Dice

Knucklebones and astragali, the cube once it was standardised, and the long history of casting lots for money in Rome, China and medieval Europe, including the prohibitions aimed at it.

Part of Gambling

66 moments in this segment.

1. 1150 - Gelati Gospels. The Crucifixion. The Crucifixtion from the medieval Georgian MSS of the Gospels from Gelati.
2. 1350 - Buzurgmihr-nard. Buzurgmihr demonstrates the game of nard to the Indian rajas.
3. 1350 - Berswordt-Altar-Mitte. Berswordt-Altar, mittlere Tafel.
4. 1491 - Altartriptychon aus dem Lübecker Dom, heute im St. Annen-Museum, Mitteltafel: Kreuzigung. Crucifixion of Jesus Crucifixion in the arts.
5. 1500 - A fragment of a post medieval bone dice. Gaming pieces cut from bone, worn from handling.
6. 1500 - A Post Medieval bone dice. Dice recovered from an excavated site.
7. 1500 - Kent-16EBB7. Cage bird water container or dice shaker. Front view. A dice cup and the cubes shaken from it.
8. 1500 - Medieval bone die. A medieval bone die. The die is cuboid and each value is marked by a incised dot, which range from 1 to 6. Opposite sides add up to 7. It is brown and measures 7.8mm (length) x 7.8mm (width) x 7.4mm (thickness) and weighs 0.89g.
9. 1500 - ESS-279462 Post Medieval die. Post Medieval lead die. The faces are marked with dots, with opposing faces arranged 6 - 2, 4 - 3, and 5 - 3. There is no number 1. The cube measures 14.32mm by 14.44mm by 13.55mm. It weighs 25.1 grams.
10. 1500 - Game box. Opening casket with relief inlaid scene of war on one side and chess fields on the other side. Inside is inlay of backgammon game fields. Decorated with rippled moldings (flammleiste).
11. 1547 - Diamersis Himation Christou Dionysiou. Fresco of the dividing of Christ's garment from Dionysiou Monastery.
12. 1600 - Roman (Possibly) Die. A cast copper alloy die of Roman to early post-medieval date. The cube-shaped die measures 8.3mm by 7.4mm by 7.1mm and weighs 3.2g. The numbers are stamped in the form of ring-and-dots. Opposing faces add up to seven.
13. 1615 - Heinsius Daniel Cupido 004. Astragali, the ankle bones cast before the cube was standardised.
14. 1625 - The Tric-trac Players label QS:Len,"The Tric-Trac Players" label QS:Lnl,"De. Interior with two young men sitting at a table playing backgammon. A third young man is drinking a glass of whine and a fourth is playing the lute. Oval.
15. 1635 - Peasants Playing Tric Trac label QS:Len,"Peasants Playing Tric Trac". Adriaen Brouwer Peasants Playing Tric Trac.
16. 1650 - Hikone Sugoroku. Hikone Screen detail showing man and woman playing ban-sugoroku.
17. 1650 - Affengesellschaft beim Spiel. With playing cards on floor at lower foreground.
18. 1650 - Joc de la Oca - Gabriel Guasp - Palma de Mallorca. Game of the goose (17th century) from the print shop of Gabriel Guasp in Palma de Mallorca.
19. 1650 - Missal Pontifical (Crucifixão, fl. 20v.), 1616-1622 - Estêvão Gonçalves Neto. Crucifixion, illumination by Estêvão Gonçalves Neto dated 1616-1622, of the Missal of the Academy of Sciences, Lisbon, Portugal.
20. 1656 - SWEERTS, Michiel Soldados jugando a los dados 384 (1930.108) HUM -F18-3. Michiel Sweerts Soldiers playing Dice ca. 1656 - 1658..108) ROOM 20.
21. 1682 - The Backgammon Players. Holland, 1682 (?) Alternate Les Jouers de tric-trac Prints; etchings Etching Gift of Mrs. Mary B. Regan (31.21.97) Prints and Drawings.
22. 1722 - Wit against wisdom- or, the praise of folly Fleuron T061498-29. Fleuron from book: Wit against wisdom: or, the praise of folly. Made English from the Latin of Erasmus. By an eminent hand. Adorn'd with great variety of sculptures, design'd by the celebrated Hans Holbeine.
23. 1730 - The tric-trac game (detail), by Jacques Philippe Lebas after David Teniers the. Exhibit in the Villa Vauban, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg.
