Batting the Ball (or “seker-hemat”) was an Egyptian bat-and-ball game, played by the Egyptian pharaohs (with their priests as catchers)! Significantly, this game had certain physical and thematic similarities to modern American baseball, and in certain ways, might be understood as an ancient precursor to baseball and softball—as Peter A. Piccione, Ph.D. also notes the possibility of professional female ball players in Egypt.
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