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Posted by supercar on :

In light of all the jubilation about the Greek “birth place” of sports, here is what I have gathered about the rarely talked about Ancient Egyptian sports:

Ancient Egyptian Sports
Many of today's sports were practiced by the Ancient Egyptians, who set the rules and regulations for them. Inscriptions on monuments indicate that they practiced wrestling, weightlifting, long jump, swimming, rowing, shooting, fishing and athletics, as well as various kinds of ball games.
Ancient Egyptian kings, princes and statesmen were keen on attending sports competitions, which they encouraged and provided with the necessary equipment.
Drawings on pharaonic monuments tell us that several thousand years ago, the Egyptians had laid down basic rules for games, chosen a neutral referee, a uniform for players, and a means of announcing the winners by awarding them different collars.
Both winner and loser were met with ovation, the first for his superiority and the latter for his sporting spirit.

The following is an expose of some ancient Egyptian sports:

Source: http://www.touregypt.net/historicalessays/ancsportsindex.htm

Here is some more interesting reading about Ancient Egyptian sports: Source:
http://www.ioa.leeds.ac.uk/1980s/84085.htm

It started first in Egypt and from there it moved to Phoenicia, Carthage, Greece and Rome.

The Ancient Egyptians engaged themselves in sports with the intention of training and strengthening their bodies, and also for pleasure and recreation.

The Stela of Amenophis II in the vicinity of the great Sphynx in Giza is proof that sports were practised in higher strata of society and must have been very popular and widespread in Ancient Egypt.

Amenophis II was very proud of his skill in archery, running, rowing and his love of horses.

The same was true for Tuthmosis IV who was proud of his skill in shooting, hunting and other major sports.

The high standard which the Ancient Egyptians reached in physical fitness is revealed in their standard portrayals of the male and female forms in sculpture and painting.

The men are strong, and radiate a muscular vigour, while the ladies are slender, and redolent with femininity.

There are numberless representations on tomb and temple walls, but none is more striking than the oldest document relating to sport. It is a unique mural, not only because of its historical date, but also through its social implications, for it depicts the Pharaoh himself, Zoser the Great, the founder of the third dynasty nearly 3000 years before Christ or about 5000 years ago.

This mural shows Zoser participating in the running programme of the Heb Sed festival, as a symbol of the significance of physical fitness of the Ancient Egyptians.

The artist has brought out, with a thorough knowledge of anatomy, the harmonious play of muscles. The positions of Zoser's arms, trunk and legs denote an expertise of technique and movement which only advanced development can achieve.

Queens were no less aware of the importance of sports in all round culture, for on a wall of her sanctuary in the Karnak Temple, Queen Hatshepsut of the eighteenth dynasty had herself represented in a similar attitude in the Heb Sed.

Hardly any of ancient Egypt's rulers during the thirty centuries under view failed to have themselves depicted as a sporting figure in the Heb Sed festivals.

The most notable instances of this are Seti and his son Ramses second, both of the nineteenth Dynasty, on their temples at Abydos and Abu Simbel respectively.

Another example is the mural of Ramses III of the twentieth Dynasty on the walls of his funerary temple in Medenet Babu.

Fully aware of the invaluable role of sport in raising the standard of health, and hence of national productivity, the Ancient Egyptians as a whole, men, women, youths and children, were all engaged in sporting activities with a zeal which amounted to a cult.

The SAQQARA tombs generally, and tose of PETAH HOTEP and MERIROKE in particular, are show places for children's sports. They contain many illustrations of athletics, wrestling and some other games.

It is difficult to think of a sport which the Ancient Egyptians did not practise. The Benni Hasan rock tombs are a show place for most sports such as: athletics, swimming, wrestling, dancing, gymnastics, hockey, yoga, and many others.

Sporting Documents-using references:

Athletics

A. Heb Sed Running:
Zoser, 3rd Dynasty, 2650 B.C. Saqqara
Hatshepsut, 18th Dynasty, 1480 B.C. Karnak
Seti, 19th Dynasty, 1300 B.C. Abydos
Ramses second, 19th Dynasty, 1280 B.C. Abu Simbel
Ramses third, 20th Dynasty, 1180 B.C. Medinet Habu

B. Children Running:
Petah Hotep tomb, 5th Dynasty, 2300 B.C. Saqqara
Mereruke tomb, 6th Dynasty, 2250 B.C. Saqqara

C. High Jumping:
Mereruke tomb, 6th Dynasty, 2250 B.C. Saqqara

Knife Throwing
Mereruke tomb, 6th Dynasty, 2250 B.C. Saqqara

Archery
Amenophis Third, 18th Dynasty, 1420 B.C. Luxor Museum
Taharka, 25th Dynasty, 700 B.C. Karnak Temple

