What Toys Did The Ancient Egyptians Play With?

And now for something completely different!

I suppose that we are all vaguely aware of the fact that kids throughout every generation engaged in creative play (‘Kids will be kids’ of course!). Most of us, however, tend to think of modern times as unique in that children are using a wide variety of toys with which to enhance their play experience. This perception is nothing more than chronological snobbery since it seems that toys have been with us from the dawn of time. This fact has been confirmed again and again by archaeological digs all around the world.

One society that excelled in producing creative and highly desirable toys was that of ancient Egypt. It is fascinating to take a look at the different toys that have been uncovered. If nothing else, this will convince us of the fact that “The more things change the more they stay the same” since many of the toys that the sons of the Pharaoh’s played with will be instantly recognizable to your own kids!

The following things were considered essentials in the Egyptian play room:

Balls – The ancient Egyptians did not have access to rubber so their balls where made of leather and then stuffed with grass or papyrus. It seems that they were used both for individual and team games.

Marbles – Playing with marbles has an ancient and venerable heritage, since the indications are that it was especially popular at the royal courts of Egypt.

Sticks/Bats – A game called ‘Tipcat‘ was wildly popular with Egyptian children. The object of the games was to use a piece of wood to hit other, smaller, pieces of wood while these were airborne. It could almost be seen as a prototype of games like cricket and baseball.

Model Boats – Given the proximity of the Nile it should be no surprise that Egyptian kids amused themselves by making, and racing, their own little boats.

Dolls – A wide variety of material (including wood, ivory and ceramics) were used to create dolls with. Most dolls were representations of animals but some remarkably lifelike human dolls were found as well.

Board Games – Ancient Egyptians played a variety of board games. Hundreds of boards used for different games have been recovered by archaeologists. The rules of most of them are lost in the mists of time but it is clear that some of them could very well be the ancient antecedents of modern games like backgammon and snakes and ladders.

The amazing thing is that all of the things described above can be traced back to as far as two millennia BC. So next time you throw a ball or launch a toy boat, think of yourself as part of an unbroken line stretching through the centuries to people who enjoyed the very same things!

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Tagged as: ancient Egypt, Egypt, Egyptian, historic toys, toys