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How the first gambling in human history appeared
Excitement is older than writing. Long before casinos, people threw animal bones, drew lots, played racing tables and bet on the outcome of hunting, racing or sports. At first, games were closely intertwined with ritual and fortune-telling: the lot was considered the voice of the gods, and the winnings were a sign of favor. Gradually, sacred meaning gave way to entertainment and betting, rules, a bank, restrictions and even the first "regulators" appeared - temples and power.
Below is an overview of the eras, artifacts and key plots that add up to the history of the first gambling.
1) Up to the dice: bones and lots
Astragalus (bones of the joints of ungulates) - the oldest "instrument of chance." They are found in sites from the Middle East to the Eurasian steppe. They wondered, played for glasses, threw like lots.
Sticks, seeds, pebbles - simple items with "two states" (fell/did not fall out), from which a coin and a lottery grew.
The case was interpreted as the will of supernatural forces: the victory gave symbolic capital, and then material.
2) Middle East: from divination to table racing
Mesopotamia (III millennium BC): early tetrahedral "cubes" and tablets with point marks.
"The Royal Game of Ur" (c. XXVI century BC): a racing board game on the track with throws of dice/sticks. This is not a casino yet, but already a risk structure: case + strategy + bets (probably household bets).
Temples and palaces controlled holidays and competitions, in fact setting the social "rules" of the game.
3) Egypt: the game as a model of destiny
Senet (c. XXXI-XX centuries BC) is a cult board game associated with the afterlife. Direct bets are not fixed, but there are lots/steps on throws, competitiveness and prestige.
Tetrahedral bones, sticks and tabletops were found; play both for fun and as a ritual.
4) India: "game" as epic plot
"Mahabharata" (approx. I millennium BC e.) describes the game of dice (dyuta) as a social drama: betting, arrogance, loss of property and honor.
In parallel, complex board games and scores are developing, which pushes to the rules and ethics: when the game is permissible, and when - vice.
5) Greece and Rome: from heroes to taverns
Greece: cult of lot (for decisions and divination), bones/bones (astragalia) as a game of points and luck; betting on athletes and chariot races.
Rome: games alea (two-sided/six-sided bones), tabula (prototype of backgammon), loteria on holidays are popular. Legally - swings: either prohibitions or indulgences. There are fines, "timing" of the game, withdrawals of winnings - an early prototype of regulation.
The roles of banker, croupier, bookmaker (in embryonic form) are branched.
6) China: lotteries, cards and the prototype of the sweepstakes
Early lottery practices: lots as fundraising for public needs; game culture is quickly mastering tickets and schedules.
Playing cards: appear in China (Middle Ages) as paper character sets (counting game → bets). Through trade routes, cards will reach Persia and Europe, giving rise to poker/spectacle families.
7) The birth of rules: from ritual to contract
Three movements turn "chance for the will of the gods" into excitement for the sake of winning:1. Code and score: recording rules, points, combinations - the game becomes a contract between participants.
2. Money as a universal bet: from exchanging gifts to a coin; bank, loan, debt appears.
3. Place of play: from the square and the temple to specialized houses (taverns, clubs, predecessors of casinos), where there is an organizer, inventory and supervision.
8) Why societies were banned and allowed
Risks: debts, family conflicts, fraud, bone swapping, "twisting" of devices.
Pros: fundraising, holiday integration, socialization, "steam release."
Therefore, regulations arise: where you can play, when, for what amounts; who is responsible for the honesty of the inventory (from measuring bones to calibrating wheels) and the order of disputes.
9) What was considered "honest" in antiquity
Neutral inventory: bones without undercuts, even sticks, identical tokens.
Publicity of key actions: throw "on the table," announcement of the result, witnesses.
Consent to risk: pre-agreed rates and limits, recognition of the indivisibility of the result (lot is final).
Arbitrator/owner of the house: resolves the dispute, monitors the inventory - the prototype of the current croupier/regulator.
10) Long shadow of first games
Table games with throws → nords/craps/table races.
Lot/lot → state lotteries, drafts, draws of places.
Card symbols → countless score/combination and strategy games.
Arbitrator and rule → regulator, license, RNG audit and live procedures.
Milestones (conditional timeline)
before writing - astragalas, lots, betting on hunting/sports.
III-II millennium BC e., Mesopotamia/Egypt - table races, bones/sticks, ritual + game.
I millennium BC e., India/Greece - plot dice games, betting on competitions, the first moral disputes about excitement.
I thousand BC e. - I thousand AD e., Rome/China - home lotteries, taverns, regulation; prototype maps in China.
Middle Ages → Modern times - cards in Eurasia, city lotteries, guild rules, then - state monopolies and the first "casinos."
What is important to understand today
1. Excitement was born from lot - from an attempt to speak with fate; this explains the vitality of rituals and superstitions.
2. Honesty has always been a matter of procedure: public throw, verifiable inventory, arbitrator - the direct ancestors of modern RNG certifications and live-table rules.
3. Regulation is inevitable: where there are stakes and conflicts of interest, rules, audits and responsibilities appear there.
Short glossary of ancient excitement
Astragalus - joint bone, early "cube."
Lot - a ritual method of selection/prediction, the progenitor of lotteries.
Racing board - a track with chips and throws (the prototype of the "board for good luck").
Alea is a Roman term for chance games (and for "risky enterprise" in general).
Early gambling grew out of lot and ritual but became what we know today through rules, betting and the place of the game. Astragalus turned into bones and cubes, lots - into lotteries, counting - into cards and complex board games, arbitrator - into a regulator and auditor. History shows a simple thing: where the risk is framed in an honest procedure, the game survives centuries - from animal bones to digital tables.