Roman dodecahedra
A hundred bronze puzzles nobody can explain
More than a hundred hollow bronze twelve-sided objects, with holes of different sizes and knobs on the corners, have turned up in Rome's north-western provinces. No Roman text mentions them, and the guesses range from surveying tool to knitting aid.
Wikipedia (Russian) · Wikipedia (English) · 2nd century
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The Romans left over a hundred mysterious bronze dodecahedra and not a single word about what they were for. They have been called rangefinders, calendars, candlesticks and even tools for knitting gloves. Share →
Meanwhile around the world (±25 years)
Middle East
- c. 200 Compilation of the Mishnah — same year
- 224 Rise of the Sasanian Empire — 24 years later
Asia
- 184 The Yellow Turban Rebellion — 16 years earlier
- 220 Fall of the Han and the Three Kingdoms — 20 years later
Americas
- c. 200 Pyramid of the Sun at Teotihuacan — same year
Alive at the time
- Galen (aged 71)
- Cao Cao (aged 45)
- Zhuge Liang (aged 19)