Sunday, August 24, 2008

Senet Image from 6th Dynasty Tomb

I found this tonight while scooting around the Louvre website and using their search feature - it's all in French though and my French (learned in high school eons ago) is not up to the task!
Peintures du tombeau de Métchétchi vers 2350 avant J.-C. (début 6e dynastie) Saqqara ?
By guesswork and deduction more than my skills as a translator, I believe this is from the Tomb of Metchetchi, about 2350 BCE, Egyptian 6th Dynasty (Old Kingdom), possibly from Saqqara.
This tomb painting of two people playing Senet is part of a series of scenes showing Metchetchi in a variety of domestic situations - with his wife, with his children (sons and daughters), his daughters playing musical instruments, his sons engaged in various activities, Metchetchi and his wife on a boat, etc.
6th Dynasty is incredibly old but, even more incredibly, this tomb painting showing Senet is about 1,000 years younger than some of the oldest senet boards excavated in Egypt.

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