Groups of wrestlers are depicted on the walls of tomb BH29, belonging to Baqet I – a contemporary of the pharaohs of the early 11th Dynasty (frescoes, Beni Hasan, Egypt). The images show wrestling scenes and the circumstances under which injuries to the hip joint – including the ligamentum capitis femoris (LCF) – might occur. These frescoes appear to have served as the basis for the description of a wrestling match found in the Book of Genesis:
25 And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.26 And when he saw that he could not pre vail against him, he struck against the hollow of his thigh ; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was put out of joint, as he was wrestling with him.…33 Therefore do the children of Israel not eat the sinew which shrank, which is upon the hollow of the thigh, unto this day; because he struck against the hollow of Jacob's thigh on the sinew that shrank. (1922LeeserI, Genesis (Bereshit) 32:25-26,33)
"Wrestlers"
fresco on the wall of tomb BH29, belonging to the nomarch Baqet I in the
Egyptian necropolis of Beni Hasan. Such scenes may have served as a visual
prototype for the account of Jacob wrestling with an angel (Genesis 32:25–26).

Southern wall, western section. The upper right portion depicts wrestling scenes, while the lower left shows individuals with orthopedic conditions: thoracic kyphosis (a hump), bilateral clubfoot, and genu recurvatum (hyperextension of the knee joint) (from 1893GriffithFL)
External links
Leeser I. The twenty-four books of the Holy Scriptures. Carefully translated according to the Massoretic text, on the basis of the English version after the best Jewish authorities and supplied with short explanatory notes by Isaac Leeser. New York: Bloch Pub. Co., 1922. archive.org
Архипов С.В. Девятый месяц, одиннадцатый день: Рассуждение о XXXII главе книги Бытие; 2-е изд., перераб. и доп. Йоэнсуу: Издание Автора, 2024. Google Books
Griffith FL (Ed). Beni Hasan. Pt. 2 by P.E. Newberry, F.G. Willoughby. London: K. Paul, Trench, Trübner & Company, 1893. archive.org
Arkhipov SV. Medical Record: The Contribution of a Middle Bronze Age Egyptian Physician to the Book of Genesis. Kyrö: Author’s Edition, 2026. Google Books
See also the tour of Beni Hasan with "Johnny": kjtboulder.me
Authors & Affiliations
An unknown ancient Egyptian artist who worked in the Beni Hasan necropolis – a contemporary of the first pharaohs of the 11th Dynasty (c. 2134–2040 BCE, according to Bunson 2002).
Keywords
ligamentum capitis femoris, ligamentum teres, ligament of head of femur, image, damage, injury, mechanism, illustration, Bible
