Mehen

Mehen is the only multi-player ancient Egyptian board game known, the others (Senet, Aseb, Hounds & Jackals, etc.) being all two-player games. The main function of the serpent-shaped Egyptian god Mehen was to protect the sun-god Ra from his enemies by coiling around him.

In the Old Kingdom, the race-game Mehen took the name and shape of the god: a coiled serpent with the gaming spaces on its back. As "bodyguard", Mehen symbolises the sun-god's immediate neighborhood for the deceased. The deceased walks towards Ra on the back of the serpent-god.