Pharao und Sport.

Sullivan, Peter

Pharao und Sport. By WOLFGANG DECKER. Zaberns Bilderbande zur Archaologie. Mainz: VERLAG PHILIPP VON ZABERN, 2006. Pp. 108, illus. [euro]60.

Since the mid-1970s, Wolfgang Decker has contributed many articles and books on Egyptian sport, including parts of the Bildatlas zum Sport and Lexikon. This is an impressively illustrated volume analyzing "Pharaoh and Sport" in detail. The book has two parts. First, Pharaoh's own sporting activities are discussed, then sporting activities presented before, or ordered by, Pharaoh. Decker begins with a brief historical summary of the word "sport" and deals with the objections of those who see it as a necessarily Classical creation with later, post-industrial-revolution, developments. My view is that both Egyptian terminology, such as shmh-ib (L. H. Lesko, A Dictionary of Late Egyptian III [Berkeley: BC Scribe Publications, 1987], 87), and sporting practice seem more akin to the Greek/Roman activities than dissimilar.

Decker's work then delineates the ideological and religious filters that are always present in the portrayal of Pharaoh as the supreme victor who keeps the world from chaos and upholds order. This means that Pharaoh himself cannot be shown in any personal sporting contest with other humans, while any display he makes must be an expression of his divine power and shown in a suitably reserved religious area. Then follows a reconstruction, based on six reliefs and a replica course preserved in stone for Djoser in his funerary complex, of the ancient Jubilee heb sed ritual run which the King completed around a specified course to show his continuing fitness for office. The discussion of this ritual run is related back to an early hunter "coursing" culture and comparisons made to similar sporting qualities of Achilles in Homer and a Sulgi-Hymn of Ur-III Mesopotamia. Ritual archery and target shooting by Pharaoh are outlined, looking at both compound and single bows in detail and including excavated examples of actual copper archery targets. The chapter includes scenes of the Pharaoh using the relatively new compound bow and chariot to overawe and destroy his opponents.

Chapter four describes the elite status symbols of chariots and horse teams. The light construction of chariots and the provision for horses at royal residences are covered, followed by a discussion of royal pride in horse training and a comparable Hittite training regime. There follows a discussion of the athletic feats of Amenophis II in archery, horsetraining, chariotry, and helmsmanship, showing how his enthusiastic public presentation of his abilities almost breaks the "non-public" contest rule for kings. With a survey of the sporting contents of Tutankhamun's tomb, and a late period ritual "ball and bat" game, the coverage of strictly "royal" sport is completed.

The second part of this work, "Sport for Pharaoh," begins with activities staged during the dedication of Sahure's Pyramid. These were the warlike sports of archery, staff fighting, wrestling, and helmsmanship, very suited to Pharaoh as supreme war leader. Similar military activities, staff fighting and boxing, are seen in tomb pictures of the ceremonies before Amenophis III during his third Jubilee Festival. Looking at a regatta held under Tutankhamun, whose inscription stated that he had checked the training he had ordered for his navy, the book moves on to a sporting tournament held by Ramesses III and preserved on the walls of his Medinet Habu temple.

Under a "window of appearances," Egyptians are shown paired with foreigners wrestling and stick fighting. The pictures and accompanying text show that the Egyptians are winning, while on either side of the fighting figures, groups of visiting dignitaries watch suitably impressed by this public sporting display of Egyptian fighting skills. Then follows the extraordinary year 6(?) stele of Taharka in which that king relates how, having trained his army in running daily, he sent them all on a daylong, 100 km run. Prizes were given to the quickest, since Taharka states he "loved the arts of war." Tables compare ancient with modern times for 50 and 100 km runs.

The last chapter covers the Minoan-style "bull leaping" scenes discovered recently in the Eighteenth-Dynasty palace at Tell el-Dab'a, possibly painted for a lesser Minoan wife of the Pharaoh. As the ancient titles of Pharaoh usually included "victorious bull," celebrating both physical and sexual prowess, the Minoan scenes may have been a later innovative or trial iconography imported from overseas.

This is a splendid, informative book, judiciously blending more recent discoveries with a masterly overview of the subject and its religious/propagandistic dimensions. The illustrations are apt, although nos. 23 and 104 could have benefited from an additional drawing, as was done with no. 68. Likewise two pictures of the sphinx on page 45 could have been reduced to one. The bibliography at the back of the volume is a treasure of recent, interesting sports material and I found no errors amongst the citations. Any criticisms are trivial, and the author has produced a work that both the academic specialist and the beginning student will consult with great profit and interest.

PETER SULLIVAN

WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND