Hounds+and+Jackals

Hounds and Jackals


 * [[image:102520086.jpg width="207" height="273" align="left"]]Other Names:**

"Dogs and Jackals"

"The Shield Game"

"The Palm Tree Game"

"Game of 58 Holes"

Called "Hounds and Jackals" because of the shape of the playing pieces, it was a popular parlor game in ancient Egypt. Although the rules are unknown, this was possibly the original form of the "Snakes and Ladders" game. The board was shaped like a shield, turtle, hippopotamus, or a palm tree, with 58 holes. The object was to move the 5-7 jackal and hound peg pieces around the track and onto the Shen Ring hieroglyphic, using a pair of knucklebone dice.

Because of the element of luck in the game, it was believed that a successful player was under the protection of the gods. Some texts reference the deceased playing Hounds and Jackals against an invisible opponent (thought to be his Ka), in order to reach the afterlife safely. Consequently, the game was often placed in the grave alongside other useful objects for the dangerous journey through the Duat.

From a funerary text from the 12th Dynasty: "My game pieces are made to endure in the embalming chamber. I have full complement throughout the embalming chamber. My seven pieces are indeed winners. My fingers are like the jackals who tow the solar barque . . . I grasp my opponent's pieces and pitch him into the water, so that he drowns together with his pieces."

Magical Objects