The History of the Dice.
Dice are thought to be the oldest gaming implements known to
man. Egyptian tombs, dated to 2000 BC, have been found
containing dice, and dice reputedly dated to 6000 BC have been
uncovered in archaeological excavations. Amazingly, dice were
developed independently by many ancient cultures all over the
world. Before standard cubical dice became common, ancient
peoples would use fruit stones, sets of flat sticks, sea shells,
nut shells and pebbles to get random results for games. These
were probably adopted from witch doctors and shaman who would
throw them to gain insight and knowledge of the unknown and
things to come. Fortune telling is still practiced with standard
dice to this day. Animal knucklebones were the next step in the
evolution of dice. The Greeks and Romans used sheep anklebones
as well as the more developed cubical spotted dice. The Romans
called the four-sided anklebones Tali or Astaragali and the
standard six-sided dice Tesserae. The Arab word for knucklebones
is the same word they use for dice. Playing with dice is still
known as "rolling the bones" to this day. Of course games have been played
with dice from their early beginnings. The first were
probably simple racing games and have been lost to history. The
pharaohs of ancient Egypt were portrayed playing with dice and
both the Romans and Greeks were keen dice players. Roman
Emperors notoriously played and gambled with dice compulsively.
Dice games are known to have been popular in Europe during the
Middle Ages when French academics taught them to their students.
In England, Richard the Lion Heart and King John both gambled
with dice and King Henry VIII lost the bells of old St Paul's
church on a throw. Dice games have been played in English inns
since at least the 15th century. Dominoes descended from dice in
China and spread to the west during the 18th century while
standard ordinary dice became the vital component of a vast
array of commercial board games in the 19th and 20th centuries.
In recent times polyhedral dice have gained widespread
popularity with modern technological advances in plastic
moulding. So when you next play a board game, have a second look
at those dice in your hand. Whether it's the old standard
six-sided cube with spots or the latest polyhedral shape, dice
are still the game players most vital, versatile and treasured
piece of equipment.
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