Jeu de dés

Dice are among the oldest gaming objects known. Cubic dice with markings close to modern ones have been found in Egyptian tombs dating back some 4,000 years and in Chinese excavations from 600 BCE, while four-sided dice were found alongside the Royal Game of Ur in Mesopotamia, over 4,000 years old. Simple marked animal knucklebones are thought to be their distant ancestors. Now essential to role-playing and board games alike, dice come in many shapes, from the classic cube to 4, 8, 12 or 20-sided polyhedra.