Lecture Objectives
Pre-History and Ancient
Civilizations
KIN 375 -History and
Philosophy of Physical
Education and Sport
World Atlas
• Discuss the causes for the evolution of
the major civilizations of the ancient
world and the development of their
education as well as physical education
systems
• Discuss Egypt, China, India, and the
Hebrews and their contribution to, and
lasting effects on current day
philosophies and practices
Africa
http://www.graphicmaps.com/webimage/
world/polit/politf.htm
Europe
Middle East
Asia 2001
• http://www.wilderdom.com/evolution/HumanEvolutionPictures.htm
http://www.graphicmaps.com/webimage/countrys/as.htm
PrePre-History
• For tens of thousand of years Homo sapiens
lived in caves:
– Homo
- sapiens- means "wise man“
– Homo
- habilis- means "handy man" or man
with ability 2 million years ago used stone
tools
– Homo
- erectus
- means "the man who walks
erect"
• Hunters
• food gatherers, and
• nomads
The Formation of Civilizations
• Rivers provided a stable supply of water and
facilitated discovery of
• Farming
• specialized production of goods &
– exchange of goods
• cessation of a nomadic existence &
– control of the environment
– social structure and
– organization and the evolution of a complex
civilization
PrePre-History
• About ten thousand years ago humans
started living in settlements along great
rivers:
– Yang Tze
– Ganges
– Euphrates & Tigris and
– Nile
PrePre-History and Physical
Activity
• Observations of
African Bushmen,
American Indians, and
Australian Aborigines
suggest that physical
activities and games
are an important part
of education
(achieved through
imitation of adult
activities)
Tonga Dancers
africaelephants.com/
The Origins of Play
• What conditions led to the evolution
of play and games?
– Numerous functions have been
attributed to play but nearly all fall into
three general categories: play as
physical training, play as social
training, and play as cognitive training
THEORIES ABOUT THE ORIGINS OF PLAY
• Play as a utilitarian
behavior
– play emerged
from and was
linked to survival
skills such as
hunting, fishing,
and boxing.
(Bekoff & Byers, 1981).
http://www.wilderdom.com/evolution/HumanEvolutionPictures.htm
THEORIES ABOUT THE ORIGINS OF PLAY
• Play as an instinctive
behavior
– humans have a natural
need for play
– play behaviors are also
readily observed in the
animal kingdom
– What people learn is
immaterial to whether or
not people play.
THEORIES ABOUT THE ORIGINS OF PLAY
• Play as a ritualistic behavior
– games explain forces in the world that are
not understood. By participating in the ritual
one explains the meaning of a certain kind
of event.
– http://www.ballgame.org/
http://www.researchmagazine.uga.edu/summer2002/kittens.htm
Cultural Components of
Civilizations
• As is the case today, ancient societies
valued
– Athletic ability
– Physical fitness
– Competition
– Play
• These similarities serve evolutionary
purpose
Sport and Adaptation
• Survival dependent on individual and
team hunting skills
• Best hunter honored and is engaged
in activities that highlight his talents
• Desire to survive, compete for honor,
and win is part of culture and
expressed through games and sports
– E.g. survival of the fittest
Source: Mechikoff (2010)
Source: Adapted from Mechikoff (2010)
Sport and Warfare
Timeline of Civilizations of
the Ancient World
• Warfare was very common in ancient times
• Armies promoted physical training
programs and warriors
• Military combat training included
endurance running, wrestling, and
swimming
• Led to emergence of Combat Sports:
– martial arts, boxing, wrestling, spear throwing
(javelin), and archery
Source: Adapted from Mechikoff (2010)
Source: http://www.harappa.com/indus2/timeline.html
Sumer – 4000 BCE
• One of the ancient world's first known
civilization
• Located in Mesopotamia, a region
lying in present-day Iraq
– “cradle of civilization”
• Sumerian civilization flourished more
than 5,000 years ago
Source: Adapted from Mechikoff (2010)
Sumerian Society
• Created laws called “Hammurabi's
Code” 1800 BCE
– “If a man takes a woman to wife, but has
no intercourse with her, this woman is no
wife to him.”
– “If a son strikes his father, his hands shall
be hewn off.”
– “If a man knocks out the teeth of his equal,
his teeth shall be knocked out.”
Source: Source: http://wsu.edu/~dee/MESO/CODE.HTM
Sumerian Society
• Developed cuneiform
writing
– Replaced oral
tradition as first
written system of
communication
Cuneiform - From Latin cuneus, meaning "wedge-shaped."
