Scientists in Israel have discovered ancient animal knuckles were used to predict the future and as a form of spiritual protection in the wild and unpredictable ancient world. They are also pawns in a game of fate called “astragalomancy”.
Beit Guvrin-Maresha National Park in central Israel, about 13 km from Kiryat Gat, surrounds Maresha. This was an important town in Judah during the First Temple period. Located in the Judean “Shephelah” (southern lowlands), Maresha flourished in Biblical times and throughout the Hellenistic period.
It was here that archaeologists recently discovered a small collection of animal bones. A Times of Israel report said that after studying the artifacts, it was determined that they represented pieces from an ancient game. And playing this game involves the fate and fate of the participants, or at least they think so!
Roman replica of astragali or knuckles, used in “divination” games in Rome and elsewhere. (Roland zh / CC BY-SA 3.0 )
Magical Knucklebones were used in the Trojan War
Today, followers of the New Age tradition often say they have “miracle lives,” claiming to manifest events they “believe” will happen. While those who practice magic today are a minority, in the prehistoric world everyone lived by the rules of the gods, believing that fate could be changed and fate could be influenced. influenced by magic, like the divination “game” of the knuckles.
Played since ancient times by both the Greeks and Romans, records dating from the Trojan War (c. 1194–1184 BC) describe the ancient knuckle-throwing game called is “astragaloi”. The game “astragalomancy” is a form of divination in which the ankle bones of goats and sheep are thrown onto a surface and the resulting pattern is interpreted.
Dynamics of the game of fate and destiny
Dr. Ian Stern from the University of Haifa recently found a collection of knuckle bones in Beit Guvrin-Maresha National Park. All date from the Hellenistic period, about 2,300 years ago. Dr. Lee Perry-Gal, zoo archaeologist for the Israel Antiquities Authority, said the collection of engraved game pieces is “unique in quantity and quality.”
The pieces feature inscriptions about Greek gods and goddesses including “Aphrodite, Eros, Hermes, Hera and Nike.” Furthermore, some pieces have words like “bandit,” “stop,” and “you’re burned.”
In ancient Greece, the game astragalomancy was played by participants rolling astragaloi or “dice.” According to a report in Heritage Daily, to “obtain a prophecy, five astragalus are tossed at once, or an astragalus (also called astragalus) is tossed five times in a row.”
In short, scientists say that in ancient times, suffering people “sought outside help through divination and charms as well as in the afterlife.” So, in ancient times, poor health, giving birth, coping with the death of a loved one, or protecting oneself from the evil eye, all required magical assistance.
Dice and knuckles (1st-4th centuries AD) on display at the Albacete Museum, Spain. Dice come from Pozo de la Peña (Chinchilla) and Los Villares (Balazote), and knuckles from Las Eras (Ontur). (Enrique Iñiguez Rodriguez / CC BY-SA 4.0 )
The Fate Game is a global phenomenon
Bone divination as a game is not restricted to the Middle East. The historian Tacitus wrote about methods of divination among the Germanic tribes, including “drawing lots” or “throwing dice.” He said the “cleric custom” practiced among some Germanic tribes in the 1st century AD included “the drawing of lots which involved picking up a branch and dividing it into small pieces, marking them with signs and cast them to determine whether the tribes should do so or not.” or should not engage in a conflict or battle.”
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Today, people can use a weather app to track a storm or visit a doctor to deal with health problems, and we use distance to stay away from people who could harm us. But back in the days before scientific reasoning, knuckle drawing, dice and other divination games were valuable tools to protect against the forces of misfortune that were often personified. chemistry.
