EGYPT

Although the ancient Egyptians are often depicted as death-obsessed and dour, they
actually had a great appreciation for life and their culture reflected their belief in
existence as an eternal journey imbued with magic. Life was a gift from the gods and
people were expected to enjoy that gift as fully as possible.

Inscriptions, artwork, and various objects all make clear that ancient Egyptian life
focused on enjoying life and making one’s time on earth worthy of living eternally. One
of the ways they pursued this goal is familiar to anyone in the modern day: through
sports and games.

 Contribution of Egypt (Narrate)

Egypt has been a great contributor in the field of physical education. They
believe on living a full life which means a life full of physical activity, physical
fitness and sports for them these are considered an important part of their as
they help maintain their health and vigor.

The Egyptians were the first to give the concept of philosophy of physical
education and considered it part of the general education, i.e. the education of
eternity besides the education of minds and keen to perform physical and skilled
exercises throughout the seasons, they were keen to acquire health for eternity,
physical ity and skill and development because it helps them to carry out the
tasks of cultivating, blacksmithing, carpentry, etc.(Munther Hashim:34:2000).

And the archaeological inscriptions proved that the ancient Egyptians were
interested in the physical fitness of strength and agility in movement and
harmony between the organs of the body and fitness was a prerequisite for every
king who wants to sit on the throne, and therefore the king was running in front of
the audience a long distance to prove that he is physically fit and mentions
(William N Zafar)that he found some scenes engraved in the walls of cemeteries
and temples showing physical sports, some aimed at agility and some aimed at
God and pleasure (William Nazir:2018:58)

There are many sports that play today were played by the ancient Egyptians and
illustrative illustrations of the walls of the opposite such as long jumping,
wrestling, swimming, archery, athletics, weightlifting, rowing and some football
games were common to Egyptians and the importance of the study is manifested
in the identification of the most important qualities of fitness and skills enjoyed by
the ancient Egyptians in addition to the goal of this is to document the physical
aspect of physical fitness and skills as well in the civilization of ancient Egypt.

 Recreation of Egypt (Narrate)

Egyptians of every social class spent a great deal of time outdoors from the time
they were young. Artwork and inscriptions, as well as letters, provide examples of
children playing in the yard or the street from an early age. Boys and girls both
 went naked from the time they were born until the age of puberty and the figures
in many paintings are obviously within this time frame.

A healthy childhood was thought to lead to a healthy and productive adult

member of the community, although, in a seeming contradiction of this value,
wealthy priests, scribes, and administrators are frequently depicted as
overweight.

Still, athletics and physical fitness played an integral role in the lives of Egyptians
of any age. Sports were a part of the king’s coronation, celebrations of military
victories, religious ceremonies, and festivals, while games were obviously a
popular pastime judging from the number of board games found and how
frequently they appear in artwork. Senet, in fact, is shown being played by people
and the gods in the afterlife and it is thought that the game mirrored one’s
journey through life toward eternity.

 Dogs are among the most popular toys, reflecting the value they had for the
people, and also feature in a board game known as Hounds and Jackals. The
game was popular during the Middle Kingdom of Egypt, and the best preserved
was found by Howard Carter (famous for the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb)
at Thebes, dating to the 13th Dynasty. The game was played on an ornate
wooden board of fifty-eight holes using playing pieces of pointed wood with dog
or jackal heads. The purpose of the game may have been to capture the
opposing side’s pieces while advancing one’s own, but this is conjecture.

 One of the oldest board games was Mehen (also known as The Game of the
Snake), which dates from the Early Dynastic Period in Egypt (c. 3150 – c. 2613
BCE) and was played on a single-legged board engraved with the image of a
snake. Players would use game pieces in the shape of lions and lionesses, as
well as round objects, and it is thought the goal was to be the first to box in the
serpent on the board. There have been no rules for any of these games found
and so any interpretation of their objective is purely speculative.

