Earliest Wrestling Depicted

Tomb 15 at Beni Hasan, belonging to the 11th Dynasty nomarch Baqet III, contains over 400 painted scenes of wrestlers in sequential poses — the earliest known depiction of an organized fighting system. Dating to approximately 2000 BCE, the murals show pairs of figures rendered in contrasting skin tones to distinguish the combatants, illustrating a range of holds, throws, and grappling techniques. Beni Hasan is a Middle Kingdom necropolis in Upper Egypt, south of modern Minya.