Scenes of Some Sports Activities and their Double Significance in New Kingdome Private Theban Tombs

Private tombs show sports activities performed in some ceremonial and leisure contexts. The inclusion of any scene in the funeral framework has symbolic meanings and was chosen for specific purposes by the owner of the tomb and the designer of its decorative program. This paper aims at identifying some sports activities scenes in the New Kingdom Private Theban tombs for determining the types of sports and the context in which they appeared. It also tries to understand the significance and the reasons for their depiction in some tombs by analyzing their context and the motivation of the deceased to show them. It employs a descriptive-analytical methodology for a group of selected sports scenes showing clear activities similar to existing sports. The research concludes that a double significance was intended through the representation of these sports activities scenes; firstly, representing ritualistic so they will eternally, and secondly showing the sport as part of the context of a religious ceremony or important memorial event in which the deceased was involved as a part of his job duties.