tus_, nor to have known the art
of boxing; though in one group, at Beni Hassan, the combatants appear
to strike each other. Nor is there an instance, in any of these
contests, of the Greek sign of acknowledging defeat, which was by
holding up a finger in token of submission; and it was probably done
by the Egyptians with a word. It is also doubtful if throwing the
discus, or quoit, was an Egyptian game; but there appears to be one
instance of it, in a king's tomb of the 19th dynasty.

One of their feats of strength, or dexterity, was lifting weights; and
bags full of sand were raised with one hand from the ground and
carried with a straight arm over the head, and held in that position.

Mock fights were also an amusement, particularly among those of the
military class, who were trained to the fatigues of war, by these
manly recreations. One party attacked a temporary fort, and brought up
the battering ram, under cover of the testudo; another defended the
walls and endeavored to repel the enemy; others, in two parties of
equal numbers, engaged in single stick, or the more usual _neboot_, a
pole wielded with both hands; and the pugnacious spirit of the people
is frequently alluded to in the scenes portrayed by their artists.

The use of the _neboot_ seems to have been as common among the
ancient, as among the modern, Egyptians; and the quarrels of villages
were often decided or increased, as at present, by this efficient
weapon.

Crews of boats are also represented attacking each other with the
earnestness of real strife. Some are desperately wounded, and, being
felled by their more skillful opponents, are thrown headlong into the
water; and the truth of Herodotus' assertion, that the heads of the
Egyptians were harder than those of other people, seems fully
justified by the scenes described by their own draughtsmen.

It is fortunate that their successors have inherited this peculiarity,
in order to bear the violence of the Turks, and their own combats.

Many singular encounters with sticks are mentioned by ancient authors;
among which may be noticed one at Papremis, the city of Mars,
described by Herodotus. When the votaries of the deity presented
themselves at the gates of the temple, their entrance was obstructed
by an opposing party; and all being armed with sticks, they commenced
a rude combat, which ended, not merely in the infliction of a few
severe wounds, but even, as the historian affirms, in the death of