MovieChat Forums > The Bible in the Beginning... (1966) Discussion > Board game Abraham is playing

Board game Abraham is playing

posted 12 years ago by bstarra
4 replies | jump to latest

George C Scotts' character "Abraham" is playing what looks like a board game with 3 or 4 other men while awaiting the birth of his son with "Sarah". What is the name of the game and how do you play it ?

[–] austendw 12 years ago

I don't remember the scene and I don't really know the answer, but my guess is that the film-makers probably based the board-game on the Ancient Egyptian game Senet:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senet
http://www.eloquentpeasant.com/2010/10/14/its-not-just-a-game-its-a-re ligion-games-in-ancient-egypt/

The rules aren't known, but there have been educated guesses;

http://www.gamecabinet.com/history/Senet.html

Alternatively, there's a modern version - Tâb: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T%C3%A2b

Call me Ishmael...

[–] bens33 12 years ago

I think he was playing a Biblical form of Monopoly, with Bethlehem Place, Jericho Boulevard and Jerusalem Avenue.

[–] whitelion43 10 years ago

with Sodom and Gomorrah as the deep purple properties?

Oh GOOD!,my dog found the chainsaw

[–] slinter 8 years ago

Unknown. The original was found in a tomb in Ur, Abraham's home town. It is assumed he must have played games growing up, but the rules remain unknown. Nice attention to detail on Huston's part, though.