Ancient Egyptian Sport Pharaohs | Games, Recreation in Ancient Egypt, Children’s games among the ancient Egyptians, the stick and hoop game, the Olympic Games, Senet, athletics, the most famous Egyptian sports in the Pharaonic civilization, and more about Ancient Egypt History.
The history of the games played by the ancient Egyptians in the civilization of ancient Egypt.
The history and secrets about the game of Checkers, the game of Senet, the snake game and what are the games for children and more about the culture of the Pharaonic civilization.
Ancient Egyptian Sport
Ancient Egyptian Backgammon Board Games “Pharaonic Royal Chess Board Game”
It is also called the square den game, which was played by the ancient Egyptian families, an original Babylonian game but we see it as a Sumerian game (we explained it in our book on the Sumerian civilization).
The game appeared painted on the walls of the Pharaonic Egyptian Tombs of Beni Hasan Tombs in Al Minya during the Egyptian Pharaohs kings reign of the Twelfth Dynasty of Egypt “Middle Kingdom” and was named “ASP” and this may have been a distortion of the Babylonian word Aso (deep).
The game, full of Sohag ivory during the reign of The New Kingdom and kept in The Egyptian Museum “Museums in Cairo” in Tahrir Square, is likely to be given by king Tushratta Hittites “Kingdom of Mitanni” to his son-in-law King Amenhotep III from Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt on his marriage to his daughter To increase interconnectivity and Trade in Ancient Egypt.
Each player has five conical or animal pieces such as the lion’s head, the dog or the dwarf fox and there is a piece of flower or something like (image and writing) that directs the game and the one who finishes passing his pieces to the opponent’s camp is the winner.
Ancient Egyptian snake game
It is a mental game with a religious dimension related to the God Horus and God Set in their war “The Egyptian Gods“, and there are examples of this in The British Museum in London. The game takes place with the shape of a jerky snake wrapped in a spiral in a flat so that its head is in the middle and its tail towards the outside.
Small marbles enter the spiral flow of the snake for players beaten by small statues of lions and lionesses, the goal being to reach the center of the snake’s head without using the hands.
Ancient Egyptian Sport. The marbles and pieces were gathered wheat in an ebony box. These almost look like billiards, with the difference in how the marbles are hit and where they are stable.
Ancient Egyptian Game of Senet
In the Tomb of Nefertari, the most famous Valley of the Queens in Luxor, scenes depicting Queen Nefertari, wife of King Ramses II of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt, appeared playing Senet, a symbolic liturgical game tried by researcher Douglas, appeared in Nefertari’s tomb. A. White explained, translated, and interpreted in the book “The Game of Senet in Ancient Egypt”.
Why did Egyptians play senet?
The word Senet means “transit” and is intended to cross the soul into the other world, and the game consists of a sheet divided into 30 squares (10 rows and in each row three squares) and the game symbolizes the human relationship with the osmic c forces, in particular (Ra-Hor Akhti),which is the birth of the sun every day and its mission and union with (Ra-Hor Akhti ), which is a symbol of his resurrection and appearance.
Ancient Egyptian Sport. The game has to do with the Egyptian Mythology and the creation of the solaire calendar, which says that the two God Nut (sky) and God Geb (Earth) had to marry against God Ra will, cursing and punishing them by not having children on any day of the year, which had a number of 360 days as in Ancient Egyptian religion.
When the goddess of heaven asked for the help of the God of Wisdom and the Moon (God Thoth), he answered them and went to visit the lord of the moon and played with him the game of senet and stipulated that if he conquered it, he would take a fraction of the light of each day of the year, which is onepart of the 72 parts of today,i.e. (1/72).
How do you play the Egyptian game senet?
When the game ended and prevailed, it was revealed that he had gained five more days despite the little he took from each day, so the moon god gave up five full days, bringing the number of days to 360, which is the number of days in the lunar calendar.
He took the five days and added them to the annual solar calendar and became 365 days of the solar calendar, but he made those five days at the end of the year and named them (the days of Nessi’)that is, (those above the year) and dedicated them to the sun god Ra (so the difference between the solar calendar and the lunar calendar became ten days after they were equal), and in these five days the goddess of heaven Nout and the God of Earth Geb gave birth to their five children (God Osiris, Seth, God Isis, God Nephthys and Hor (Horus).
