By Analea Styles
As summer quickly approaches and the weather continues to
improve, outdoor sports and leisure activities become ever more common; soccer
camps for the kids, volleyball at the beach, marathons through the cities, and
swimming at the lake on weekends. We love our recreational activities! Did you
know that in ancient times people enjoyed sports and various forms of exercise
just like we do?
Sometimes as we study ancient man, we can get so focused on
the incredible monuments they built, the intriguing methods they employed, the
fascinating examples of their intellect and skill, and their overwhelming focus
on pagan religion that we forget these men, women, and children had time to
play! The mainstream view of ancient people doesn’t include a lot of time for
leisure activities and fun either, but the truth is, there is evidence that
many cultures enjoyed various forms of athletic entertainment as part of daily
life.
Greece
Of course, the most obvious example of ancient sports is the
Olympics of Greece. They can be traced back to 776 BC and continued until AD 393.
The Olympics were closely tied with the Greek religious practices, dedicated to
their Olympian gods, especially Zeus.
The athletes would gather every four years to show off their
physical prowess and compete in various sports including running, jumping,
discus throwing, wrestling, boxing, and horse racing. The Olympics promoted friendly
civil relations among the cities of Greece and provided entertainment to both
the athletes and spectators.
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| http://ancientolympics.arts.kuleuven.be/picEN/slides/P0021.jpg.html |
Athletes were immortalized by their success in the games and
became heroes and legends among their countrymen. Many of the best Olympians in
ancient times might have even surpassed the skill of our present day athletes![1]
Rome
Roman sports were highly influenced by the Greeks but with a
few twists. Romans focused more on the spectacular and violent aspects of sport
rather than the more artistic approach of the Greeks. But the Romans also
valued sports for leisure.[2]
Swimming was common among young Roman boys as well as
horseback riding. Romans also enjoyed boxing, wrestling, and running footraces
against each other. There were also a variety of ball games played in Rome,
some resembled our present-day version of handball, field hockey, soccer, and
various games of catch.[3]
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| http://www.vroma.org/~bmcmanus/arena.htmlChina |
China
China is credited with the oldest form of soccer (traced
back over 2000 years ago)! “Cuju” as it was called, means “kick the ball with
foot”. It started as a military exercise to keep soldiers in shape but later
became a popular pastime of the general public as well. They had regulated
games with rules, organized teams, and even a referee. As the sport grew in
popularity, a few fixed cuju play grounds were established in residential
areas.[4]
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| http://www.newsgd.com/culture/culturenews/200609150023.htm |
The Chinese also wrested, competed in chariot races, and
even had a version of polo, which was popular among nobles and women.[5]
Archeologists found an ancient pottery basin, apparently dating
back 4000 years, depicting groups of dancers, runners, and acrobats. This
indicates that sports such as these played a part in even the earliest of
Chinese history. [6]
Mesoamerica
The infamous “Mesoamerican Ball Game” is considered by many
to be the oldest organized team sport. The game was probably invented by the
Olmecs sometime around 1000 BC. It was played in stone courts, which became a
prominent feature of a city’s sacred complex. The game commonly had religious
significance and was known to be a competition of life or death – it was
regularly accompanied by human sacrifice.
The ball courts were flat surfaces set between two tall
stone walls. Later versions of the game included stone rings set high on the
wall. The goal was to get the solid rubber ball (weighing up to nine pounds!)
through the one of the rings without using your hands. The skilled athletes
used elbows, knees, hips, and shoulders to direct the ball.[7]
Egypt
Ancient Egypt is also credited with some of the earliest
athletes. Egyptians played a form of hockey, handball, gymnastics and
tug-of-war. They also competed in boxing, marathons, and archery and enjoyed
swimming, rowing, and weightlifting.
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| http://exploring-africa.blogspot.ca/2012/08/the-coming-of-age-of-olympic-games.html |
Drawings on several monuments indicate that the Egyptians
had laid down basic rules for their sports and chose referees and uniforms for
teams.[8]
The Egyptians seemed to have a high standard of physical fitness
and many of their leaders participated in sporting activities in order to train
and strengthen their bodies, as well as for pleasure. The evidence of ancient
Egyptian sport is carved and painted in murals and on monuments, indicating its
high place in their culture. [9]
Sport as Religion
It is quite evident that the ancient people participated in
sports, perhaps just as much as we do today. It is interesting that for many
ancient cultures, sports were linked to religion, much like in our society
sports have become religion for
athletes and spectators alike!
Sports and recreational activities are not evil – in fact,
they can be very healthy! Furthermore, the existence of ancient sports
indicates that ancient man’s time was not entirely consumed by food collection,
pyramid building, and going to war. The people had time to have fun and to
explore other interests. Organized sport reveals intelligence and planning, and
friendly competition signifies maturity of culture. But for the ancient people,
sports also became a means for sin –
whether it was dedication to pagan gods, a focus on brutality and violence, or
the tragic death of the losing competitor, many of their recreational
activities were not honoring to God in the slightest.
But we can’t just sit
back and judge the ancient athletes. What about us? Have we made a sport
(watching or playing) more important than God? Has our exercise schedule become
more essential than our Bible reading?
God designed man with incredible bodies with which to
cultivate, care for, and enjoy the earth, but most importantly they are to
honor and glorify Him. Do you honor Him in your sport?
[1]
“Ancient Olympic Games”. http://www.olympic.org/ancient-olympic-games?tab=the-athlete.
Accessed May 20, 2014.
[2]
“Roman Sports”. http://www.tribunesandtriumphs.org/roman-life/roman-sports.htm.
Accessed May 20, 2014.
[3]
Fife, Steven. “Athletes, Leisure, and Entertainment in Ancient Rome”. http://www.ancient.eu.com/article/98/.
Ancient History Encyclopedia. Accessed
May 20, 2014.
[5]
Jue Liu, “Sport in Ancient China”. The
World of Chinese. http://www.theworldofchinese.com/2013/08/sport-in-ancient-china/.
Accessed May 20, 2014.
[6]
“Embryonic Forms of Primitive Sports”. Official
Website of the Chinese Olympic Committee. http://en.olympic.cn/sports_in_ancient_china/2003-11-16/11305.html.
Accessed May 20, 2014.
[7]
Cartwright, Mark. “The Ball Game of Mesoamerica”. Ancient History Encyclopedia. http://www.ancient.eu.com/article/604/.
May 20, 2014.
[8]
“Egypt: Ancient Egyptian Sports”. http://www.touregypt.net/historicalessays/ancsportsindex.htm.
May 20, 2014.
[9]
Touny, Ahmed. “History of Sports in Ancient Egypt” http://www.perankhgroup.com/sports%20games.htm.
Accessed May 20 2014.
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