Egypt Sports

Egypt has had a very long history in enjoying and participating in sports. Many scenes in ancient buildings, temples and pyramids depict many kinds of sports played and enjoyed by the ancient Egyptians. We’ll discuss more about Egypt sports both in history and in the preset time.

As indicated earlier, inscriptions and paintings on the walls of ancient structures showed the ancient Egyptians involved in many kinds of sports. This included wrestling, weight lifting, swimming, fishing, rowing, long jump, boxing, javelin throw and many others.

And just like the Ancient Greeks, marathons were quite common among the ancient Egyptians and very popular. Many of the rules which were developed for a number of modern day sports formed their roots in ancient Egyptian sports.

While many sports were enjoyed individually, a number of others were played competitively. This included the following:

  • Long Jump
  • High Jump
  • Long distance running (marathons)
  • Javalin throwing
  • Tug of War

A number of other sports and pastimes were enjoyed by the average ancient Egyptians. Of particular interest was hunting and fishing. Hunting was particularly popular even though it could be quite dangerous due to the kinds of beasts hunted.

The ancient Egyptians used hunting dogs and specialized breeds were developed over this time. One breed in particular was called the Pharaoh hound and it is the oldest domesticated dog breed known in these days.

Animals which were popular to hunt at this time included:

  • Badger
  • Crocodile
  • Deer
  • Elephant
  • Fox
  • Gazelle
  • Giraffe
  • Hare
  • Hippopotamus
  • Hyena
  • Jackel
  • Leopard
  • Lion
  • Ostrich
  • Rhinoceros
  • Weasel

Many of these animals are quite ferocious and dangerous. And since the ancient Egyptians certainly didn’t have firearms available to them, it required careful aim and deadly shots to avoid being charged and potentially mauled by these animals.

The interest in sports has continued from these early beginnings and Egyptians participate in many sports both for pleasure and on a competitive basis.

The most watched and played sport in modern Egypt is Soccer. The two famous soccer clubs known as Al Ahly and Al Zamalek have developed strong teams and are well known throughout the Arab World.

And other sports are activity played and watched. This includes basketball, handball, squash and tennis. The Egyptian squash team is known for their fierce competition on a worldwide basis. Handball has also been increasing in popularity.

Diving is also well known in Egypt and very popular. There are two main diving centers in the country. Also popular are horseback riding and croquet. There are sports clubs available in Alexandria as well as a popular tennis club.

Golf has also been growing in popularity. The government has been a strong supporter of sports clubs and new ones receive funding to help them to get started. The country has begun to develop more and more world class athletes so look for more presence from this country in worldwide sporting events like the Olympics over the coming years.

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