Language, Music & Games
Cubical dice (Indus)
c. 2600-1900 BCEIndus CivilisationHarappa, Mohenjo-daroIndus / NW (now Pakistan/Afghanistan)
2,600 BCE
Some of the earliest cubic dice with dot numbering, foreshadowing the dicing games of Vedic literature.
- Dated
- 2,600–1,900 BCE
- As scholars put it
- c. 2600-1900 BCE
- Originator
- Indus Civilisation
- Source text
- Harappa, Mohenjo-daro
- Region
- Indus / NW (now Pakistan/Afghanistan)
- Discipline
- Language, Music & Games
- Evidence
- Documented
- Confidence
- Medium
- Verification
- Reference-cited
Fair to say
Early dice are also known from Mesopotamia and Iran; Indus numbering differs from modern conventions.
Path to modern innovation
Early evidence of games of chance.
References
- 1Kenoyer
- 2Possehl
Further reading
Corrections and additional sources: edit IND-236 on GitHub.