Twenty-sided die (icosahedron) with faces inscribed with Greek letters 2nd century B.C.-4th century A.D. Ptolemaic Period-Roman Period A number of polyhedral dice made in various materials have survived from the Hellenistic and Roman periods, usually from ancient Egypt when known. Several are in the Egyptian or Greek and Roman collections at the Museum. The icosahedron - 20-sided polyhedron - is frequent. Most often each face of the die is inscribed with a number in Greek and/or Latin up to the number of faces on the polyhedron.Nothing specific about the use of these polyhedra is preserved, so theories are built on clues provided by some variant examples. One unusual example uses Greek words, a few of which resemble those associated with throws of the astragals (knucklebones), and this has led to suggestions they were used for games. Another remarkable example discovered in Dakhleh Oasis in Egypt in the 1980s records an Egyptian gods name in Demotic (the Egyptian script of these late

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Twenty-sided die (icosahedron) with faces inscribed with Greek letters 2nd century B.C.-4th century A.D. Ptolemaic Period-Roman Period A number of polyhedral dice made in various materials have survived from the Hellenistic and Roman periods, usually from ancient Egypt when known. Several are in the Egyptian or Greek and Roman collections at the Museum. The icosahedron - 20-sided polyhedron - is frequent. Most often each face of the die is inscribed with a number in Greek and/or Latin up to the number of faces on the polyhedron.Nothing specific about the use of these polyhedra is preserved, so theories are built on clues provided by some variant examples. One unusual example uses Greek words, a few of which resemble those associated with throws of the astragals (knucklebones), and this has led to suggestions they were used for games. Another remarkable example discovered in Dakhleh Oasis in Egypt in the 1980s records an Egyptian gods name in Demotic (the Egyptian script of these late

SuperStock offers millions of photos, videos, and stock assets to creatives around the world. This image of Twenty-sided die (icosahedron) with faces inscribed with Greek letters 2nd century B.C.-4th century A.D. Ptolemaic Period-Roman Period A number of polyhedral dice made in various materials have survived from the Hellenistic and Roman periods, usually from ancient Egypt when known. Several are in the Egyptian or Greek and Roman collections at the Museum. The icosahedron - 20-sided polyhedron - is frequent. Most often each face of the die is inscribed with a number in Greek and/or Latin up to the number of faces on the polyhedron.Nothing specific about the use of these polyhedra is preserved, so theories are built on clues provided by some variant examples. One unusual example uses Greek words, a few of which resemble those associated with throws of the astragals (knucklebones), and this has led to suggestions they were used for games. Another remarkable example discovered in Dakhleh Oasis in Egypt in the 1980s records an Egyptian gods name in Demotic (the Egyptian script of these late by Piemags/PL Photography Limited is available for licensing today.

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