Ancient Egyptian Sport. There is more than one model of the game through the ages, and the oldest model found in the enhancer is made of burnt clay and its surface has been divided into 18 squares over three rows (that is, each row contains six squares.
But the game settled on 30 squares placed in three rows (each row contains ten squares), a model thatappeared in the tomb of Nefertari painted on the walls and found as part of King Tutankhamun furniture without finding the toys in Tomb of Tutankhamun | KV62, Valley of the Kings. Another model was found in the Queen Tia’a tomb | KV32.
The game follows tight religious symbols and symbolizes the struggle between the two opponents to gain peaceful access to the other world (Aaru, Field of Reeds), which explains its appearance in cemeteries and in The Book of the Dead.
The 30 squares of the game include symbols of what each square looks like High Priest of Amun is the representative of the God of the Moon and is the beginning of each month and every year, the magician Aso represents Osiris, the star Nate and he does not represent the goddess of the sky and so on…).
The game ends when the player can dodge his opponent and reach square 27, which includes the water mark and means that the player throws his opponent into the water and throws him into the water and throws him into death with a jackal (Anubis) then comes the symbols of the emperor, the tower and the cart that symbolizes the guard of all salvation.
What games did ancient Egyptian kids play?
Children’s Games: Ancient Egyptian Sport
Girls’ ball:
Sometimes played by boys, it was played in five ways:
- Five girls receive the ball from a sixth girl in exchange for them.
- Two girls in the back of the third and the two girls play with small balls that fail to get down and carry the other two girls and so on.
- A group of girls tie a ball to the ends of their braids as they form a circle in which they live through a mirror or sticks, jumping and clapping with their hands.
- One group plays several balls and others stand on one man and another rides the back of the other and so on.
- Girls sitting in each other’s arms who fail (except for the bottom) are at the bottom.
Pharaonic goose step Game | Ancient Egyptian Sport
Two boys meet with outstretched legs, hands outstretched on their legs and children jump between the four legs and those who fail sit in their place and so on.
Pharaonic Donkey play Game
The child carries on his back a child and more and walks in the form of a donkey and when he is tired, he exchanges the role with the mobile children and so on.
Pharaonic Stealth Game | Ancient Egyptian Sport
A child turns his back on the other children and one of the children takes turns beating him, if he knows who hit him, the child who hit loses and replaces him and so on.
Pharaonic Uprooting Game
Boys try to remove a sharp tool or two with a stick as quickly as possible.
Pharaonic Entanglement Game
Two children sit on the floor, their backs are against each other and , holding their arms, and trying to get up quickly.
Sports in Ancient Egypt | the facts and history of the games of the ancient Egyptian pharaohs.
Secrets discovered about physical education, athletics, fighting games, the Olympics practiced by the Pharaohs and more culture of the Pharaonic civilization.
Sports in Ancient Egyptians was not as popular as we expected compared to our time, it was an area for kings and upper classes of society and was mainly motivated by the exercise of strength and entertainment.
Sports in Ancient Egypt -Athletics:
These are disciplines that depend only on bodily skills such as (running, jumping, archery, wrestling… etc).
Running in ancient Egypt
Ancient Egyptian Sport. The most common games were in royal families, especially when they were young, and helped them to be flexible during battles and were practiced by King Ramses II before meals. This discipline seems to have been practiced by most of the kings who celebrated their 30th anniversary of their coronation (the Jubilee or the Heb Sed) where their hardness appears as in Festivals in Ancient Egypt.
This king threw a bull running after him and threw a rope in which his horns were tied, then his hind legs and feet were released, by that time he had completed his investiture as king for years to come.
There are many images of running kings and Female Pharaohs such as King Djoser from Third Dynasty of Egypt in Old Kingdom and Queen Hatshepsut, and there is no doubt that people practiced this easy sport.
What was the first game in ancient Egypt? Ancient Egyptian Sport
Jumping in ancient Egypt
It is also an easy sport and has been practiced by Egyptians of all kinds, short, long, tall and others.
Archery in ancient Egypt
Archery, especially in the New Kingdom, were among the most common games practiced by kings and princes, they were related to their aptitude for war, and he used a bow and arrows, and the bow is made of wood and leather and the arches were of several types, and the Egyptian Antiquities bore us many shooting scenes such as the scene of King Thutmose I (in the scene of the Armant Hait Temple), and King Amenhotep II throwing arrows at a copper target.