 Popular Sports (Act)

The gods were also a part of sports matches and athletics as these were often included
in religious ceremonies and festivals. Participants would stage mock battles between the
followers of Horus and Set to commemorate the victory of Horus and the triumph of
order over chaos. These plays would have incorporated many of the sports Egyptians
played on a regular basis.

Some of the most popular sports were fishing, rowing, javelin-throwing, boxing,
wrestling, weightlifting, and gymnastics. The most frequently played team sport was field
hockey and a game like a tug-of-war played with a hoop. Archery was also popular but
mainly associated with the nobility and royalty. Amenhotep II (1425-1400 BCE) was an
excellent archer who “was apparently able to shoot an arrow through a solid copper
target while mounted in a chariot” (Wilkinson, 234). Ramesses II (1279-1213 BCE) was
 also known as a skilled archer and hunter who kept himself physically fit throughout his
very long life.

Field hockey was played with two opposing teams using palm branches cut and
shaped with curved ends and a ball made of a papyrus center covered with cloth
or animal hide. Juggling competitions used the same kind of balls only smaller
and sometimes dyed different colors. A mural from Tomb 17 at Beni Hasan
depicts two girls facing each other juggling six black balls expertly. The mural is
among many found in other tombs, in palaces, and elsewhere which capture the
immediacy and vitality of Egyptian sports.

 Physical fitness was considered so important for a pharaoh that part of the Heb-
Sed festival, held after the first thirty years of a king’s reign to rejuvenate him,
focused on his ability to run a course and engage in different tasks along the way
(including his skill in archery). Princes were encouraged to exercise regularly,
especially in the New Kingdom, because they were expected to lead the army
into battle.
 Dance Loving People (Act)
Ancient Egyptians were considered dance loving people which can be observed
in the murals tomb paintings and temple engravings. According to the
international encyclopedia of dance prominence, dance was part of the egyptian
ethos and featured prominently in religious retail remedy in social occasions as
well as egyptian funerals practices guarding the afterlife.

Dance rhythm is produced by the clapping of hands, finger snapping,

tambourines, and body clapping.

PERSIA
 Intro of Persia (Narrate)
The emphasis in Persian education was gymnastics, moral, and military training.
The physical training was arduous, to say the least. Boys were pushed well nigh
to their physical limits.

The moral training was also vigourously instilled. Boys were taught to have a
strong understanding of right and wrong as well as a sense of justice. Cyrus the
Great shared a story about how, as a boy, he was called to judge a case about
coats. Apparently, a large student had a small coat and a small student had a
large coat. The large student forced the small student to switch coats with him.

When Cyrus heard this story he decided that the large boy was right because
both boys now had a coat that fitted him. The large boy had a large coat and the
small boy had a small coat. However, Cyrus’ teacher was disappointed and beat
him. Apparently, the question was not which coat fit which boy but rather which
coat belonged to which boy.
 Something that was neglected in ancient Persian education was basic literacy.
The reading, writing, and arithmetic were taught at a minimal level. These skills
were left for the Magi to learn almost exclusively.

The main objective of persia was the building of empire through military
aggression. It was king cyrus the great to encompass the area now referred to as
middle east in the early 529 bc. Their belief that a strong army was a healthy and
physically fit army was their driving force in achieving their goal.

 Girls did not receive much of an education. Rather, they focused primarily on life
in the home. This included raising small children and other domestic duties.

 Persia education was one strongly dominated by the state. The purpose was
primarily to mold boys into just, moral soldiers who could serve to defend and
expand the empire. This system is not without merit as it held an empire together
for several centuries. The saddest part may be the loss of individual freedom and
expression at the expense of government will.

 As early as 6 years old, the child was trained in different events such as running,
slinging, shooting the bow, javelin throwing, hunting and marching.

 The ancient persian dance is characterized by both fascinating and incident

events. People can methodologically show their love and devotion in the art of
dance.

 “The cult of mithra”

According to kiann (2014), the origin and the rise of persian dance as an
independent and distinctive art form is estimated to be parallel with the birth of
mithraism and its spread. This cult centrally revolves around the ancient persia’s
sun and light god, mithra