From ancient Egypt to modern America, many sports have developed and changed and been adapted in today’s culture.

These changes will be discussed at 6 p.m. on Wednesday in the McAfee North Gymnasium.

“Ancient Egyptian Sports and Dance” will be the closing presentation of the “A Futuristic Look Through Ancient Lenses: A Symposium on Ancient Egypt” series.

This presentation is sponsored by the Lumpkin School of Business and Applied Sciences, the School of Technology, the Department of Kinesiology and Sports Studies and Booth Library.

Scott Ronspies, an assistant professor of kinesiology and sports studies, said the presentation will show the audience the similarities between today’s sports and the sports of ancient Egypt.

“A lot of the Olympic sport, gymnastics and dance that we do today, had its origins in ancient Egypt,” Ronspies said.

Ronspies and the students in his elementary education methods class will be playing a game of Team Handball and performing an ancient Egyptian dance to honor the Egyptian Sun God, Ra.

“Team Handball originated in Egypt and my methods students and I have a vested interest in it, because we just taught that same unit at Charleston High School,” Ronspies said. “Because we are still teaching that sport today.”

Team Handball is a game that originated in about 2000 B.C. in Egypt.

The game involves two teams that tried to move a ball down the court to score in the other team’s goal. Players moved the ball down the court by throwing it to other team members and can only take three steps while they have the ball.

Ronspies said it is similar to soccer, except players use their hands instead.

Ronspies said he picked the dance to the Egyptian Sun God, because he was important to the Egyptian culture.

“The God, Ra, is arguably the most important God to the ancient Egyptians,” Ronspies said. “They held him in high regard.”

Ronspies also said in a way people still worship the Sun God.

“Today, we hold the power of sunshine very strong in our society; it controls everything we do,” he said.

The Eastern Pep Band, directed by Alan Sullivan, the interim director of bands and the director of the Panther Marching Band and Wind Symphony, will open the show with some music from ancient Egypt, Ronspies said.

Ronspies said he hopes students learn the connection between activities that are the same in today’s culture as they were in ancient Egypt.

“I want them to say ‘Hey, these folks aren’t that different than we are today,'” Ronspies said. “They also enjoy sports for recreation and competition, and they enjoy dance for expressing themselves at various ceremonies. We do it for the same reasons.”

Samantha McDaniel can be reached at 581-2812 or slmcdaniel@eiu.edu.