Petteia, kubeia and grammata: Thoth’s connection with senet and knucklebones in Ancient Egypt

In Plato’s Phaedrus (274d), Socrates argued that the Egyptian god Thoth invented writing, numeracy, arithmetic, geometry and astronomy. However, alongside these inventions, the god was also said to have introduced boardgames (petteia) and dice games (kubeia). Why did Plato mention these specific inventions together and, more importantly, why did he attribute them to Thoth? This article will look at Plato’s passage from an Egyptian point of view, investigating the role of the Egyptian god Thoth in the context of boardgames and dice gaming in Ancient Egypt. In particular, I will focus on the potential connections between Thoth and the senet, one of the most popular boardgames in Dynastic Egypt. The role played by Thoth in the senet game, may explain why this game and its randomising devices seem to have been related at multiple levels to scribal training, knowledge and self-representation, as suggested by tomb paintings, texts and gaming boards between the New Kingdom and the Greco-Roman Period.