Mehen

Ancient Egyptian deity MehenMehen surrounding Ra, in the form of a man with a ram head, on his Solar BarqueName in hieroglyphs In Egyptian mythology, the name Mehen (Coptic: Ⲙⲉϩⲉⲛ), meaning 'coiled one', referred to a mythological snake-god and to a board game. Snake god The earliest known references to Mehen occur in the Coffin Texts. Mehen is a protective deity who is depicted as a snake which coils around the sun god Ra during his journey through the night, for instance in the Amduat. In the German-Egyptian dictionary by R. Hannig, it is said that the Mehen (mḥn) or the Mehenet (mḥnt) snake is equivalent to the Ouroboros. Relationship between snake-god and Mehen game Mehen with game stones, from Abydos, Egypt, 3000 BC, Neues Museum The precise relationship between the deity and the Mehen game is unknown.[citation needed] For instance, it is unknown whether the game derives from the mythological character or the character derives from the game.[citation needed] It is known that the object known as mehen depicts a game rather than a religious fetish as demonstrated in tomb paintings, game boards, and equipment.[citation needed] The rules and method of playing the game