The Tuscanian dice or dice of Toscanella are a pair of

dice Dice (singular die or dice) are small, throwable objects with marked sides that can rest in multiple positions. They are used for generating random values, commonly as part of tabletop games, including dice games, board games, role-playing ...

, found in 1848 in the town of

Tuscania Tuscania is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Viterbo, Lazio Region, Italy. Until the late 19th century the town was known as Toscanella. History Antiquity According to the legend, Tuscania was founded by Aeneas' son, Ascanius, where ...

, on which are inscribed the numerals 'one' to 'six' in Etruscan. It is one of the primary pieces of evidence for the numerals of the Etruscan language. The sides are inscribed, :''θu, zal, ci, huθ, maχ, śa'', which are thought to have been pronounced : ʰu

sal Sal, SAL, or S.A.L. may refer to: Personal name * Sal (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or nickname Places * Sal, Cape Verde, an island and municipality * Sal, Iran, a village in East Azerbaijan Province * Ca ...

i utʰ akʰ(or maybe akʷʰ and �a Opposite faces of both dice display ''θu'' and ''huθ'', ''zal'' and ''maχ'', and ''ci'' and ''śa''. It is universally agreed, based on other inscriptions, that ''θu, zal, ci'' and ''maχ'' are 'one', 'two', 'three' and 'five'. ''Huθ'' and ''śa'' must therefore be 'four' and 'six', but it is debated which is which. Etruscan dice marked with pips show two arrangements, an older (1:2, 3:4, 5:6), with each pair differing by one, and a younger (1:6, 2:5, 3:4), with each pair adding to seven (the now universal pattern). In both arrangements, the numbers 3 and 4 are opposite each other, so ''śa'', which is opposite ''ci'' 'three', must be the Etruscan word for 'four'. However, this conclusion contradicts a long line of evidence that ''śa'' is 'six' and ''huθ'' is 'four'.Etruscan numerals: problems and results of research
(PDF), S. A. Yatsemirsky

References

{{reflist Etruscan inscriptions Dice