Source: http://www.historyguide.org/ancient/cuneiform.html
“Hammurabi’
Hammurabi’s Code”
Code” (1800 BCE)
• “If any one brings an accusation of any crime
before the elders, and does not prove what
he has charged, he shall, if it be a capital
offense charged, be put to death.”
• “If any one steals the property of a temple or
of the court, he shall be put to death, and also
the one who receives the stolen thing from
him shall be put to death.”
Source: Source: http://wsu.edu/~dee/MESO/CODE.HTM
“Hammurabi’
Hammurabi’s Code”
Code” (1800 BCE)
• “If a man rents his field for tillage for a
fixed rental and receives the rent of his
field but bad weather come and
destroys the harvest, the injury falls
upon the tiller of the soil.”
• “If any one breaks a hole into a house
(breaks in to steal), he shall be put to
death before that hole and be buried.”
Sumerian Literary Tradition
• The Epic of Gilgamesh
– The oldest known written
poem dating back to 27502500 BCE ancient Sumer
(Mesopotamia). The
adventures of the historical
King of Uruk are portrayed
in cunieform script on 11
clay tablets.
Source: Source: http://wsu.edu/~dee/MESO/CODE.HTM
Gilgamesh
Image source: http://www.dromo.info/gilgamesh.htm
Sumerian Theology
• Shamash - the god of the Sun, seated on
his throne - on the tablet of Sippar.
Sumerian Changing
Theology
• Rulers (kings) broke free from
subservience to gods
– Became representatives of the gods
– Finally synonymous with gods
• Only gods and kings had right to express
individuality
• Ordinary people were expendable
• View of the body:
Note that the
Hebrew
word “shemesh”
means “sun.”
– Sumerians did not place much value on the
body
Source: Adapted from Mechikoff (2010)
Source: http://mythfolklore.net/3043mythfolklore/reading/
gilgamesh/images/shamash.htm
Sumerian Art
• The human body was rarely used as
a subject by Sumerian artists.
• “Nakedness expressed humiliation
and subjection…” (Olivova, 1984)
Sumeria and Sport
• Lion hunting a popular sport: warriors and
aristocrats displayed courage, athletic ability
• Sumerian society demonstrates the
connection that religion had with sport in pre
modern cultures.
• Most famous Sumerian king was Gilgamesh,
who ruled during 27th – 25th century BCE.
– Honored as being excellent hunter and warrior
Source: Adapted from
Mechikoff (2010)
London: British Museum
Source: Adapted from Mechikoff (2010)
Sumeria and Sport
• Highly developed economic and political
system
• Trade, travel, entertainment, and
warfare were the main activities
• Warriors developed their athletic ability
and the necessary physical fitness for
warfare
Source: Adapted from Mechikoff (2010)
Early Civilizations: Egypt
• Developed a formalized
style of painting and
sculpture
• Were very spiritual and
believed in life after
death
The gold coffin of King Tutankhamen.
Art Archive(Egyptian Museum, Cairo)
Early Civilizations: Egypt
• Egyptian civilization was admired by ancient
Greeks and Romans
• Science of medicine emerged in Egypt
– Magic used to cure diseases
– Doctors and surgeons known all over the
ancient world
• Culture and the significance of sport and
play are revealed by tomb paintings
Early Civilizations: Egypt
• Remarkable astronomists
(12 month calendar)
• Amazing Architects,
engineers and navigators
• Invented the numerical
system, and a
phonetic/pictorial alphabet
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/egyptians/timeline.shtml
Early Civilizations: Egypt
• Participated in war dancing,
gymnastic games, swimming
and especially wrestling
• Children had toys, such as,
dolls, tops, hoops, jumping
jacks, skin or leather balls,
marbles, and dice.
• Ball games included mostly
Cleopatra VII (51 – 30 BC)
tossing and juggling
Source: Touregypt.net
Egypt: Early Dynastic
Period (3000 – 1500 BCE)
• "Meni" (or Menes in
Greek) believed to
have united the two
kingdoms of Upper
and Lower Egypt
(around 3200 BCE).
Map of lower & upper Egypt
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upper_Egypt
Egypt: Early Dynastic Period (3000 –
1500 BCE)
Sport in
Egypt
• Sports were a
means by which
famous Egyptian
monarchs
represented
themselves to
their people.
