A bone disc with an inscription from Marina El-Alamein (Egypt)

A bone disc with an inscription has been found at the archaeological site of the Greco-Roman period at Marina el-Alamein in Egypt. It has a hole drilled in the center and a name Ioulios (Ιούλιος) written in Greek letters on one side. One may wonder about the disk function. Names appear on theatre tickets and on game counters, but they also usually bear a number or an image, e.g. a figure or a building. In the town, which has been subject of a recent research, a large number of diverse types of game pieces were discovered; glass pawns and bone counters predominate among them, however, they differ from the discussed disc: they are smooth or decorated with cut concentric circles. The number and variety of pawns indicates diverse types and a big popularity of games among the inhabitants of Marina. The described disc may have been a strategic board game counter.