The Game of Astragali
Ancient Egypt. The sun sets. The last stone of the day has been
placed in the pyramid. The mummies have been stowed in the
mummy-room … not to be confused with the mommy-room … where
mummy and daddy play. Atlantic City and Reno, Nevada are not yet
even seeds in the mind of mankind. Gambling–however–ranks strong
as the pastime of choice … second only to that even more ancient
and well known of recreational pastimes. The game that’s played
after dusk is called Astragali. And this game marks the first and
indubitable use of dice for gambling.
Yeah yeah, Benjamin. We’re all dyin’ here for a history lesson. We
got nuthin’ better to do with our lives. What’s this got to do with
jewelry, pal? You wastin’ our time or what?
Lax-up folks. This has everything to do with jewelry. You will soon
be presented with a Tyler-Adam special which I venture to say that
at this point in time no one else has. In the meantime … let’s go
back 40 thousand years … for that is the time that dice first made
its appearance to primitive man … who used the clever little cubes
as magical rites in order to divine the future. I think it was Grog
who said to his wife after dragging her by her hair into a cave: Hey
Susie. I think this may catch on in Reno some day.
Archeologists have found dice among the fossil remains of Homo
Sapiens. They were often formed from the ankle bones of sheep and
dogs. Later on they were sculpted from plum and peach pits. And even
later on than that … they were fashioned from the bones of Buffalo
… and Caribou … and Deer Horns and Beaver and Woodchuck teeth.
But never me lads and lassies … never until this very day …
which history will record into eternity … never before were dice
made with Black Diamonds and inlaid with 14 karat gold. Imagine
this. You’re at a gambling casino with your friends. The wives have
come along. They’re wearing their diamonds and pearls. They ooze
money through every pore. Ostentatiousness is the order of the day.
They each dare you … one by one … to outdo their display of
wealth. With great aplomb born of elegant breeding … you pull out
your genuine black diamond dice inlaid with real gold and you turn
to your wife and say: “Here honey. Why don’t you use these diamond
dice why don’t you?” And the other women drool … and glare angrily
at their husbands. And you grin … and know tonight is Nirvana
night. You done scored. So … should any of you want to outdo your
neighbor-- and who in his right mind wouldn’t–or should any of you
want an item that will set you apart from the crowd … I urge you
to consider purchasing a pair of Black Diamond Dice inlaid with gold
and presented to you by Tyler-Adam Corp.
Quickly and parenthetically … for those who need to know these
things … loaded dice and the idea of cheating at the gambling
table also dates back to the Ancient Egyptians … who clearly knew
how to do other things besides honoring Pharaoh. And as far as the
use of dice as a rite to foretell the future … these dice were
also often loaded … thereby ensuring for the world to see that his
future is better than the other’s future.
For those of you who are new to this thing called Tidbits…may I
direct you to my home page at www.tyler-adam.com where you will
scroll down the left side menu till you get to the area that says
Tidbits … and then click on the link that says: Dice … where you
will see a graphic of our Black Diamond Dice inlaid with gold.
And there ya have it. That’s it for this week folks. Catch you all
next week. Benjamin Mark
-- http://www.tyler-adam.com --