Menes: unifier of upper & lower kingdoms
http://www.britannica.com/
Sport in Egypt
J. E. Quibell et al., Egyptian Research Account 1896 The Tomb of Ptahhetep, Plate 33
Early Civilizations: China
• Around the 8th century B.C.,
China’s central government was
replaced by warring factions.
Education was neglected and old
traditions abandoned.
• Confucius (551-479 B.C.)
embarked on a mission to restore
the original principles of Chinese
morals.
Image source:
www.csun.edu/~hbchm009/confucius.html
http://www.reshafim.org.il/ad/egypt/timelines/topics/games.htm
Early Civilizations: China
• China’s known history predates
Christianity by 2,500 years. One the
earliest centers of civilization based on
a strong family structure and ancestral
worship.
• Chinese education during the Chou
dynasty (1028-249 B.C.) incorporated
physical, mental, moral, and aesthetic
teaching.
Duan Fang altar set
Source: www.wisc.edu/arth/
Early Civilizations: China
• As was the case in other early
cultures, Chinese sports reflected
military needs: archery, boxing
(precursor to Japanese ju
- jitsu),
charioteering, horsemanship,
wrestling, …, and recreational,
i.e., cockfighting, fishing, flying
kites, football, hunting, polo,
swimming…
• Board games (using military
tactics, i.e., the games of chess,
which has earlier origins in Egypt)
www.geocities.com/
wchch/crt00/index.html
Early Civilizations: India
• One of the main three
early “river” civilizations,
India emerged along the
Indus River (2,500
- 1,500
B.C.)
• Hinduism was based on
Dharma (piety—religious
virtue) and the caste social
system.
• Buddhism started as a
reform movement against
the excesses of the caste
system.
http://home.earthlink.net/
~srama/
Mesoamerica
Early Civilizations: India
• Physical education was most prominent in the
Kshatriyas or military caste in this otherwise
passive and peaceful culture.
• Physical training and dance revolved around
religious practices and ceremonies.
• A strong emphasis on personal hygiene was
tied into physical exercise and spiritual
purification.
• Charaka and Susruta (ancient medicine)
recommended exercise.
Mesoamerica
• Geographical region
– northern Mexico southward to Belize,
Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador
• Ball games were popular in
antiquity, just as they are today
• Ulama: ball game beginning in
1800 B.C., continued by Mayans &
Aztecs
– Religious, cultural, competitive
elements.
Source: Adapted from Mechikoff (2010)
http://www.lib.uci.edu/about/publications/exhibits/meso/images/3.jpg
Mesoamerica
• Ulama: ball courts discovered dating
from 1500 B.C.
– Tchlactli: magnificent ballcourts
• Games had strong religious overtones
– Human sacrifice: a common component
(losing and/or winning teams might be
sacrificed, to give gods the “best”)
• Served ritualistic purposes
– Fertility, harvest, appease the gods
Source: Adapted from Mechikoff (2010)
Mesoamerica
• Ball court characteristics
– Oblong shape, similar to letter “I”
– Thick, high ornamental walls
– Stone ring (tlachtemalacatl) in middle of
side wall served as goal
• Ball court at Chichen Itza is the largest
discovered; reliefs show players and
ritual sacrifice
Source: Adapted from Mechikoff (2010)
The Maya
• The Maya, who flourished between
about A.D. 250 and 900, perfected the
most complex writing system in the
hemisphere, mastered mathematics and
astrological calendars of astonishing
accuracy, and built massive pyramids all
over Central America, from Yucatan to
modern Honduras.
Pokatok
(El Juego de Pelota)
Pelota)
• The Ancient Royal Ballgame of Life and
Death
http://www.americasculturalcenter.org/poka
tok.pdf
• The Mesoamerican Ballgame
http://www.ballgame.org
Source: http://www.indians.org/welker/maya.htm
Test Your Comprehension
• What was the main role of physical
education in ancient cultures?
• In what context were games, physical
training, and dance practiced in ancient
societies?
• What games and sports of ancient origin
are still popular today?
• In what ways do ancient sports differ
from modern sports?
Questions, Comments
Discussion
• For additional information visit the KIN
375 web site at:
http://instructional1.calstatela.edu/dfrankl
/CURR/kin375/kin375_infc.html
Cultural Diffusion of
Games and Sports
• The cultural diffusion that is
the trend of the modern era
is responsible for increasing
uniformity in games people
play. The universality of
games is also influenced by
the increasing influence of
the corporate world.