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Ancient Egypt Games
Egyptians enjoyed the good life and playing was part of it. Children and adults are often depicted involved in games. Typically boys' games were rougher than those of the girls, but the latter were not above fighting and hair pulling, like the pair in the picture on the right fighting during the corn harvest Excerpt from a wall painting in the tomb of Menna at Thebes. Source: L. Casson, Ancient Egypt The way boys play doesn't seem to have changed much over the millennia. Whenever the number of boys was sufficient, they would form two opposing teams. One game seems to have been played as follows: Every boy held fast to the one standing in front of him, while the leaders stood opposite each other, trying to wrestle the opponent to the ground, while those behind cheered them on. Infractions of the rules were often punished with violence against the offender: kicking and punching, sometimes even tying him up and flogging him with sticks. Among the depictions of daily life in the tomb of Ptahhotep at Saqqara there are pictures of boys playing a variety of games. The rules are not always evident and our own knowledge of similar games we used to play may lead us astray.
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