Essay The History of Gambling in Ancient Civilizations

The History of Ancient Gambling Gambling was present in almost every major, ancient civilization. From the Mesolithic rolling of hucklebones, to the Mesopotamian invention of the six-sided die, and finally to the Chinese invention of the card, not only did gambling survive through countless civilizations of ancient history, it evolved into a global phenomenon. Stakes on these games could range from Quadrans, the Roman equivalent of pennies, to betting an entire estate on a simple throw of the die. Interestingly, as in modern times, ancient peoples and civilizations had varying opinions of gambling. Some ignored it, some outlawed it, and some accepted it. Despite the numerous stances on gambling, one thing held true for all†¦show more content†¦But after the hunt, the hunters might cast bones to determine who went home with the most desirable cuts,† (Schwartz, 7). Divination was only the beginning. The first civilization in the world, Mesopotamia, was also the first civilization to gamble. Me sopotamian fortune-tellers filed down their hucklebones, originally used for divination, and marked them with insignia, taking the first steps toward a modern die (Schwartz, 8). Eventually, the Mesopotamians developed three styles of dice: a four-sided pyramidal die, a refined version of the four-sided astragali, and our modern day six-sided die (Schwartz, 8). The earliest six-sided die recovered dates back to about 3000 BCE (Schwartz, 8). The Arabic number system was not created until 700 BCE. Therefore, dice are about two-thousand years older than numbers. Mesopotamians played a number of board games, one which might have been an ancestor of parcheesi, along with one that greatly resembled backgammon, and another called senet (Schwartz, 9, Wallenfels, 232). Five gaming boards dating from 3000 BCE have been found in the royal tombs at Ur (Rofe, 92). Oddly, despite countless artifacts and archaeological evidence, the Mesopotamians did not mention gambling in any of their surv iving literature (Schwartz, 9). Gambling has been a part of Egyptian civilization for as long as Egyptians have been aShow MoreRelatedMathematical Connection Project1749 Words   |  7 Pagesactivities? Some people think mathematics is a divine field, some adore Mathematics, while others are scared of it; some study mathematics, while some worship it. For example, Aryabatta, an ancient Indian mathematician worshipped mathematics and lived for it out of devotion and not because of any material benefits. Ancient men felt their concern with mathematics, motivated by their social needs; they had done their best on the computational front of their life. 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