Senet Board Work-in-Progress

So here's something I've started for Joe: a one-sixth scale senet board.

What the heck is that? I hear you ask.

Well, one of my other interests is ancient Egypt, and senet is a game that was very popular in that culture. It had all kinds of spiritual significance in later times, being taken as a symbol for the perilous journey the Soul makes after death to get to the Afterlife; but it was also enjoyed as just a game.

For this little board I combined two of the senet boards found in Tutankhamun's tomb. I used the dimensions from the large ebony and ivory one, shown here:

That one's got a legged stand it sits on; I didn't want the stand, so I just made the box part.

For the decoration I used another board, this one in stained ivory with floral decoration. I always liked this one (sorry the picture is so small; there are very few color pictures of this one out there):

I got the box itself made and decorated; I still have to make the drawer and the tiny little pieces. I have made the throwing sticks, used to determine the moves, like dice. I carved those out of matchsticks, like I did for the lattice on the top (and the bottom side, which has another game called 'twenty squares' on it). So here's what my little version looks like so far:

And the decoration on the end, which I don't think the original has, as I believe it has a drawer at each end. I'm just going to make one long drawer in it (which is known from other senet boards), so put the same motif on the end:

I made it out of matboard, and it's surprisingly sturdy. I don't remember the exact measurements but at one-sixth scale it's something like a little shy of three inches.

I'll post more when I get it finished.