(Hypothetical?) evolution of chess

Has anyone ever made any discoveries of proto-chess sets and boards (or descriptions of), or proposed intermediate stages in the development of this game?

Originally posted by NoEarthlyReason
Has anyone ever made any discoveries of proto-chess sets and boards (or descriptions of), or proposed intermediate stages in the development of this game?

Here is one I saw in the Cairo Museum:

Senet:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senet

Originally posted by sonhouse
Here is one I saw in the Cairo Museum:

Senet:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senet

That's really fascinating. I found myself wondering would Egyptian artists have been actually capable of painting a Senet board (or anything else) in three dimensions? I wonder if their wonderful style was not only (presumably) mandated, but something they couldn't think outside of?

See also

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaturanga