HISTORICAL CHESS
Chessays

 

 

Goddess Iconography in Ancient Board Games
by Janet L. Newton

A research document submitted to the 2001 Conference of the
Initiative Group Koenigstein Amsterdam November 30 - December 2, 2001

To: Appendix of Images
Footnotes and Bibliographical References:

"In matters of literary and historical appraisement, one cannot operate
with the methods of a laboratory or furnish the proof to be demanded
in a court of law. The best is only the probable. Any who raise complaint
have an easy remedy: to offer something better, something coherent
and constructive." ( Sir Ronald Syme)

Today when people play backgammon or Xiang qi they are probably not thinking about the esoteric and religious aspects of the games. But to ancient peoples, playing the earliest forms of these games included more than the thrill of pitting skill and luck against an opponent; it also incorporated a recognition of and familiarity with the underlying esoteric and religious components and ethos as expressed in the iconography of the games. This paper is an introductory discussion of three ancient symbols that are part and parcel of the earliest board games: the grid/square, the rosette and the serpent. It will explore both how this iconography was incorporated into those early games and how it expressed recognition of and reverence for the Goddess.

The Ancients' World View as Expressed in Art.
Modern man generally views art as an expression of esthetic values disconnected from any collective social or spiritual meaning. But ancient peoples did not view art as we do today. To them, art was first and foremost an expression of religious belief and dogma through the use of a comprehensive system of symbols and icons.1

The ancients' use of decorative elements was representational, highly symbolic and embued with religious significance from the earliest times; this approach permeated artistic expression from the magnificent Egyptian tomb paintings 2 to the delicate inlay work of shell and mother of pearl on the gameboards excavated from the Royal Tombs of Ur .

One of the oldest carved stone vases discovered in Sumer, the Warka vase, circa 3500 BCE, demonstrates the practice of applying sacred expression to even the most mundane of objects. The vase is nearly four feet tall. On the upper tier is the figure of a nude man who may possibly represent the sacrificial king. He approaches the robed queen Inanna. Inanna wears a horned headdress. The Queen of Heaven stands in front of two looped "asherah" poles, phallic symbols sacred to the goddess. On the lower tier a group of nude priests bring baskets of gifts, including fruits, to pay homage to the goddess.3 In their earliest expressions in writing and art work, ancient peoples demonstrated a belief in the axiom "as above, so below".

In Egypt, this mindset is perhaps best embodied in what they call their writing - "medu netcher", "the words of the gods": The Egyptians believed that writing was given to them by Thoth, the keeper of records among the gods. But Thoth didn't just give humans writing, he gave them the language of the gods. To write hieroglyphs was to speak "god-language." In other words, the Egyptians believed that the gods "spoke" in pictures and in things. This is a powerfully important insight into the Egyptian world view. If the "words of the gods" are pictures and things, that means that the entire world is a speech by the gods, full of meaning and symbol; this means that the universe itself can be "read."

Since Thoth taught humans the "words of the gods," he taught them also how to read and understand the universe itself. Above everything else, understand that for the Egyptian everything in the world and universe was writing that resembled all the human writing they inscribed on their tombs and monuments. For this reason, while Egyptian writing is a form of art, all Egyptian art is a form of writing-it has meaning, symbolism, and precision.4The game of Mehen is an excellent example of the ancient Egyptians' cultural expression and manifestation of this mind-set. Timothy Kendall noted

"[I]t is not possible to know (with the evidence we have) if this deity was inspired by the game itself, or whether the game was inspired by an already existing mythology. . . . Mehen's role was essential, for if Re were not protected from these enemies, he might not rise in the morning, which would result in the cessation of all life. In Egyptian belief, 'life' applied not only to the living but also to the dead, who were believed to travel with the sun and to rise, reborn, with him at dawn." 5

Parallel views were held across the spectrum of ancient civilizations, from the Mediterranean to China. In "Shaman I Am", Cate Bramble stated:

"To people in premodern China as well as most cultures throughout the world, human and cosmic realms reflect one another. Civilization models the universe on a human scale: the earthly ruler serves as the local counterpart of the celestial leader. Along with its work as a cosmic timepiece, the shi interpreted the mandate of heaven regarding what to do: whom to marry, where to settle, and whom to destroy. 'Men' were cast like dice onto the earliest boards, and these 'men' symbolized querrants and their associates. Eventually this ritual practice developed into the casting of lots as well as the movement of 'men' on a board. It matured, by metaphor, into the game of chance in the cosmic contest of life." 6

The ancient Chinese were very cognizant of the revelatory and feng shui aspects of Xiang qi as players faced each other across the Great Star River, the Cosmic Serpent that divides the board.Present research acknowledges that in both prehistoric and early historical times, the gameboard was not only an earthly representation of a greater cosmic reality, but also presented the players with a chance to communicate and interact on a personal level with the gods and goddesses.7As ancient gameboards thus incorporated both mundane and sacred aspects - a path to understanding the will of the gods as well as a means of communication with them - the question arises as to whether these early board games contained markers of esoteric or religious significance. Evidence demonstrates that, in fact, they did.

