Oracle Decks Cards

To make playing cards, paper was needed, among other things. The first paper was made in China in 105 A.D. The Chinese understood its importance, and so kept its manufacture a closely guarded secret. In 751, at the battle of Samarkand, the Arabs took prisoner several Chinese master papermakers, who in time taught them to make it. During the ninth to eleventh centuries, the Arabs brought papermaking to Italy via Sicily.
It is assumed that playing cards originated in China, and subsequently spread along trading routes to India and Persia. As early as 969 A.D., Emperor Muzong of the Liao dynasty is said to have played domino cards with his wives. But these cards looked completely different. They were long, like a domino. The Chinese dictionary Zhengzitong states that playing cards were invented in China in the year 1120, while another Chinese historical source speaks of the year 1294.

Cards in Europe

What is certain is that they did not arrive in Europe directly from China. Card games were evidently brought to Europe by the Arabs during the second half of the fourteenth century via Italy and Spain. These were probably Mamluk playing cards, popular in Egypt, which was ruled by the Mamluks.
The Arabs had transformed Chinese playing cards to suit their needs, and Europeans then adapted the Arabic cards to suit theirs.