Ball Games
Khiti tomb, 11th Dynasty, 2000 B.C. Benihasan
Baket tomb, 11th Dynasty, 2000 B.C. Benihasan

Boxing
Kheroef tomb, 18th Dynasty, 1500 B.C. Luxor
Boxing cat and mouse, Unknown date, Carlberg Museum

Fencing
Meriroke tomb, 5th Dynasty, 2300 B.C. Saqqara
Petah Hotep tomb, 6th Dynasty, 2250 B.C. Saqqara
Kheroef tomb, 18th Dynasty, 1500 B.C. Luxor
Ramses tomb, 19th Dynasty, 1300 B.C. Luxor
Ramses III temple, 20th Dynasty, 1100 B.C. Medenithabu

Gymnastics
Menu tomb, 5th Dynasty, 2300 B.C. Saqqara
Meruruke, 6th Dynasty, 2250 B.C. Saqqara
Paket tomb, 11th Dynasty, 2000 B.C. Benihasan
Khiti tomb, 11th Dynasty, 2000 B.C. Benihasan
Hatshepsut sanctuary, 18th Dynasty, 1480 B.C. Karnak Temple
Cairo Museum, 20th Dynasty, 1000 B.C.

Horse Riding
The horse was not native to Egypt, but was introduced by the Hyksos about 1650 B.C.
Horses were used exclusively for drawing war-chariots and wheel-mounted war weapons.
The Egyptians, however, trained that noble animal for riding purposes.
Horemheb tomb, 18th Dynasty, 1900 B.C. Luxor
Cavalry, 18th Dynasty, 1280 B.C. Luxor Temple
Dressage & Side Saddle, 20th Dynasty, 1180 B.C. Medinet Habu
Cavalry, 25th Dynasty, 700 B.C. Louvre Museum

Life Saving
Kadesh Battle, 19th Dynasty, 1300 B.C. Abydos Temple

Weight Lifting
Paket tomb, 11th Dynasty, 2000 B.C. Benihasan

Swimming
Free Style, 5th Dynasty, 2400 B.C. Saqqara
Free Style, 6th Dynasty, 2200 B.C. Cairo Museum
All Strokes, 11th Dynasty, 2000 B.C. Benihasan
Breast Stroke, 18th Dynasty, 1800 B.C. Metropolitan
Breast Stroke, 18th Dynasty, 1800 B.C. Louvre Museum
Free Style, 18th Dynasty, 1800 B.C. Pushkin Museum
Breast Stroke, 20th Dynasty, 1100 B.C. Turin Museum
Swimming, 600 B.C. Cairo Museum

Wrestling
Petah Hotep tomb, 5th Dynasty, 2300 B.C. Saqqara
Paket tomb, 11th Dynasty, 2000 B.C. Benihasan
Khiti tomb, 11th Dynasty, 2000 B.C. Benihasan
Brussels Museum, 11th Dynasty, 2000 B.C. Benihasan
Tell Elamarna, 18th Dynasty, 1500 B.C. Benihasan
Cairo Museum, 20th Dynasty, 1000 B.C. Benihasan
Ramses Funeral Temple, 20th Dynasty, 1000 B.C. Medinet Habu

Yoga
Petah Hotep tomb, 5th Dynasty, 2000 B.C. Saqqara
Khiti tomb, 11th Dynasty, 2000 B.C. Benihasan

Sports Competitions

Sports were not simply enthusiastically practised on a universal scale, but competitions and championships were also organised.

International competitions were held and great store was set by the impartiality of Referees. For international competitions, umpires from different countries used to judge the games.

1. Ramses III Funeral Temple, 20th Dynasty, 1000 B.C. Medinet Habu

By the way, unlike the Greek sports, the Egyptians seemed to have kept their clothes on!

Posted by rasol (Member # 4592) on :

Posted by neo*geo (Member # 3466) on :

I've heard that games with a stick and ball like cricket and baseball may have originated in ancient Egypt as well. There is a wall painting of Thutmose III playing a game with a stick and ball...

Posted by ausar (Member # 1797) on :

According to a Stelae written around the 25th dyansty Taharqa organized a lomg run from the mouth of Faiyum to Men-nefer. He did this to keep his military in shape and at the end prizes were rewarded to all the runners that partispated in the running.

The problem with many of the sports is we have no exact rules of how they were played. Many scenes of sports are shown on tombs but we have some indication of what the wrestling moves on Beni Hassan were because the tomb when taken out shows moves like a flip book.

Some of the children's games shown are still played in rural areas of Egypt. However,the field hockey,bat and ball,and many of the sports employed we have no idea of what they were like.

The so-called fencing scenes is a complex stick fighting martial art still praticed today in Upper Egypt called Tahtib. The rural Egyptians still pratice this martial art and is well documented. Unfortunatley, much of it is dying out from non-interest and rise in fire arms in Upper Egypt.

