Ancient African Games
Ancient African games are traditional games of antiquity from the African continent, played thousands of years ago and often preserved through archaeology. The most famous example is Senet from ancient Egypt — the world’s oldest known board game, played for over 5,000 years and buried with pharaohs as a passport to the afterlife.
What are ancient African games?
“Ancient African games” refers to traditional board games of the African continent that have archaeological depth — games whose physical evidence (boards, pieces, tomb paintings) survives from antiquity. The category is dominated by Egyptian games, because the climate and burial practices of the Nile valley preserved game equipment that would have decayed elsewhere on the continent. But ancient gaming traditions also extend across Nubia, the Horn of Africa and the Sahel.
What separates the ancient category from mancala or alignment games is provenance. Mancala and alignment games may be just as old, but their boards were usually scratched into dirt or wood and did not survive. Ancient African games are the ones we can date — sometimes to specific dynasties, sometimes to specific burials.
Ancient African games covered on Casinos Africa
Senet (Ancient Egypt)
The world’s oldest known board game. Played on a 3×10 grid with seven pawns per player and four throwsticks for movement. Senet was played continuously in Egypt for over 3,000 years (c. 3100 BCE – 400 CE) and gradually evolved from a casual game into a religious symbol of the soul’s journey through the afterlife.
How ancient African games differ from later traditional games
- Documented chronology. We can put dates on Senet — earliest evidence c. 3100 BCE, peak popularity in the New Kingdom, full religious symbolism by the 18th Dynasty. Most other African traditional games can only be dated to “centuries old”.
- Burial archaeology. Senet boards have been recovered from tombs (including Tutankhamun’s) and depicted in tomb paintings. This is the kind of evidence base no other African game tradition has.
- Religious meaning. Senet is one of very few ancient games where the rules and the religion are fully integrated — the squares of the board literally represented stages of the afterlife journey.
- Use of dice / throwsticks. Unlike most traditional African games (mancala, alignment), Senet uses a randomiser — four throwsticks to determine the move. This is a defining feature of the ancient race-game tradition.
Why ancient African games matter
Senet — and the broader category of ancient Egyptian games (Mehen, Twenty Squares, Hounds and Jackals) — are the deepest documented layer of the global gaming tradition. They establish that Africa is not just home to traditional games today, but to the origins of board gaming itself. This historical depth is critical when positioning African traditional games inside the broader narrative of world game history, where Senet sits alongside the Royal Game of Ur (Mesopotamia) as the oldest documented board games on Earth.
Frequently asked questions about ancient African games
What is the oldest known board game in the world?
Senet, from ancient Egypt, is the oldest known board game in the world with surviving physical evidence. The earliest fragments date to around 3100 BCE — over 5,000 years ago. The Royal Game of Ur from Mesopotamia is similarly ancient, but Senet’s archaeological record is among the longest continuous of any board game.
How was Senet played?
Senet is a race game on a 3×10 board (30 squares total). Each player has seven pawns, and movement is determined by throwing four two-sided sticks (effectively ancient dice). Pawns travel a snaking path across the board, and the goal is to bear off all your pieces before your opponent does — but several “trap” squares can send pieces backward.
Why was Senet buried in Egyptian tombs?
By the New Kingdom, Senet had taken on religious meaning. The board’s path was understood as the journey of the soul through the afterlife, with specific squares representing trials and divine assistance. Senet boards were buried with the dead — including in Tutankhamun’s tomb — as equipment for that journey.
Are there other ancient African games besides Senet?
Yes. Ancient Egypt also produced Mehen (the snake game), Twenty Squares (a race game related to the Royal Game of Ur), and Hounds and Jackals. Outside Egypt, early mancala-style boards have been found in Eritrea, Ethiopia and Sudan dated to the 6th–7th century CE.