Note the inscriptions above the human figures. Those are similar to balloon dialogues over comic strips. Unfortunately, ours fell off. This is where it gets complicated, and, on the bright side, more interesting. It is not possible to determine beyond a reasonable shadow of a doubt whether the juggling depicted has ritual religious significance, or is primarily athletic. The subject is left largely to conjecture.

 

Ball play was quite popular. Young people are represented mostly in the early and middle kingdom period, adults in the later. Balls were usually leather stuffed with shredded reeds, three to nine centimeters in diameter. Others were made of wood, clay fayence or plaited palm leaves. Often such balls have been found in the graves of children. Pictures of ball players are extremely rare.

 

According to Dr. Bianci, "In tomb 15, the prince is looking on to things he enjoyed in life that he wishes to take to the next world. The fact that jugglers are represented in a tomb suggests religious significance. There is an analogy between balls and circular mirrors, as round things were used to represent solar objects, birth and death."

 

Diane Guzman, Brooklyn Museum librarian, said even the most mundane events in ancient Egypt were performed ritually - another point in favor of the spirtualists.

 

Six anthropologists have written extensively on the subject of ball play in ancient Egypt. Their interpretations made the case for both spiritual and athletic interpretation of the juggling on the tomb wall. C.E. Devries, R.W. Henderson and S. Mender favor the ritual interpretation. They draw an analogy to Osiris and Isis, and believe the round objects may represent seeds juggled as Order over Chaos, guaranteeing fertile soil and good crop harvests (represented in the fourth register). Weaving could represent order from the crops. The second register finishes with sculpture, possibly relating to a fertility deity .

 

Aigner and E. Mehl argue that since jugglers weren't represented on a very large scale, and since it was represented as practiced by youth in the early and middle periods, and since there is no legible writing above the figures, it was more possibly just a gymnastic exercise popular in the same sense as playing jacks today. The sixth anthropologist is Wolfgang Decker. He has written two books on the subject, one of which cites the possibility of both views.

 

As Chronicler of Juggling Superlatives I would like to enlist the help of each and every juggler in a new project. Since juggling is evidently a "timeless" human endeavor, I am curious to know just how jugglers classify their activity, do you consider it sport, art, religion, ritual or what? The results of this survey may help us attain a more accurate understanding of the ancient Egyptian juggler. I have arranged with Dr. Bianchi for the result of such a massive extrapolation to be included as a ethnographic parallel of juggling to compare with other historical knowledge of the activity .

 

In addition, perhaps it would be prudent to take measures to safeguard against future misinterpretation of 20th century jugglers. I am compiling information for a time capsule to be sealed in the 1990s. Please send me information stating who and where you are, how and why you juggle, and in what ways you use the art to improve yourself and your environment: Billy Gillen, Brooklyn, NY.

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY :

Decker, Wolfgang. "Annotierte Bibliographie Zum Sport in Alten Aegypten." Sankt Augustin: Richarz, 1978, ISBN 3-91255-16-3. Porter, Bertha and Moss, Rosiland L.B. "Topographical Bibliography of Ancient Egyptian Hyroglyphic Texts, Reliefs and Paintings. IV Lower and Middle Egypt." Oxford At the Clarendon Press, 1934.

Touny, R.D. and Wenig, Dr. Steffen. "Sport in Ancient Egypt." 1969 Edition Leipzig, Licence 600/34170. Printed in German Democratic Republic.