Thutmose III: the first baseball player?
In a hieroglyphic dating to 1475 BC, Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh Thutmose III is shown holding a ball and bat-like stick. The image is found on a wall relief at the shrine of Hathor, the goddess of love and joy, in his aunt Hatshepsut’s temple at Deir-el-Bahari. The caption states that the Pharaoh is engaged in a game of "seker-hemat," literally, "hitting-of-the-ball."
The sixth pharaoh of Egypt's 18th dynasty, Thutmose III reigned from 1479 to 1426 BC. Ascending the throne at age 10, he deferred to his aunt Hatshepsut, who ruled first as regent and then in her own right for the next 20 years. When he finally came into his own, Thutmose embarked on a series of brilliant and sweeping military campaigns that have led some to call him the "Napoleon of Ancient Egypt," conquering the mighty Mitanni Empire to the north, subduing the Nubians to the south, and securing his place in history as one of the greatest of the pharaohs.