Isẹ
Isẹ (game) describes any kind of game being played for entertainment, from a board game with pieces to a puzzle or card game. A common game played in Benin is called Ogirhise, however a single wooden game is included in the institution holdings shown here. Two people would play this game with small stones or smoothed seeds.
Only a few examples of game boards and pieces are known from the Benin royal court. Although visually, the game boards look similar to the African game mancala, it is no longer known what would have been played with them. Chief Jacob Egharevba (1969, p.43 ) described one kind of game – the ‘perseverance game’, or Ise-Ozin-egbe – which is for one person and played with ten dice and a board which ‘contains six holes; three holes on each side’. Unfortunately, none of the game boards here fits this description.
Educational Material
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