- Title
- Gaming Piece
- Date Made
- 10th-11th century
- Period
- 10th-11th century
- Medium
- Bone, carved and drilled
- Dimensions
- Length: 1 1/2 in. (3.81 cm)
- Accession Number
- M.2002.1.526
- Collecting Area
- Art of the Middle East: Islamic
- Curatorial Notes
Carved from bone and decorated with circular carvings on all sides, these rectangular objects (also see M.2002.1.524 and M.2002.1.527) were likely a form of dice used to play backgammon and other games of chance and skill. Such games often entailed an element of gambling, which was forbidden by Islamic law but continued to be enjoyed by all levels of society in the medieval Islamic world. The use of dice in gaming seems to date to the fifth millennium BC, with the earliest surviving example coming from Syria.
