Chess History and ReminiscencesBird, H. E. (Henry Edward)
History
Chess History and Reminiscences
Bird, H. E. (Henry Edward)
Chess
In olden times as supposed, Alexander the Great, perhaps from
acquaintance with India and its Kings, and their powerful Porus,
326 B.C., may have known chess and possibly Aristotle, sometime his
tutor, who some say, invented chess, also played it. The most
ancient names are the renowned Prince Yudhistheira, eldest son of
King Pandu of the Sanskrit chess period, the yet earlier Prince
Nala of the translated poems, and further back we have the Brahmin
Radha Kants account from the old Hindu law book, that the wife of
Ravan, King of Lanka, Ceylon, invented chess in the second age of
the world. Associated with games not chess, but more like Draughts
in China, there are Emperor Yao, 2300 B.C., Wa Wung 1122 B.C.,
Confucius 551 B.C., Hung Cochu, 172 B.C, and in Egypt, Queen Hatasu
about 1750 B.C., Amenoph II, 1687 to 1657 B.C., and Rameses IV
1559 to 1493 B.C.
NOTE. The Throne, Cartouche, Signet, and other relics. The
Draught Box and Draughtsmen of Queen Hatasu in the Manchester
Exhibition 1887. Date B.C. 1600. The catalogue says: These
remarkable relics, the workmanship of royal artists 3,500
years ago, i.e., 200 years before the birth of Moses, are now
being exhibited for the first time, by the kind permission of
their owner, Jesse Haworth, Esq. Queen Hatasu was the favourite
daughter of Thotmes I, and the sister of Thotmes II and III,
Egyptian Kings of the XVIII dynasty. She reigned conjointly with
her eldest brother, then alone for 15 years, and for a short time
with her younger brother, Thotmes III. She was the Elizabeth of
Egyptian history: had a masculine genius and unbounded ambition.
A woman, she assumed male attire; was addressed as a king even in
the inscriptions upon her monument. Her edifices are said to be
"the most tasteful, most complete and brilliant creations which
ever left the hands of an Egyptian architect." The largest and
most beautifully executed obelisk; still standing at Karnak, bears
her name. On the walls of her unique and beautiful temple at Dayr
el Baharee, we see a naval expedition sent to explore the unknown
land of Punt, the Somali country on the East coast of Africa near
Cape Guardafui 600 years before the fleets of Solomon, and
returning laden with foreign woods, rare trees, gums, perfumes
and strange beasts. Here we have 1. Queen Hatasu's throne, made of
wood foreign to Egypt, the legs most elegantly carved in imitation
of the legs of an animal, covered with gold down to the hoof,
finishing with a silver band. Each leg has carved in relief two
Uroei, the sacred cobra serpent of Egypt, symbolic of a goddess.
These are plated with gold. Each arm is ornamented with a serpent
curving gracefully along from head to tail, the scales admirably
imitated by hundreds of inlaid silver rings. The only remaining
rail is plated with silver. The gold and silver are of the
purest quality.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account