Chances are you’ve rolled dice in your gaming career. The most common is the six-sided die — or “d6” in pen-and-paper parlance. The 20-sided die, or d20, is isolated mostly to RPGs, such as Dungeons & Dragons. Obviously, D&D co-creator Gary Gygax wasn’t around between the years of 304-30 BC and certainly not in Eygpt. So, what then, did the ancient Egyptians play with this spectacular specimen.
The die is made from serpentine, known more scientifically as hydrous magnesium iron phyllosilicate (though it can contain minor impurities including cobalt and nickel). It measures 3.2 x 3.8 x 3.4cm and looks like it’d roll just fine. But none of this makes it super-interesting. What does is the fact it is the oldest known d20 in existence, according to this article over at io9, pre-dating the previous record holder, a glass Roman die from the 2nd century AD.
While I’d look pretty schmick rocking up to my regular role-playing group with this baby, I could probably afford a house-sized box full of plastic ones — and a custom-made mechanical shaker to roll them all at once — for the same price.
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