Egyptian Chess Set


Egyptian chess set

Purchased in 1970, this manufactured chess set is designed to suggest a number of ancient Egyptian images.

Although the pieces appear different from the standard European chess set, the are still the same "cast of characters", that is king, queen, bishop, knight, rook, and pawn. Also, each opposing side is of one color, albeit in this set, the colors are cream-white and blue-green. In the center section of the box are the pawns.

There are 32 pieces in the set, each of varying dimensions. They appear to be made of composite material such as a type of plaster, and then were painted. Starting at the upper left is a bishop, then a king and a queen and the other bishop. In the second row below these are a rook, then two knights, then another rook. The pieces on the right are identical, although the other color.

On the reverse of this 48.4cm long by 47cm wide x 2.5cm thick box into which the pieces fit, there is a printed standard 8x8 chess matrix; however, this too has a somewhat Egyptian motif. Instead of the standard checkerboard with black and white squares, there are four repeating blue oval Egyptian scarabs and ovals with four repeating hieroglyphics. Each oval is separated by a blank white space of the same size between it and the next oval. Scarab rows alternate with hieroglyphic rows to create the 8x8 matrix.


Last update February 15, 2010