People have played sports seemingly since the dawn of time when the first cities and organized civilisations emerged. Unsurprisingly, ancient Egyptians enjoyed both individual and team sports. Just as ancient Greece had its Olympic Games ancient Egyptians enjoyed playing many of the same activities.
Egyptian tombs contain numerous paintings showing Egyptians playing sports. This documentary evidence help Egyptologists understand how sports were played and athletes performed. Written accounts of games and especially royal hunts have also come down to us.
Many tomb paintings depict archers aiming at targets rather than animals during a hunt, so Egyptologists are confident know archery was also a sport. Paintings showing gymnastics also support it as a common sport. These inscriptions depict ancient Egyptians demonstrating specific tumbling and using other people as hurdles and vaulting horses. Similarly, hockey, handball and rowing all appear amongst the wall art in ancient Egyptian tomb paintings.
