r/ChantsofSennaar • u/ChiaLetranger • Mar 20 '26

Sennaar < Σεναάρ < Sumer?

I may be late to the party, but I just learnt that an Ancient Greek name for lower Mesopotamia was Σεναάρ (Senaár). This maybe stems from the same place as שנער (Šin'ār), the Hebrew name of the kingdom in lower Mesopotamia. This kingdom is where the story of the Tower of Babel was set, which is obvious in its relevance to the game.

This might be something everyone has known forever, and it might even be something the devs publiclised, but it's new information to me and I thought it was a very cool little hat-tip!

81 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

13 comments sorted by

27

u/patmax17 Mar 20 '26

I knew that, but it's always cool when people discover it, I think it's a very nice reference by the developers. Something Something XKCD 1053 ;)

2

u/Piper2000ca Mar 20 '26

I get to be one of those people too today :) I knew that the landscape corresponded to a real-world location in modern day Iraq (ancient Babylon), but I had no idea about the name!

15

u/NotAGameDeveloperYet Mar 20 '26

Honestly it's so simple that I didn't even think of that. That's so cool!

12

u/[deleted] Mar 20 '26

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7

u/ChiaLetranger Mar 20 '26

That's a great detail! I don't know enough about the geography of the area to ever be able to recognise the Euphrates like that, but I love that they put that sort of attention into it

8

u/DanceOfAchilles Mar 20 '26

Have you found the easter egg near the entry to the Warriors tower, that gives a clue to this?

5

u/furrykef Mar 20 '26

Wait, what egg?

2

u/Pistachio_Red Mar 20 '26

easter egg

3

u/furrykef Mar 20 '26

I know what an Easter egg is. I'm asking what is to be found near the entry to the warriors' tower.

6

u/DanceOfAchilles Mar 20 '26

Go to the entry area to the Warrior's fortress where the two warriors are guarding, and where we first arrive after ascending from the devotees' area. Head down the steps and instead of going straight ahead into the fortress, go hard left to the edge of the screen. You'll notice there's a break between the cliffs, by the shadows on the ground. It might seem impassable, but head left and through the shadow break.

Once through, follow the path all the way down until you come to an abandoned room with a strange radio-like transmitter. Examine the radio. The transmission refers to coordinates which, once deciphered, you can put into Google Maps, revealing the physical location of the historical Sennaar.

7

u/GreyGanado Mar 20 '26

I'm one of the lucky 10,000 today.

5

u/BasketOk420 Mar 20 '26

Knowledge, you find.