"The die is cast." History and stories of a play device and symbol

But dice also come in round or as cuboids, with individual, game-dependent number of eyes, or even in animal shapes, giving the appearance of subverting the randomness and equal distribution of possible outcomes.

But why were there different shapes? What developments has the die gone through? And what exciting stories and narratives are behind them?

Let's follow in the footsteps of the die and the dice game together!

The unexplained origin of the die

Numerous myths surround the origins of the die. No one can say exactly where the die came from, from which precursors it developed, or even who invented it. The Indians claim to have invented the dice, but dice were also known and popular with the ancient Egyptians, Romans and Greeks - their use was sometimes frowned upon and forbidden.

The Roman scholar Pliny the Elder, for example, attributed the invention of the die to the Greek hero Palamedes at the time of the Trojan War, and the Greek historian Herodotus saw its origins among the Lydians, a people in what is now Turkey.

The only thing that is certain is that the first precursors of the die were made of fruit stones and pebbles as early as 6,000 BC. Everything else is speculation. It is considered likely in archaeological research that dice were developed independently of each other at different times, in different places around the world.

Figures and dice made of animal bones

Early die-like objects were the so-called Astragali, small play objects made from the hock bones of cloven-hoofed animals such as sheep or goats. They were known in both Greek and Roman antiquity.

Astragali were used on the one hand for skill and throwing games, for example for the Five Stone Game, which is still known in some societies today. As depicted on the mural from Pompeii, it was mostly played by girls and young women. The aim of the game was to catch the Astragali thrown into the air with the back of their hand and then to pick up the fallen stones without dropping the ones already caught. The game is still played in England and Turkey, for example.

A game that is also still appreciated today in its basic features is Omilla. Here the Astragali are thrown into a circle, with the aim of pushing the small figurines of the other players out of the circle. Today we know a modified form of the Omilla game as the marble game, children still play it in the playground.

On the other hand, Astragali were also used to roll dice. Although they have six sides, like a common modern die, two of the sides, one curved and one pointed, they do not qualify as a reclining surface because of their composition. The remaining four surfaces – the “belly” with arch, the “back” with deep cavity, a side with a groove and a flat side – lay on the ground with varying probability. This, probability resulted in different numerical values which were assigned to the individual pages.

A pastime for the beautiful and rich

Archaeological finds also prove the use of dice by the ancient Egyptians, for example in the context of the board game "Senet". This was a game that the Egyptian upper class played with enthusiasm as early as around 3,000 BC. It was played in pairs with seven game pieces and dice or dice sticks. Numerous other dice games were known and popular in ancient Egypt.

“Senet" resembled a combination of "Mensch ärgere Dich nicht" (Ludo) and "Spiel des Lebens" (Game of Life): depending on the result of the dice, a piece was moved to a certain spot. Four of them were marked with hieroglyphics that brought either good or misfortune for the further course of the game and, in a figurative sense, for the further course of life. The winner was the first person to get from the "Birth" spot to the houses of the gods at the other end of the field.

The die as a glimpse into the future

In the game "Senet", the die had a spiritual, religious significance in addition to its pure entertainment value. From the numerous references to birth, life and death, to the position of the sun and the decan stars, to the constellation Orion and thus to Osiris, the god of the dead, conclusions were drawn about one's own future and further path in life. The players thus took on the divine role and decided the fate, life and death of their game characters.

It was only in the Renaissance that scholars such as Galileo Galilei and Blaise Pascal dealt with chance and probability.

Partly this was done by keeping them busy with games and dice. It didn't take long for chance and probability to become entrenched in the collective consciousness of human society as well, so that today we believe in luck or misfortune when we throw dice, if at all - and of course only play with regular hexahedrons and other equally distributed dice.

Forbidden Hobby

Incidentally, in the Roman Empire it was strictly forbidden to use Astragali and dice for money gambling. Nevertheless, it was a popular pastime, if not an addiction, of many Romans. Quite a few are said to have lost their livelihoods through excessive gambling.

Only during the Saturnalia, a harvest festival celebrated in December in honour of Saturn, was the game of dice for money permitted in ancient Rome - and was practiced extensively.

Until the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period, the game of dice was widespread and popular in society - and yet was often frowned upon as a vice. Numerous ecclesiastical as well as secular rulers issued bans.

Was the devil the inventor of the die, after all?

One possible reason for the ban on the dice in Christian societies is the myth that the devil himself invented the gambling device. Franz Semrau refers to the French-language Essay collection of Achille Jubinal when he draws the following conclusions: The four soldiers who crucified Jesus learned from the devil how to make a die. After the crucifixion, they took Jesus' clothes and divided them among themselves. Only the undergarment they did not want to divide into four parts, but decided to draw lots for the future owner. The die was used for this purpose.

The devil, however, not only revealed the method of making a die, but also the meaning of its numbers: "The 1 is to mock God the Father; the 2 is to mock God the Father and the Son; the 3 is to mock the Holy Trinity; the 4 for the four evangelists; the 5 for the five wounds, the 6 for the whole heavenly court" (Semrau (1909), p. 24).

The scene of the parting of Jesus' garment has been, for centuries, an integral part of the depiction of the Arma Christi, the instruments of suffering related to Christ's crucifixion. The best known from this context are probably the cross and the crown of thorns, but also the dice, for example in the hands of angels, refer to Christian imagery.

And today?

One thing has remained the same, since the die and its predecessors were invented thousands of years ago: It is played gladly and frequently in almost every household. Every child has probably played with a building block puzzle or a dice tower, every adult has - voluntarily or involuntarily - taken part in a game of Ludo, Yahtzee or Backgammon. The laws have changed: The game of dice for money has gone from being a frowned-upon vice to a state-licensed pastime for many, and not just in the posh casino.

Only the question of who invented the die remains unclear.