Roman game boards from Abu Sha'ar (Red Sea Coast, Egypt)

The discovery of twenty game boards-including some in a dedicated den or gaming room-in the late Roman fort at Abu Sha'ar on the Red Seacoast of Egypt, conjures up images of daily life at a well established, but remote Roman military station. Here, during the long hot days and cool nights, soldiers no doubt played board games and gambled incessantly. This paper describes the boards, the likely games played on them and the areas of the fort where they were played.