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Sports and Activities
Ancient Sports
Learning about Ancient Roman and Ancient Egyptian Sports
Ancient Egyptian sports
Wrestling might have been the first arranged sport of all. It was developed in many different cultures around the world including Ancient Egypt. The rules of wrestling in Ancient Egypt were almost the same as modern wrestling rules, but they were a little different. The sport of wrestling has survived has been passed down for thousands of years.
Archery also became a very popular sport in Ancient Egypt. It was closely related to hunting. Even the pharaoh went out with a team of hunters and hunt hippos. Hunting hippos was very dangerous. Although a hippo could injure or even kill a hunter, they were still commonly hunted in Ancient Egypt. An Egyptian Temple shows an event that is carved in stone. The picture shows King Amenhotep II shooting an arrow while riding in a chariot. This scene could either be the King hunting or defending the village from an enemy attack, but its does show the importance of archery.WENT
Probably the most violent sport in the Egyptian culture was sword fighting. The first Egyptian sword fighting matches were held about 3200 years ago. Although the matches were violent, they would not result in death of one of the competitors.Ancient Egyptian Children
From an early age Egyptian children began competing in various sports and activities. The children also loved to make up games and activities to entertain themselves. They came up with a variety of different games and activities to play. Usually the boy’s games were rougher and more competitive than the girl’s games, but the games rarely lead to fistfighting unless someone cheated.
Some of the games that children played were tug of war, wrestling matches, relay races, and strength competitions. Children also loved to play with marbles and toys that were made of clay, wood, bone, ivory, ceramics, and stone. Some games would involve a ball. Since rubber was unknown at the time the balls were made of either leather skin filled with chaff, dried papyrus reeds fastened tightly together, or rags and string.
Ancient Roman Chariot Racing
As you already know Ancient Roman sports were very violent because Ancient Romans saw death as a form of entertainment. One of the oldest sports in Ancient Rome is chariot racing, Chariot racing dates back to the 6th century BCE. Chariot races were held in an oval shaped stadium called a circus. The oldest circus in Rome is called the Circus Maximus. It is a very dangerous sport. People could be injured or even killed from their reckless racing.
Ancient Roman Gladiator Games

Comparrison
Not as much is known about Ancient Roman children as is known about the Ancient Egyptian children. Remains of some games have been found. The children did attend the chariot races and the gladiator games with their parents.
Both the Ancient Egyptians and the Ancient Romans created sports and activities to entertain themselves. Egyptian sports were a part of their everyday life. For example archery was developed because the Egyptians needed to hunt for food. Sword fighting could be used to defend their village from enemy attacks. On the other hand, Ancient Romans developed their sports to be a form of bloodthirsty entertainment. The purpose of the gladiator games were to entertain the crowd with killings. I do not think the purpose of chariot races was for people to die, but the races were so competitive and reckless that the racers would frequently crash, be run over, and die. Their type of sports reflect their culture. Their sports were vicious just like they attacked other countries to add to their empire. The Egyptian culture was not nearly as aggressive to their neighbors.