24. 1740 - Cornelis-van-Alkemade-Pieter-van-der-Schelling-Behandeling-van-'t-kamp-regt MGG 1143. Two sword fighters fight between two rows of watching military. On a table, two noblemen throw dice before a catholic priest.
25. 1741 - Larmessin L'Apres-Dinee. L'Apres-Dinee. Engraving by Nicolas de Larmessin after Nicolas Lancret, L'Aprês-diner, 1741.
26. 1753 - Hoyle-backgammon. The title page of Edmond Hoyle 's book A Short Treatise on the Game of Back-Gammon.
27. 1780 - Nilson - Koch Jahreszeiten 4 Winter. "Der Winter - Hiems". Schabkunstblatt in Rotdruck, bei J. Ph. Koch in Augsburg, um 1780. Ca.
28. 1790 - Senior wives chaupar 1790. "Senior wives playing Chaupar (Lucknow, c.1790)." Senior wives playing chaupar (Lucknow, c.1790) 72; 2001. "Senior Wives Playing Chaupar in the Court Zenana with Eunuchs; possibly by Navasi Lal after a lost original by Tilly Kettle. Mughal, Lucknow; ca. 1790;. James Ivory Collection.".
29. 1792 - Jeu de Marine. French version of the game of the goose from the year 1792.
30. 1800 - A GROUP OF PEASANTRY, WATERMEN, &c playing with Dice. Cubical dice resting with their pipped faces upward.
31. 1800 - Roman to post medieval: Die. A copper alloy die. The arrangement of sides is not shown in Egan Fig 2. The die may be of Roman date.
32. 1805 - A group of Peasantry, Watermen etc, playing with dice. Players gathered over a throw, stakes on the ground.
33. 1810 - Houghton EB8.R7967.810h - backgammon. Illustration: "A hitt at backgammon" from Tegg's Caricatures, 1810, by Thomas Rowlandson (1756-1827). EB8.R7967.810h, Houghton Library, Harvard University.
34. 1814 - The Repository of arts, literature, commerce, manufactures, fashions and politics. Backgammon board with the dice that set each move.
35. 1822 - Nieuw Historie Spel van Nederland. Game of the Goose depicting the history of the Netherlands (.
36. 1843 - Mansion of Happiness Instructions. Instructions to the 19th-century American board game The Mansion of Happiness: An Instructive Moral and Entertaining Amusement.
37. 1844 - Tinkhauser hahnenspiel. Das lustige Hahnspiel (Lustiges Hahnenspiel). Kolorierte Federzeichnung im Stadtmuseum Bruneck.
38. 1850 - El juego de la Oca - Juan Francisco Piferrer - Barcelona. Game of the goose (19th century) from the print shop of Juan Francisco Piferrer in Barcelona.
39. 1857 - Louis Guéymard as Robert le Diable. Portrait of Louis Guéymard in the title role of Giacomo Meyerbeer 's opera Robert le diable, in the last scene of Act 1 in which Robert gambles with dice, loses his entire estate, and sings the aria "L’or est une chimère" (Gold is but an illusion).
40. 1859 - The backgammon players. S" - an illustration included in Frederick William Fairholt's Tobacco, its History and Associations.
41. 1884 - Das Bürgerpark-Würfelspiel - Johann Georg Walte - 1884. Oard game for the Bürgerpark Bremen) by Johann Georg Walte, published 1884 by Carl Rocco in Bremen, Germany, Hunckel.
42. 1890-01-26 - Round the world with Nellie Bly 1890. E World's Globe Circler." Board game about journalist Nellie Bly's trip around the world in 1889-1890. Game shows squares for each of the 73 days of her journey arranged in a spiral, flanked with images of Nellie Bly, Jules Verne, a steam ship, and a train..Y., 26 January 1890.
43. 1890 - Craps-a close call- "Come you pretty Seben-Gib my gal new shoes!". A craps layout with the table wall at the far end.
44. 1891 - Quain's elements of anatomy (1891) - Vol2 Part1- Fig 217. The astragalus from above, showing the articular surface and the attachments of the lateral ligaments of the ankle-joint. ( W. P. Lawrence.).
45. 1898 - Long Lawrence Culin 1898 fig 141. Lang Larence ("Long Lawrence"), a traditional English long die, as described by Alice Gomme, and reproduced by Stewart Culin in Chess and Playing-cards (1898).
