The Wonderful World Of Dice

Dice are useful little devices used for generating random numbers; shake and roll, there you have your randomised numbers, assuming of course the dice aren’t loaded! A typical dice today is a cube shape, usually with softened edges and dots etched and painted on each side. The opposing faces will always add up to seven, so for example; three will face four, one will face six, two will face five.

Dice have been around since the ancient Egyptians who used to play a game known as Senet. The game is so old the definitive rules have long since been lost. Historically they were made from animal bones, whilst the ancient Greeks and Romans used both bone and ivory. Ancient dice were made in numerous shapes and sizes, with the Chinese are credited for the origination of the cube dice that we favour today, but there are many different shapes and sizes out there.

In ancient times it was believed that the Roman goddess Fortuna, daughter of Zeus, controlled the outcome of all throws of dice. Casting dice became a way of deciding fate and predicting the future. Fortunes have been won and lost on the throw of a dice and they continue to dictate fortunes around the world today, via gambling games.