Many of the sports we play today in conventional society have origins in earlier civilizations and empires.  For example, ancient Roman sports and ancient Egyptian sports were the cultural source of what we know in the contemporary world as boxing, weightlifting, marathon running, gymnastics, and hockey.  Sources that delve into the history of ancient civilizations and their ways of life, such as http://touregpyt.net, have information about the roots of sports that is surprising, and at times unrelated to the sport as we know it today.  Sport has always been a dynamic phenomena, and as the athletic world of competition evolves with time, some sporting activities and traditions have been lost.

Purposes of Sport in Ancient Societies

The purposes of sport in ancient societies varied.  Like today’s society, ancient Roman sports were a primary source of entertainment.  Sports that provided entertainment for ancient peoples were violent and non violent, as well as competitive and non competitive.  Not unlike modern societies, Ancient Roman sports and Ancient Egyptian sports also served the purpose of improving physical health and well-being, as well as providing unifying elements for national cultures.  In ancient Chinese sports, while entertainment was a primary purpose of sports, the Chinese also dedicated themselves to enhancing the human form for battle, work, and physically demanding occupations.  With changing technology and the onset of modernity, many of these once popular sports were gradually forgotten.

Non-Violent Sports and Games

Non-violent sports and games were popular in ancient societies.  Despite the glorified images of violent gladiator sports in ancient Roman culture, many other non-violent activities were considered as sports in ancient civilizations.  For example, in ancient Egypt, one popular sport was the Tug of Hoop.  While competitive, the sport was non violent.  The ultimate purpose was to secure a single hoop from your opponent with a stick.  The hoop could not hit the floor, which made the challenge more difficult in that it required intensive concentration and quick reflexes.  Other non-violent Ancient Egyptian sports and games were activities such as Equilibrium.  The primary purpose of this sport was the opposite of competition.  It was used to promote balance between people and within the individual to gain harmony.  There were usually four players in the sport.  Two primary players stretched their limbs by holding on to two secondary players that provided a stabilizing force for the primary players.  The sport was good for health reasons, as it entailed stretching and muscle work to enhance the individual’s balance and to perfect the individual’s mental health, balance, and well-being.  With the rise of other civilizations such as the Macedonians and the Romans, cultural sporting activities gave way to the dominant sports of other empires.

Many of the other non-violent sports were also meant for play by younger children.  For example, in ancient Greek sports and games, young children used to play Knuckle Bones (an unofficial name) where children would collect preserved bones from animals like goats.  The children used the bones in a variety of ways, similar to the way in which children might use a bag of marbles, and would often cherish them like the collectors items that have great value today in the sporting world.

With the centrality of the Nile River to the Egyptian terrain, fishing was a popular non-violent competitive sporting activity in Ancient Egypt.  While fishing was also a food subsistence production activity, fish never held a primary place in the Egyptian diet, and as other natural resources were available for food and trade, the importance of fish declined in Ancient Egypt.  Thus, fishing was primarily done for sport.

Violent and Competitive Sports

Violent and competitive sports were primary sources of entertainment in ancient Rome.  Drawing a crowd of 50,000 or more to view the Gladiator games in the ancient Roman sports Campus was not unusual.  In ancient Rome, the Campus was a cultural center where sports, training for soldiers, and other activities would occur.  Gladiators were usually criminals and prisoners who were used to entertain Rome in the coliseum and were required to fight to the death.  Women did not engage in such sport, but there were gladiators who were not prisoners, and the sport was actually their professional occupation.

A less violent, but highly competitive sport, was Chariot Racing.  Chariot Racing was popular in both the sports of ancient Rome and ancient Greece.  This sport was an important indicator of wealth to Roman culture.  Although slaves did ride chariots for their owners, the more one rode chariots, the wealthier one was deemed to be by society.  Like the ancient Egyptian sports, ancient Roman sports often carried with them a sense of the social underlying value of things.  Chariot Racing demonstrated the importance of the horse to Roman culture.  Horses were used for farming, transportation, soldiers going into battle, trading, inspiration for art and sculpting, and as subjects in Roman mythology.  Thus, the chariot race embodied the essence of Roman culture at a time when Roman Empire building was at its height.  The chariot race signified the power of the horse, the soldier, the economic wealth of Rome, and its cultural beauty.  Although horse racing is popular today, as the Roman Empire declined, so did the sport of Chariot Racing.

Sports that Tested the Human Mind

Sports in ancient societies also attempted to test the strength of the human mind over matter.  In many ancient societies, sports were often a way of life that engaged the human on both a physical and spiritual level.  Although sports in ancient China were similar to the sports that the Greeks and Romans engaged in, one sport, however, was unique to ancient Chinese sports.  Cauldron Lifting was an unusual competitive sport that was one of the ultimate tests of human physical and mental capacities.  Expert Shaolin warriors would be required to lift a hot cauldron.  As a result of the heat and the engraving on the cauldron, the Shaolin would be branded with the symbol to commemorate his achievement.  According to www.chinahistoryforum.com, cauldron lifters suffered from serious injuries because of the heat and the weight of the cauldron.  As more modern forms of weight lifting emerged, the sport of Cauldron Lifting became less popular, although it is still remembered as a traditional Chinese sport.