What are the types of combat sports among the Pharaohs? Ancient Egyptian Sport
These are games that strengthen their practitioners to fight without weapons on the battlefields:
The sport of wrestling among the Pharaohs | Ancient Egyptian Sport
It is a sport that has been practiced by soldiers and officers in particular and is based on the fact that both players throw the left hands and pull the opponent’s neck by the right hand and that the match is decided by touching the hands, neck or head of the defeated on the ground.
Ancient Egyptian Sport. There are many scenes of which the most famous is the painting of the cemeteries of the Middle Kingdom (Tomb of Baqet III – Tomb of Amenemhat – TT82 in Tombs of Sheikh Abdel Gorna, Tombs of The Nobles in Luxor “Thebes” | The Pharaonic Tombs from Thebes – Tomb of Khnum Hetep and Tomb of Queen Hetepheres I) which refers to about 220 groups of wrestlers in different situations and in different works and colors.
Boxing sport among the Pharaohs
It is a rare sport in ancient Egypt, in which Oyama conducted research, and John Grombach in The Fist Saga, author John Grombach, saw that Ramses II had practiced it.
Acrobatics among the Pharaohs | Ancient Egyptian Sport
These are the games of lightness and agility played by young men and girls.
Yoga among the Pharaohs
This is an Egyptian-style spiritual and physical exercise in which Dr. Muata Ashby discussed
The sport of fencing among the Pharaohs:
This was done with sticks between two or two teams in the first times during the reign of the Old Kingdom and became with swords and daggers in the modern state, and one of the most important effects of this game is its scene in the Tomb of Ptahhotep) in Saqqara in a duel between two teams in the boats.
Weightlifting among the Pharaohs
The weights of the time were sandbags carried by the athlete to get in shape.
Equestrian sport among the Pharaohs
Horses were known in Egypt, and princes and kings cared about them and practiced equestrian sports, and one of the effects of this game is a view in the temple of Medinet Habu of King Ramses III on horseback.
The sport of hunting among the Pharaohs | Ancient Egyptian Sport
The sport that was by excellence, including hunting wild animals and birds, princes and kings on a hunting with their wives and sons among the delta bushes picking The Pharaonic Lotus Flower or beating wild birds with an archery stick, and fishing on the Nile and hunting hippos.
They meditate on nature to see the birds in their nests, or fly in search of food for their young, while a bird chases a group of large butterflies hovering around the tops of the Papyrus plants, walking with the sweetest of them, and the hunter throws the archery stick, then throws the spear at the bird that falls into the water so that the hunter can pick up his catch through the hunting dogs who accompany the hunter in the boat and bring the birds to the boat.
This scene we have quoted gives us the impression that gather in grunting has sports, entertainment, family entertainment and integration into the natural world, so there were no sport fishing competitions, but a constant hobby for those who practiced it as they practiced life.
There were many hunting tools such as sticks, arrows, spears, etc., and the kings hunted the most reliable with their carts running behind them and throwing arrows, and Thutmose III hunted elephants and the third hunted lions.
Swimming among the Pharaohs
The ancient Egyptians did not master the sport and practiced it a lot, and the sport was preferred by women, and the family came from Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt statues of two swimming women, and there is a dish of the king Psusennes I Twenty-second Dynasty of Egypt in which girls swim.
Rowing among the Pharaohs | Ancient Egyptian Sport
The rowers’ scenes appeared at the Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut in Deir El Bahari and in the Pharaonic Tomb of Sennefer – TT96 on the west bank of the Nile River in Thebes.
Olympic Games among the Pharaohs | Ancient Egyptian Sport
Egyptology prove the beginning of the (complete) Olympic Games through Egyptian antiquities and as these paintings depict them:
All-inclusive games or sports competitions were encouraged by kings and provincial governors as in Geography of ancient Egypt.
They included boxing, wrestling, and finishing, and held preliminary types of Olympics that included hockey, handball, gymnastics, and track and field competitions such as long-distance running, high jumping, weightlifting, horse racing, swimming, rowing, archery (bow and arrow) and tug-of-war.
In Hellenistic times, Ptolemy II in Egypt founded a festival held every four years under the name of “Ptolemy”, a kind of Olympic that brings together the Egyptian and Greek legacies in the field of complete games.
References Ancient Egyptian Sport: The Book of Egyptian Civilization
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