The Grid/Square:
The grid or square is the foundation of many boardgames; not only are many boards designed in the shape of a square or a rectangle, they are themselves often times further delineated by marked-off squares upon which pieces start and then move about according to the rules of the particular game. Senet, draughts and chess (both eastern and western versions) are representatives of the grid/square board.

In Chinese iconography the earth is represented by a square, which echoes the placement of four mega-constellations in the sky, represented as animals: the white tiger, the black river turtle, the red bird, and the green water dragon (serpent). These four great archetypes are called "Xiang" and are the basis for ancient Chinese divinatory practices, feng shui, and the I Ching. Upon the arc of the heavens, represented by an all encompassing circle, are drawn four points; two represent the summer and winter solstices, and two represent the spring and autumnal equinoxes. When the four points are connected, the square plane of the earth is formed.

"The square earth within the heavenly circle also appears on the shanzi jing or 'mountain mirrors' of the Warring States period, which explained the limits of the Known World. Eventually these 'hooks' were transferred to game boards called liubo... ."8

The seasons were marked by the trek of the Xiang across the sky: the water dragon/serpent meant spring; the bird meant summer; autumn began with the tiger; and the river turtle marked the start of winter. These four sectors of the sky were subdivided into seven xiu each, to further delineate time/seasons. This astronomical tradition was established by at least 2300 BCE, according to the "Yaodian", part of the Book of Documents, but may perhaps be dated to as early as 3000 BCE.9In his book, A Beginner's Guide to Constructing the Universe", Michael Schneider points out many terms in common usage:

"We speak of getting a 'square deal' and a 'square meal', of 'square living,' being 'fair and square', of 'facing problems squarely,' and sometimes going 'back to square one' in order to 'square our accounts.' If an event does not 'square with our sense of justice,' or a story is 'not squaring with the facts' we sometimes must have 'square-jawed determination' and 'stand foursquare,' having our feet planted 'squarely on the ground.' ... [T]he square is associated with equality, reliability, fairness, firmness, and solidity."10

These sayings reflect a deep unconscious awareness of the square archetype, and we surround ourselves with it. In cities, we walk on sidewalks that are made out of "squares" of concrete; cities themselves are often laid out on a square grid; our dominant form of architecture is based on the right-angle; farmers plow square fields on the traditional forty acres of land.11The square is a cross-cultural symbol for the ancient earth mother goddess. Schneider states "The association of the earth with the number four,
femaleness, and justice is very ancient, far preceding recorded history. The principles of the Tetrad describe her nourishing aspect: she gives birth, clothes her creations with material substance, and encourages their growth equally. The word nature comes from the Latin for 'birth.' In the Navajo language, nature is called 'Changing Woman.' ...

Mater, the Latin word for 'mother,' has given rise to the word 'matter,' also related to meter ('measure') and matrix." Schneider goes on to tie the "world mother" to the four ancient elements: earth (solids), water (liquids), air (gases), and fire (plasma), representing the four phases of mater.12

The Rosette:
The eight-point rosette has long been identified as a symbol of Sumer's Inanna, dating back at least 5300 years before present [Figures 1-2]. The iconographic link between Inanna and the eight-point rosette was already well established by 3000 BCE.13 The rosette was incorporated into gameboards as early as those excavated from the Royal Tombs of Sumer [Figure 3], circa 3000-2600 BCE.14Ishtar was the Babylonian equivalent of Sumer's Inanna, and was identified with the Assyrian goddess of war who was also a fertility goddess. In Phoenicia, she was known as Astarte, closely associated with serpents.15

One of the gameboards excavated from the Royal Tombs of Ur by Woolley is identical in form and layout to the gameboard excavated from the tomb of Queen Puabi of Ur, but while incorporating Inanna's symbol of the eight-point rosette in some of its squares, other squares depict various images of animals, among them a pair of horned animals rampant on either side of a tree icon crowned by a star. [Figure 4]. In Canaanite iconography, the branched tree is identified with the war and fertility goddess Asherah/Ashtoreth and she is often depicted as a "tree" flanked by a pair of male animals rampant.16

The Greeks knew Ashtoreth as Astarte.17 Asherah/Ashtoreth was also depicted in her human form flanked by a pair of male animals rampant. [Figure 5]. A 1.75 inch decorative plaque showing two horned goats rampant on either side of a flowering tree was also excavated by Woolley from Queen Puabi's tomb. This tree was another representation of the fertility goddess Inanna.18 It therefore seems clear that, in addition to the presence of the rosette, several of the squares on the gameboard in [Figure 4] are actually representations of the goddess Inanna.19

The Serpent:
Across the globe the serpent was a symbol of great significance in the religious traditions and mythology of ancient peoples. From the earliest times, the serpent was identified with - or in some instances was actually depicted as - the Mother goddess, the creative force out of which all things originated and were made.20 The spiral/coil, representing the serpent, is one of the most widespread symbols of the goddess.21 The serpent and the spiral/coil are represented in the archaeological record of board games in a gameboard excavated in central Asia at Shahr-i Sokhta and in the Egyptian game of Mehen.

