3000 yr-old burial ground found
Cairo, July 11: Archaeologists have uncovered ancient wooden coffins in what appears to be a royal burial ground near the necropolis of Abydos in southern Egypt, a state-run news agency reported.
The agency said that the discovery, made by a team from the Supreme Council of Egyptian Antiquities, could be dated back to the Old Kingdom (3,000 B.C.) — the golde age of pyramid building in ancient times.
The team “has found what could be a royal complex of 13 tombs of different shapes and sizes that could have belonged to high officials from that period or people who contributed to building these tombs,” news agency said.
The agency said that human bones were found inside the coffins, although it did not specify how many coffins were discovered. Objects made out of ivory similar to pieces used for playing chess were also found.
The news agency said only one other similar board game has been found in Egypt and that was among the fabled treasures of the legendary boy king Tutankhamun.
The discovery of Tutankhamun’s intact tomb by British archaeologist Howard Carter in 1922 near Luxor in southern Egypt caused an international sensation because of the value and quality of its contents.
Bureau Report
Source: Zeenews.com
I would love to see those pieces.
Egypt is the source of a backgammon-like race/chase game called “senet.” I wonder if these pieces are for that.
It must have been Senet pieces, a game that has been confirmed to have existed about 3500 BC.
Senet was played by two players on a 3×10 grid board, where the object apparently was to reach a goal first. A kind of dice was used for the moves.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senet
I make it 5000 year old chess pieces (as it was estimated 3000 BCE, which is 5000 years ago)
Ther e is no such thing as “3,000 year-old chess pieces”. Modern chess is about five centuries old and anything close to it comes from medieval times.