Leisure Activities: Nonelite Sports

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Leisure Activities: Nonelite Sports

RECORDS OF ATHLETIC EVENTS

Amenhotep II erected a stela at Giza that recorded many of his athletic feats.

Now when he was a lad, he [Amenhotep II] loved horses and rejoiced in them. It made him happy to work them, to learn their natures, to be skilled in training them, and to enter into their ways. When (it) was heard in the palace by his father.…[Thutmose III]... the ear of his majesty was glad when he heard it, rejoicing at what was said about his eldest son.…, Then his majesty said to those who were at his side; “Let there be given to him the very best horses in my majesty’s stable which is in Memphis, and tell him: Take care of them, instill fear into them, make them gallop, and handle them if there be resistance to you’” Now after it had been entrusted to the King’s Son [Amenhotep II as a prince] to take care of horses of the king’s stable, well then he did that which had been entrusted to him.… He trained horses without their equal; they would never grow tired when he took the reins, nor would they sweat even at a high gallop.

Source: William C. Hayes, “Egypt: Internal Affairs from Tuthmosis I to the Death of Amenophis III,” The Cambridge Ancient History second edition, volume 2, Early History of the Middle East, edited by I. E. S. Edwards, C. J. Gadd and N. G. L. Hammond (Cambridge & New York; Cambridge University Press, 1966), p. 334.

Combat Sports: Wrestling. Aside from running, combat sports, including wrestling and stick fighting (fencing), were practiced by commoners in ancient Egypt. Wrestling is the most-depicted sport in ancient Egyptian art. A Predynastic (circa 3100-3000 b.c.e.) palette depicts a wrestling match. The Dynasty 5 (circa 2500-2350 b.c.e.) tomb of Ptahhotep, a vizier known for his wisdom literature, shows six stages in the wrestling match between a pair of combatants. One of the wrestlers is Akhethotep, son of the tomb’s owner. He is depicted wrestling a young man who is of the same age, since they both wear the side lock of hair, suggesting that there were still quite young. They are shown naked, also a sign that they have not reached maturity. Their movements resemble modern freestyle wrestling.

Wrestling in Dynasty 12. The most frequent wrestling scenes were carved in Dynasty 12 (circa 1938-1759 b.c.e.). They are found in the town of Beni Hasan in the central part of Egypt. In the wrestling scenes in the tombs of Amenemhet, Baqet I, Cheti, and Baqet III, the combatants are shown wearing belts and appear to be adults and were probably professional soldiers. Many pairs of wrestlers are depicted; the largest number, 220 pairs, appears in the tomb of Baqet III. Although the pairs are painted in different shades of red, probably to allow individuals to be recognized in the complicated holds, the rules of the sport are difficult to deduce from these scenes. The only text that mentions the sport consists of taunts called out between the wrestlers, including “I grab you by the leg,” or “I make your heart weep and fill with fear!”

New Kingdom Wrestlers. Scenes of wrestling in the New Kingdom (circa 1539-1075 b.c.e.) indicate that the sport was part of a larger ceremony or ritual. Wrestling was often part of the New Year’s ceremony. Scenes of wrestling from Ramesses Ill’s (circa 1187-1156 b.c.e.) temple at Medinet Habu depicts Egyptians wrestling with foreigners—each man has either an African, Libyan, or Semitic opponent. Of course, Egyptian wrestlers are all shown triumphing. These scenes thus are part of the royal ideology, where sport is used to convey the triumph of Egypt in all parts of the world.

Egyptian Fencing. Ancient Egyptian stick fighting resembled fencing or the modern Egyptian sport called nabbut. Two men faced their opponent, each holding short sticks that were approximately three feet long. Leather face guards and straw arm guards were sometimes worn. The sequence of a match can be reconstructed from scenes found in the tomb of Kheruef and from Medinet Habu. The fighters, wearing kilts similar to soldiers’ uniforms, first bowed to the public. At the start of the match the contestants crossed sticks, and most of the action consisted of hacking away at one another. Most scholars believe that the fencers were soldiers involved in a ceremony. Certainly the fighters depicted in the tomb of Kheruef are present at a Sed festival. The fighters at Medinet Habu are shown participating in the New Year’s ceremony.

Festivals. The remaining evidence for sports in ancient Egypt associates all wrestling and stick-fighting matches with festivals. The Sed festival, celebrating the king’s thirtieth year, included running, wrestling, and stick fighting. The New Year’s festival also included sporting events. There is, however, no clear evidence for anything resembling the Greek Olympiad in Egypt.

THE RUNNING STELA OF KING TAHARQA

This stela is a unique record from Egypt of a long-distance race held in circa 684 b.c.e. In typical Egyptian fashion the winner is not named.

[Sixth year, third month]… under the majesty of … Taharqa … given eternal life.
His Majesty commanded that [a stela] be erected [at] the back of the western desert to the west of the palace and that its title be “Running Practice of the Army of the Son of the Sun Taharqa, may he live forever.” His Majesty commanded that his army, raised up on his behalf, daily run [in] its five [sections].
Accordingly, His Majesty said to the men: “How lovely that is, which my Father Amon has made! No other king has done-the like. He has arranged for the decapitation of the People of the Bow. The nine Peoples of the Bow are bound beneath the soles of my feet. I am served by all that is encircled by the disc of the sun. The heavens enclose no enemy of mine. There is none among my army who is not toughened for battle, no weakling who acts as a commander of mine. The king goes in person to Bia in order to inspect the good order of his army. They come like the coming of the wind, like falcons who beat the air with their, wings. His body guard … is no better than they. The king himself is like Month [Montu the war god], a powerful one, unequaled by any in his army. A knowing one is he, skilled in every task, a second Thoth.
The king himself was in his chariot to inspire the running of his army. He ran with them at the back of the desert of Memphis in the hour ‘She Has Given Satisfaction.’ They reach Fayum in the hour ‘Sunrise.’ They return to the palace in the hour ‘She Defends Her Master.’ He distinguished the first among them to arrive and arranged for him to eat and drink with his bodyguard. [He] distinguished those others who were just behind him and rewarded them with all manner of things. For His Majesty loved the work of battle, for which they were selected. His God loved [him in the waters of creation].”

Source: Translated from Egyptian into German by Wolfgang Decker, Sports and Games of Ancient Egypt, translated by Allen Guttmann (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1992), pp. 62–63.