Editing Polyhedron (section)

===Before the Greeks===
[[File:Papyrus moscow 4676-problem 14 part 1.jpg|thumb|Problem 14 of the [[Moscow Mathematical Papyrus]], on calculating the volume of a [[frustum]]]]
Polyhedra appeared in early [[architecture|architectural forms]] such as cubes and cuboids, with the earliest four-sided [[Egyptian pyramids]] dating from the [[27th century BC]].<ref>{{citation | last = Kitchen | first = K. A. | date = October 1991 | doi = 10.1080/00438243.1991.9980172 | issue = 2 | journal = World Archaeology | pages = 201–208 | title = The chronology of ancient Egypt | volume = 23}}</ref> The [[Moscow Mathematical Papyrus]] from approximately 1800–1650 BC includes an early written study of polyhedra and their volumes (specifically, the volume of a [[frustum]]).<ref>{{citation | last1 = Gunn | first1 = Battiscombe | last2 = Peet | first2 = T. Eric | date = May 1929 | doi = 10.1177/030751332901500130 | issue = 1 | journal = The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology | pages = 167–185 | title = Four Geometrical Problems from the Moscow Mathematical Papyrus | volume = 15| s2cid = 192278129 }}</ref> The mathematics of the [[Old Babylonian Empire]], from roughly the same time period as the Moscow Papyrus, also included calculations of the volumes of [[cuboid]]s (and of non-polyhedral [[cylinder]]s), and calculations of the height of such a shape needed to attain a given volume.<ref>{{citation | last = Friberg | first = Jöran | issue = 2 | journal = Revue d'Assyriologie et d'archéologie orientale | jstor = 23281940 | pages = 97–188 | title = Mathematics at Ur in the Old Babylonian Period | volume = 94 | year = 2000}}</ref>

The [[Etruscan civilization|Etruscans]] preceded the Greeks in their awareness of at least some of the regular polyhedra, as evidenced by the discovery of an [[Etruscan civilization|Etruscan]]  [[dodecahedron]] made of [[soapstone]] on [[Monte Loffa]]. Its faces were marked with different designs, suggesting to some scholars that it may have been used as a gaming die.<ref>{{citation |title=An Etruscan dodecahedron|first=Amelia Carolina|last=Sparavigna|year=2012|arxiv=1205.0706}}</ref>