46. 1898 - Game of Dignitaries long die Culin 1898 fig 136. 5-faced long die for the Korean game Tjyong-Kyeng-To (Game of Dignitaries).
47. 1899 - The Golden Vanity. Illustration of men playing games.
48. 1900 - That's where my money goes. African American men gambling on docks. P. Lilly.
49. 1901 - Soldiersfootmili00munsrich Fig51&51 The relation of the astragalus to the os calcis. The relation of the astragalus to the os calcis in the normal foot (left) and the flat foot (right).
50. 1907 - Culin-GotNAI-1907-Fig054. Games of the North American Indians (Stewart Culin, 1907) Figure 54 Stick dice; Gros-ventre Indians.
51. 1909 - Northern Shoshone dice. From "The Northern Shoshone", v. 2, pt. 2.
52. 1912 - Crew members shooting craps on the deck of the steamboat LOUISE, July 4, 1912. PH Coll 168.4b Subjects (LCTGM): Louise (Steamship); Sailors--United States Subjects (LCSH): Steamboats; Craps (Game); Passenger ships.
53. 1924-12-18 - Prince-Alexis-Obolensky. By Bassano Ltd whole-plate glass negative, 18 December 1924 Given by Bassano Vandyk Studios, 1974 National Portrait Gallery, London.
54. 1943 - StateLibQld 1 107096 American soldiers gambling. American soldiers gambling in Brisbane. View from above of American soldiers playing craps, a gambling game with dice. The men are gathered in a circle around the money.
55. 1944 - RAF Chelveston - 305th Bombardment Group - B-17 Flying Fortress Weary Bones. A bomber grew of the 305th Bomb Group with their B-17 Flying Fortress (serial number 42-37943) nicknamed "Weary Bones".
56. 1945 - Photograph of a Tank Destroyer Crew Playing Craps While Awaiting Removal of a Road Block. Awaiting removal of a road block on the road to Eisfeld, Germany, a tank destroyer crew whiles away the time shooting craps. 28th Division, U.S. Third Army, 4/12/45.
57. 1946 - P V & K Coal Company, Clover Gap Mine, Lejunior, Harlan County, Kentucky. Miners. P V K Coal Co., Clover Gap Mine, Lejunior, Harlan Co., Ky. Miners shooting craps down by the river bank on Sunday.
58. 1948 - קיבוץ נגבה במצור במלחמת העצמאות בזמן ההפוגה הראשונה. Graphs;Negba (Israel) PhotographsKibbutzim Photographs.
59. 1949 - חיילים במשלט הגופרית משחקים שש-בש ושחמט ליד קיר עם כתובות קיר של החיילים. Tell Jemmeh (Israel) Photographs;משלט הגופרית Photographs.
60. 1969 - IDF Artillery units exercises in Sinai, 1969. IDF Artillery units held exercises near the Suez Canal in Sinai.
61. 2020-11-10 - Dice. The throw of the dice: this recording takes in a Segedunum Roman Learning Resource. Alex Croom, Keeper of Archaeology for Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums, talks about gaming dice found at Segedunum Roman Fort.
62. 2021-03-01 - The largest collection of ancient dice found in Israel, revealed by the IAA near the Western Wall. Bone, ivory and the wager: this item sets out between the sacred and the mundane: The largest collection of ancient dice found in Israel, revealed near the Western Wall.
63. 2021-03-02 - Ancient Dice. Dice and the games played with them: this film records and the Israel Antiquities Authority now finding the largest collection of ancient dice ever found in one place in all of Israel.
64. 2021-06-01 - Ancient 2,000 Year Old Dice - Most Exciting Moment in Unearthing Jerusalem. Gaming pieces and the throw: this segment covers want to play an ancient 2,000 year board game.
65. 2022-08-17 - 2,300 year old game dice found in Israel. The throw of the dice: this report shows dr. Lee Perry Gal, a Research Fellow at the University of Haifa, joins host Ariel Margalith to discuss the uncovering of old game dice in the South of Israel.
66. 2026-04-02 - A roll of the dice: How Native Americans shaped gambling and probability long before the Old World. Bone, ivory and the wager: this piece follows cSU archaeologist Robert Madden talks about his groundbreaking research revealing that dice and games of chance have been a central part of Native American culture for millennia.