Abstract
The aim of this paper will be the two most used materials for the fort construction in Roman Egypt: stone and mud-bricks. The other materials were used only in very limited scale.
There were no earth-timber forts in Egypt. Even the marching camps in Nubia were built in stone.
The bricks and tiles, except one 6th century fort, were used only for esthetic purposes. The mud-bricks were dominant in the Western desert and the stone in the Eastern desert.
Some forts, mainly in the Nile Valley, were built from a combination of stone and mud-bricks, such as a fort in Nag el-Hagar. Both stone and mud-bricks seem to be produced locally.
The stone, due to its diversity, is a better example of local material. Harder stones, which would be too expensive for a fort construction, were used in the Eastern desert where there were quarries for export.
The reuse of the stones from pharaonic temples is specific for Egypt. The pharaonic stone block with hieroglyphic inscriptions can be seen in the Roman fortresses in Luxor, Cairo and el-Kab.