The ancient Egyptians...and their obsession with sports

 

There is no doubt that football is the number one popular sport in Egypt.

  .As in most countries of the world

The exaggerated obsession of the majority of the Egyptian people with football has invited us to look at the ancient Egyptian to find out how he was with sports.

  The ancient Egyptian was clearly interested in sports and practiced them.

,he was not obsessed with it as we are now!!!  However

This is despite the fact that it preceded the Greeks, who were the first to hold sporting competitions and interest in them.

  Anyone who examines the matter becomes clear to him that the ancient Egyptians preceded others in practicing various types of sports.

 

The ancient Egyptians did not only practice sports because some of its types were related to religious rituals, but they also practiced it for enjoyment and entertainment.

In addition, they considered it to have a major role in educating and refining the soul.

Sports were not limited to individuals only; Rather, it was practiced by kings and princes as well

 

 . ( Here is King Senusret III (1878 - 1839 BC

He was training with some of the palace's senior men, and he and his companions would not have breakfast until after running a certain distance.

  Also, Prince Djehutihotep, who also dates back to the era of King Senusret III; Inside his famous tomb in Minya, he describes himself as a athleticman.

 

Sports were not limited to men only, but there were many scenes

It showed that women in ancient Egypt practiced it, even if it was a sport that suited them. Such as jumping, playing with the ball, etc.

 

In ancient Egypt, sports were practiced individually as well as collectively, and were held in the streets, fields, public squares, and squares prepared for them, and were also held in schools on a regular basis. Even the teachers used to warn the students not to be more preoccupied with studying than studying. Here is a teacher who advises his student, saying:

 “Do not divert your mind to the playing field. Leave throwing and throwing, and spend your day writing with your fingers and reading in the sky".

 

Meanwhile, we see another teacher who noticed that one of the students was more busy playing than studying, so he warned him, saying:

"What I am telling you is not in your mind, but you are always on the playground, like a chick that walks behind its mother"!

 

 

The game of “ball” in particular was clearly practiced by the ancient Egyptian, as was shown by the scenes and inscriptions found on many temples and tombs. Although the scenes suggest that the game of ball that was practiced was the game of “handball”, we often see on the ancient walls two people or Two teams exchange hands toss the ball.

Football was not the only sport that the ancient Egyptian practiced, but rather these sports were numerous and diverse. Such as:

Wrestling and boxing: Wrestling was beloved by the ancient Egyptians, and the oldest scene that indicates it - from what has been discovered so far - is what is found in the tomb of the Egyptian official “Ptahhotep” in Saqqara, from the Fifth Dynasty, but its most important sights of all are what is found in the tombs of “Bani Hassan” in Minya. As for boxing, Its views also exist, although they are rare.

 

 

Lifting weights: A scene from the Middle Kingdom shows three men, one of whom is trying to lift a bag full of sand and continue carrying it.

Fencing with sticks: or( tahtib), is still one of the interesting games for young men and men in the villages and countryside of Egypt, and its scenes are widely seen on the walls of ancient Egyptian monuments, and in it we see two people each holding a stick in his right hand for dueling, and another stick in his left hand. To protect him from sudden strikes from his opponent.

 

High jump: where the scenes for this game were shown; Two men sit in front of each other, extending their legs and hands forward, then a third person jumps high over their hands.

 

Archery: represented in many scenes; The most famous of all is the view in the Karnak Temple. Which shows the superior skill of King Amenhotep II (1397-1427 BC) as he drove his chariot and shot his arrows at a specific target.

 

Swimming: The ancient Egyptian was interested in swimming, and there are scenes indicating it dating back to the Fifth Dynasty, and other scenes dating back to the Twelfth Dynasty. It is also mentioned that the ruler of Assiut called “Kheti” had received his swimming lessons in the king’s palace during the era of the Middle Kingdom.

Rowing: Its scenes are also present on the walls of Egyptian antiquities, although they are rare, such as the painting of King Amenhotep II in Giza, which documents the existence of this sport through the text that says: “There was no one to match him in rowing, and he was also able to row with his twenty-cubit alone.” For four miles in a falcon boat, while his competitors could not keep up with him after half a mile, so they turned back!

 

Thus, it becomes clear to us that sports in Egypt; It is as old as the Egyptians themselves, and its types and tools were many, and it was practiced by members of the people as well as by the ruler, and women participated in it as well as men, although each had his own, but what differs from our situation now and its situation in the past, is that the ancient Egyptian was not obsessed. It is as we are now.