Shahr-i Sokhta:
Shahr-i Sokhta, situated on the Helmand River midway between the Iranian Plateau and Central Asia, was a city of some 10,000 population at its height, a mining center on the far southeastern frontier of modern day Iran, close to the border of Afghanistan. The mines produced semi-precious stones, such as lapis lazuli, turquoise, carnelian, chalcedony, onyx and quartz, and the residents engaged in extensive long-distance trade with the Indus Valley civilization and possibly China to the east, and to the west, with Mesopotamia and Egypt.22

The gameboard from Shahr-i Sokhta [Figure 6] is dated to between 2400-2300 BCE.23 In shape it is identical to the gameboards excavated from the Royal Tombs of Ur by Woolley; made of wood, the whorls formed by the carving of the intertwined serpent take the place of "squares" upon the surface of the board, that is, a twelve-"square" rectangle arranged in four rows of three, joined by two "squares" to a smaller rectangle of six "squares" arranged in two rows of three. The Shahr-i Sokhta serpent completes the circuit of the board by biting its tail, forming an Ouroboros, symbol for eternity, fertility, sexual union, and regeneration.24

It is likely that through acculturation vis a vis extensive trade contacts with Mesopotamia, the use of the serpent on the Shahr-i Sokhta gameboard links it to Inanna/Ishtar/Astarte 25 and possibly, to Egypt, with its extensive serpent iconography; on the other hand, by reason of several hundred years trade contacts with the Indus Valley civilizations, one cannot discount possible associative connotations to the serpent goddesses of the east.26

The Egyptian Game of Mehen
The "Game of the Serpent", "Coiled Snake Game" or "Mehen" [Figure 7] dates back to pre-dynastic times. It ceased to be played in Egypt by around 2000 BCE, although it was briefly revived and played during the XXVI Dynasty.27 It appears the game of Senet (30-Squares), overtook Mehen in popularity and led to its demise as a popularly played game. Depictions of Mehen appear in tomb paintings and, later, actual gameboards were found in tombs dating from the Third Dynasty, circa 2868-2613 BCE.28

While Mehen is often referred to as a "god" in extant literature on Egyptian iconography 29, Mehen's role in the Egyptian pantheon was actually that of a goddess, protectoress of Re (Ra), the Sun god:"Among the oldest predynastic Goddess figures in Egypt was the serpent-mother Iusaset, or Ua Zit, or Per-Uatchet whom the Greeks called Buto. Pyramid Texts say she is the Celestial Serpent, giver of the food of eternal life. Her symbol, the uraeus, meant both 'serpent' and 'Goddess'. She was also Mehen the Enveloper, the female serpent like Ananta who enclosed the phallus of Ra the sun god every night. There are mythic indications that this nightly sexual communion with the serpent power of Mother Earth was at times considered the real source of Ra's renewed power to light up the world again each day."30

The two "protectors of the realm" of Egypt were originally Nekhbet, vulture goddess of Upper Egypt, and Wadjet, cobra goddess of Lower Egypt. The cobra and the vulture were chosen by the Egyptians as the royal symbols because they were thought to be self-producing and therefore creators, or divine.31 Wadjet took the title "The Eye of Ra".32 By dynastic times, Wadjet was more a personification than an actual goddess and she was often used (with Nekhbet) as a heraldic device around the sun disk or the royal name and were part of the royal insignia.33

Wadjet [Figure 8] can be seen encircling the Sun "crown" in numerous depictions as the "Uraeus" or Sacred Cobra, as well as encircling Ra's Solar Barque, and also protecting Pharaoh as embryo/child. [Figures 9-11]. Depictions of Wadjet as Mehen protectively encircling the sun god may have also been allusions to the process of rebirth and regeneration of the "dead" in the Meskhen (place of birth, interior birthplace or womb).34

Conclusion
The grid/square, the eight-point rosette and the serpent have been shown to be well-established icons of the goddess in connection with their use in ancient board games. Further development of this theme awaits exploration in connection with such games as Chaturanga and Xiang qi.

Footnotes and Bibliographical References: