Egyptian Ball Games
Egypt has had a number of ball games going far back in its history, and it enjoys many today as well. Some of these games from millennia ago have been lost to time, yet the Egyptian people have clearly always been active about playing ball games.
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Modern Games
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Today Egyptians enjoy the same ball games that are played across the world. This includes tennis, squash and raquetball. Among modern ball games, soccer is quite popular in Egypt because it can be played anywhere and has gained an international interest. Golf is gaining more attention in that part of Africa although it is a relatively recent arrival.
Ancient Games
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Ancient Egyptian drawings show a game that looks like handball, according to Ancient Egypt Online. Other games used balls and bats made from palm trees, the site says. These games were played by both the very young and adults.
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Children's Games
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Children played ball games with papyrus balls, according to the Tour Egypt website. Egyptians made their game equipment out of available materials.
Games That Inspired Modern Sports
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The Egyptians played a variety of games that can be seen as the origins for games played today. Versions of hockey, bowling and handball are seen in ancient Egyptian drawings. Tree branches were used for the Egyptian version of hockey. The Egyptians curved the ends of these branches, giving them a similar appearance to the modern hockey stick.
Archaeologists even believe bowling might have been first practiced in Egypt. The ancient Egyptians' version of bowling was a mixture of billiards and lawn bowling. A limestone floor served as a lane. Players stood at opposite ends, one with a large ball and one with a small one, which they rolled toward each other at the same time. The goal was for the holder of the small ball to get it into a hole in the middle of the lane. The large ball holder tried to prevent that.
A sport similar to handball used balls covered in leather and filled with organic material such as papyrus. However, players threw the balls at each other rather than bouncing them off a wall, and sometimes they'd play while sitting on the shoulders of teammates.
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References
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