Is this the oldest d20 on Earth?

io9 ^ | Tuesday, November 6, 2012 | Robert T. Gonzalez

[SunkenCiv]

Romans may have used 20-Sided die almost two millennia before D&D, but people in ancient Egypt were casting icosahedra even earlier. Pictured above is a twenty-faced die dating from somewhere between 304 and 30 B.C., a timespan alsoknown as Egypt's Ptolemaic Period.

According to The Metropolitan Museum of Art, where the gamepiece is held, the die was once held in the collection of one Reverend Chauncey Murch, who acquired it between 1883 and 1906 while conducting missionary work in Egypt.

[SunkenCiv]

[The Metropolitan Museum of Art]

[SunkenCiv]

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Ancient Geeks ping. To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list.

[SunkenCiv]

GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother & Ernest_at_the_Beach	join list or digest view topics view or post blog bookmark post a topic subscribe
Ancient Geeks ping. To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list.

[gop4lyf]

I’m no Egyptologist but those don’t exactly look like hieroglyphics to me.

[SkyPilot]

It was found right next to this ancient jewelry.

[Robert A Cook PE]

Remarkably high quality: of the finish, the corners, the letters, the inlayed colors, the edges and faces are nice and straight, ....

[BradyLS]

Greek or Phoenician letters, perhaps?

[Darksheare]

“ROLL for initiative!” ping.

[Tax-chick]

The Ptolemies were Macedonian and used the Greek alphabet.

[Sirloin]

Let’s hope we make our saving throw tonight!

[no-to-illegals]

20 sides. Well there go the odds. Was this from an egyptian newsroom?

[BenLurkin]

Greek. Like Cleopatra.

[Variag]

They’re Greek characters. It was cast in Hellenistic times (i.e. the Ptolemaic Dynasty).

[Darksheare]

So do I!

[Chode]

back when there were REAL dungeons... damn

[Darksheare]

Yeah, weird, right?

[Rides_A_Red_Horse]

Remarkably high quality: of the finish, the corners, the letters, the inlayed colors, the edges and faces are nice and straight, ....

---

The owner was very thorough with the crayon and tissue paper. He kept it safe in his finest crown royal bag.

[Redcitizen]

Any Dragons?

[Chode]

almost...

[mykroar]

Which symbol to crit?