alongside other objects for a person's journey through the afterlife.

Senet is played on a board of 30 squares arranged in three rows of ten. Each player has 7 pawns, which travel around the board in an S-shaped path. Counting sticks (like dice) are thrown to determine moves. The object of the game is to be the first to get all your pawns off the board, while hindering your opponent by either blocking his way or sending his pieces back to earlier squares.