Friday, April 15, 2011

Three Millenia Old D6

Reading the book "Did God Have a Wife?" I came across a report of an excavation of a 9th-century-BC d6. It is exactly like the ones we use today - the layout of the spots is the same, and the layout of the sides (with opposite sides adding up to seven) is the same. The design of the modern d6 is known to be almost three millenia old. Not only that, according to "Life in Biblical Israel," this may be an example of the type of divining dice known as "Urim and Thummim." The Urim and Thummim were 2d6? Holy crap. No... Holy craps. (Thank you. I'll be here all week.)