The world's earliest known sports games date to 5200 BC Egypt. Sports are physical activities involving competition with oneself, with a standard, with other competitors, or with the elements of nature.
Sports are performed for the purpose of benefiting one's body, mind, spirit, strength, agility, skill, speed, and/or alertness. Ancient Africans engaged in sports out of necessity (e.g. long distance running as a major form of transportation), for fun, for self-defense, or for religious purposes.
An example of a religious oriented sport, the Sympathic Magic wrestling bouts in Southern Nigeria were done to encourage the growth of crops through higher powers. Being the one universal high god, Amun (Amen, Atum, Amon-Ra, Atom-Re) was naturally seen as being in charge of crops.
The "sympathetic" part came from the ancient African tradition of believing all things in the universe are linked by invisible bonds, regardless of time or space. The wrestling bout itself was a devotional honoring of Amun for creating these bonds. The "magic" part was the belief that everything possesses an inherent spiritual force of its own -- its magical Substance -- that can be stirred into activity by certain rites and rituals.
Thus, the ritual associated with the wrestling bouts were designed to be generators of magical forces in order to influence Amun, "the king of the gods," to produce crop abundance.
At this point, it is important to note that the 5th century BC Greek historian Herodotus said that "the names of the gods came to Greece from Egypt...for the names of all the gods have been known in Egypt from the beginning of time."
Typically, the Greeks (and also the Romans), after borrowing all of their gods and goddesses from Egypt, would rename them (Ashby, African Origins p. 262). Thus, Amun, the Egyptian god, was renamed Zeus and Zeus became the top god of the Greeks (but not at the elevated God level of Amun).
Contact sports were common in ancient Africa. The first documentation of boxing -- found in the hieroglyphics decorating walls of Egyptian tombs as well as on stone slabs and vases -- date to 4000 BC. Salim Faraji ("Montu Scholar," Amen-Re Theological Seminary Press) mentioned that on the walls of 3000 BC tombs of Egyptian pharaohs were the practices of wrestling, boxing, and free fighting.
Such contact sports were actually the Yoga of the pharaohs and were extensively studied and initiated in Greece by the Greeks. On the walls of tombs of various princes of the Amenemhet period (19th century BCE), says Faraji, several murals depict over 400 combatants engaged in empty-hand combat, wrestling, grappling, boxing, and stick fighting.
These are among the earliest documentations of human beings engaged in Martial Arts. There were also images of a boxer face to face with a dancer -- both apparently taking part in a choreographed drama that, like the ballet, is partly appraised on style, refinement, and grace.
Now let us bring several points together. First are the numerous African athletic events (e.g. boxing, wrestling), starting at least in 4000 BC.
Second, the successful African athletes who engaged in athletic contests were glorified in Africa -- particularly if the winners also showed style, refinement, and grace in their wide range of acrobatic and dance-like maneuvers.
Third, religious African athletic bouts were in connection with rites honoring the god Amun. These three, as an entire "package," were borrowed by the ancient Greeks. Starting either in 884? BC or 776 BC, the Greeks held athletic festivals every four years at Olympia.
These festivals, called "The Olympics," were performed in connection with rites honoring Zeus. From that point onward, the Greeks have been falsely credited with being its originator. But in reality they were simply Greek versions of the African model.
Joseph A. Bailey, II, M.D
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