As I have little knowledge on Egyptology I did not realise this piece of pebble sitting in my aquarium together with my hermit crabs, Ben and Jerry, might possibly just be an ancient game piece! I have huge interest in antiquity and so I have taken the trouble of reading plenty on the areas that catch my fancies.
As such this 'pebble' that I am bragging about clearly resembles an Egyptian Senet Piece. It bears a conical shape and stands on a flat round base. Hopefully my opinion from my untrained eyes would be correct; that this piece is medieval. It was found at a seaside and the lesion / mark found on the surface and base is presumably caused by previous aquatic plants growth. It doesn't look like it is naturally sea tumbled. If this is really an Egyptian Senet piece it is really remarkable how it could have survived and travelled the sea.
It is the usual routine when I sat myself comfortably on a cosy afternoon browsing through websites over websites looking at another bloke’s collection online until I see this very thing called Senet that he was selling. It’s at moments like this that you start to think and get excited that you’re one lucky bloke to have such an interesting find, in your own aquarium! Okay, it didn’t just appear with my hermit crabs. This ‘pebble’ was found lying on a northern coast when I was hunting for sea glass last autumn together with a whole bunch of other pebbles I bequeathed to my beloved hermit crabs. I’ve sealed it in an air-tite bottle for conservation purposes.
It measures approx 18-19mm (height), approx 15-16mm (diameter). The colour is as photographed.
Enquired the British Museum and awaiting good news from them. And... Guess my hermit crabs can have their pebble back after all. See:
Reply: Thank you for your email and the images. The piece of stone is intriguing but I must admit that I think the resemblance to a senet piece is coincidental: the image you attach is of quite an unusual one and most senet pieces are much more symmetrically and precisely shaped; they re generally of glazed composition and not stone. My own opinion would be that it is a naturally shaped pebble. - Dr R B Parkinson
