Senet is a board game recovered from ancient Egypt.
The word means “passing afternoon” in Coptic — but there’s just one small problem:
No one actually knows how it’s played.
The board is three rows of ten squares, with each player controlling 5+ pawns.
💬 Someone asked whether a game with unknown rules can be said to exist at all.
Alex de Voogt of the American Museum of Natural History nails it:
There’s no such thing as a game with fixed rules - they’re constantly being updated and molded by who’s playing and when.
How often do you follow (or even know!) the "official rules" of the games you play?
Random Walk:
Senet → Coptic Language → Alex de Voogt → American Museum of Natural History