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Metropolitan Museum of Art — Egyptian Art (Open Access) · other

Die

Source of record: Metropolitan Museum of Art — Egyptian Art (Open Access) — catalogued by the holding institution. View the original record →

Description

Dice. Roman Period, 30 B.C.–A.D. 330. ivory. dimensions: 1.1 cm square (7/16 in square). From: Oxyrhynchus (Bahnasa), Middle Egypt, Egypt. Excavation: EEF excavations 1896–97. Credit: Gift of Egypt Exploration Fund, 1897.

AI image analysis GPT-5.4-nano

Machine-generated from the object's image on Jul 2026. Not curatorial; treat deities, names, and signs below as the model's best reading, not authority.

Small carved ivory die (cubical game die) with painted/drawn numerals or markings on multiple faces.

The image shows a small, cream-colored cubical object consistent with a die. A central pierced hole or circular depression is visible on the top face. The visible side faces display dark circular/oval glyph-like marks arranged in patterns resembling pips or numerals (e.g., multiple ring-like dots). One face also shows red ink markings along with faint red/black numerals; however, the exact characters are not clearly legible as specific hieroglyphs, Greek, or Coptic. No clear cartouches, royal names, or deity iconography are identifiable. The overall form and markings are consistent with a gaming die rather than an inscribed monumental text.

unclear Roman Period (per catalogue) good
Materials ivory
Signs ring/pip-like marks (numerical or dice pips) ×8
Visible text "Red painted marks with black ring/pip-like numerals; exact letters/symbols unclear and not reliably readable."

Inscriptions (1)

Inscription #1 AI reading of the photograph

Visible text (machine reading)

Red painted marks with black ring/pip-like numerals; exact letters/symbols unclear and not reliably readable.

Connections

Found at Oxyrhynchus
Materials Ivory

Cross-references (4)

  • Wikidata-Q Q116276188 tier-1
  • Collection-QID Q160236 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
  • Inventory-Number 97.4.128 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
  • MET-Object 547966 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
About this record's data
  • From the source institution — accession, description, dimensions, and dating are as catalogued by Metropolitan Museum of Art — Egyptian Art (Open Access).
  • AI-inferred — the image-analysis panel (deities, names, signs) is machine-generated and may be wrong.
  • Approximate location — most map points are plotted at the site centroid, not the exact findspot.
  • Inferred links — cross-references marked with a match method other than explicit-source-field were matched by us, not stated by the source.