Posted by beachblondie522 (Member # 5963) on :

Hi, im doing a report 4 school on Egyptian sports. if anyone could email me at hockeyfanatik105@aol.com and give me sum good sites to go on to find info, please do. thanks!

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Posted by tdogg (Member # 7449) on :

up

Interesting

Posted by Djehuti (Member # 6698) on :

Ups!

Posted by Ebony Allen (Member # 12771) on :

Hockey and baseball???

Posted by Mystery Solver (Member # 9033) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Ebony Allen:

Hockey and baseball???

May not be hockey in the 'precise' sense known in the modern "western" world, but apparently, there appeared to be a game akin to it, as already pictured in the intro notes:

Ancient Egyptians played a game that is similar to our present-day hockey. Drawings on tombs at Beni Hassan in Menia Governorate show players holding bats made of long palm-tree branches, with a bent end similar to that of the hockey bat. The hockey ball was made of compressed papyrus fibers covered with two pieces of leather in the shape of a semicircle. The ball was dyed in two or more colors.

This primitive "hockey" game is **still** practiced in the Egyptian countryside. - Courtesy touregypt.net

As for "baseball", perhaps the poster who mentioned it, might have come across it via some iconography or primary text that seems to invoke the said sports; I reserve judgement on that, until and unless ancient imagery or Egyptic primary documentation on such is presented before me.

Posted by Mystery Solver (Member # 9033) on :

Courtesy Discovery Channel:

Bowling Invented in Ancient Egypt?

Rossella Lorenzi, Discovery News

July 25, 2007 — Throwing stone balls along a lane might have been a popular game in ancient Egypt, according to evidence unearthed some 56 miles south of Cairo by Italian archaeologists.

A mixture of bowling, billiard and bowls, the game was played at Narmoutheos, in the Fayoum region, in a spacious room which appears to be the prototype of a modern-day bowling hall.

The room was part of a structure, perhaps a residential building, which dated from the Roman period, specifically between the second and third century A.D.

"We first discovered a room with a very well-built limestone floor. Then we noticed a lane and two stone balls," Edda Bresciani, an Egyptologist at Pisa University, told Discovery News.

Measuring about 13 feet long, the 7.9-inch-wide, 3.8-inch-deep lane featured a 4.7-inch square opening at its center.

Beneath the opening, Bresciani and colleagues from the Universities of Messina and Trieste, found a large terracotta vase filled with fine sand.

They also noticed that the balls had different diameters — one fitted exactly the square opening, the other could run smoothly along the lane.

According to Bresciani, the game was played by two players positioned at the two ends of the lane. One would throw the smaller ball, the other the bigger one.

"They would throw the balls at the same time. Most likely, the bigger ball was thrown along the lane to prevent the smaller ball from entering the hole at the center. When this happened, the smaller ball could be easily recovered from the sand-filled terracotta vase below," Bresciani said.

Thrown alternatively by each player, the smaller ball determined the winner of the game.

"Obviously, the winner was the player who was able to place the ball into the hole more times," Bresciani said.

Bresciani and colleagues at Pisa University have tested the game by building a similar lane.

"It works pretty well. It shows that both players must be very skillful and prompt," she said.

According to archaeologist Joyce Tyldesley, author of the book "Egyptian Games and Sports," the finding a proves once again that the ancient Egyptians enjoyed a **wide range** of sports and games.

"It sounds like a very interesting discovery. The Egyptians did play sports and games, although not team games as we play today. They also played a miniature form of marbles — rolling marbles between posts — which sounds relevant here," Tyldesley told Discovery News.

According to Bresciani, the game has no parallel in other civilizations.

"I looked into similar ancient games, including ancient Roman games, and could not find anything like this. It really looks like it was invented in Egypt," Bresciani said.

- Ends -

Source: Link

^From the above, unless I'm missing something here, the following piece by Joyce Tyldesley,...

"It sounds like a very interesting discovery. The Egyptians did play sports and games, although not team games as we play today. They also played a miniature form of marbles — rolling marbles between posts — which sounds relevant here," Tyldesley told Discovery News.

...isn't supported by evidence, as the iconography in the aforementioned 'TourEgypt.net' link bring forward:

Rowing -

Rowing was one of the sports that required most physical strength on the part of the ancient Egyptian. Plates recorded team-rowing in which the players depended on harmonizing their rowing according to the directives of their leader who held the rudder. The leader also controlled their movement through a high-pitched systematic call to unify the moment when oars touched the surface of the water and that helped to push the boat forward more steadily and swiftly - a method still being adopted in rowing nowadays. - Courtesy touregypt.net

Tug of War -

One of the ancient Egyptian plates at the "Marorika tomb" shows teams standing in two opposite rows, with the first players of each row holding hands and pulling back each other while the other members of each team hold each other tightly by the waist and try to pull back the opposite team.

