Evidence of the game of Mehen is found from the
Predynastic period dating from approximately 3000 BC and continues until the end of the
Old Kingdom, around 2300 BC.
[2] Aside from physical boards, which mostly date to the Predynastic and
Archaic periods, a Mehen board also appears in a picture in the
tomb of Hesy-Ra, and its name first appears in the tomb of Rahotep. Other scenes dating to the
Fifth Dynasty of Egypt and
Sixth Dynasty of Egypt show people playing the game. No scenes or boards date to the
Middle Kingdom of Egypt or
New Kingdom of Egypt, and so it appears that the game was no longer played in Egypt after the Old Kingdom. It is, however, depicted in tombs of about 700, because the tomb decorations are copied from Old Kingdom originals.
Mehen also appears to have been played outside of Egypt. It appears alongside other boards displaying the game of
senet at
Bab 'edu Dhra[3] and in
Cyprus.
[4] In Cyprus, it sometimes appears on the opposite side of the same stone as senet, and those from
Sotira Kaminoudhia, dating to approximately 2250 BC, are the oldest surviving double-sided boards known.
[5] Mehen survived in Cyprus longer than in Egypt, showing that the game was indigenized upon its adoption into the island's culture.
The rules and gameplay of Mehen are entirely unknown.
In Egypt, the
gameboard depicts a coiled snake whose body is divided into rectangular spaces. Several boards have been found with different numbers of segments, without distinguishing marks or ornamentation. In Cyprus and the
Levant, the games take the form of a spiral of depressions, sometimes with the central or outer depressions differentiated by their larger size. These also display a variable number of depressions. The variability suggests that the number of segments was of little importance to the game. Objects associated with the board may or may not be
playing pieces. From archaeological evidence, the game seemed to have been played with
lion- or
lioness-shaped pieces, in sets of three or as many as six, and a few small spheres (
marbles or
balls).