Neon-lit lanes, rental shoes, pitchers of beer and the sound of crashing pins might make bowling seem like a midcentury American invention. But the game stretches back thousands of years.
Archaeologists have traced early forms of pin games to ancient Egypt, where objects found in a child’s tomb dating to 5200 B.C. included nine pieces of “stone” at which a stone “ball” was rolled after it first passed through a marble archway, according to the United States Bowling Congress.
“It was as simple as throwing round rocks at tall skinny rocks,” says Mark Miller, a bowling historian, president of the International Bowling Media Association and author of Bowling: America’s Greatest Indoor Pastime.
From Egypt, the game spread to Europe, and the U.S. Bowling Congress credits Martin Luther for determining it would be played with nine pins as the Egyptians seemingly had before. By the 14th century, the International Bowling Museum and Hall of Fame reports, the game was so popular England’s King Edward III allegedly banned it “to keep his troops focused on archery practice.”
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