The first contestant in the front has one foot supported by that of his opposite number. This sport is still practiced in the Egyptian countryside. - Courtesy touregypt.net

Handball -

Drawings of this sport are found on the Saqqara tombs, five thousand years old. The ball was made of leather and stuffed with plant fibers or hay, or made of papyrus plants in order to be light and more durable. It was seldom used for more than one match.

The painting shows four girls playing handball. Each team throws the ball to the other at the same time. Players can either be on their feet or on top of their teammates' backs while exchanging balls. - Courtesy touregypt.net

Statements as that in the last extract, made by Tyldesley, could thus be avoided with minimum research effort.

Posted by Djehuti (Member # 6698) on :

^ Interesting news, Mystery! I wonder why that one so-called 'expert' made the contradictory statement that the Egyptians never played any team sports. It comes to show that what Ausar said is true all along-- that Egyptology is a subjective guessing game where rarely any consensus is held on certain things.

Posted by Alive-(What Box) (Member # 10819) on :

*Bump*

Posted by Myra Wysinger (Member # 10126) on :

The portrayal of wrestlers is found on a wall painting from the tomb of Tyanen, an Egyptian officer (1410 B.C.). The picture shows five men marching together, with the last man carrying a standard which has two wrestlers on it. The sticks that the first four brandished were used in a dueling competition. Depictions of stick fighting and wrestling competitions often appear together, implying that the same people participated in both events.

.

Posted by Ausàrian (Member # 14778) on :

Bump: As the 2008 Beijing Olympics comes to a close, recalling a topic -- "Just some interesting reading: Ancient Egyptian Sports!" -- whose discussion coincided with the 2004 Athens Olympics.

Posted by Doug M (Member # 7650) on :

Of course the olympics began in Africa. The picture above of the wrestlers is a perfect examples of the athletic delegates from one group entering into such a competition. And this goes all the way back to Saqqarah where Dzoser built the temple with a big "race track" that was used for more than the king running to show his strength.

quote:

But perhaps FDR isn't the best example to use here. In the South Court of the Step Pyramid in Saqqara there is an ancient race track — a replica of the course the pharaoh would have had to complete after reigning for 30 years in order to prove to the people that he was, quite literally, "fit to rule." I'm not sure if ESPN or CSPAN would be the network covering Newt Gingrich's 400 meter sprint — "and he's coming in, folks, 'rounding that bend, full-tilt!" — to earn his rank in Congress, but I like the idea nonetheless. At this same site, a tomb called the House of the South, which was only discovered in 1924, stands sentry to the rest of the necropolis. Walking around the site, the first thing you notice is the fact that tourists are idiotic and have, for the last 70 years, been scrawling their names in the columns and walls of the ancient tombs. "Samantha wuz here, 9/3/87," one etching reads. Initially, I was, like anyone with a semblance of historical reverence, utterly dismayed by ignorance of our temporal brethren. But then I noticed a piece of graffiti under exhibit by the entrance of the tomb. It seems that a treasury scribe visiting the tomb 1,500 years after Zoser's death and 3,100 years before Samantha's visit, had also felt the need to scrawl out evidence of his presence here.

From: http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20060602&slug=webhaley08

The PDF below has some more relevant info on the topic, even though it is marred by some very Eurocentric opinions:

quote:

Chronologically, the second illustration of wrestling in ancient Nubia is from a relief in the rock tomb of Meryre (II) (d. 1355 B.C.)6 (See Figure 2). Meryre (II) was interred at El-Amarna, the city built by the famed heretic Pharaoh Akhenaton7 Meryre (II) was the palace steward for the beautiful Queen Nefertity. The picture on the tomb wall shows King Akhenaton seated at his throne, awaiting tribute from Nubia. The presentation of tribute was celebrated with festivities which included sports competition.8 The competition took place before the Pharaoh, his court, nobles, soldiers and ambassadors from foreign lands. The tribute games dramatized Egyptian superiority over their subjugated enemies. In Meryre (II)‘s tomb, Akhenaton is fittingly entertained by a wrestling match between a Nubian and an Egyptian

http://www.la84foundation.org/SportsLibrary/JSH/JSH1988/JSH1502/jsh1502b.pdf

Posted by KemsonReloaded (Member # 14127) on :

Can anyone find the actual photographs of the wall paintings rather then artist illustrations?

Posted by Alive-(What Box) (Member # 10819) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Ebony Allen:
Hockey and baseball???

^Not too hard to believe, hockey doesn't need ice! In summer camp aside from soccer in the field, this was a favorite game in the black top (more conveniant than the playground for the assistants at the day camp to get all the brats in one spot).

It's actually more hard to believe that soccer or football ever came about.

Now Baseball? - that's hard to believe.