The presence of gambling in mythology

It is usual that when mentioning games of chance the mind immediately thinks of a casino and its iconic games, such as roulette, craps, lottery and poker, and even blackjack and baccarat. But really, this entertainment is ancient and popular since the beginning of time.

Have you ever thought that this playful experience was part of the daily life of ancient cultures such as Egyptian, Greek and Roman? And games of chance even appear in the mythology of various civilizations.

Did the mythological gods play games of chance?

Did soldiers bet on dice at intervals before starting or continuing a war?

Are games of chance part of Mythology and History?

It is not possible to determine the time in which games of chance appeared. They are really known from civilizations as old as the Sumerians or the Egyptians. To name just one example: in the spectacular Cheops pyramid located in Giza, a clay tablet was found, on which thanks to games of chance, expressed as myths, the first calendars arose.

There are details in the archaeological findings that are infallible proof that gambling and chance were part of their daily lives. In the drawings and graphic expressions found, details such as:

• Copper bowls (hub – em – hau): discs were used that were thrown into this bowl in a certain sequence.
• Frescoes showing 2 Egyptians playing “atep”: they are standing with their backs to each other, in order to guess the points that each one accumulates on their fingers.
• Dice made (carved) in ivory tusks by unknown artists, whose date is 1573 before Jesus Christ. They are preserved and displayed in the British Museum.

Did the Greeks know gambling?

According to historians, the appearance of poker dates back to the Minoan civilization, more than 3,500 years ago. Today, it is considered very lucky to roll a double six in a dice game. In ancient times, pulling out a pair of sixes was called “Aphrodite’s toss” and meant victory in the game.

Heads or tails and dice games were well known. The gods that favored the players were Pan and Hermes, who according to mythology played dice to divide the universe between them. There were some special places where the players went to play, despite the fact that they were places with a bad reputation (a bit what happens to this day with physical casinos).

The game that in ancient Greece was known as “tilia” is what we know today as the game of checkers. The Romans called it the “12 lines” game. There are scenes embodied in ceramics that show bets in fights between different animals such as dogs, chickens, birds (they were animals raised to fulfill this function).

Heads and tails was very popular and was usually played with a shell, then at the height of the Roman Empire it was played with a coin, as is the norm today. The dice were the most popular game, for which three cubes made of clay were used, and already at the time of the rise of the Roman Empire the number of dice was reduced to only two and until today it is the usual.

It was normal for games of chance to be played between slaves and masters, and even the emperors. References to gambling are found in Buddhist texts and in the Jewish Talmud, ancient China, and Islam. Roman soldiers are said to have cast lots for Jesus’ cloak by playing dice.