Complete List Of Most-Loved Egyptian Sports You Probably Didn't Know

Sports serve as a means of relaxation, excitement, and profession for millions of individuals spread all across the globe.

Egypt is a sport-loving country and has its roots in the involvement and discovery of many modern age games. Over the passage of time, these games have evolved into the modern age.

Games like handball, rowing, hockey, wrestling were all played by ancient Egyptians during the reign of the Kings of Ancient Egyptian civilization. Senet was a board game that was invented by ancient Egyptians.

In the modern age, the most populous game of the nation is football. The Egypt football team is the most successful football team in the entire continent of Africa.

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Egypt's National Sport

The very basic definition of a national sport is one that upholds the basic intrinsic sporting spirit of the country. Numerous countries all over the globe have their designated national sports. National sports are mainly of two types. The first is an official national sport, while the other is an unofficial national sport.

Football is the most popular game in the land of the pyramids. At the same time, also known as soccer, thousands of football fans flock to the stadiums to watch their beloved team take the field while other stay glued to their televisions and cheer for their favorite players.

The top-tier league of the country is known as the Egyptian Premier League that is governed by the Egyptian Football Association.

The sports culture of soccer in Egypt is diverse as the Cairo derby is the most-watched football match in the country. Played between the city rivals of Zamalek and Al Ahly, the two most popular clubs of Cairo have Egyptians rooting for them from all over the country.

The Egyptian Premier League is a fierce competition between 18 teams, each aspiring to be the champion. The Egypt national football team is the most successful team in the entire continent of Africa.

Egyptians have won numerous competitions like the African Cup of Nations, Arabic Competitions, and the Mediterranean Games.

Few players of the national team play in the top football league of the world, which is the English Premier League. Trezeguet and Mohammed Elneny play for Aston Villa and Arsenal, respectively, while at the same time, world-renowned right forward Mohammed Salah plays for Liverpool.

Popular Sports In Egypt

Different range of sports is played in countries and with time, they start becoming popular among the people. The same can also be very much said for the country of Egypt. A number of different outdoor and indoor games play a vital role in the daily life of the Egyptians.

Games have been a crowd favorite during the reign of ancient Egyptian pharaohs like Amenhotep II. With every passing of the sands of time from the ancient ages, the ancient Egyptian sport has evolved to the modern age.

Football, also known as soccer, is considered to be the most popular sport in Egypt in comparison to other sports. This football-crazy nation religiously follows this sport.

Not only do the Egyptians follow their own Premier League, but the viewership of other international football leagues is also quite high in Egypt, thereby ensuring that football is also the most-viewed game of the country.

Other sports in this country can be seen in the form of participants representing the country in the Summer Olympics. Apart from football, the most popular sports that are enjoyed by people involve tennis, basketball, squash, and handball, and other ball games.

Ancient Egyptian Sports

A wide number of sports have been prevalent in ancient Egypt, which is very common in today's sports. Apart from being overwatched by the royal families, these ancient Egyptian sports played a key role in building the physical fitness of the players.

So let us take a close look at some of the cool sports that were played in ancient Egypt by the ancient Egyptians.

Sports have been associated with the daily life of humans in the recent age as it was in the ancient period. Not only were sports played during a particular season in ancient Egypt, but ancient Egyptians also took active participation in sports in all the seasons.

Sports were essential for building physical strength and keeping the athletes in Ancient Egypt physically fit.

Some of the games from ancient Egypt are extremely common, and humans in this present age even play today. The Egyptian Museum has witnessed many drawings and many paintings from ancient Egypt that depict how outdoor and indoor board games were played by the ancient Egyptians.

Hockey and handball were some of the most common sports during the ancient Egyptian period. Similar to the field hockey of the modern age, the ancient Egyptians played ball games with a hockey bat.

These bats were mostly made out of palm trees and had a characteristic bent end.

Among ancient Egypt sports, hockey was a hugely popular sport, and the presence of the old painting shows that this sport was also loved by the ancient Egyptian royal families. The ball for the handball and the hockey were made out of papyrus plants and then encased in leather.

Other games included athletics where a number of young people participated. Some of the games were team games like tug of war or rowing, while others included individual contestants like swimming, rowing, wrestling, gymnastics, long jump, high jump, and others.

Two players participated in tug of war, where each of the two players showcased their monstrous strength. These team sports, along with some other individual sports like wrestling, swimming, and rowing, played a key role in building fitness among the ancient Egyptians.

Archery and fishing were also very common in ancient Egypt. Old pictures show the use of fishing rods and shooting the rapids to capture fish was prevalent in ancient times.

Boxing, swimming, rowing are the next common games that saw great participation in the ancient ages, as can be seen, today. Swimming has been an individual sport, while records showcase that rowing has been a team sport.

Fighting or boxing games were also very common in the ancient Egyptian age and had very important guests in the audience, like the kings and the pharaohs.

Sports Invented In Egypt

A large number of things have been invented in ancient Egypt that has immense usage in the day-to-day lives of the modern age. These include remarkable inventions and discoveries in science, mathematics, astronomy, agriculture, and others.

Among other important things, the old kingdom of Egypt also gave rise to sports. So here we will discuss the sports that were invented by the ancient Egyptians.

A majority of the sports that are prevalent in today's world have their roots or were played in some form or other by the ancient Egyptians. Over the passage of time, the games have evolved, but their source of creation remains the same.

The rules of these outdoor games and board games or, in some cases, mock battles have been left as inscriptions on monuments and in manuscripts.

The kings and the royal folks of the ancient Egyptian period had a keen sense of interest in games and sports. They not only attended the sports but also encouraged the athletes by providing them with the necessary equipment, patronage, and encouragement.

The monuments filled with inscriptions from the period of the ancient Egyptian kings are centuries old and are an incredible source of proof of the basic rules and regulations of the sport that were laid down by the people of the ancient age.

The simplest of the rules stated that a uniform amount of players would take part in each team while a neutral referee would have the sole responsibility of conducting the game without an ounce of partiality.

Once the game gets over, the winner would be announced by gifting them with prizes in the form of different collars.

The sporting spirit of both winner and the loser were applauded as both the participants would receive a standing ovation from the audience.

Senet Board is a board game that was invented in 2620 B.C by the ancient Egyptians and was an important pastime for them. Despite having its roots embedded deep into the history of Egypt, the game slowly became obsolete during the reign of the Roman empire.

The game consisted of 30 squares in three rows of 10 and played sets of pawns. Since the rules have been lost over the sands of time, it would be extremely difficult to describe the exact gameplay of the Senet board.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for Egypt sports then why not take a look at ancient Greek sports facts, or Adam Goodes facts.